Editing Problems Persist

Even though the English news now gets priority after 8 o'clock, editing is still difficult. The editors are still not ingesting any of the English interviews, despite being told to do so countless times by me and others.
Many times this week I have had to go through the exercise of searching for the tape and then ingesting the English portion of it into the editing machine less then an hour before my story was due to air, just so i could begin to get it edited. A few times I thought that I was going to miss my slot. The editing process would go much more smoothly for everyone if the English was ingested in the early afternoon, right after the press conference, along with the Dhivehi.

The Night Market

After work one night I went to the annual night market in Male. It is a large bazaar that occurs just before the feasting month of Ramazan. As part of Ramazan, Muslims are supposed to clean out their houses and shops and get rid of old things. The market is organized to give shop owners an opportunity to get rid of their old merchandise at very low prices. For this reason mops and brooms are also vary popular items.

Not only clothiers are at the night market. Music shops, restaurants, plant nurseries, and even pet shops have stalls. The market it very large, going almost the entire length of the island on a road next to the sea.

The bazaar is also very, very crowded. Bargain shopping is not the only reason people go to the night market. It is so crowed that people end up bumping into each other. Many go there just for this reason, it's the most physical contact they're allowed to have in public. Needless to say you have to keep your wits about you.

Fly to Bangladesh!

The first direct flight from Bangladesh flew into Male International Airport this week. This is important news because Bangladeshis comprise the largest expatriate community in Maldives. Most Bangladeshis are part of the class of manual laborers, or otherwise do jobs that the Maldivians don't want to do. Best Air, the Bangladeshi company offering the flight is offering a lower fare hoping that the workers will be able to afford it and will fly home more often on their airlines.
However this may not happen. There is a large problem with illegal immigration in Maldives. many foreign workers come to Maldives on a work visa and disappear when it's time for them to leave.

Dinner with MDP Supporters

A couple on nights ago we had dinner with a group of reporters from Minivan News. Despite the fact that the name means freedom in dhivehi, the news service is rather biased toward the main opposition party and its candidate, Anni. Because of this much of the discussion revolved arround how crazy President Gayoom is.

While they may not be following the best practices of journalism, I would have to say that the president made some crazy statements this week. First of all he has declared all of his political opponents official liars, and has published an official list. Apparently he does not realize that in politics you respond to you opponents accusations instead of just calling them immoral.

The president did take the historic action of setting a date for constitutional ratification. He will ratify the constitiution on August 7th... after he sends it back to parliment to correct the grammar. This statement comes afther the government of the EU threatened to withdraw aid if the government didn't move toward the election with more speed. The president responded basically by telling the EU that he dosn't need them and, to stay out of his business.

Another interesting fact: in recent press conferences the president's eyes have looked glazed and unfocsed. It is possible that he may be in bad health, and on heavy medication.

the voter lists are out!

Unlike in the United States, every citizen of the Maldives who is over the age of 18 is automatically registered to vote. In order to show who can vote, the country has published a book with a list of all eligible Maldivian citizens. The problem with this is that since no one actually has made an affort to be on or off the list. there may be dead people on it, or living people missing from it.

To combat this accuracy problem, the government has released the list to the public for the next two weeks so they can look at it, and report any problems on a hotline. The lists are at the district offices. The offices do not make it easy to check. Some of them don't even know if they have it or not, and you have to make a point of asking for it at those that do. Here is a reporter doing a standup at one of the district offices in Male.

The other problem with this system is that a person's name is posted only in the the book of the atoll where he or she was born, but they can vote anywhere in the in country.
Maldivians living outside the country will not be able to vote in this election unless they physically travel to the Maldives. The country is simply not organized enough to have an absentee ballot system. I get the feeling that the majority of expatriates are against President Gayoom , so despite the level of disorganization, I wonder if the there are no absentee ballots, in part because the sitting government has not made it a priority.

New Batch Graduation

The new batch of reporters that had been in training first in Addu atoll in the south and later in the news room in the capital, graduated last night. They leave today for the atoll bureaus. The graduation of this batch will allow TVM to open all 20 of it's atoll bureaus,only 6 of which were functioning before. Their graduation also allows many reporters who have spent years in the atolls to return to Male.
The ceremony was held at Voice of Maldives, the state radio station. Afterwards there were refreshment served, and everyone discussed where they were being sent. They seemed to enjoy teasing me that I would be going to the U.S. Atoll... go figure.
Most of them seem to make good reporters and I wish them the best of luck.

