More Randomness

I got a haircut the other day. Iraqi barbers are just like American ones: they yabber away among themselves the whole time they're snipping away at your hair. And they make sure that some of your curly locks land on top of your nose and tickle the hell out of it until you can sneak a hand out from under the sheet. Our barbers have two real barber's chairs and one that looks remarkably like the chairs that are in all of our offices, complete with those little wheels. Iraqi barbers have one little trick that I've never run across anywhere else: the string. Yes, it's a string. They wind it up around their fingers and use it to pluck extraneous hairs out of your eyebrows and ears and anywhere else those extraneous hairs pop up. Don't ask me how they do it. I always have my eyes scrunched shut and have never actually watched. Suffice to say, it feels weird but it's effective.

Coming back from the DFAC tonight, walking along the street, we came across a street urchin selling DVD's at two for $5. We all bought two or four each, including me. Yes, they're black market, but as a wise sage that I worked with in Sarajevo once said, "a black market is better than no market at all". And nobody is a better salesman than a cute little kid with a woebegone expression.

I've been battling bureaucratic stupidity ever since I got here. I had a security clearance when I worked at the Embassy. When I came to work in DoD, we all thought my clearance would transfer right over. We thought wrong. The State Department and DoD don't share a common security database, and evidently it is impossible for some DoD clerk to sit down and type the same information from one database into another - this despite the fact that there's a law on the books requiring them to be able to do that. So we've had to elevate this to some ridiculously high level in Washington where it has languished for three months now. My Army clerk told me that it was quicker just to do a brand-new security investigation, even though one was just completed on me in January! Not only that, the new investigation would be done by the very same people who did the first one! I ask you, does this make sense? (You: "NOOOOOOO!!") So, faced with lack of movement at some high level in DoD, I submitted the paperwork to start another security investigation. Last week I was told that they couldn't process the forms because my fingerprints were taken on an SF86 card when they should have been done on an SF87. We're beyond the realm of the ridiculous now, into the world of Rod Serling's Twilight Zone: the only difference between the two forms is a slight re-arrangement of data boxes. Your tax dollars at work.

More bureaucratic bumbling: My command is going to move in a few weeks from the International Zone to our new digs out at Victory Base (which is out at the airport). For some reason, this means that we have to have a new zip code. So even though we're only going five miles or so down the road, and all our mail comes in and out of Victory Base now, just like it will then, we have to have a new zip code. And our postal operation closed down today to start the move. When did they finally tell us what our new zip code will be? Today. Really thoughtful and considerate support for those of us who have magazine subscriptions, huh? The Navy sends ships all over the world, all the time, has for years, and doesn't need zip code changes - why does the Army need a change just to go five miles down the road? Boggles the mind.

One good-news story: our DFAC has suddenly had plenty of peanut butter Clif bars. I've been stocking up - ya never know how long the supply will last!

Some of our people put out bread crumbs and other goodies for the birds. We have tons of little brown sparrows around here, along with those dark gray rats-with-wings (we have rats-without-wings, too). Anyway, there was a mother sparrow and her little one, and the mom was teaching junior about foraging. The little one would peck on the ground a few times and then look up at mom and open its beak wide, then mom would give it a treat, and junior would wiggle all over with excitement. Cutest thing I've seen in ages.

Sen. Kerry's Remarks on Terry Barnich and Maged Hussein

This item was sent as a comment to my previous post. However, I thought it worth a post of its own.

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Hi Skip. I thought you might like to know that after several weeks of working with the Senate Foreign Relations staff, Chairman John Kerry has placed a remembrance into the Congressional Record regarding Maged Hussein and Terry Barnich, your two friends who were killed on Memorial Day 2009 when their vehicle was destroyed by a roadside bomb outside of Fallujah, Iraq.

Kerry addressed the memorial statement to President Obama during the July 7, 2009 Senate meeting in Washington, DC.

I am sure that Maged’s and Terry's many colleagues and friends, both at Embassy Baghdad and around the world, are grateful for this honourable tribute.

I have copied a summary of the CR page below.

[Congressional Record: July 7, 2009 (Senate)][Page S7189]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:cr07jy09-186]

REMEMBERING TERRY BARNICH AND MAGED HUSSEIN

Mr. KERRY. Mr. President, I would like to say a few words about two brave Americans who were tragically killed in Iraq earlier this year. On May 25, 2009, Terrance Barnich of Illinois and Maged Hussein of Florida died when an improvised explosive device detonated near a construction site outside of Fallujah.

Terry Barnich was the deputy director of the Iraq Transition Assistance Office in Baghdad. He had signed on for multiple tours in Iraq and was the senior American expert responsible for expanding the generation of electricity across Iraq. Dr. Maged Hussein was the senior adviser for water resources in the Iraq Transition Assistance Office and a civilian member of the Army Corps of Engineers. He, too, volunteered for multiple tours in Iraq.

These two men represent the very best America has to offer. Both gave up the comforts of home to live in trailers in Baghdad in an effort to help provide a better future for Iraq. Countless thousands of Iraqi civilians have access to electricity and potable water as a result of Terry's and Maged's efforts. Along with the personal tragedy, their loss represents a serious setback for American reconstruction efforts in Iraq. We mourn their passing and offer our deepest condolences to their families.

Random Thoughts

It's a scorcher today. We're getting into the full-blown heat of summer, with highs around 115 and lows in the upper 90's. Its the kind of heat that makes your metal eyeglass frames burn when they touch your cheek. Sunglasses are mandatory, or else you'll be blinded by the transition from indoors to out. Those of us who are office slugs almost never go out. I've shifted my jogging from tootling around the compound to pounding the treadmill in the air-conditioned gym. When its 100 degrees at 9 pm, I'm not going to jog outside!

Walking over to the DFAC in the morning, I usually pass by a line of Iraqis waiting to go through security. I always say "sabah al khair" ("good morning") or "sala'amu aleikum" (peace be with you). You should see their faces light up! I guess they're used to Americans passing them by, or ignoring them, or something, but give them a greeting in Arabic and they're surprised and delighted. It's always good to start the day out with a smile.

The Washington Post has an excellent article today on life in Baghdad. It's a very well researched, composed, and written look at the competing tensions in Iraq. The balance between security and freedoms, coupled with nostalgia for a cosmopolitan Baghdad that hasn't existed for decades, is a delicate one here. The writer, Anthony Shadid, won a Pulitzer Prize in 2004 for his coverage of the Iraq conflict.

We lost four Marines in Afghanistan today. Ever since my two friends were killed in Fallujah, I feel these losses personally.

I was able to shed two big jobs today. They were time sumps that pulled me away from a couple of really important tasks. Now I should be back down to 12-hour days.

Ever hear of Clif bars? They're one of those energy bars and are very popular over here. One of our DFACs has cornered the market on the Black Cherry Almond versions. Every night, they have boxes of the things out, giving them away. Unfortunately, they taste like mud pies. However, you gotta pay attention, because every now and then the DFAC will put out something really good, like the Crunchy Peanut Butter ones, without telling anybody. I can eat a bunch of those. But not tonight. Tonight they had the mud pies. Sigh.

