Libya: Pirating

Pirating in the States is fairly easy. If you have a computer, internet connection and a dream you can get pretty much anything. Even if you lack technology you can hunt around any major metropolitan city and find some pirated movies on a street corner. It is not uncommon, but it's usually a practice take care of from the privacy of one's home.

In Libya I was expecting to see piracy, but not as a national past time. Drive 3-4 blocks on any street and you are bound to see a stand on a side walk or more commonly a brick and mortar store selling pirated media. The staples are DVDs, CDs and PS2 games, but if you have $10 LYD ( $7.85 USD) you can pick up a copy of Windows Vista Pro. The one lament I heard from my cousins was the lack of Playstation 3 games, or rather that they where paying full price for them ($60 USD).

What is still a bit unclear to me is where all of the product comes from, a certain amount is a cottage industry, e.g. Arabic music. A practice I heard about more than once though was families buying ultra cheap goods from China, converting an old garage into a store front and opening up shop. I'd imagine that is where the "FunStation 3 and New Slim 2" came from in the above photo.

Libya: Driving

I major topic of conversation during our two week stay was the traffic and driving habits of Libya and Libyans. Many family members took an interest in our opinion of driving in Libya or took a moment to explain why it was the way it was. Before we get in to the why though, lets cover the what. Driving in Libya is similar to driving in the United States, in that they use automobiles to accomplish the task, much like we do. The similarities end there though.

Holding a lane is optional, if you are so inclined you can get your Pacman on and gobble up those delicious lines. They are tasty, but why stop there, feel free to use the shoulder to pass you fellow driver. Speed limits are optional as well, there are posted limits, but getting pulled over for exceeding them does not happen. At least not in my experience or the experiences conveyed to me.

Stop lights are rare, but for the most part drivers heeded them, but not always. Plenty of people get impatient and drive through red lights when they can see it is clear. A practice I have dabbled with on my bicycle, but never in a car. The right of way is unclear in most cases and does not exist at roundabouts. It was described to me as follows. "In the States whoever is in the roundabout has the right of way. In Libya whoever is stronger has the right of way".

This can make for a stressful situation every time you leave the house. So I wondered allowed if the system just worked. If people naturally drove more hyper aware and thus safe in a chaotic system. It is not. I heard many accounts of frequent accidents and deaths and a reference to an article about 60 vehicle related deaths in the span of a week. Scary stuff.

It wasn't always like that though. When we went in 1996 the amount of cars on the road was a fraction of what it is today. After embargoes of the past lifted though, Libya had tons of cash on hand for development and the capacity to import new cars. Throw millions of cars at an infrastructure that was made for thousands and you get chaos. The trip was amazing and I didn't spend every waking moment fearing car travel, but I easily could have.

Libya: Coffee & Tea

The worlds of coffee and tea are not foreign to me by any means. I drink my weight in coffee most weeks at work and I grew up brewing English tea for my mother daily. In Libya there is more of a formality to tea and coffee though. Not ceremony mind you, but definitely more importance.

The three staples that we were offered with great consistency while in Libya were:

• Turkish coffee
• Touareg tea or green tea with mint
• Karkadé Tea or red tea

I mostly partook in the Turkish coffee and green tea with mint, not that there was anything wrong with the red tea. Turkish coffee is served in the tiny coffee cups seen above and it is very strong and very sweet. Which is perfect for the small portions you drink, usually with a cookie or phyllo treat. Green tea with mint or Touareg as the internet helped me term it, was by far my choice of the three. Served in what looks like a shot glass, with or with out a handle, and the same treat mentioned above.

I have consumed plenty of green tea in the states, but it never really hooked me. Add some mint and a healthy amount of sugar and I feining for it. I have made it a goal in the this month to start to brew my own Touareg at work. I need to get the right tea and portions down and give it a go.

Back in the States

72 total hours of travel, 15 days abroad and 614 pictures later and we are officially returned to the States as of yesterday (7/12) at 1:50p EST. I have more information compressed and ready to offload in my mind than I have the capacity to handle at this point. I'm still struggling to get back time gained and time lost between coming and going. For now though, I will share this. I have a plan to write numerous post that include cultural pieces and trip logs. I will be posting tons of pictures and we have hours of video to edit. Today will be spent catching up at work though, as I start my new job tomorrow afternoon.

P.S. And I have a D&D game to plan for this Friday. Holy Moly my mind is racing a mile a minute on very little sleep.

P.S.S. The trip was too long and too short. Lots to share and very soon.

Off to Libya

I've been fairly vigilante about posting here with regularity since my last blogcation in 2009. A feat I have actively pursued not just for me, but for anyone else who might find the work I do here mildly amusing (you're few, but greatly appreciated). Saturday we left Richmond bound for Libya. Not the Caribbean cruise most folks take, but the native country of my father. We will be visiting countless family members, seeing Roman ruins most euro travelers never get to enjoy and taking in a Mediterranean coast that rivals anything you could see from a ship south of Florida. I'm super excited for it all.

When I return the blog will resume and I will have more pictures and video to share you than you mind will have capacity to process. By that I mean a metric ton. See you then.