Continuing Money Problems

The new finance minister gave a press conference yesterday, along with the education minister and the head of the pay advisory board. The finance minister announced that in order to keep already bad inflation problems from worsening the government would have to cut its expenses by at least 20 percent over the next five months. He says that the government really needs to cut more than that to actually spend within its means. Because of this, the teachers, who have been threatening to strike for more pay, would not be getting a raise. The education minister at this point called on teachers not to strike, but then said that it is likely that they will. The teachers union is going to meet today to determine if they will walk out.
The press conference was held around noon and stopped for ten minutes during prayer time. The education minister stopped talking in the middle of a sentence to pray.
One of the reporters is looking into the facts of teacher pay. She learned that the union leaders make much more money than average workers in the Maldives for working relatively few hours. The teachers union did not consent to an interview with TVM.

Burning Drugs

Today I covered a drug burning on one of the prison islands. The police invite the media to these burnings to prove that they were not using or selling the drugs themselves. The police burned almost a kilo and a half of drugs, that came from 56 separate cases. This is part of the effort to combat the large drug addiction in Maldives. Almost one third of the country is addicted to some type of illegal substance.

Tsunami survivors

While on Hulhumale we visited an encampment of tsunami survivors. They are currently living in tin shacks while they are waiting for the government to build their new homes. There is no transportation except the school bus. One family of thirteen lives in one such two room shack, with no air-conditioning and no running water. There is a tank in one corner of the encampment; it collects rain that is to be used as drinking water. Despite their situation they invited us into their dwelling for a cold drink of soda. The government says that their new home, on a safe island, will be ready within the year. But the family after four years on Hulhumale has made a life there and wants to get a larger apartment on that island.

Relocation problems

Last Thursday I went to Hulhumale, the man-made island that is about a 40 minute boat ride from Male. President Gayoom commissioned the building of the island as a safe haven for the people of Male if the sea levels rise. The island is 6 feet above sea level which probably makes it one of the highest points in the entire country. The only problem is that practically no one has moved there. This is partly because the Hulhumale development corporation it not that good about providing basic utilities such as running water, or about charging affordable prices for plots of land, which then have to be built on. The result is a lot of wide open spaces and dirt. The flow of foodstuffs and other goods to the island is also not constant. I talked with the daughter of a shopkeeper who says they do a good business when they have something to sell.

Richest Man in Maldives

Here's a look at some of the water bungalows at Paradise resort.
I was eating lunch on Sunday at the main resort restaurant when someone tapped me on the shoulder. I turned around to discover that it was Gasim Ibrahim, owner of the resort, former finance minister, speaker of the special Majlis, and the richest man in the Maldives. I recognized him from news conferences I had covered. He was dining at his table with three MP's or members of parliament. He invited the TVM team to his table for coffee. Discussion ranged from the new constitution, to the quality of the TV station that he is starting. One interesting piece of information that came out of the discussion was that Anni, the main opposition candidate, may have his name taken off the ballot because he was formerly arrested for criminal activity. Gassim did not comment on the many rumors that he is running for president, although he is clearly working on something important. At the end of our coffee, he nicely but firmly dismissed us, so that he and his colleagues from the Majlis could talk business. An interesting note: we knew we were receiving a discount on our stay because we are working in Maldives, but when we checked out all of our extras, such as diving, had been completely paid for. We don't know by whom, but now we are wondering if someone will ask us to return the favor.

Underwater Sights

This past Saturday was Maldivian Independence Day. We took the opportunity to go to a resort, during the three-day holiday weekend. The Paradise Island resort was about a fifty minute speedboat ride form Male. Almost immediately after arrival we headed for the dive boat. The first day we went on a normal reef dive. While the reef itself was not spectacular, there were dense schools of fish as well as large numbers of eels, some of which were completely out of their holes. We also saw a rather large nurse shark sleeping under a rock shelf. The resort itself was huge and I enjoyed kayaking and sailing as well.
The best dive I went on during my time at the resort was the wreck of the Maldives Victory, a large cargo ship that sits about 95ft underwater. The ship still has cargo in its hold, mostly cement bags and photo albums. It is also possible to see the wheel house and adjacent head. We almost didn't get to dive on it because a recent storm moved the wreck and the dive boat had trouble finding it. Later that day we also dove on a manta ray "cleaning station." We saw at least seven of the large and majestic animals. The dive gear was on the metric system, with the air pressure in bars and the depth in meters.

