Rest and Recuperation Travel

Each of us assigned by State to the Embassy gets 3 R&Rs/year, or, 2 longer R&Rs and three shorter Regional Rest Breaks. I don't know why it is called rest and recuperation - given the effort to get it done, it should be called sleep removal and reduction. The toughest part of these R&Rs is getting out and back to Baghdad, due to security concerns. I won't go into details, that would be poor operational security, but suffice it to say that for us, it took 53 hours from leaving our residence at the Embassy compound in Baghdad to the airport in Philadelphia. the largest single leg was from our residence in Baghdad to Amman, Jordan. Of course, traveling in a sleigh pulled by only one reindeer is slow going, but the other reindeer were in training for Christmas eve service.

We arrived in the states in time to participate in the Christmas, XMAS for you non-Christians (see “Xmas and Christmas: A Lost Chapter from Herodotus” in God in the Dock collected essays by C.S. Lewis) , preparations, buying, shopping, giving, receiving, eating, drinking, reveling, etc. as required/expected/desired. Midnight Mass was great - first one that i've been to in years, but I very much missed being with the small catholic community in baghdad on Christmas - a multi-lingual, multi-ethnic, multi-ritual mass was planned.

Jet lag - I've always had a harder time adjusting to the time change caused by flying west versus flying east. I find myself falling asleep at 5 in the afternoon, then rising at 1 am. gradually, i stay up later and rise at the normal hour of 6 am. but, it takes several days. going east, it takes about a day, maybe two, to re-set my personal/bio clock.

Two weeks to our return to baghdad, and I'm already dreading the travel. Time to get ebooks to read along the way!

Visitors, visitors, visitors

"Tis the season for the visits
fah la la la la, la la la la"

We had the deputy secretary of state with a small entourage. well, entourage is a stretch - he had a few staff people. of course, lots of security. but, still , with only a few staff people, it was not an entourage.

he traveled all over the country and made a great impression on everyone. i made a point of shaking his hand and tanking him for his work - and for awarding me a degree at the JMIC a few years ago.
he is a quite impressive career public servant - one i hope to emulate in many ways.

next. on the 18th of December, the day Nancy and i were going on our first r&r, the secretary herself arrived. a short visit, but she took the time to say hello to the "troops". well, really it was the troops, since most of the State dpt. types could not find a place in the hall for her meet-and-greet, so we moved on to other things so CR could have her photos with the ethnically, racially, sex, and age balanced group of soldiers, sailors, airmen/women and marines. hmm, maybe we should call them airers to avoid the execrable airmen/women?

of course, there are always a lot of visitors to Baghdad at the Christmas season. all the political leaders come to show their support for the troops. some, let's be honest, not everyone is kind and other-centered, come to win votes back in the states. both are disruptive. yes, it is important to show support for the troops, and i think those fighting outside the wire, facing death regularly, appreciate the gesture. still, maybe a real day off with no visitors at all, but just a day, be it thanksgiving day or be it Christmas, when all one has to do is give thanks or contemplate the birth of the God the Son as a baby would be better than visitors.

Merry Christmas!

Baghdad Winds

the wind was whipping the tarpaulins in the international zone today. gusts of upt to 15 mph. marvelous. i've always loved weather. any weather - i'm eclectic in my taste for climate-expressions. rain, fog, sun, wind - all can be enjoyed.

last night, the wind was making the trailer we call home rock a little bit. yes, it was rocking because of the wind.

this morning, a few sprinkles of light rain mixed with the ongoing wind. then, by about noon time, the wind picked up and was tossing around the tarpaulins that cover the stacks of sandbags. at one point, walking to my trailer, had the other trailers on my right, stacks of sandbags on my left, and the tarpaulin over me, whipping in the wind. reminded me of the fabric covers over the narrow streets in Toledo, Spain used for the Corpus Christi processions with the consecrated host in the monstrance.

it gets scarier though: an old hand, someone who had been here in 2005, regaled me and one of the sr. embassy officers with a story of the windstorms/sandstorms he had experienced. at times, he said, the sandstorm and wind was so intense, the horizon was obscured and that sand and dust swirled inside the tightly sealed buildings. now, the dust here is so bad, you need to use a Swiffer (R) every few hours if you are serious about keeping things clean. but the thought of all that dust and sand blowing around at gale force, getting inside the tightly sealed boxes we call home - well yuck! of course, the best is that at times the rain joins with the sandstorms, rarely, to rain mud. sounds great, eh. "I'm singin' in the mudrain, just singin' in the mud..." catchy.

remember - comments welcome; questions too.

