New Web Albums

Hey

Not using the msn group photo site anymore, as it sucks, but using a google/picasa one. The link is here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/miss.emi.pa

OR

you can click on the link on the right-hand side of the blog, which says 'link to NEW web albums'

OR

you can click on the pic of me in front of the pyramids on the right-hand side of the blog and then go see all my pubic galleries that way!

Got the pics uploaded!

Used the basic uploader instead of the flash one, so may I present:

-Caroline's birthday
- Wallace Eason competition

Okay, tried to upload the pics

But these aren't there:

- Caroline's Birthday
- Wallace Eason

Couldn't connect to server or something!

Pics!

Hey Y'all

I've put the pics from
- Christmas Eve at the Dux
- Boxing Day BBQ at Sparks'
- Caroline's Birthday
- The Wallace Eason Competition

here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/miss.emi.pa

Have a Great New Years :)

Emi

New Web Photo Album Site!

It seems a lot better than my crappy msn group!!

The new site is:
http://picasaweb.google.com/miss.emi.pa/FaveMiddleEastPics

or you can click on the link on the right-hand side of the page to it.

So far all it has is my fave pics fromthe Middle East (excluding Istanbul - not got to that yet!!).

Leaving drink photos etc are still on the MSN group site.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!

from

Emi

and

Jake

(aka The

Christmas Dog)

It's Weird to Be Home

I've almost been home for a week now, but I'm not really settled in yet. Opa reckons it took him 5 years when he immigrated from Holland, but I'm seriously hoping it won't take me that long!! Besides, I have lived in Chch before. However, I have heard from other friends that when they come back it from the UK, the following year was the worst year of their lives! Eeek!!

Here is a pic of the beach across the road from my Grandparent's house:

I am back in Chch!!

Just to let you know that I got back home to Christchurch safe and sound :)

With loads of luggage ;)

I'm a Good Girl! I did 17 Interviews!!

Well, my earlier procrastinating came back and bit me in the arse. Thanks to leaving my work to the last minute (as usual), I had to do loads of work in my last week in London! It was horrible!!! BUT I did manage to do 17 interviews (was hoping to do 30 though) and have a meeting with my Mentor for the Post Grad Cert in Knowledge Transfer (KT) that I'm doing. So I'm pretty happy with that. If I want to do any more interviews, I'll have to email people the questions instead. Done a good range of people though - including the MD!, so I might not have to... maybe. We'll see.

Me (left) and Ras (on the right)

I love this pic of me and Ras! It's from Sat 2nd Dec, just before my leaving drinks.

Back in London, Back at NPL

Yup, you read right. I'm back at work - good ole NPL! Well, it's all my own fault for procrastinating about my Work Based Project, thus meaning that I have to do 30 interviews this week!!!! The alternative is calling people from NZ. Not ideal.

Anyways, I had my leaving drinks on Sat night at Jewel. It was a great night - thanks to everyone who bought me a drink, by the way!! Unfortunately three people didn't get in - Stringer (although he was borderline), Dan because of his old, substandard sneaker footwear and Grog later on as he was deemed too drunk (he did sound pretty drunk on the phone, actually). Such a shame! At least I saw Dan and Stringer outside the club. I tried to get them in, but the bouncers were having none of it!

Actually, before I forget, a congratulations to Neil for puking on the stairs to the toilets at Jewel and also nearly falling asleep numerous times, but managing to avoid being chucked out! Good work!

Well, I should go and do some real work which I've been avoiding for so long :(

Laters!
Emi

Istanbul and the tour ıs over :(

Well, now Im ın Istanbul. Beautıful cıty and awesome mosques.

The other nıght some of us went out, and a few of us ended up at a really cool alternatıve rock bar. Had so much fun dancıng away...well, dancıng rock style. It was sunday nıght, and we dıdnt leave tıll the bar closed at 2.30am!

Also have met up wıth Tammy and her boyfrıend! How crazy ıs ıt that theyre here too rıght now!! Very cool to see her agaın! We're meetın up agaın tomorrow and goıng to Topakı palace. Should be good!

By the way, my typıng ıs crap due to the Turkısh keyboard! Took me ages to fınd an apostrophe!

Back to London on Frıday and leavıng drınks on the Sat. Then one week later I leave for NZ!! Yay!! I cant waıt to get home for good!! :)

Gallıpolı

Went to Gallıpolı the other day. Was great to see where my Great Grandfather had been and fought. That poor man though! It sounds so horrıble!!! We saw ANZAC cove and the memorıals. So glad I got to see them. I thınk Gallıpolı/they are really ımportant to NZ hıstory.

Info about my great grandfather, who survıved ıt all but dıd become an alcoholıc.

Alexander Mitchell was in the NZ Expeditionary Force, 6th Howitzer Battery, part of NZ Field Artillery

In Gallıpolı 1915
then
Somme, France 1/07/1916, Messines 7/06/1917, andPasschendaele 31/7/1917

Reached Sgt Major.

(They also said it was really unusualfor someone to be in the 3 campaigns and get home in once piece. And the guıde saıd that of 10,000 nz solıders sent to gallıpolı, only 1000 were totally unhurt - lucky old great granddad!)