Opposition Protest

The opposition has been making threats to take to the streets in protest for about a week now. Last night it happened. A crowd of about 2000 people began having a protest in front of the president's house. It turned into a quasi-riot as 13 people were arrested. A TVM cameraman was also beat up by the mob. He was taken to the hospital with bloody gash in the side of his head. Today the opposition parties actually banded together, and held a press conference, despite the fact that the government is saying it's illegal. The meeting was held at MDP headquarters. That is to say a shed down a dirt alley in someone's backyard. All of the candidates agreed that they want the constitution ratified yesterday, and blame the government for not passing the supporting legislation beforehand. There was no talk of picking an opposition candidate from among them at the conference. However, they were clear about the fact that they would continue to "protest" until the constitution is ratified.
We are waiting to see if they will take to the streets again tonight.

The New Batch

The new batch of journalists is here from the training center in Adu , the southernmost atoll. They are very eager to get their stories. They also recognize the importance of getting natural sound and doing stand ups in their packages. For this reason it is a pleasure to work with them.

Call to Prayer

I walked to the news room about an hour later than I usually do today. I took my normal route along the main street of male, and then turned right by the National Library onto the road where the TV station is. Normally it is interesting to just see the teeming life of Male. Today, however, just after I started walking the call to prayer sounded. It was a surreal experience. Because there are so many mosques on the island the call seems to emanate from all around you wherever you are. There were fewer people on the streets, but many just continued going about their business.

Man on the Street Interviews

There are two main suburb islands off of Male. Vilingili, which somewhat resembles an average inhabited island with dirt streets, and Hulhumale, a man-made island. Hulhumale is having problems. First of all the development company responsible for the new island only allows people from Male to buy land and build there. Because people who live in Male already have homes, most of the people who buy land are rich investors. Furthermore, the Hulhumale development corporation is not that good about providing things such as sewers and running water. Furthermore, the ferry service is overcrowded and the ferry company is insisting everything is fine. The upshot of this is that people from Hulhumale are angry and thus are willing to give interviews on camera. In a country where the vast majority of people shy away from the camera, being able to get an actual "man on the street" interview (even it if was in Dhivehi) was a refreshing change.

A Cultural Problem

In Muslim culture the left hand is considered "unclean." The problem with this for me is that I am left handed.

During a lunch time meeting, I was sitting next to Shifla, a devout Muslim and a news anchor at TVM. She noticed that I was eating with my left hand. Although she tried to hide it, one could tell that she was somewhat disgusted.

It's not like I can help it, I have done almost everything with my left hand all of my life, and don't even notice it. I just hope that this is not too much of a problem; I mean, they must have left handed people in Maldives.

By the way, Shifla was fasting that day to make up for a day that she did not fast during the last Ramadan.

Editing Improvments

Up until recently editing a package has been the hardest part of doing a story. The editing booths were broken or all in constant use. The problem was made worse by the fact that the English news was always bumped in favor of diary programs that should have been editied at another time. Sometimes my packages would barely get on the air.

Recently this situation has imporoved. After a meeting of the english desk, about how to improve the program, it was decided that we need a place to actually edit the show. Life is much easier now that from 8 to 9 PM the English bulletin has a booth dedicated to it.

Election Chaos

Despite the earlier assertion that the election will be in August, that probably won't be happening. The opposition apprarnetly wants to drag out the reform process beoynd the end of Gayoom's term in October. So MDP represntataves are not showing up in majlis and denying it a quorum. Because of this, few of the bills that need to get passed before the president ratifies the new constitution have been voted upon. If the constitution goes into effect before these bills are passed there will besically be no valid code governing criminal law, and there will basically be anarchy in the streets. so the president cannot ratify the constitution yet.

At the same time the opposition is threatening to riot to get the president to sign the constitution now, thinking that the worst case scenario will gain them votes.

While Anni, the MDP's candidate, may brand the president's policy towards China as "cheap politics," I think that intentionally attempting to plunge the country into anarchy is more than just cheap- it is inexcusable, to put it mildly.