In High Gear

The pace at work has hit high subsonic speeds over the past couple of weeks. We were anticipating this might happen and it has. Basically, the Corps of Engineers does lots of construction and other projects all over the country. We have several organizations that we work closely with, primarily the State Department and a few military commands. Two of these primary customers suddenly want to throw a lot of projects our way. So we're scrambling, trying to take care of both of them, make sure they get what they need, balance out the priorities, and get this huge logjam of work through the system and out the door. Your intrepid reporter is playing a role in that, mostly flailing around noisily without much effect.

What's funny is that the two customers are so different. One of them just had a change in leadership. The previous person in charge was a bit, shall we say, "flighty". It was, "We're going to do this." A day later, "who told you that? We're doing something else!" Another day, "No, it's always been this one plan". Their direction kept changing faster than a pinball. Very difficult to work with. However, that individual is now gone and the new leadership is 180 degrees different. She's a very decisive woman who clearly understands what she intends to do. We had several projects that were sitting on the shelf waiting for some kind of decision from the previous leadership - we dusted them off, presented them to her, and she made up her mind right there that we'd do them. Cool! So we're off and running on some very worthwhile programs. They'll help Iraqi government officials do their jobs better. Your tax dollars will be well spent.

The other customer? Quite different. It almost seems as if the individual in charge is trying to come up with as many roadblocks as possible. I don't understand it - if your job is to get as many good projects completed as possible, I would think that you'd be doing everything in your power to make it happen. In fact, it's the opposite. We know how to do the projects on their list - we've done a gazillion of them already, and none of their proposals are difficult. But we need to get them soon, because after a certain date, the money goes away. Meanwhile, the individual in charge is coming up with one new monkey wrench after another. It's as if they know they're not going to succeed, so they're trying to come up with an excuse - "hey, we tried, but the Corps just couldn't do it!" It's sad to see, because the proposed projects would do a lot to improve essential government services - things like delivering electricity and water, enhancing security in some key areas, that sort of thing. I just don't see very many of them getting done under the current leadership.

Oh, well, that's just me grousing. Been a long day. On the positive side, we had some kick-butt burgers last night. Today was a beautiful day, nice and clear, with no orange dust blowing in through my air conditioner. And right now it's 11 pm and still 100 degrees outside.

Another Orange Day

So what is this? We've had orange days for five days in a row! I woke up this morning and didn't even have to open the blinds - I could see the orange light coming in around the edges. This is getting old. Every day, I take a shower, get all cleaned up, head out the door to work, and before I get there, I need a shower again. And my commute is all of 1 minute 33 seconds, hooch to desk, by actual measurement.

So here are a few pictures from wandering around the IZ today.

Visibility earlier today was maybe an eighth of a mile. Nasty dust!

This arch is on one of our FOBs (Forward Operating Bases) here in the IZ.

Let's go shopping!

Postcards? You want postcards? Maybe some pirated DVDs? Posters of Britney Spears? Lots of quality stuff here!

"We'll Surprise you With our Prices." I dunno, makes me nervous ...

Last night I was channel surfing, hoping to find the Daytona race, but it didn't come on until 3 am our time (rats). Discovered that you can get "Ugly Betty" dubbed into Arabic on the Al Arabiya network. Somehow that just seems wrong. Not as wrong, though, as when Janis and I found "Hogan's Heroes" dubbed into German on the tube in Chiemsee.

Yesterday was July 4th. Fortunately, the insurgents didn't celebrate it with any fireworks. Actually, it was a work day for us. Our holiday is today, July 5th. Don't ask me why. We have the full day off, which is why we were out gallivanting around the IZ and taking pictures of all the dust. We ate lunch at the DFAC at FOB Union III and, wonder of wonders, their salad bar had fresh spinach! So I had myself a big plate of it. Our DFAC specializes in soggy soyburgers, so fresh spinach was a big treat. Tonight, my command is having an all-American cookout, with burgers and dogs. Somehow, eating a soyburger seasoned with orange dust just doesn't appeal to me. Think I'll eat at our Dirtbag DFAC instead.

Burger Night

On Thursdays, our little gang goes out for burgers. There's a DFAC here in the IZ (I won't say which one - it's a secret!) that makes the best burgers this side of New York. Truly. Now, all the DFACs here make mass-produced burgers as part of their regular fare. Some do a pretty good job. But there's one that goes the extra step. If you ask, they'll go to the cooler and pull out the good stuff: 100% beef, perfectly seasoned, shaped by hand, and they'll grill it to your specifications. Want some American cheese on that? Sure. A double burger? No problem. The cook is a friendly guy with an unpronounceable name who knows how to cook 'em right. Getting fresh burgers cooked to order takes an extra bit of time, so we stand there by the window, sniffing the grill like kids sniff glue. Finally they're done and we scurry off to the table. Can't let 'em get cold - you have to eat 'em while they're still hot. Ohmigawd, it's epicurean bliss!

Not only do they do fabulous burgers, but their chili is pretty fabulous, too. It's nothing fancy, just good ol' spicy chili done right. One of our gang tried their steak-on-a-stick tonight and reported that it was as good as the burgers and chili. I didn't bother, my burger and my small bowl of chili was all I needed. Well, I needed a beer, too, but that ain't gonna happen anytime soon.

I mentioned "our little gang". We have a group of about eight that go to meals and sneak off to other FOBs together. It's a tight group, mostly officers, from a young Air Force captain to a crusty Navy Commander, with a few of us civilians mixed in, of which half are retired military. In the Navy, we called a group of officers like this the wardroom. It's pretty cool to be part of a real wardroom again. There's a comaraderie of shared experiences, teamwork, helping each other with the load, and watching each other's backs. When a good wardroom comes along, it's because everybody is part of the same team, like it or not, and going through a challenging experience together.

We have a good batch of people. They're smart. Actually, they're scary smart. One is an Air Force astronaut engineer, another has a PhD in aeronautical engineering, and a third has a PhD in geology. One has negotiated billion-dollar shipbuilding contracts. One civilian, who looked like an innocent in over his head, actually has one of the sharpest minds in the Corps and a will of steel when he chooses to exercise it. Any one of these people could easily have an out-of-control ego, but none do. Not that the rest of us would let them get away with it, even if they did.

Groups like this are not uncommon over here. I think that's one reason why so many civilians keep coming back, or never leaving - the experience of being a part of a tight group that's working on something vital and important. There's nothing like it.

But before you get the wrong idea: when my tour is up next April, I am not extending! I've got a wife and two little dogs waiting for me at home. So while I like the situation I've got here, the one at home is more important.

Hunkered Down

It's been a quiet day in Lake Woebegone, my home town ... ooops, sorry, Garrison, didn't mean to steal your line. But it's been a quiet day in Baghdad, at least. Today was one of our Big Milestones, the day when all American soldiers are supposed to be withdrawn from the cities. And they are, pretty much, except for a big bunch here in the IZ and a few at scattered small bases around the city. We've been hunkered down for the past couple of days. All movements outside the wire (meaning outside of bases or the IZ) have been prohibited. My command has restricted our movements even around the IZ. This is a day that's very important to Iraqis, the day that they regain control over us foreign invaders, and we didn't want to upset any schwarma karts.