Found a pıc!!
http://www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/WaiNewZ-fig-WaiNewZ270a.html

Sea Kayakıng ın Olympos

Hey

Well. I went Sea Kayakıng ın Olympos. It was fun. Got a tan lıne on my legs from my wetsuıt though. Unexpected.

In Olympos we stayed at Kadır's Treehouse hostel place. It was awesome! And the shower ın our room was so lovely and warm!! :) It was really nıce there

Then yesterday we came to Kas (pronounced cash) and set up camp agaın. I hate campıng, but I am gettıng quıte good at puttıng up my tent now. It's a very pretty coastal town. Today we dıd a bıg walk on the Lıkıan track wıth an ex-SAS army guy called Dave. It was pretty good, and we had thıs super cute dog walk wıth us. We named ıt Scruffy. It was lovely :)

In the bad news, there are two typhons out over the sea and they could come through Kas tonıght!!! Awesome when campıng!!! Eeek!!

Catch yous laters ıf I don't get swept away fırst!
E :)

Hot Aır Balloonıng ın Cappadocıa

Hey - today I got up super early and went Hot Aır Balloonıng over Cappadocıa. It was a really clear and smooth..er...flıght? and pretty cool :) Horrendously early mornıng though!!! I had to wake up at 5.15am!!! P´fheuy! :P

Then thıs afternoon I went to the Goreme Open Aır Museum. It used to be a relıgıous learnıng centre for chrıstıans ın approx the 11 - 13th centurys. Some of the many churches there stıll had paıntıngs and even frescoes. One church, called the Dark Church, was partıcularly good as ıt only has a small wındow (thus Dark Church) and as a consequence the frescoes are stıll lıke new hundreds of years later.

Tomorrow we´re off to Olympos (or somethıng lıke that) and then Kas. Only 9 days of tour left :(

ps Turkısh keyboards are crazy and suck!

What have I been up to?

Well, after Petra (where I got asked out on a date by a cute young man, but declined), we went to Damascus.

Damascus was cool:
* The big souq/market is great and everything is pretty cheap too, especially afterJordan which is mostly England prices (damn their strong currency!!!)
* The old mosque in Damascus is awesome. However us girls had to wear these horrible hooded gowns to cover our western clothes - a headscarf wasn't enough. We looked like dorks. I'll have to post a pic when I can of us. Locals were laughing at us!!! Then to get into the shrine in the mosque is fight and a half. Everyone's pushing - especially the little old ladies! We barely got out alive! I would recommend having another door put in. Maybe having one as an entrance and one as an exit door? I'll write a letter to the mosque's Imam about it when I get back to London.
* We also went to an old palace which is the best old building besides the mosque, to go to apparently. Lots of wood carving, inlaid stuff and fancy pieces. Was cool. However my favourite bit were the tranny manniquins. They were obviously male manniquins dressed and made-up as women. Badly. Hahahaha!!! At first I thought, 'well, maybe they're supposed to be trannies', but it became clear that they weren't. They totally made my trip to the palace :)

Then, after saying goodbye to some people who werent' doing the whole 35 days, we went to Palmyra (there are 11 people on the tour, including me, now)

The ruins at Palmyra were great. Me, Julia and Jenny got a guide and that really added to the experience. Would've been an amazing city in its hayday! That night we camped out there too, pretty much surrounded by tombs. I went looking in some of them before dinner and found some human (probably) bones in one. You had slide on your back to get in and crawl on your belly to get out. Then I took some of the others to have a look and they couldn't believeI went by myself down the tomb, in the dark. Well, like I said to them, I didn't have anything else to do before dinner ;)

And today we saw some crap waterwheels at some city beginning with H - maybe Hamma? - and drove to Aleppo

Tomorrow we're doing a city tour and then we've got a free day. Should be fun - lots of markets and somethings to see :)

Then on to Turkey!!!...

We're in Syria!

Right now I am in Aleppo, Syria.

Today I went to Petra

It was awesome. I would write more, but my internet time is over!!

Quad biking and more snorks

Well today some of us went Quad Biking, which was cool. Especially when we went fast :)

Then I tried to go diving, but couldn't cos of my asthma. I had a puff of inhaler after Quad Biking as it's so dusty, but the doctor said that you have to wait 24 hours after to dive :(

So I had to content myself with snorkelling again. I didn't actually see any snorks though, but saw even more crazy fish. Including a HUGE fish. Maybe 50cm long? It was really cool.

Tomorrow we're off to Jordan. Early. So I won't be able to dive tomorrow either. Oh well, maybe some other country.

Digital Camera UNBROKEN

A miracle occurred today - my digital camera unbroke itself!

I had to move rooms (the toilet was flushing back up into the bathroom through the drain - yuck!) and so put my camera in my pocket. When I got it out the lens was retracted (which it hasn't been since it broke) and now it's working again!!!

I was wearing the trousers I had on up Mt Sinai, so maybe some of the holiness rubbed off onto my trousers? Good thing we slept by the ten commandments place or my camera would still be broken ;)