Sunday

Just to show that I really am in Iraq, and not sitting poolside in a Club Med sipping daiquiries and soaking up the eye candy, here's a photo of dorky ol' me taken yesterday. This is at the "Crossed Swords" arch, which is just down the road from the new Embassy compound. All of us in the office went out for lunch at the best pizza place in the whole International Zone. No, it's not the only pizza place in the International Zone ... there's one at the Base Exchange. So the competition is stiff.

Today the wind picked up a bit and it got dusty. Really dusty. This afternoon, it looked like a thick orange fog had rolled in. Or that the window had been tinted a deep orange. Only it wasn't fog. It was dust. A nasty dust that makes your eyes gritty and gets into everything you have. If you spend any time outdoors, like the guards do, you need to wear a mask and goggles so you can see and breathe.

I got a good bit of sleep last night (yaay!) and am about to hit the rack and try it again. Wish me luck!