Hello again from Baghdad. It is definitely hot -- apparently 33 C the other day. Things here are settling down and the city is beginning to work again. What do you say about a 7,000-year-old-city? It just slowly gets on its way.
It is particularly exciting for me because I am able to experience first hand what my parents experienced over 50 years ago when they came to Japan as one of the 10,000 people Gen. Douglas McArthur asked to help rebuild the country after the war. Let's all pray Iraq succeeds the way Japan did.
I can symphatize with the person from Hong Kong who wrote to you about her experience with immigration when she let her visa expire. Although the circumstances were a bit different, I too let mine expire nearly six weeks.