May 14, 2001 — Mudeif Productions

*Elizabeth aboard our luxury bus to Baghdad.*

Sixteen hours in a bus was our fate for the day. Word spread last night about what time the busses were gathering, which seems to be par for the course - that's how we found out about the conference, how we knew what hotel to gather at, how we knew we needed a second passport, etc. Two weeks of a schedule based on "hearsay" might be a bit much, though.

We gathered with some of the 400 others going to Baghdad in front of the Iraqi Embassy for our first-class luxury ride across the Jordanian and Iraqi deserts. Unfortunately, first-class was booked and we settled for "'steamer" class.

We are being very careful to talk discretely about where we are currently living. Even though working with Palestinians is a popular idea among Iraqis, the reality means that we have been in and out of "Dixie" - an unpopular notion. Still, since we are part of an official delegation, we feel comfortable in confiding in most people and will take most of our cues from those in the know.

This is truly an unique experience already, with Maronites talking to Pentecostals, Lebanese speaking with Dutch, priests conversing with laity (and that was all just the two guys behind us!).

*Removing bags at the border for a cursory check.*

We arrived at the border to discover that cellphones are forbidden from entering Iraq - the GSM technology used in Europe and this part of the world has been used militarily for precision attacks. Israel has used it in assassinations of Palestinian leaders, and the Iraqis clearly fear that might be the case here. It's also probably true that there's some fear of free-speech being allowed access into the country, too. When we double-checked with one of the organizers, he said, "I told you not to bring them." Apparently that announcement hadn't made it to us through the grapevine. We buried the phones in our bags and held our breaths during the cursory bag inspection (one bag was opened, given approval, and the rest of the caravan was waved along).

As we made our way through the desolate desert, we stopped several times along the road to fill up at "gas stations" - barrels of fuel jerry-rigged with a pump and a hose. Fuel prices are unbelievable - $1 will buy you 25 gallons.

We arrived at our 5-star hotel in Baghdad, which was indeed quite nice (that included two TV channels, a roll of toilet paper, and a toilet!), and unwound by gazing at our balcony's truly extraordinary view of the Tigris River. We're between the Tigris and Euphrates! Mesopotamia! Sumer! Babylon! Ur! Ashur! Nineveh! Nimrod! Wow.