The weekends here are just like the weekdays. The Iraqis apparently had Saturday off as a "holiday" but I think they just meant government offices would be closed. I couldn't get anyone to understand what I was asking when I asked what the holiday was for. Our Iraqi engineers have been cut back to 6 days a week, and they all assured me they would be there on Saturday despite the holiday.
We save up a few compensatory overtime hours during the week and are allowed to sleep in on Sundays when we can wrap our schedules around it. More rain on Saturday, a downpour complete with lightning and hail. Thunder over here is a little more disquieting than at home. More police station assessments today, a pre-construction meeting that the contractor never showed up for, and a review of design submittals for foundation changes at our primary health care centers rounded out the day.
I found out today that the children's song, "Old McDonald Had a Farm" is muched loved in Iraq and in Italy. Our Iraqi translator asked me if I knew this song. I sang a few bars, and he excitedly said yes that was it. Then the Italian Major joined in, in Italian. The Italian LT "Bob" sang the pig verse. I had my pocket tape recorder with me and let them pass it around singing alternately in Arabic, Italian and English. It was bizarre, but we really enjoyed ourselves. The Major's armored van was hit with an IED last week, nobody was hurt and the daisy chain of explosives set to go off with the first charge failed to explode.
We drove by a huge mosque today in Al Gharraf that was apparently built by Suddam as a Sunni mosque. Most of the residents of Al Gharraf are Shia and this seems to have been built more as a political statement than to the glory of God. I don't have a good picture of it because from a few blocks away, it didn't fit in the frame, and the muddy windows today limited my driving pictures.
The roof to the base exchange was being replaced yesterday, about a day late for the rainstorm. As I was walking past it yesterday evening in my civilian clothes, two Air Force soldiers on security details asked me to step over to their vehicle. There was a HUGE puddle there, so I told them I'd love to but couldn't swim, would they pull over to the curb? The GI stepped out of the SUV right into the ankle deep puddle and slogged over to the sidewalk to ask for my ID. After a moment's scrutiny I was allowed to go on my way, and a sergeant behind me thanked them for doing their jobs and then quietly thanked me for tolerating the stop. I had a nice conversation with him on the way over to the Bx about his home in Washington and that he's got 7 more months to go here. When he asked what I was doing here, I told him I am with the Corps rebuilding Iraq. The usual ice breakers for any casual conversation on base, where you from, what outfit are you with and how long do you have left before you go home. When I look at the daunting tasks ahead, I am reminded of the story of beach after a storm covered with starfish. After throwing one back into the water, you know you can't clear the beach, but you've made a big difference to that one. Less than two months to go for me and more starfish left on the sand here than I could toss back in a lifetime.
We save up a few compensatory overtime hours during the week and are allowed to sleep in on Sundays when we can wrap our schedules around it. More rain on Saturday, a downpour complete with lightning and hail. Thunder over here is a little more disquieting than at home. More police station assessments today, a pre-construction meeting that the contractor never showed up for, and a review of design submittals for foundation changes at our primary health care centers rounded out the day.
I found out today that the children's song, "Old McDonald Had a Farm" is muched loved in Iraq and in Italy. Our Iraqi translator asked me if I knew this song. I sang a few bars, and he excitedly said yes that was it. Then the Italian Major joined in, in Italian. The Italian LT "Bob" sang the pig verse. I had my pocket tape recorder with me and let them pass it around singing alternately in Arabic, Italian and English. It was bizarre, but we really enjoyed ourselves. The Major's armored van was hit with an IED last week, nobody was hurt and the daisy chain of explosives set to go off with the first charge failed to explode.
We drove by a huge mosque today in Al Gharraf that was apparently built by Suddam as a Sunni mosque. Most of the residents of Al Gharraf are Shia and this seems to have been built more as a political statement than to the glory of God. I don't have a good picture of it because from a few blocks away, it didn't fit in the frame, and the muddy windows today limited my driving pictures.
The roof to the base exchange was being replaced yesterday, about a day late for the rainstorm. As I was walking past it yesterday evening in my civilian clothes, two Air Force soldiers on security details asked me to step over to their vehicle. There was a HUGE puddle there, so I told them I'd love to but couldn't swim, would they pull over to the curb? The GI stepped out of the SUV right into the ankle deep puddle and slogged over to the sidewalk to ask for my ID. After a moment's scrutiny I was allowed to go on my way, and a sergeant behind me thanked them for doing their jobs and then quietly thanked me for tolerating the stop. I had a nice conversation with him on the way over to the Bx about his home in Washington and that he's got 7 more months to go here. When he asked what I was doing here, I told him I am with the Corps rebuilding Iraq. The usual ice breakers for any casual conversation on base, where you from, what outfit are you with and how long do you have left before you go home. When I look at the daunting tasks ahead, I am reminded of the story of beach after a storm covered with starfish. After throwing one back into the water, you know you can't clear the beach, but you've made a big difference to that one. Less than two months to go for me and more starfish left on the sand here than I could toss back in a lifetime.
posted by Bob at 10:40 AM
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