Rainy night in Baghdad

It's a raingy night in Baghdad,
Rainy night in Baghdad,
some times, I feel like it's rainin'
all ovah the world.

We now move from the season of dust, to the season of mud.

I'll need new shoes when I leave here, in fact, i'll need new everything just about.
Laundry is hard on the clothes, dry-cleaning is harder on the suits, and the shoe leather cracks from the dryness, or gets filled with dust and then disintegrates.

minor inconveniences in a relative sense.

BBC positive report on Concerned Local citizens

Whooda thunk it. Jim Muir of BBC did a report on Nove. 28 daying positive things about U.S. efforts to bring security and stability to Baghdad. See it at

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7116717.stm

Cheers

winter has arrived

45 degrees fahrenheit today. cool. really, really cool.

Thanksgiving Day at the Embassy Annex

Well, Thanksgiving Day here was marvelous. It really was almost a day off. I did have to go and take notes at a high-level meeting, but what's two hours out of a holiday for the good of the Republic? Everyone in the office I'm in and a few spouses (also Embassy personnel) got together for Thanksgiving Feast - tablecloths on two wooden picnic table cum benches under a canopy next to the pool - food courtesy of KBR and the U.S. taxpayer. Great stuff, though I missed the cranberries in the stuffing (or filling as we Philly natives call it). And, several bottles of fine Lebanese wine accompanied the feast, so the holiday spirit and giving of thanks was in full swing. See atttached menu (if I figured out how to do that) Fortunately, the shelling, InDirectFire (IDF) did not start until we were at the coffee following the dessert course. Unfortunately, several Iraqis in the International Zone (aka the green zone) and one foreign guard qwere injured - no deaths in that barrage though, thank God for small favors! Only the touch football at the park or on the front/back lawn with family and relatives was missing. But at my age, i'd likely have gotten a cracked rib or two, so better to stop that "rough touch" football.

Thanksgiving in the Baghdad Embassy Annex

Much to be thankful for. We are safe and sound, though it is a dangerous place. Violence is down though AG-I and sectarian militias still threaten. Economy here is picking up. Weather is fine. Etc. Yes, it is most useful to pause and give thanks. Sadly, many are working all day though it is a day off. As for me, well, took some notes at a meeting, but now off to change into casual clothes and prepare to gorge myself on turkey and fixings.

Church life in the International Zone, or more precisely, the Embassy Annex:

Having lots of military here on the Embassy Annex grunds mean there are plenty of church services. In fact, sunday morning is about the only time the soldiers get downtime. I guess it's too bad if you are an observant Jew or Muslim, eh? (well, the military does try to respect the Jewish and Muslim senstitivites, they just keep the Christian Sabbath more by giving that time off, at least the military here.) So, the military chaplaincy program provides services for Protestants and Catholics. I haven't been to the Protestant services, though one lapsed Catholic now a so-called born-again Christian (is there any other kind?) tried to get me to go with him one sunday. i told him I preferred the sunday services of the OTC. then explained that OTC stands for One True Church - that put him off. well, i was being a little jestful. a little.
So, to the real biz - Mass at the Embassy Annex. Services are held every weekday at noon and on Saturday and Sundays at several times. I go to the Saturday evening Mass at 1830. Priest is a good guy, even though he likes to be address as Fr. first name not Fr. surname. Likely has to do with his surname being a monastic title. Almost as bad as Captain Major or Lieutenant Major. Then, on Sundays, we have Mass en espanol, for the hispanic community. Many of the guards here are from Peru - so send a big poster of St. Rose of Lima for the Chapel lectern. Desgraciadamente, the priest can read but not really speak Spanish. His Italian is brilliant, so we've done a little pronunciation coaching. Asi es, I've returned to my roots as a Spanish speaker and accomplished hispanohablante anglo. Next step is for me to write out some prayers of petition for him in Spanish so he could practice them and use them for Mass instead of reading them out in English and having someone subsequently translate. we'll see how that goes.
This Saturday Mass will be early to accommodate the Missionaries of charity and the Papal Nuncios First Secretary who are going to visit us. I plan to give the First Secretary a copy of the new book of Mother Theresa's spiritual journey.
I like going to the English Mass because many of my faves in the Embassy go at that time. But, I like even more the Spanish Mass because those Peruvian guards put so much energy into the Mass. Last Sunday we were singing Alabare (accent on the last syllable). great stuff.

