Bring A Friend to Work Day!

This might not be as exciting as, say, a trip to Disney Land or The NHL playoffs, but I’ll do my best to try to give you a little better idea of my living situation and my day to day life here in Baghdad.

Understand that I work nights now, but I will kind of walk you through a normal work day and a day off from just a few weeks ago when I was working days.

Let’s start with waking up in the morning to get ready for work. Of course you have nature screaming in your ear, so you get out from under the blankets, because your room is at a very nice low to mid 60 degrees so you can sleep. You throw on some sandals or flip-flops or some kind of footwear and stumble outside into the light of the early morning. As you go around the 12 to 15 foot tall T-walls, you see the sunrise and you are captivated by its beauty as you walk to the Port-O-John that is sitting just a row away from your trailer and you actually smile because it is vacant and you are able to use it. As you leave, using a squirt of hand sanitizer on your way out, you realize that had this been any other scenario you wouldn’t have been caught dead in one of those things. But, being a war zone, and being that the POJ’s are cleaned at least twice a day, you barely notice it.

Back at your room you get out your shower bag and towel and head to the other end of the row to the shower trailer, dressed in night clothes, keys in hand, because you don’t go that far for that long without locking your door. The showers are all lined up with their shower curtains that almost reach from side to side. There’s a long bench down the middle to put your shower bags on and there are hooks in the stall area to hang your towels. The middle of the shower aisle is covered by planks of wood (almost like pallets, but much sturdier) to keep you from sliding around on the tile floors when your feet are wet. OK... shower time allotted is 3 to 5 minutes, so rush through the shampoo, rinse, condition and then body wash and rinse all at once. (Mind you, you have just showered in what is called “non-potable” water. That means it isn’t pure and you’d get sick if you drink it.) Towel dry, dress and get back to the trailer to get ready for work. You know this part I’m pretty sure. Comb hair, dress, deodorant, and perfume, and makeup… depending on who you are and how you do things, you have to brush your teeth. Sometimes I go to the bathroom with a bottle of water, other times I brush in my trailer and use an empty bottle to expel the used toothpaste into and rinse, then take it to the trash. It’s totally amazing the things you get used to when you are in a dry trailer. In a war zone. In a tiny room. With a roommate.

OK. Dressed, ready to go. Remember keys and badge. Put on belt with Gerber Tool and flashlight on one side and knife on the other side. Along with that I have a clip on with two pill bottles and a cue scuffer and a key to my footlocker and an extra (smaller) flashlight that I hang on one of my belt loops. Carry a plastic bag in my pocket so I can get extra food at the chow hall to bring to work for lunch. Phone in one pocket and camera in other. OK... NOW I’m ready to walk out the door. Sometimes I’ll bring a book for breaks.

As we walk outside. The sun has risen and it’s beginning to warm up quite a bit. We make our way through the labyrinth of walls to the open area to cross over to the dining facility and get a quick breakfast. There is a 100% hands-on ID check. Then you walk inside to the wash up area; always wash your hands before entering the dining area. Scan your badge and then get in line.

You can line up at several stations to get custom made omelets or eggs done any way you like them. Sometimes they even have egg whites, but not often. Pick from cold cereals, hot oatmeal, grits, bacon, sausage, hash browns, biscuits and gravy, breakfast burritos, and the list goes on. Juices, coffee, tea, milk… fruit… and at that my mind put on the brakes. There’s more, but I can’t think of it… and it was getting boring anyway.

So I talk to the workers I know, I eat, I get a “to go” plate for later and head for the palace. The Tongan guards at the gates are wonderful. They are so helpful and they seem to enjoy teaching their language to people… thus my “Tongan Phrase for the Day” posting.

We walk across the bridge to the palace and maybe stop at the end to watch people feed the fish. Not sure what kind they are, but stories have it that they are ancient, and have been living off of human flesh and bones from the people that Saddam killed and threw in his lake. They are monstrous. I feel that it is very possible that if you were to fall into the water, you’d be “Gone In 60 Seconds”!

