I am traveling today to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to attend my son Owen’s graduation from Northern Michigan University. He earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics and a certification in Cyber Security. He graduated in four years (thanks!), a first in our family, and we are looking forward to seeing him and celebrating this special day with him. We are trying Qatar Airways for the first time and it is a new route for us between Tashkent and Marquette. It is a four-hour flight to Doha and then a 14+ hour flight to Chicago. We then fly north approximately 90 minutes on American to Marquette. It is a lot of flying for a short visit, but this is the expatriate life.
International airports in affluent countries are so much better designed and fitted than American airports. My other son Oliver’s birthday was yesterday (April 30) and so we bought him a PSG soccer jersey when we landed in Doha this morning. Qatar hosted the World Cup 2022 and so there were plenty of soccer stores in the airport. We have never been to Qatar (UAE and Bahrain yes) but I don’t count a country on my list unless we leave the grounds of the airport. (My daughter Ocean was looking like a baddie) – Ocean’s contribution to MY blog. I am writing this at hour 8 on our flight to Chicago. QA has free, fast internet on the plane. I am ambivalent – I can get work done and blog, but I used to love shutting off and diving into a book while flying. I am trying to do a bit of both on this flight.
It was a busy weekend with the Cyclothon and Scholarship Gala on Saturday, so it was a full day of work. On Sunday, I went for a bike ride after doing some yoga. The warm weather arrived in Tashkent. The city has a lot of bike paths and beautiful parks. Tashkenters take advantage of the green spaces. Above are some photos of the Park of the Oppression of Victims of the Great World Wars. I have a route that goes from the main Ankhor Canal pathway to this park.
Bill's Blog 