So we stayed inside our bases and waited to see what would happen. Would there be riots in the streets? Rockets and mortars raining down on our heads? Swarms of Al Qaeda goons crawling over our T-walls? And the answer was: No. None of that. I heard some sirens earlier today, but it turned out to be Prime Minister Maliki's security detail (seemingly half the Humvees in the Iraqi armed forces) racing at high speed to or from some event. That was pretty much it. It was so quiet, in fact, that around mid-afternoon, our restriction to the base was lifted. We celebrated by walking down to FOB Phoenix for dinner. Hey, it's gyros night, and they make good gyros. Can't miss that.

Not that we didn't have a reason to be nervous. As I've noted in earlier posts, and as most of the serious news outlets have commented on, there has been an uptick in attacks over the last week. Most of the violence prior to this was against other Iraqis. This past week, they've shifted to attacking American forces out on patrol. One day last week, there were multiple IED attacks, a few mortar attacks, and some rifle and hand grenade attacks, all but one against our forces. No deaths that day, some minor injuries. Oh, and they kidnapped a 10-year-old girl. Now what does that tell you about these goons? That they're responsible, upstanding citizens with their nation's best interest at heart?

It seems that the only real trouble in Iraq today was a car bomb up in Kirkuk that killed about 25 people. None in Baghdad, at least none that I'm aware of yet. (Pay attention to Kirkuk: it's one of the potential flash points in this country, sitting on top of a huge pot of oil, and a focus of Kurd and Arab disagreement). So, in all, it looks like a successful day. A day in which nothing much happened.

Sometimes that's about all you can hope for.

Coming to a Milestone

Another milestone is coming up in a few days. June 30th is the date that US troops are no longer based in the cities. Beyond that date, our troops won't be in the lead, anywhere in Iraq, any more. Iraqi troops are to be in charge of all operations, with Americans as backup or as trainers if they're there at all.

There are already a lot of other changes ongoing. Back in October, I wrote an entry about going with our Blackwater security detail out to one of our project sites. Our convoy owned the road. Traffic was stopped for us, and if the road was blocked, we simply went around it, going the wrong way around a traffic circle or down sidewalks if needed. There was a logic to it: the more you're moving, especially in unexpected ways, the harder you are to hit. Now, however, we move with the traffic. We merge with the flow, and when the flow stops, we stop. That gets a bit uncomfortable sometimes, but so far there have been no troubles, at least none that I've experienced or even heard of second-hand.

I travel under the protection of a private security company (not Blackwater, or Xe, or whatever they're called today). But the same rules apply to US military vehicles, too. Actually, the Iraqi forces seem to hold military convoys to a stricter standard. So they've taken to moving largely at night, when there's little or no traffic, and people don't see them as easily. Trust me, it's hard to hide an MRAP, but night helps out a lot.

The Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, is really talking this up. He's calling it a "victory" and that it's a "repulsion of foreign oppressors". Inflammatory words to some, but we don't worry about it. He's a politician and needs to be seen as standing up to us. We need some strong politicians in charge of Iraq if we're ever going to get out of here.

There are some things we are concerned about, though. Iraqi citizens, by and large, don't fully trust their own police and security forces yet. Some of the forces are pretty good, and some aren't. But they'll be in charge come Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the insurgents are launching more attacks. We expected this. They used motorcycles packed with explosives, nails, and ball bearings to hit two market areas today, killing at least 20. There have been a number of high-profile bombings over the last week. They've stepped up their attacks on US patrols and convoys, too. And they've been launching more rockets into the International Zone, mostly with minimal or no effect. The troublemakers are remnants of Al Qaeda, various Sunni groups targeting Shiites, and various Shiite groups hitting back at Sunnis. So although there is an uptick in violence, it is nowhere near the level of a year and a half ago.

Back in the last days of December, we were all nervous about the transition that was to come on New Year's Day, when the Security Agreement took effect. We thought things might go to hell in a handbasket. They didn't. Now we're coming up on another milestone and are nervous about what it might entail. Let's hope that the result is similar to January's.

Wednesday Wanderings

I've had a good few days since my last post. I finished up a project that's been in the works for two months. It was a decision brief on two alternatives for a construction project. Took me a while to figure out what I was talking about, then another while to really understand the two alternatives. Anyway, it's done and gone to our high mucky-mucks so they can make the decision I'm telling them to.

Today I finished up a training course. It was a computer-based program about overseeing contracts. It was about as exciting as you're thinking it was. What is it about these courses done on computer that is just so boring? I'd much rather have a hard-copy text in front of me and a bright yellow highlighter. That's the way God intended courses should be taught.

Tonight I got to spend some time painting. Normally I don't let people see a work in progress, but tonight I'll make an exception. Here's my "hooch studio" with a painting on my "easel".

My easel, in this case, is also my chest of drawers for my clothes. My palette is a white plastic plate that I stole a bunch of from the DFAC. My studio is the walkway between my desk and the bathroom. And my hooch smells like linseed oil and really stinky turpentine right now. Ah, eau de studieu!

So while I've been busy in my own little world, lotsa stuff has been happening all over the world. The Iranians are having a major uprising. Looks to me like the ayatollah's really blew it. They rigged it in the same heavy-handed, non-sophisticated manner that the Soviets rigged theirs for so many years. It was so blatantly obvious, yet they insist that everything was perfectly normal, even though there were more votes in some districts than there were registered voters. So the ayatollahs have shown their true colors to their people at last. I don't know if they'll stay in power or not ... the world is full of repressive regimes that keep their hold on power for years. Cuba, for example. But sooner or later they all fail. Strong men don't live forever, and eventually the population will throw them out. Let's just hope it's sooner.

Baghdad seems to be getting edgier as we count down the days to June 30th. That's when all US troops are supposed to have pulled their bases out of the cities. Everybody, Iraqis included, seem to think that our troops will be out of the cities, period. Not true and it never has been. The agreement is that our bases will be outside the cities. Our troops will still make patrols inside the city limits, alongside their Iraqi counterparts. As one said, "nothing will change except our commute to work will get longer". But you can expect to hear a lot of noise in early July about how we're violating the agreement because our troops will still be seen in the cities. The noisemakers will be either ignorant of the agreement or willfully misrepresenting it. You choose. We're hearing that Maliki is going to declare a national holiday on June 30th. I can't begrudge him that, really. He's a politician and has to make the most of whatever good news he can. Meanwhile, the insurgents are making the most of it, too, with bombings all over Baghdad. We'll see how long that streak continues. Actually, when you look at the figures, the violence is really not that bad. The troublemakers are just making a few high-profile hits these days, rather than lots of smaller ones that don't make the evening news. Yes, they're waging their war in the international press as much as they are in the streets.

And that's the news for now. Time to hit the rack, breathe turpentine fumes, and dream of more pleasant things.

