Category Archives: Travel

Shrimp on the Barbie

Posted by interopia on

I have always loved travel, and Australia has long been at the top of my list of future destinations. By coming here, I have now checked off 5 of the 7 continents. But more importantly, it was always my dream to come to Australia and have a shrimp on the barbie next to the Sydney Opera House. As you can see, earlier this week I made it to the world famous landmark, fulfilling half of that aspiration. But I was heartbroken to find an absence of shrimp AND barbies in the immediate vicinity.

No worries though. Today I had my first authentic Australian shrimp on the barbie. Flavored with garlic, these tender tasty morsels were perfectly cooked up by my friends down under, Darren, Lindsey, and Kim. When they heard how important having a real shrimp on the barbie was to me, they rushed out to the market right away to get some. Thank you so much for fulfilling the pledge Paul Hogan made all those years ago.

shrimp1
shrimp2
shrimp3

Interopia and World Conquest

Posted by interopia on

Member States

Quickly and surely the website interopia.com has taken the world by storm. The site’s members, who call themselves Interopians, hail from 111 countries, nations that cover a vast majority of the world’s surface. English-speaking countries are those with the most members, but there are notable exceptions. For example, the second-ranked country is Vietnam, where Interopia is currently based. There are also sizable populations of Interopians in Germany, Saudi Arabia, and Russia.

It’s interesting to see the countries Interopia has yet to penetrate. While we are popular in Vietnam and nearby Laos (due to our physical presence), the site has yet to make an impact in other communist countries like China or Cuba, or in the so-called ‘outposts of tyranny’ of North Korea, Burma, and Iran. Much of Africa and Central Asia has yet to discover the magic of Interopia. In Europe, all but Lithuania, Kosovo, and Montenegro have been inducted. The only countries remaining in South America are Bolivia, Paraguay, Suriname, and French Guiana. My good friend Dr. Tiwtta has family in Bolivia, so I blame him for not getting the ball rolling over there.

We look forward to the challenge of putting an Interopian in all 193 of the Earth’s countries…and Antarctica. We will not rest until we attain total global influence. In the comments below, please let us know where you come from, and how you became an Interopian.

Saudi Sandals

Posted by interopia on

When I was a youngin, I grew up in Saudi Arabia with my family. My father worked as an engineer for the oil company there. All in all, I lived there for ten years, but had to leave in 1999 when my father retired. One of my favorite mementos I took with me was my pair of locally-made leather sandals. I wore them everywhere, so much that after a decade they finally disintegrated. They were well-made and lasted a long time, but couldn’t last forever. Thankfully, my friend Cody moved back to Saudi as an adult and now lives and works there (Cody collaborates on a lot of the music on this site). Just today, my longtime wish finally came true. I received these in the mail from him.

Leather sandals from Saudi Arabia

Leather sandals from Saudi Arabia

Thank you, Cody! I haven’t even worn them yet. I had to post this blog because I was so excited. They remind me of something that happened back when I was at boarding school in America, and my parents were still in Saudi. I used to get a lot of strange looks from people who had never seen such footwear before. One of the people that commented on them was Gladys, the lunch lady in the cafeteria. Gladys was a rather large African American woman with a stern face, and a lot of people didn’t like her because of how strict she was. I guess you could compare her to the “Soup Nazi” in Seinfeld. Well, she commented on my sandals a few times while I was in line for food, and this gave me an idea. The next time I went back to Saudi to visit my parents, I bought her a pair. As soon as I returned to school, I presented them to her. I will never forget the smile that lit up her face. I think it was the first time I ever saw her smile. Assuming she didn’t wear them every single day like I did, maybe she still has them, and they are in one piece. Hope you’re doing well these days, Gladys!

Edit: Just tried them on. Soooooo comfortable. And they will only get more comfortable. That’s the best part about them. They conform to the shape of your feet over time.