I know I’ve been saying I will finish the Iraq trip report a few times in the past few days. I think, though, I will have to put the trip report project on hiatus for a week, or so, until finals finish. I hate to sound like a whiner, but with three finals, a problem set, and three major assignments due by the 22nd, I’ll already have plenty of writing to complete, and sadly, will not have the hours to sit down and publish the longest section of the trip report, my day in Erbil, Iraq. Though the quality may seem suspect, the proofreading deplorable, and the jokes cheap, each segment of a trip report takes me hours to write, based on my simple enjoyment and love of laboring through writing, and trying to concoct the most descriptive, visceral, and humorous trip experiences possible. I not only want you to feel as if you are with me when you are reading, but to learn about me, my travel patterns, thoughts, and the way I view the world. With my somewhat feverish commitment to that type of depth, I simply cant jury rig a jalopy of a trip report together in a few minutes, with vague, insipid descriptions, cliches, and clunky prose, and especially could not simply cobble together a trip report for a day in Iraq.

Thus, dear readers, I will finish the trip reports by Christmas day. Consider it a pathetic attempt at an x-mas present from this blog. I’ll have the Erbil portion up when I return home to San Francisco on the 23rd, the return flight to Vienna, and the Hilton Stadtpark segments on the same day (both shorter), and finally, the epic/horrendous return in Swiss International Air Lines (gotta call it by the full name if it’s that cool sounding) to New York on the 25th.

It’s one of the two cruddiest times of the year to be a student.