What. A. Year.
Seriously, there were some big changes. Starting my lovely little blog, graduating college, entering into the fabled “real world”, getting engaged (!), and moving all around the freakin’ world. I used to keep track of how many times I’ve been on a plane, but considering that last year consisted of flights from DC to Finland to Romania to Finland to DC to Colorado to DC to Atlanta to Columbus, GA to Atlanta to DC to Paris to Amman, Jordan to Baghdad to Dubai to Atlanta to Columbus to Atlanta to DC to Montreal to Amman to Baghdad to Dubai to Malaysia to Dubai (to Sulaymaniyah?!) to Baghdad…I, uh, stopped counting.
(The rough estimate is 27, though I could be forgetting some layovers)
It’s strange to think that last December I was still a junior in college. I rang in 2009 quietly, on the couch with Farrell, in our adorable little apartment in the trendy part of Washington, D.C. January I realized I had amassed enough credits to graduate a year early, and my entrance into the real world was suddenly a lot closer than before. What’s a girl to do in this situation?
Pack my body armor, brush up on my Arabic, and enjoy my oven while I still have it.
So how do we celebrate NYE in Baghdad? I won’t get into the specifics, but let’s just say that we got a different sort of fireworks last night. 2009 went out with a boom! There was also a little party of sorts, that reminded me of middle school dances. Disco lights, outdated music (line dancing? Seriously?), and people going over their two “special beverage” limit for the night. The typical “Baghdad as a frathouse” atmosphere.
But I had my boo around to smooch at midnight.
And some good friends too.
All in all, I’d say it was a good night. But that’s last year. What’s going on for Ivory Pomegranate in 2010?
I’m so glad you asked! In a few short months, I will be packing up my body armor again and getting my butt out of Baghdad. Iraq has a lot of big events coming up, a bright future ahead of itself, but it certainly doesn’t need me around to see things through. I have the “real world” to get back to.
Then? Who knows. I’ll be back in D.C. for sure, but how I’ll be spending most of my time is up in the air right now. Maybe some freelance writing and photography? Maybe revamping the blog? Maybe some wedding planning? All strong possibilities.
What will probably seem like a few short months after that, Farrell and I will be packing up (yet again) and moving to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan to attend the American University of Central Asia. Umm…cool?
Maybe I’ll brush up on my Russian while I have some free time. Any advice from Russian-speaking readers on tackling the language? So far the only vocab word that has stuck is “hedgehog”…which will probably never come in handy.
(It’s pronounced “yozh”)
So, it’s shaping up to be another year of flying around the world. I’m definitely looking forward to breaking out of the typical 9-5 work day (or, in my case, 9am-10pm) and doing something different. It’ll be nice to be in D.C. without several jobs and class assignments weighing me down, and it’ll be nice to actually live and interact within a new foreign country, as opposed to just simply residing in one.
Resolutions? Eh, we all break them, but we still pledge them anyway. This year, I hope to simply be more fulfilled with how I’m living my life. And I want to blog more.
So, good bye 2009, the year that thrust me head-first into (and all around) the real world. It’s been cool.
And hello 2010!