Orange Day

A couple of days ago we had a dust storm blow in.  "Storm" isn't really the right word, since there weren't any high winds or rain.  Rather, we had this thick fog of orange dust that settled in.  It was like a light touch of snow, except it was orange, and it was dust, and it got everywhere.  It even came into my little hooch through the air conditioner and coated the whole room with a fine powder.  So after work, I had a major clean-up to do in my room.  

This is the walkway by my hooch.  No, I didn't hit the "sepia" button in Photoshop, this is really the way an "orange day" looks.

That's pavement under that dust coating.

Here's a sidewalk the morning of the dust storm ...

And here's the same sidewalk about two days later, under clear skies, after it's been washed and swept.

Who Deploys to Iraq?

One of my co-workers, Lisa, has a daughter who's into film-making.  This young lady made a short documentary film that recently played at the DeadCENTER Film Festival.  The film was about Lisa, why she came to work with the Corps of Engineers in Iraq, and the effect it had on her and her family.  This documentary was filmed just as Lisa left on her third deployment to Mosul, a city in northern Iraq that is still pretty turbulent.  

And by the way, Lisa is now on her fourth deployment.

Drawdown

In my last posting, I mentioned our ongoing drawdown a couple of times.  I thought I'd go a little more in depth into that topic, particularly after reading an article in the Stars and Stripes today.

When I first arrived in Iraq last September, it was pretty widely assumed that we would be here for another decade or more.  That was certainly the mindset of the Bush administration.  Those of us involved in the reconstruction of the country felt the same way, regardless of who would win the upcoming presidential election.  I mean, Iraq is just so dysfunctional, so broken in so many ways, that it would take a long time to make it into a functioning member of the world order.  

Then two things happened.  One, we elected Obama as our President.  One of his campaign pledges was to pull us out of Iraq, and he put that pledge in motion almost immediately after being sworn in.  Two, we signed the Security Agreement (also known, somewhat erroneously, as the "Status of Forces Agreement", or SOFA).  This document codified the requirement for us to pull our military forces out of Iraq by December 31, 2011.  But as recently as a few months ago, many of us were still pretty sure that there would be an American presence across the country for the foreseeable future.

Not now.  The change in direction is clear, and if you don't get it, General Odierno will personally come and educate you with a two-by-four.  We are already drawing down, and as every day goes by, the drawdown gains momentum.  The "surge" went away months ago and we're well below pre-surge levels now.  A few weeks ago, I went an orientation/training session out at Al Faw Palace and heard Odierno's Chief of Staff personally stress to all of us that we have a hard deadline in place and that we better be working toward it at full speed.

You don't get much clearer than that.

Then today, I saw an article in the Stars and Stripes newspaper.  Titled "Referendum on SOFA Could Boot US From Iraq in 2010", it discussed something that I have not heard from any of the big-league news outlets.  There is an nationwide referendum scheduled for July 30 in which the people of Iraq will vote on whether to accept the Security Agreement (aka "SOFA") that we negotiated last fall.  Here's the important line:

"If the referendum goes ahead as scheduled and Iraqi voters reject the agreement — a likely outcome, observers say — the United States would be obliged to pull out troops one year after the vote, or nearly 1½ years before the deadline set by the pact."

Now that's huge.  To get all our troops and equipment out on that timetable, we'd be doing nothing but withdrawal stuff.  It would take a full-court press to ship out our equipment, dismantle our bases, turn property over to the Iraqis, close down organizations, ship people and units back to wherever they came from, and maintain our own security as that's going on.  Meanwhile, all the stuff we're currently doing for Iraq would have to cease.  We're training Iraqi military and security forces, helping government officials learn how to run their agencies, working with locals to get them to run their own affairs, trying to keep the lid on sectarian divisions, and keeping the politicians talking rather than shooting.  From my own little perspective, we still have over a billion dollars worth of reconstruction projects going on around the country.  Projects like schools, water treatment plants, hospitals, and electricity.  If we have to do an accelerated drawdown, those projects will have to stop.  I seriously doubt that the Iraqis could pick them up.  They don't (yet) have the organizational skills, nor the people, nor the money, to do it.

The Stars and Stripes article went on to say that some Iraqi government officials are trying to delay the vote until the national election in January.  That may or may not be approved.  But still, there's a very real possibility that the American military will be out of Iraq long before December, 2011.

Note, though, that our military has to be out of here by then.  The State Department and other civilian agencies can stay.  But most of our work is being done by or through the military.  Because of the security situation, Americans can't just jump in a car and drive wherever they want.  We need military escorts and protection.  No military, no protection, no movement.  Simple as that.

What do I think about it?  Well, if you've been reading this blog for a while, you know that sometimes I think we should just pack up and leave, and other times I think we need to be here for the long term.  But you know, it's not our decision.  It shouldn't be.  If the Iraqis want our help, we can help.  If they don't, then we ought to go.

One of my co-workers observed that the Romans pulled out of Britain in about 430 AD.  It was over 1400 years before Britain had running water again.  Let's hope that doesn't happen here!

Getting a Job in Iraq or Afghanistan

I've been asked a couple of times about how to go about getting a job here in Iraq.  There are quite a few options available.  Your choice will depend on who you are and what you want to do.

The first thing to consider is that there are fewer jobs in Iraq every single day.  The military is drawing down.  Contractors are being terminated or redeployed or otherwise encouraged to go home.  The big flood of money and work that we poured into Iraq to stabilize it, and get it back on its feet again, is coming to an end.  I'm going through a drill right now on spending what very possibly could be the last big pot of project money to come to the Corps of Engineers in Iraq.  Meanwhile, we in the Corps are sending people back to the States nearly every day.  Our military forces have a deadline of December 30, 2011, to pack up and leave, and we're already working toward that goal.  Even the Embassy, which will be here for the long term, doesn't have a whole heck of a lot of jobs available.  Still our key end date is  two and a half years away and there are lots of things that need to be done before then.  

The first question you need to ask yourself is whether you want to work as a government agent, a contractor, or an NGO associate.  There are pluses and minuses to each. 

- A US government person makes pretty good money.  You get a decent salary and then get danger pay and locality pay on top of that.  Most importantly, from my own personal viewpoint, is that you're a decision-maker.  You make the decisions on projects.  Another nice benefit is that once you've got a federal job, the job security is pretty good, and it's much easier to get the next position if something happens to yours.  On the downside, the hiring process is slower than molasses.  From the time I first applied to the State Department to the time I stepped off the plane in Baghdad was ten months.  