The economic problems are also not helping Gayoom. Inflation is still out of control. Food is becomming harder to find. There is less and less on the shelves every time we go to the grocery store and some of the food we buy turns out to be spoiled or out of date.

Hiring Relatives

One of the odd things about Maldives is that everyone seems to be related to someone else who you know or who is famous. For example the niece of the Minister of Legal Reform used to work in the newsroom as a translator. Like her uncle she is being groomed to be a lawyer, and is currently in the the A levels or 11th grade, and sick of being defined by her relation to Nasheed.

TVM falls nunder the jusristiction of Nasheed's ministry. hiring your relatives is considered normal, partially because at some point it would be hard not to.

Another example: JD, another English translator, is somehow related to the news director!

The Wrong Dhoni

On Thursday we went to the hotel on the airport island for a team meeting and some dinner. On the way back we got caught in a monsoon, and couldn't find the ferry to take us back to Male. Eventually, we saw a dhoni, we were tired of standing in the rain, and decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth. We got on the boat , only to find that this was not the airport ferry, but was the local boat that took the passport control workers back to the city. It was slightly bizarre, but it was also free.

Three Ministers Resign

In the past week, three of President Gayoom's closest advisors have resigned without warning. They are not talking about why they quit their powerful jobs. The finance and tourism ministers quit earlier this week and the economic minsiter resigned yesterday. Because tourism is the biggest source of government revenue in Maldives, all of these ministers have something to do with the failing economy. The government budget is also missing one third of its funds. The president's solution to the problem is to pretend it dosn't exist, and say that he doesn't believe his ministers. Mabye they just don't want to take the heat, or they may be planning to run for president themselves. At any rate, something is going on.

Submarine Ride

The good part about doing feature stories is that you somtimes get to do fun things when covering them. On Wednesday, I got to take a trip on the only submarine in Maldives. It is a passenger submarine that takes tourists down to look at reefs. There is really a lot of marine life under the water. Being a certified diver I really want to actually dive now. Some of the time the sub dive was a bit touristy. such as the captive sea turtle that the companies divers bring by. The submarine company was celebrating its 4000th dive. The best part of covering this story was getting to have cake at 140 feet. The "reception" on the dock afterwards featured traditional Maldivian music, which consisted of drums and people shouting. All in all this was a fun story to cover. Another interesting fact: the owner of the sub also happens to be a presidential candidate, and the head of the Islamic Democratic party, although he was not talking about politics at this event.

The problem with doing feature stories, is that there is actually no story. so you are basically reduced to using a show and tell format. Covering this story was great. But I like writing hard news business packages better.

The race is on!

Campaign season is officially on! The Majlis recently waived the requirement to ban campaigning until the official start of campaign time. Above, you see the president signing the bill to remove the ban. Now everyone is campaigning. The country is going to try to have elections on August 23 before the fasting month of Ramadan in September. The two major parties are the DRP, led by President Gayoom, and the MDP, the largest opposition party. It is interesting to try and determine the platforms of these parties. The president denies that there are any problems in the country, and basically all the opposition will say is that they hate Gayoom. Other stories, such as where the parties get their money from, are hard to do, because disclosure of campaign finance information is optional until after the election. The press simply has to muddle through with what it has. There also has been some unrest in the president's cabinet. In the past week two of his ministers have resigned. One of them, the finance minister, is the richest man in Maldives, and is infamous for his attitude. He went so far as to disassociate him self from Gayoom's party. The other is the tourism minister. He was under investigation for something- we think- but he isn't talking and the government isn't either. TVM is giving the political parties free airtime. Above is one of the messages from the Islamic Democratic Party.

Making History

On my way back from a story I ran into one of the managers at the station. He stopped and gave me an interesting bit of news. Apparently, I am the first foreigner ever to report for TVM.

A Quick tour through Male

Friday is the holy day in the Muslim world, and our boss, the Minister of Information, has insisted that we take the day off. I decided to make use of the time by seeing a few of the sights around Male. Most of them are concentrated in the old Muslim center. I am standing in front of the former Sultan's Palace. It was built in 1908 for a Sultan who was deposed. It became the presidential palace in 1953 but later President Gayoom built a much nicer one a short distance away and this one is no longer used for that purpose. The Islamic center also includes the 16th century mosque and cemetery. Maldives has applied to make it a UNESCO World Heritage Site. I also walked by the the Grand Friday Mosque. I couldn't go in any of them because they are only to be used for purposes of prayer. They were all definitely in use at the time. I also passed by the entrance to Sultan Park on my walk, where a bomb was set off last September. The bombers were caught and convicted after a police raid on an island that is said to be a haven for extremists.

