New sights and sounds

At one point on the flight out of Dubai, Beth turned to me and says, "I think we're flying over the mountains of Iran." I looked out the window at beautiful, rugged, snow-laced mountains, and wondered what in the world I was doing in this part of the globe. Until now, such locations were just place-holders on a world atlas or answers on a test. But there we were, flying over a part of the world where headlines are made almost daily.
New sights were not limited to those from 30,000 ft in the air, either. Once we landed, several more mental images etched themselves into my head. For starters, an old man in national outfit and turban drinking... a Red Bull, of all things. A traffic policeman frantically waving a hand-held stop sign at a roundabout, almost completely in vain. An old man forcing his way into a bustling intersection trailing a large cart laden with heavy produce. A completely veiled woman angrily tossing large rocks at school boys who had the audacity to let a soccer ball roll into her leg. We are not in Kansas anymore!