- The US government doesn't have enough people to do the jobs that need to be done, even if it hired everybody that applies.  So we turn to contractors to provide the support needed, from running the DFACs to doing the engineering analysis for hundred-million-dollar construction projects.  Contractors make obscene amounts of money, at least by my rather modest standards.  On the downside, contractors are supporters and enablers, not decision-makers.  As an example, I'm working on quite a few different projects, including two construction jobs, management of a program that does a lot of things for local governments out in the provinces, and determining how to get a big slug of money into contracts that will benefit Iraqis around the country.  I have several contractors who support me on all these issues.  One does the day-to-day micromanagement of the funds for that program I manage.  She keeps me informed on progress and problems and makes recommendations on what to do next.  But she doesn't decide, I do.  Then she carries out whatever it is I decide.  And she's probably making twice what I am.  So the question to you is, do you want the decision-making authority, or the money?  One thing to keep in mind is that one reason contractors make a lot of money is that they have almost zero job security.  Their contracts can be terminated at a moment's notice.  I've literally had contractors be given 24-48 hours that their jobs were gone and they were being sent home.

- The final group is non-governmental organizations, or NGO's.  They come in all types.  I have had little contact with them so I can't really say much.  They're in between government organizations and contractors: they have their own missions (say, helping rebuild Iraq's medical infrastructure), the people who work there are decision-makers, they're pretty highly paid, but their jobs can be gone in an instant.  In my limited exposure to them, I found them to be very independent, very highly qualified people, who took job-hopping and sudden massive life changes in stride.

So how do you get a job with one of these groups?  Well, the best way is the same as at home: by knowing people.  That's not the cop-out it sounds.  When you're hiring a new person, are you going to go with somebody you never heard of, or will you go with the one you worked with sometime previously?  Usually you'll go with the one you know.  

Once we get past that, most companies, including the US government, use the internet.  Most federal jobs are posted on usajobs.com, which is run by the Office of Personnel Management.  I can't even begin to tell you where to go for civilian companies.  I would just avoid professional job placement services like the plague - it seems to me that they're in business to get your money, not to get you into a job.

Most of the questions I've been getting are about getting a job in Iraq.  As I mentioned before, Iraq is winding down.  On the other hand, people and jobs are flowing into Afghanistan.  I did a quick search on usajobs.com for Afghanistan and it came up with 148 jobs.  And when I went through the Corp's training program, most of my fellow students were on their way to Afghanistan, not Iraq.

So Afghanistan is growing and Iraq is drawing down.  You can still find a job somewhere over here.  Just be ready to be away from home for long periods of time, live in strange places (like my own shipping container), work incredibly long hours, have no place to go when you're off duty, have slow mail and problematic internet connections, and no access to alcohol (if you work for DoD).  And possibly be a target for a variety of bad guys who'd like nothing better than to kill you in some spectacular fashion.  Sound like the dream job?

Minor Construction

The past couple of weeks have been hectic.  Yeah, I know, I say stuff like that a lot as an excuse for those times when I don't post an entry for a while.  But this time it's true.  We've been working on getting some modifications done to a building.  We're going to move into it before long, and I've been the one in charge of doing the planning for the construction.  And how much experience do I have with that sort of thing?  Well, umm, none.  So I've been, as they say, on the steep side of the learning curve.  The kinda situation where you first hear about something at 8 in the morning and you're the resident expert on it by 3 in the afternoon.  

All of which is bad enough, but with this project, there are a lotta people trying to have their say.  They want their rooms arranged like this, or they want that feature added in, or they want me to give them somebody else's spaces.  Meanwhile, the guys On High have been issuing guidance that can be, at best, confusing.  It's kinda like being a passenger in a crowded car that's being driven by a band of maniacs.  Who are blindfolded.  (All except for one, who's not paying any attention to where we're going).  And we're driving at 90 miles an hour.  On the wrong side of the freeway.  At rush hour.

All that being said, hammers will start swinging on the construction project on Saturday.  And at that point, it ceases to be my problem - it immediately gets transferred to a different branch, and they get to supervise the plan I put in place.  (Poor guys).  

Meanwhile, I finished up a briefing today on a major new initiative that might be coming our way.  "Might be" is the operative word.  Since I work in the "Development & Plans" branch, I get to do planning for a lot of different projects that may or may not happen.  This one involves a lot of construction projects all around the country, and I've been addressing how we're going to issue contracts and then manage them.  (Again, how much experience do I have in issuing contracts?  Do you have to ask?)  

And just as I hand off our building modification project, I'll be taking on a different project to either modify or build another office building.  In a perfect world, the answer to this one would be very easy.  However, there are these things called "laws" that keep getting in the way.  So the right answer is pretty much illegal, and we're left with a limited selection of several too-expensive and nearly-impossible alternatives to choose from.  And to meet the required completion date, we should have made the decision and moved out on it about two months ago.

If it's Iraq, it's whacked.

A Few Pictures

In previous posts, I've written about the Rhinos.  These are armored buses that look like a Winnebago from a Mad Max movie.  Recently, I went out to Victory Base for some meetings at Al Faw Palace.  We rode this Rhino out there.  

Here's the dome in the center of the Al Faw Palace.  Mighty impressive.  Just don't look too closely at the structure underneath the marble cladding!

One of the popular attractions in the Palace is this chair.  It was given to Saddam Hussein by his good friend Yasser Arafat.  Since 2003, it has hosted the butts of thousands of American soldiers and civilians.  Add mine to that list.

Yes, I'm sitting around again.  This is our work area.  Rather stylish, don't you think?  We work in what was once a museum ... I don't know what for ... and we've crammed it full of cheap pressed-wood desks that passed their "sell-by" date a couple of decades ago.  Still, it works.

Today started out clear, but this afternoon a heavy dust moved in.  This is the street in front of our compound.  You can barely see a block down the road.  

A Cast of Characters

What kind of person would you expect to find working in Iraq?  Soulless military guys who say "hooah" and salute everything that moves?  Mysterious guys wearing aviator sunglasses who have no sense of humor?  A little guy with an unplaceable accent who's selling AK47's by the truckload?  An overcoiffed news reporter trying desperately to make a name for him/her self?  Well, no doubt those people are out there somewhere, but I sure haven't met them.  Let me give you an idea of the people I interact with on a daily basis.

First, there's the Army Lieutenant Colonel who is really your favorite absent-minded professor.  Except he wears a uniform.  He's very smart and very easily distracted by things like birds and rocks (he's got a PhD in geochemistry).  When we're walking anywhere, we're forever having to go back and corral the guy because he's wandered off to take a picture of a pigeon perched on some concertina wire, or pick up interesting pebbles out of the gravel parking lot.  And don't ask him to explain anything because you'll get a rambling 40-minute dissertation on something like radon instead ... and it doesn't matter what you asked about.  Yes, we're fond of the guy, even though he really belongs on a college campus in Missouri.

There's the young Air Force Captain who recently arrived in our shop.  Good-looking guy, slim and fit, extremely smart, a Type A personality in a Type A environment.  Very clipped and professional approach to everybody and everything.  We'll get him loosened up pretty soon.  We better!

We have two women in our area that sit side by side.  Grandmothers, both of them.  Both can talk a mile a minute and they do.  One of them is a teacher who, for some unknown reason, has wound up tracking funding for our projects.  Despite having no previous training, she figured out the process and fixed some things that were giving us big headaches.  A while back, our group was over at another base and a bunch of young soldiers were out playing volleyball.  This grandma perched herself on a stool and made it her business to take as many pictures of the guys as she could get away with.  Now all the women in our area are trying to get copies of her pictures.  Nothin' like a dirty ol' grandma! (And that's our absent-minded professor standing next to her).