During my travels in news vans I have seen the president's palace and office as well as the tsunami memorial.

On TV

When I go to press conferences I am often shown in the cut away shots. This is apparently because Maldives likes to show that foreign visitors are interested in the political change going on in the country. Sometimes I am the only foreigner there, but most of the time there are others from, the Commonweath, the EC, the UN and other international organizations monitoring the election. This shot is from a news conference by the labor minister. He was announcing the sweeping changes in the labor law that, among other things, guarantee 30 days of vacation per year for all workers.

Editing problems

I went to the local produce market with Hamda to do a story on the traffic problems caused by unlicensed vendors setting up shop in the street along the waterfront. I came back from the market, and wrote my script. then I went to go get my sound bite... and found a big problem, the editing computer had no space. Shortly thereafter I was informed that due to the problems, my story would not air. I had been working on the story all afternoon and was not about to give up. So after the 8 o'clock news was in the can, and there was some free space in the machine I took the tape to the editing room, and got the bite. There was barely enough time to edit it together. The story aired! In this newsroom you can't just accept road blocks.

Local Market

The current produce market in Male is having problems. There are too many sellers, and many of them have camped out along the street near the official market place. The government has even provided indoor space but there is not one seller there because the location is apparently bad for busness. The government has issued a statement saying that any sellers on the street will be arrested by next Wednesday if they do not move. Going to the market, it's easy to see why. The vegetables are sold in triple digit weather on a street that is caked with dirt and littered with trash. It is definitely a health risk. The "market" is also blocking traffic in an already conjested city. I would not want to eat the food sold here.

The Language Problem

I realize that this is another country and that not everyone here is going to speak English. However, this still presents a problem when I am trying to get a news report. English is the second official language of the country. Theoretically 80% of Maldivians speak English. It is even a high school graduation requirement. Most people on the street, however, seem to only know Dhivehi, the native language. Above is a picture of the local produce market where we couldn't find a single person who spoke English.
Understandably, many officials who speak English choose to speak the native tongue. On occasion I have been asket to voice over Dhivehi quotes from officials. Normally the lack of English would not bother me. However, it is a large problem when I am trying to get a package for the English news and have no sound bites!

The Competition

Until this year, TVM was the only TV station in Maldives. One competing station is already on the air and another one is about to launch. Both stations will have competing newscasts. In order to compete TVM will have to start doing more packages about more relevant stories that are interesting to the viewers. One Problem: Maldivians do not like to appear on camera, getting an interview with anyone other then a government official ( or even with a government official) can be like pulling teeth. Worse, the reporters themselves to do not want to appear on camera. So their packages have no stand ups, they simply refuse to do them, and act as if in mortal terror when suggested they might be made mandatory. Mine was the only standup on the English language news last night , or the few nights since I’ve been here. That said, Maldives has no tradition of broadcast journalism and the people may need some time to get used to the idea of being on camera.

Religion and Banking

Another sign of the role of religion in Maldivian society: Many Maldivians are opposed to making use of western-style banking as it is against their religion to collect interest. So it was big news when a Muslim bank decided to open its doors in the Maldives. This bank uses money only as a means of transaction investing in various products that they expect to make money. The government is a major shareholder.

Economic Problems

Here is a picture of an editing room where I am working on my first report for TVM. It's about price increases in Male restaurants.

One of the things I was quick to realize after arriving here was that it is not only the U.S. that is experiencing hard economic times. The Maldives as well is experiencing a recession. The government is also running a substantial deficit, and is having trouble trying to bail itself out. In stores there has been almost 4 precent food inflation, and some restaurants have had to raise prices by as much as 8 percent in just the past week. The effects of the world food shortage are more pronounced here. Some restaurants are having trouble finding the ingredients they need. “We don’t have that” is a phrase heard all too commonly in Male restaurants these days. Some of the food in stores is stale or rotten. It doesn’t take long to realize that the economy could use a boost as everyone copes with higher prices for food and oil.