By the way, the whole image of the Palace definitely makes an impression. It is massive and intimidating. As you walk through the front doors into the “Lobby” you are greeted by more Tongans who check your Palace access and wave you through… into the rotunda. This is where you find Sadam’s throne, on which thousands have sat and had their picture taken. Then you start looking around the room at the size: the pillars, the marble, the stairwells, and the majestic chandelier that, unless you are there, you have no way to gauge the magnitude of the composition. You are just another tourist at this point. Camera out, pictures by the dozen, and not one can catch the reality of the audacity it took to build something so brazen when his people were dying of starvation and sickness.

Well... at this point it is time to leave the palace, because visitors are not allowed to enter certain areas. I’ll walk you back to the guard shack and, we can spend tomorrow together doing what I do on my day off.

Surprise!! A New Roommate!

Sound asleep. The door opens. I wake up and roll over to bright light coming through my door. A nice looking young lady tiptoes in, apologizing for waking me and tells me she’ll just drop off her things and be gone. A man follows with a couple boxes. They set things down and as they walk out I mention to her that I had written a note to my next roommate so she could have an idea of who she was rooming with and that we’d talk on my next day off. “OK. Sorry to bother you.” I roll over and go back to sleep. But I smile.

**(Update: Thursday 24 April 2008) I like her. We agree on things. I wasn’t taking any chances, I wanted to be sure she would be OK with the fact that I would be off two nights a week and that I would probably be on my computer most of the time either chatting or watching movies. We agreed that we would share the chores of keeping the room clean. We talked about splitting the cost of a refrigerator and microwave. She will be here for a year, but her schedule although maybe once in a while might be a little less stringent than it sounds, is for her to work seven 12 hour days in a row for three months and then have a three week vacation. She walked to the PX tonight and I gave her my Green Beans Card so she could get us each a coffee. I told her to use the blanket I had put on that bed, it is warm and pretty, so she was happy to use it, especially since I keep the temperature in the sub zero range on my nights off. I also had bought “risers” for both beds. You put them under the four corners of the beds and it lifts the bed up about 5 inches so you can store a lot more stuff under the bed (Target Special). That helped me a lot. There were some things I just didn’t have room for. She had a box at the foot of her bed that she had no place else to put, the risers worked out great. POOF!!! Under the bed it disappears! Yeah... I think we will get along fine.

Thriving on Communication

The past few days have been very interesting and I must say quite fulfilling. I loved my help desk job because I was always involved with so many people, and as someone today put it, I’m a social butterfly. So being in the deepest darkest center of the palace where no one ever goes is very hard for me. I am working nights with systems instead of with people (other than my co-workers) and I’m secluded. I have to get my social fix on my walks to and from work and in the DFAC and gym… although honestly I tend to more or less hide as much as I can at the gym. So as I started out saying, the past couple days have been good.

On line a few nights ago I saw someone I had not seen in quite a while and although we used to talk a lot, he has been busy and has not been on line much, so seeing him was great. We spent a while talking and kind of rekindling our friendship. He promised he would be on more often. He is someone very dear to me, so I was really happy to have been able to get back in touch.

I got a new roommate and two days later she told me that she had gone to KBR and gotten a different room with a friend who had been working with her, they had come over together, and the other girl had no roommate. So here I am once again, alone.

I had gotten up around 5PM and took in my laundry, and then I walked to the PX and bought a blanket and some bottles of green tea. I had wanted to go to the Turkish Shop before this, but I had not been close to it during their open hours until yesterday, so I went there and saw my friend. After I got done shopping and after I went over to Subway for a sandwich he asked one of his co-workers to give me a ride back to my trailer. He told me to come back in a week when he got a new shipment of rings. He said he would take care of me. He is such a great person. I never cared much for stones in rings, I just liked silver, but somehow I got hooked on opals and the Turkish Shop carries so many gorgeous colors and styles that I just can’t help myself. It is just one of a few of my addictions, along with Amazon.com and my grandchildren.