You'd think that the guards at the gates would all be Army soldiers.  Not so.  We use a variety of people at the gatehouses.  Including Iraqis.  Yes, it's true.  They are all very businesslike and professional and most are friendly.  One of them, I swear, looks like a young version of Saddam Hussein.  It's very disconcerting to have a Saddam lookalike, armed with an automatic rifle, checking your security badge!  Another one is the poster child for the Unibrow appearance.  He looks like somebody took a big black magic marker straight across his forehead.  I admit, I don't have a clue what the rest of his face looks like, but he's a really nice guy.  With a hell of an eyebrow.  At another compound, many of the guards are young Ugandans.  They have a very fierce appearance, very solemn, brandishing AK47's or whatever they use.  But as soon as you say something as simple as "Good morning!" to them, their faces light up in huge smiles.

I've mentioned the Green Bean coffee shop many times in this blog.  It's an admirable chain that goes wherever the servicemen are out here.  We have one in our compound.  The manager is Indian, a very cheerful young guy.  I don't know how Green Bean trains its people, but it seems like, by your third visit, they know who you are and what you want to drink.  Amazing.

We have several people who are native Iraqi but now naturalized westerners.  One is an engineer most of the time and a translator part of the time.  Working with him is a hoot.  When we're dealing with some ministry officials, he'll do a wonderful job of interpreting back and forth, giving the nuances of what is being said.  And later, he'll dish the dirt, telling us what was really going on in that animated offline discussion between competing ministries.

We also have a number of local Iraqis working within our building.  They're all very good at what they do.  For example, if I have a computer problem, the Iraqi computer guys will be right there.  I mean right there.  No 20-minute wait, not even a 5-minute one.  One is a young guy with a heck of a physique and a penchant for tight jeans and tight polo shirts.  The young Iraqi women go into quite a tizzy when he's around ... in a very restrained way.  Speaking of the young Iraqi women, their outfits are a mixture of brash and modesty.  They'll wear something that meets the letter of the social norms - cover up thy skin - while at the same time demanding attention.  It's like they're shouting "look at me!  I'm all covered up!!"  Or is it, "I'm all covered up!  Look at me!!"  Whatever, the contradiction is an endless source of amusement.  

So that's a sampling of the people who inhabit my daily life.  A small sampling.  Maybe I'll do some more another time.  Life here is interesting, and these are the people that make it that way.

Memorial Ceremonies

There were memorial services on Thursday and Friday for my two friends, Terry Barnich and Maged Hussein, as well as Navy CDR Duane Wolfe.  All three of them were killed in Fallujah on Monday.  The services were exceptionally well attended.  My command held one in our DFAC on Thursday for CDR Wolfe, since he came under our Army Corps of Engineers umbrella organization.  It was a very moving ceremony, well done.  On Friday, the Embassy held a service for Maged and Terry.  They were expecting about 500 people, but my guess is about three or four times that many showed up.  In addition to Ambassador Hill, we had General Odierno, the Japanese Ambassador, the Iraqi ministers of water and electricity, and many many others.  I found the service to be exceptionally moving, particularly the tributes from my boss at the Embassy and her husband, who each talked about their friendship with Terry and Maged.  Their testimony and their personal pain was heart-wrenching to experience.

It was funny, too, as odd as it may seem.  Karen and John recounted a few stories of Maged and Terry's exploits, and since those two men were full of life, there were plenty of stories to choose from.  Because this was a very public tribute, John chose not to mention that crude story about Terry's speaking abilities that I described in my last post ... good choice, John.  But he did tell about the time that Terry got hit on the nose by a piece of spent shrapnel.  It only gave him a minor cut, but that brush with mortality caused him to refocus his attention on what was important.  Terry soon afterward announced his resolution to never drink bad wine again.  And to our knowledge, he didn't.

I came to my own epiphany during the ceremony.  In case anything ever happens to me, I do not want some guy with bagpipes playing "Amazing Grace".  No way.  If you gotta have a bagpipes, well, okay, but keep the "Amazing Grace" stuff off the playlist.  Instead, I want a brief ceremony, and then at the end, I want 'em to turn up the sound system and play "I Like To Move It Move It".  Who says you can't have fun at one of these things?

Two Friends Gone

On Monday evening, Memorial Day, I learned that two friends of mine from the Embassy had just been killed.  They were on a visit to one of our major projects in Fallujah when their vehicle hit a roadside bomb.  A third individual with them, a Navy officer whom I did not know, was also killed.  Two security personnel were badly wounded but survived.

Hearing news like this is a punch in the gut.  These two men, Maged Hussein and Terry Barnich, weren't just names to me, or faces I knew around campus.  We were teammates in the Iraq Transition Assistance Office (ITAO).  And these two were the stars of the team.

Maged was an American of Egyptian background.  He was tall, slender, impeccably dressed, modest, gracious, funny, and brilliant.  He was a true gentleman.  He never mentioned his PhD and never copped an attitude with anybody.  When I first got to the Embassy and was trying to learn my job, Maged spent hours with me going over projects, funding, technical details, political implications, how each effort fit (or didn't) in the grand scheme of things, and the background of each one.  Maged rarely had to look things up - he knew everything going on with dozens of projects.  And he told it straight, no matter what.  Maged was our "water guy".  He was in charge of everything ITAO was doing with water treatment plants, sewer systems, irrigation and drainage, dams, everything.  Including the Fallujah waste water treatment plant, which is what the team was visiting that day.  Because of Maged, there are literally hundreds of thousands of Iraqis tonight who have clean water or working sewers.  He would shrug it off or say I'm exaggerating, but it's the truth.  Maged made a difference in this country.

Terry Barnich was just as brilliant and just as much a gentleman.  He was also very outgoing, athletic, good-looking, and a bit of a mischievous rogue - but always in the spirit of fun.  Terry was always game for something new, and if it happened to push the boundaries a bit, so much the better.  He had a background in law and an incredible talent with words, so he was often called on to provide briefings to the multitude of study groups and high-level visitors coming through.  One of our office partners, after hearing Terry spin a problem project as a great success story, said "Terry can polish a turd better than anybody I know".  A bit crude, but true, and Terry loved that phrase when he heard it.  He served as the deputy in the office, and with his innate grasp of the political environment in both the Iraqi government and our own Embassy, he kept our office well-positioned to do our job.  I always enjoyed working with Terry - his comments and advice were excellent and he respected my input.  And he jumped in and provided cover for me on a couple of occasions when I got myself into hot water.  Most people would've let me flounder.  Not Terry.

