It’s been a long time…

  So I haven’t written in a while. I was quite busy preparing for a trip to the US of A. The purpose was to participate in a conference in which I had a paper accepted. This is my second conference and during the first I had suspicions that they are fun and now I KNOW they are. My husband and I left the kids with my mother and went all the way to Provo,  Utah(total 16 hours in the air). From the desert to snow and snow covered mountains. The conference was just up my alley. I found the papers motivating. It’s like when you go dancing and the next day you’re still dancing in your head. It makes me want to start working and get another paper out.Afterwards we went to Washington D.C. and stayed at a bed and breakfast called the Intown Uptown. It’s owned and run by a friendly young woman called Sandy. The place is unbelievable like something out of an Anne Rice novel. It’s an authentic old house but immaculately furnished and Sandy herself gets up every morning to make us a breakfast that looks straight out of a gourmet magazine photo-shoot. The only downside was the location. It’s a bit in the outskirts and the area is not even on the tourist maps of Washington. It takes a 10-15 minute bus ride and another 10 minute metro ride to get to Chinatown.

It’s been a long time since I last went to the US. I remember sometimes when I mention KSA to Americans, they don’t even know where it is and when they do know they give that attitude that I must be filthy rich. Now, it seems to most KSA = terrorism. That is sad. When we first got there my husband was detained because he’s a male that falls into the age bracket. So he had to be rechecked and there was a long line for guys like him so I went ahead and caught the next flight to Utah. I don’t know how I feel about that. My husband is not a terrorist and just because he’s an Arab and of a certain age does not make him a potential risk. At the same time, I want them to double-check everyone because I don’t want to be bombed and have my kids orphaned.