I spent most of the night on line last night talking to a former colleague. This is a person I have kept in touch with for quite a while, but on a very generic basis. We would see each other on line and say hello, talk for a bit, and that was it. Last night we got into a conversation that lasted almost four hours, Just catching up. It was kind of neat. We both had fun.

I spent the rest of the night sleeping, and then had trouble trying to sleep through the day so I could be rested for tonight. But I managed to get a few hours of shut-eye. When I got up, I went to the dining facility where I saw a couple I really like a lot, but don’t run into often (always a pleasure to see them) then I ran into a friend whom I had met while I was working in the IZ. I talked to an officer from Kazakhstan who had spent time in the States. He spoke English quite well. As I walked to work after I left the DFAC, I ran into another person I hadn’t seen in a while. He was surprised that I was still here. Then closer to work, much to my surprise I ran across another soldier that I remember from a previous deployment and he stopped me to talk for a few minutes. And then of course I always love to see the Tongan guards. They are so proper and polite and always open the gate for me instead of having me go through the turnstiles. So many wonderful people have touched my life. I’m really very fortunate. This is a good place.

As I said, the past couple days have been good. In fact like a gold mine for me. I crave the interaction and it seems like it all came to me at once. I feel very fulfilled today.

The one thing I do miss is my ability to talk freely, and often, about the political scene. I rely on my email as my means to communicate with my son and my brother about this. Once in a while one of my daughters gets involved, but I think she is too busy with school now and maybe disenchanted by the events that are constantly occurring and making being an avid supporter very difficult. The political scene just isn’t for everyone, and I’m starving for infusions. I love that my brother is always keeping me informed and responding to my emails. My son gets into it once in a while, but he isn’t as deeply involved as I am. He has a pretty full life right now.

Our family has a great time with discussion when it comes to some topics, sometimes everyone gets involved and we can get quite carried away, and very deep, but recently we haven’t had a really good topic to center in on. With the differences that have come up in our living situations and lifestyles, I guess it’s understandable that we don’t have something going on presently.

People have asked me for news of my family, but to be honest, I prefer to allow my family and friends their respective privacies. I have mentioned my son and my brother above, and that a baby is imminent, that would be my daughter-in-law having my third grandson. She is doing well at this time. Other than that… my blog is about ME and my feelings and daily experiences here in Iraq. As you have noticed, names will not be used unless I am given permission to use them or unless they pertain to people like the presidential candidates or other well known entities whose names get thrown all over anyway. I also will not presume to give my ideas of what anyone else’s opinions are. Some people don’t understand why I am so open with my life, but I am an avid writer and I am planning to write an autobiography. That will be an interesting undertaking, since I will need cooperation from everyone to make it real, or else I’ll have to use fictitious names but real characters… or I will have to write a “based on a true story” account. Which isn’t as good as an autobiography. But I might have no other choice. Like I said, and as I was reminded today, privacy is a very big issue.

So… If there is anyone out there who wants to talk to me about the political scene, please leave me a comment and an email address, unless you have mine, then you can just email me, if you leave a comment I’ll write to you and we can discuss to our hearts content. I’m very open minded and willing to listen as much as tell my side and why I’m there.

Well, thanks for finding and reading my blog.

Until next posting… Malimali (Tongan for “Smile”)

A NEW LEAF (or maybe it's New Leaves?)

Here it is, a week since my last entry. I’m amazed at how fast time goes by over here. I’ve been keeping in touch with my son and his wife on a pretty regular basis, it’s sort of odd, this time around I’m talking to him and emailing with him a lot more than last time I was here. She has been working a lot so it has been harder to keep in touch with her. As of Saturday I’m on nights, which under normal circumstances would put me on the same schedule as everyone in the states, except my daughter-in-law is also on nights, so until she starts her maternity leave, we manage to keep in touch for a short time when I get off work or just before I go in. Not having chat at work puts a damper on a lot of interaction. Funny when you think about it. It used to be that you had to either call or use snail mail to keep in touch, then computers took the world by storm and email was the way to go (or cell phones), NOW email just isn’t fast enough. If you don’t have a chat program, you kind of are left out to dry. People are much more inclined to chat than to answer emails, for the most part. There are some exceptions.