And now they're gone, killed by a bomb planted who-knows-when by some nameless goon.  These deaths are a tragedy.  Not just to Maged and Terry's friends and families, but to the Iraqi people.  When I heard the news, I just felt like saying "fuck it, if that's the way they're going to be, then let 'em have this goddam country".  But that's not right.  Terry and Maged came here to make this place better.  "Came here" isn't the right term ... that sounds passive, as if the fickle finger of fate pointed to them and said "You!  Go!".  No, to get to a job here takes a tremendous amount of time and effort.  You don't just raise your hand.  These two guys worked hard to get here, then they worked amazingly hard to make a difference.  And they made a helluva difference.

Another thing.  As bad as I feel right now, and as all ITAO members feel, there's not an Iraqi in this town who hasn't had the same experience.  One day, something bad happens, and somebody near and dear is dead.  The Iraqis that I work with have had enough of that.  They just want to have a job, take care of their families, and live in peace.  They're sick of the fighting and killing.

So I've buried myself in my job the past couple of days.  I'm okay until somebody asks me about it or makes some sympathetic remark.  Then I have to struggle for control.  Terry and Maged worked as hard as they could to make Iraq a better place, so Iraqis like those I work with will have a better chance at life and fewer reasons to take up the gun.  Neither of them would have walked away from the job if the bomb had hit a different vehicle.  I can't, either.

But Memorial Day will forever mean something different to me.

Memorial Day

Memorial Day in Baghdad is not like it is in the States.  Okay, so we got a full day off.  Our little group was sitting around dinner in the DFAC last night discussing what our options were.  Go to the beach?  Nah - the drive down to Basrah is too long.  To the mall?  No, that's out ... too many teenyboppers.  Ball games, car races, and casinos were all ruled out for various nitnoid reasons.

Instead it was supposed to be a day of doing pretty much nothing.  A rarity, here.  We work six and a half days a week, so having a full day off is a bit jarring.  I tried to sleep late but woke up at my regular time, anyway.  After chatting with Janis on Skype, I crawled back in the pit for an extra glorious hour.  Breakfast was a fresh-brewed cappuccino from the Green Bean and a newly-nuked Cinnabon that I picked up from Camp Liberty yesterday.  Ahh, bliss.  

Several of us went over to Union 3 later in the morning.  The stated reason was to drop off a work package.  The real reason was just to get off our compound.  We browsed the little shops for the umpteenth time and, for the umpteenth time, looked at exactly the same tacky little items.  No matter.  We weren't at work.

When we got back I made the mistake of wandering over to my desk just to check email.  Two hours later, I finished up a couple of "I NEED THIS TODAY!!!!" taskers.  So much for a full day off.

This evening we had a Memorial Day ceremony.  It was short and sweet.  But there's something about a Memorial Day ceremony that honors those who have gone before us, when we're still in a war zone.  "Amazing Grace" on the bagpipes takes on a new connotation when two Blackhawk helicopters fly overhead.  "Those who have gone before us" aren't just overseas or far away, they're here, right here.  They're 200 feet overhead, or manning the gate 50 yards away, or standing right next to you.  

This past week, we had some stark reminders that we're still in a war zone.  It's pretty easy to forget that at times.  Baghdad has been fairly quiet for almost a year, but during the last couple of months, there has been a marked uptick in bombings and attacks.  Most of it has been targeted against Iraqis, but just the other day, two of our brethren here in the International Zone were killed.  It's something that you have to be aware of all the time.

But now it's evening.  I've got the TV on for only the third time since I arrived here.  It's tuned to the Indianapolis 500.  I'm gonna get to watch a race!  And then hit the rack.  Back to work tomorrow morning.

A Visit to Flintstone Village

Today I went out to Victory Base, out at the airport, for some work on a couple of projects.  When that was done, a group of us went over to Flintstone Village.  This, according to my probably erroneous information, was built by Saddam Hussein for the enjoyment of his extended family, many of whom were big fans of the Flintstones.  The "village" is an interconnected series of cave-like structures made out of concrete that's falling apart.  But it's imaginative and it was a hoot to visit.

Americans have left their own imaginative tags on the place ever since we arrived in 2003.

Flintstone Village was the kind of place where you're saying "you gotta be kidding" about every three minutes.  And be careful where you step!  All these "houses" and "mountains" are all built out of crumbling concrete over rusty wire mesh, with a very scary-looking structure underneath.

But hey, next time you're in Baghdad, you gotta take a look!

A Rant

So Dick Cheney launched an attack on Obama today.  Reading through the reports, I continue to be amazed at the man's arrogance and stupefying ignorance of the irony of his own statements.  When Dick Cheney accuses Obama of "recklessness cloaked in righteousness", it just boggles the mind.  A phrase like that is how I would have described Cheney at any time over the past eight years.

What I want to know is, why does anybody think Dick Cheney has any credibility anymore?  He did more to undermine the Constitution's protections, such as separation of powers, protection from government intrusion, and prohibition of cruel and unusual punishments, than anybody alive.  He gave us a war with Iraq that was founded on a lie (I believe a deliberate lie) and shattered our economy with a program of massive government growth that was exceeded only by massive government giveaways to his rich and powerful friends.  His convoluted reasoning to support his positions is so twisted that it makes George Orwell's "1984" seem tame by comparison.  The man is a mean-spirited, evil scorpion.  Enough already.

I was just reading one of many obituaries of the Republican party.  Seems like every magazine has to have an article on how the Republicans are down and out, maybe forever; they've lost their way and have no hope.  I, of course, don't believe that for a heartbeat.  They're just going through a period where the conservative movement has been hijacked by hard-right ideologues who became intoxicated with power.  Tom DeLay, for example.  And Dick Cheney.  Men who thought that anything goes as long as they're the ones calling the shots.  Fortunately, the country has tossed them out and begun to repair the damage.  It'll take a long, long time.  Meanwhile, the Republicans have a chance now to re-invent themselves.  And I hope to God they do.  We need a responsible, thoughtful, articulate, pro-active conservative movement to keep this country balanced.  Not the morally and intellectually bankrupt old guard like Cheney, Gingrich, and Palin.

C'mon, guys.  I was a Republican once, until your drift to the far right pushed me out.  Get it together, come up with an inspiring and inclusive platform, and let's get serious about making this country better.  And get rid of Cheney and Limbaugh and their ilk.  They're dragging you down.

Nighttime in my Compound

Groundhog Day, Revisited

My last posting was about how I'm stuck in Groundhog Day, going through the same routine every day.  One way to view that is being stuck in a rut.  But that's not what I feel here ... "stuck in a rut" means experiencing the same thing over and over.  Instead, I'm noticing the variety that's to be found within a routine.  A routine gives structure that enables you to appreciate the differences, big and little, that provide interest.

Walking my dogs is an example.  When I'm at home, I walk them twice a day.  We go at pretty much the same time every day and follow pretty much the same route.  You'd think we'd be bored to tears.  You'd be wrong.  Soozee and Indy are acutely aware of tiny variations from the norm.  They know where to expect the neighborhood dogs, where a squirrel or rabbit might appear, and whether this car or tin can or burger wrapper is out of place.  Each scent demands their full attention.  Is it a regular one?  Or is it new?  Indy has an ongoing debate with another dog about which one is the neighborhood alpha female (the other one is four times her size, but that doesn't matter in the least), so when this other dog's scent is smelled, Indy goes to General Quarters.  Which makes keeping up with her quite a challenge, despite the fact that her legs are only about four inches long.  My point is, the routine of the walk gives a structure to their world and allows them to notice, appreciate, and respond to all the hundreds of variations.