No Trek

One of my friends found a website in which I could watch Star Trek, my favorite television show, for free. When I tried to go to the site, I got a taste of what it is like to live in the Muslim world. The site was blocked by the goverment, apparently for un-islamic content!

Fling the Fish!

On the way to the resort we saw Maldivian fishermen offloading their fish in what is apparently considered a normal manner... throwing the tuna on the filthy street. The apparent lack of refrigeration in the 100 degree steamy weather can't be good either. If you ask for fish in the Maldives, make sure it's cooked!

Celebrating July 4th in Maldives

The minister decided to send us to one of the Maldives' famous resorts, specifically Chaaya Island Dhonveli, to celebrate our Independence Day. I had seen pictures of the tropical islands, turquoise water and endless blue sky but they do not do justice to the real thing. The view from our over-the-water bungalow was fantastic. However, the current made actually swimming off of the deck rather treacherous. This was a problem until I figured out that I if held on to the ladder and flattened my body in the water I could admire the view unobstructed by the wooden railing on the deck. Other activities included snorkeling and swimming by the beach where the current was not so strong.

It was not possible to go scuba diving because of Maldivian regulations requiring that everyone must do a checkout dive and then wait for a day before going to an actual dive site. While I would like to go diving at some point while I am here. I was prefectly content to snorkel swim and relax for one day before getting to work in the newsroom.

Many of the Maldivians working at the resort, upon learning about our work here, were eager to share their opinions about the elections, including the fact that one of the opposition canidates is gaining suprising amounts of support.

Unfortunately we could only spend the day at the resort. this one definitely lived up to all of the hearsay in the US. Now it is back to the newsroom, and reality...

In the Newsroom

Shortly after our meeting with Nasheed, I arrived at the newsroom where I will be spending most of my time. We met with the news director, Abdullah Rameez. The rest of the day was spent getting my bearings, and meeting the other journalists.
I will be worlking on the business desk doing reports regarding the inflation and economic problems that are facing the country at this time. I also will be helping the reporters with their English. The picture shows me in the control room with Hamda, the business desk editor, who was producing the English newscast.

Meeting with the Minister

While we were eating breakfast, we received a phone call from the minister of legal reform, information and arts. Mohammed Nasheed wanted to meet with us. Our team quickly got ready to go and headed to the Ministry. Shortly after our arrival we were ushered into his office. The discussion lasted for roughly one hour, covering such topics as ratification of the new constitution, the election coverage fairness code, other reforms that will have to be made in the country's news media and possible dates for the presidential election. He even decided to send us to a resort for the weekend before we begin our serious work! This was a good introduction to the problems that Maldives will face in making the transition into a free democracy.

First Impressions of Male

The two best words that can be used to be describe the capital of Maldives are "sensory overload." Male is the fifth densest city in the world consisting of 130,000 people packed into a one square mile airea. While being shuttled to my hotel, located along the Mageedi Magu, the main street of the city, I was amazed at the teeming life that is Male. We passed through typical streets no wider than the average sidewalk. Even at eleven o'clock at night the city was absolutly full of people. Despite the many things going on in the city I was glad to get a good night's sleep.

Seeing Singapore

Singapore was a good transition form the western/christian to the eastern/muslim world. Its status as a former British colony and geographical location offers a good deal of western culture, including the British custom of driving on the right side of the road. However, there are also a lot of veiled Muslim women. The city is also surprisingly green. There are flowers and trees everywhere. The small island of Singapore was also a good transition to the even smaller capital of Maldives. One can drive around the entire island of Singapore in less than two hours.
The tour of Singapore's downtown area showed the modernity. allthough some of its attractions were under construction, the cleanliness of the city, like the airport, impressed me. I'm standing next to the Fountain of Wealth, the world's largest fountain, which is supposed to be a feng shui method of bringing money into the city.
Later on I took a walking tour of the city. Despite the heat, I managered to see such sights as the Raffles Hotel, and the oldest church in the city. It took only a day but I felt like I have seen the highlights of the entire country.

Stopover in Singapore

On my way to Male I am spending a daylong layover in Singapore. Since Singapore Airlines offers a free transportation intothe city, I plan to make use of the time by exploring this small country. The airport has already impressed me with it's size and modernity, so I am eager to see more. This opportunity after a 17 hour plane flight. More details will follow.