Not Literature

…Writing on the blog doesn't always have to be literature, you know…

Well, I do like to fully “explore” any topic that I write on, but I’ve got so many great ones right now.  Those words spoken by a friend who enjoys my blog have spurred me to go ahead and post the following, a more comprehensive version of a quickie email sent to a colleague:

The work is steady, but not overwhelming.  Tons of time spent doing things like escorting visitors from the gate and back again.  The multitude of steps you must take and boxes you must check to clear each level (of security) is time consuming.  Patience is a good thing, and I have found my smile opens lots of doors and engenders cooperation (I’m sure it doesn’t hurt that I’m a girl!). 

Currently we are on a fairly large parcel of land with tons of unused space so you find things to do to entertain yourself.  One guy is going to show me something they call Stonehenge tomorrow.  Sounds intriguing.

I have been down to the marsh a few times to feed the Jackals.  (yep, sounds silly, I know, but you know me –adventure is everywhere)  There’s a little pack/pride?? with cubs? But only one of them is brave enough to come out and eat while we are there.  It is getting really hot so the water is drying up, though for now it is still a good sized little pond.  The 8 foot tall reeds around the water are beginning to dry out so the wind rustles them and it sounds very peaceful and quiet out there.  Local Iraqi men here are catching the fish and moving them to another body of water that is bigger so they will survive the heat.

There are several archaeological sites on our property; one is an old Turkmen cemetery, another is a mass grave (children who died before the age of six were not buried in a cemetery) discovered when we began a construction project.

For the 4^th of July we held a major event at the Kirkuk Government Building for our Iraqi contacts and guests.  We actually had our 4^th of July celebration in the Council’s Chamber!!!  It was pretty awesome to get out of the gates and see the city.  There is poverty, there is new construction…the look of the people, it all tells you something about this place.

Was kinda cool to be transported and protected by my own bodyguards.  I love my SPS guys-they are so serious! 

We have a little “camp” of CHUs lined up in a grid, but far enough apart that we park our cars in between.  CHUS are two to a bldg with a bathroom each.  Everything in our camp is powered by our own generator.  I was standing outside one night around 9 o’clock looking at the stars when suddenly it got VERY quiet.  The generator quit and EVERYTHING went dead.  I can’t help it I laughed and said, “who forgot to order the gas truck?”  Everyone came out of their CHUs and we waited around while the MGT officer went to find someone to fix it.  Seems it just needed restarting.

Our camp is just Dept of State people and we have one big trailer room full of sofas, TV, Kitchen, library and such – all left over by the massive military presence that has since departed country.  It is our communal space.  The only place to eat is the DFAC (dining facility) and it gets boring going there for 3 meals a day, but you can buy meats at the PX.  Since there is a large group of men, they love to grill so there are lots of evenings that we just eat meat, LOL.  Brats for appetizer, hamburgers for the next course and ribs or steak as a follow up!  In their defense fruits and veggies are very hard to come by on the compound and none of us get outside the gates except for work mtgs.  But we sit on picnic tables, the swing and sit under the midnight sky and chat.

But the adventure continues.  We are moving to “new” compound put together using older CHUs.  But since it is like “new” construction there’s not all the goodies left behind by others like rugs, picnic tables, chair, grilles (some of these were made by the troops including a grille with their logo!) and shade netting.  We are scavenging everything we can find to take with us.  Stayed tuned there’s lots more to come.