Thanks everyone. I leave later tonight and I'm still really excited about it. Hopefully when I get back Obama will have the nomination wrapped up and we can start talking about how McCain is totally gonna beat him in November
Sidenote: Learning basic Farsi in two months is a bitch.
I know it's going to be a magnificent experience, Aakash. And as I said, while you're in such a hardcore fundamentalist country, make sure you keep your bi-sexual tendencies to yourself.
Edited By Damien on 1204091241
"Y'know, that's one of the things I like about Mitt Romney. He's been consistent since he changed his mind." -- Christine O'Donnell
Hey everyone. I figured the board would eventually slump a little after the Oscars (well, after the post-Oscar analyzing/complaining that is as much part of the ritual as anything else) but I just wanted to let everyone know I'll be away from March 3rd to March 14th. I'm going to Iran.
This has been in the works for a while. A few of you already knew about it, but if I didn't get a chance to tell you, then yes it all worked out and I'm going. One of my best friends is a graduate of Columbia's Journalism School, and she wanted to go to Iran and do some work on religious minority groups and how they maintain their identities in Iran. She received all the necessary funding and travel grants and asked me to go with her as an assistant and photographer. Naturally I was excited and we've spent the past two months applying (and re-applying, our first attempt was rejected) for our Visas. The Iranian government has given us ten days (if you omit travel time) -- which is slightly less than we'd hoped for, but still pretty good -- and we are bound by a strict itinerary. It's all very exciting actually. We're supposed to be accompanied by a government official at all times and we're prohibited from straying from the approved list.
Anyway, I'm really stoked about this and SO glad (yet again) that I decided to take the rest of this academic year off. It's paying off immensely. I have the rest of the time off from The Nation, between now and March 3rd, to relax and tidy up loose ends in New York. I'm really loving 2008 so far.