I think that either I grew up while I was home or just had an epiphany, I’m not really certain what happened, but I got so involved in politics and news that I feel like I’m starving if I can’t find new information on the candidates. I’m surrounded by republicans, many of whom are extremely pro-Bush and pro McCain. No one in my family is on that side of the fence so I just never gave thought to the possibility that anyone else would be. How strange to see that there are so many anti-democrats. For one of the first times in my life I understand why you don’t talk politics with people. They take things very seriously; it’s like a religious thing. I love a good debate, and to me politics is one to have good debates about. Why do you like Bush? Why do you want to see McCain in office? Why are you against Obama and Clinton? But it’s not that simple. If you question, you seem to be attacking. So here I am after 10 months at home having deep discussions about everything with my family, and now I have to take a vow of silence. I inadvertently may have already severed friendships with people because I never gave a thought to the fact that my views might not be shared over here. I never intended to offend, but I know I did. So that narrows the field a bit. My new found passion has to be suppressed, and I find eggshells hard to walk on. Always did. I’m passionate about my support, but if someone wants to question me, I’m so ready to just debate, not heatedly, just as a friendly informative conversation. I love to find out what makes other people tick. Oh well. Nuff on that.

I just got home from the gym. It was my very first time over here… well possibly my second, the first bring about 3 years ago. I didn’t feel out of place, but I was a bit lost. All I did tonight was the bike for 15 minutes, and then I left. But it was a start. I went. And I’ll go again. Maybe next time I’ll ride longer or try some other machine. But I feel it was a break through.

When I got off work this morning I walked to the mail room and picked up a bunch of books that I had ordered, then I walked over to 98C, then I walked to the laundry, then to my trailer. I chatted with my daughter-in-law for a while and then went to sleep. I was proud of myself for all the walking I did. I think I must have put in a good three miles. And I still got up to go to the gym. I’m determined to make these new knees strong and regain my balance and overall health. I know I have a long road ahead, but I’m not planning any detours. Full speed ahead!

The lady I work with traded lists of movies with me. We marked what ones we wanted to borrow. She brought me the ones I asked for, but I need to get on the ball and get her the ones she wants. It was funny, we had a lot of the same movies on our lists, so we sort of have partially the same tastes in movies. There were some I loved that she hated and vice versa, but in general we will probably have some good stuff to watch.

Well, I believe I’ve covered most things. If not, they will end up in my next update. So for now, I’m still Crazy in Iraq. Mostly because I’m happy here. Maybe I should change my email name to Insane in Iraq. It’s probably more appropriate. Anyway. I’m out. Or as my daughter so aptly says… Peace, yo!

HAPPY APRIL FOOL'S DAY

Whoopee.

The guys were late coming in… trying to make me think they weren’t going to be here (they said) I think they were just late coming in.

Got a new roommate yesterday. Lost her today. Things change fast here. The situation she is in kind of changed and she is giving the key back to KBR. So once again I am alone. Not that it bothers me, but it was nice knowing I was going to have a good room mate, now I have to wonder again who I’m going to be with eventually.

I walked to the DFAC last night and got my dinner, it was my day off but I have promised myself I will go for a walk at least once every “day off: that I have. So far I have walked to the little PX, billeting, the TMC (which is redundant, because TMC stands for The Medical Center), Green Beans Coffee Shop, the DFAC and my next trip will be to the Turkish shop. I was told they have some awesome canes there, plus my friend (who I used to buy all my opal rings from) had gone home, but he is back again. I saw him at the TMC. I bought some rings there for my boyfriend before as well, they have a great selection. It’s also where my daughter and I bought our chess sets. So many people here remember her and ask me all the time how she is. She makes friends very quickly. It’s the smile! It’s irresistible!

Well, that’s about all I have to say about that. I’ll write again soon. Have a wonderful day.