When we take the dogs someplace entirely new, they can go into sensory overload.  Too many new things are going on to be able to make sense of it all.  Man, I know that feeling, too!

So within my own little Groundhog Day here in Baghdad, I'm getting to somewhat the same place as my dogs on their walks.  I know what the routine is expected to be each day.  But it never plays out the way it's supposed to.  Meetings are changed or cancelled.  Something that wasn't even on the radar is suddenly my top priority, at least for a few hours.  I'll be tasked with preparing a decision briefing for the general that will affect how the Corps of Engineers will operate in Iraq for the next couple of years.  Meanwhile, we have to fit in breakfast, lunch, dinner, workouts, and laundry.  Any one of those things could consume my full attention and be the most interesting thing in the world - for me, for a while - but be of no interest whatsoever to anybody else.  And it certainly makes for boring blog posts.  What do you care about the jokes at lunch that had me rolling off my chair?  Particularly since I can't repeat them in polite company!  

So today was Groundhog Day again.  I got up, Skyped with my wife, went to breakfast, and went to work.  Had a bunch of drive-by taskers that I took care of.  Went to lunch and yukked it up with my lunch group.  Took care of a few projects and emergent minor crises in the afternoon.  Went to dinner with my dinner group (same as my lunch group) and we yukked it up some more.  Went back to the office and cranked out a couple of emails and called it a night.  That was my day.  

And it was actually a pretty good day.

Groundhog Day

Lately it's been Groundhog Day here, over and over.  I get up around 6 am and do a Skype chat with Janis.  Then I take a shower and head over to the DFAC for breakfast.  Then I go into work.  Something normally hits the fan about 9 and it takes until about 11 to get it calmed down again.  Then it's back to working on various projects until lunchtime.  There's a group of us that goes over to the Dirtbag DFAC (not its real name) for lunch.  Then back to work.  Something different normally hits the fan about 2 pm and it takes us until about 4 to get it under control.  Then it's back to whatever project has the least time until it's due ... which is often sometime in the past.  Around 6 pm, our group wanders down to a different DFAC for dinner.  Their food is usually better than the Dirtbag's.  Wednesday (today) is their specialty: surf'n'turf.  It's the best shoe leather you'll find in the IZ, at least on Wednesday nights.  After that, I usually head back into work for another hour or two.  It's quieter then and I can finally get around to finishing up all those tasks that were due a few days ago.  Then I head back to my little hooch for some quiet time and hit the rack.  Get up the next morning and do it all over again.

Sounds boring, but there are always surprises.  Today I discovered something new at the Dirtbag.  The main line and short-order choices looked particularly unappetizing, so I decided to try the stir-fry guy.  This is a stand where you pick out what you want stir-fried (mushrooms, cabbage, onions, broccoli, olives, rice, noodles, stuff like that) and give it to the guy who does a Benihana performance on it.  I asked for a tiny bit of curry powder and he dumped in a load that would make your toes curl.  But I gotta tell you, it turned out mighty good.  It's my new favorite thing in the Dirtbag.  (My previous favorite was watching the cheerleaders for the cricket teams on Sky Sports TV ... they do some very energetic and creative dance routines, much more involved than any pro sports cheerleaders in the US).

So if you've been wondering where I've been since my last post ... well, just doing the same thing I did yesterday, and the day before, and the day before ... working, eating, hitting the gym, and watching the cricket cheerleaders on Sky TV.  And you thought Baghdad was exciting.

Pizza Night

Friday is the weekend in Iraq, meaning our Thursday night is like your Friday night.  (Except for college kids, for whom every night is Friday night).  Tonight I met up with some of my friends from the Embassy and we went out for pizza at our favorite Green Zone pizza joint.  It also happens to be the only Green Zone pizza joint.  After wolfing down two pizzas, we retired to the hookah room for smoke and chai.

This is the "chai" part.  Chai is tea, which Iraqis love.  Americans drink cold tea by the gallon, but Iraqis drink hot tea by the milliliter.  And they dump an amazing amount of sugar into it.

Here's one of our hookahs.  Many of us of a certain age would call it a "bong".  However, there's no wacky tobacky in here.  Iraqi hookahs use a highly flavored tobacco in which the tobacco taste is almost obscured.  Part of the enjoyment of the hookah bar is picking out which flavor to try.  I went with watermelon.

Flavor or no, I am not a smoker.  And this stuff is, indeed, tobacco.  Cough, cough.

The owners of the pizza joint/hookah bar have a prized pigeon.  That stuff on his back is feathers.  The little guy strutted around, showing off his amazing feathers to all ("I have these beautiful feathers ... you infidels do not!") before deciding we were beneath him, and then returning to his little palace.

Not quite as much fun as a rockin' night in Georgetown, but it will do.

Laundry Day

So this morning, I dumped all my laundry on the bed.  It was about time: the bag was full and starting to get fragrant.  I sorted it into piles: the light stuff over here, the dark stuff over there, and the in-between stuff in the middle, where I could dole it out to the light and dark piles to even things out.  (Hey, you have your way of sorting laundry, I have mine).  That task done, I scurried out the door to work.  I'll wash later.

Later, I came in the door and couldn't believe my eyes.  Today the cleaning lady came through.  (Yes, we have cleaning ladies here ... they come irregularly, empty the trash, do a quick dusting, probably say "gaack" when they come in my room, and that's normally about it).  And there, on my bed, were all my dirty clothes.  Except they'd all been neatly and carefully folded and arranged.  Even my skivvies and socks.  

These cleaning ladies survived Saddam Hussein and years of the insurrection.  I guess my dirty laundry doesn't faze them in the slightest.

And yes, I washed my clothes in the evening.

Kids' Drawings

A co-worker of mine participated in a special daycamp with a bunch of Iraqi kids aged maybe 6 to 13.  She was in charge of the art table.  Her kids were enthusiastic, going through hundreds of pieces of paper during the day.  She brought in a bunch of them, and I thought I'd share some with you.  I photoshopped out the kids' names - even though the security situation here is better than last year, it's still best to be safe.

Does anything strike you as surprising in these drawings?  Anything at all?

What got my attention was just how normal these drawings are.  They could have been done by any kid in the United States.  Here are happy families with little houses in the countryside with flowers and trees and puffy clouds.  I'm not quite sure what that thing is in the sky in the bottom picture - a bird? a bug? - but for sure it isn't threatening.  All the figures have big happy smiles on their faces.  These are happy drawings from happy kids.

They sure are resilient.  These kids have spent all or most of their lives in post-invasion Iraq, when car bombs and urban warfare were a normal part of daily life.  At least, they were normal until less than a year ago.  With things quieter now (not what we'd consider "quiet", but you get the idea), these kids are looking like normal kids anywhere.

I call that a good sign.