So, pray for me, pray for Iraq, and be safe - it's a dangerous world.

Well, it has been a while since I posted anything here. Today was not a good day to be out in Baghdad. Around 0700 Sunday the 18th, rockets and mortars were sent off in the general direction of several u.s. military posts. fortunately, no u.s. or other coalition personnel were seriously wounded. this type of attack is referred to as IDF - InDirectFire. It is not pleasant, but not as effective as planted IEDs - ImprovisedExplosiveDevices - which target convoys or foot patrols, etc. An Iraqi min of finance was targeted by an IED, but he made it safely, though one of his bodyguards was wounded. sadly, 5 bystanders were killed. just remember, that is what our enemies are like - total disregard for human life and a willingness to murder innocents.

as for us at the embassy in the so-called green zone, we have not had IDF in a while - though a few stray rounds have sent people scurrying from time to time. "the bullet you hear didn't kill you" is my attitude on the stray rounds.

On a lighter note, I had to visit the British Embassy today. Much like ours, that is the security is very serious and intense, and it is a bad idea to upset a Gurkha, but, drum roll, they have a tennis court! So, now I try to figure out how to worm myself an invitation to play tennis there. i mean, how can I be a diplomat without playing tennis. of course, gallows humor, lobbing one on this court might take on a whole new meaning.

the work remains very interesting, and I am getting out a bit more, though the security provisions, necessary of course, to make an office call in the red zone are time consuming and onerous. but, it sure beats returning home in a zippered plastic bag.

a bit too much gallows humor, but this was inspired by watching the town hall meeting at state to discuss directed assignments. someone, i think his name was croddy or cruddy, said that sending us to Baghdad was a "potential death sentence." well, yeah, but life is a potential death sentence, or rather, it is a death sentence - i don't know of anyone who has lived forever. i do take mr. croddy/cruddy's point, but I think he is off base. is it more dangerous here than in d.c.? sure it is, but it is not so dangerous to call this a death sentence. yes, u.s. civilians as well as military have died here, but not many, so the odds are not so great that one can call it a death sentence. i just felt his whole speech was whiney. having said that, i am sympathetic to those who see no reason to serve here because of family obligations - but to complain about the danger, well, stop driving the beltway or i-95 if you want to be safe.

weather now is beautiful. keep that in mind for when tourism returns. cool, crisp mornings in Baghdad. not too hot at midday, and the mud-producing rains have not started.

went recently to the ar rashid hotel. best not to go alone - abductors are lurking looking for some revenue. abductees are a commodity to be traded like oil futures. scary. but, if accompanied, quite a nice place with a cozy coffee bar and lots of overpriced trinket shops, and, one very good carpet shop.

okay, that's all today from the banks of the Tigris.

Saturday, October 20 2007

We've been here two weeks and things remain surprisingly quiet in the International Zone. (The IZ is some times called the Green Zone, but this is a misnomer that could lull people into a false sense of security, or, worse, make them think this was where Saddam had established an environmentally friendly area - dictatorships are always bad for the environment, as is war and violence in general.) The IZ is relatively safe, but that is relative to the rest of Baghdad. the truth is that sectarian violence is down over the last 6 weeks in most parts of the city and the IZ has seen very few indirect fire attacks too. But, it still is a dangerous place, and the people of Baghdad live in fear of what might happen to them.

The weather. Dusty hot days continue. Rain, and the resultant mud, threatens but has yet to arrive. for any of you who are not a friend of the earth or a tree hugger, visit a dry, dusty place and you will begin to appreciate the importance of trees in scrubbing the air, reducing dustiness, providing shade, homes for birds, etc. Of course, in such places, trees need lots of care, unlike many parts of america east of the Mississippi where the trees would cover everything if we did not cut them down/trim them back. On the palace grounds, the birds in the trees sing, or at least make a lot of noise, when the sun is going down. Much to the surpirse and dismay of the urbanized americans, those birds do their duty without concern for pooper scooper laws prevalent in urban america. Fairly, the smokers' areas are placed under the trees. You thought it was to shade the smokers from the hot sun? no, it is too give the little chickadees a chance for vengeance agains the smokers who foul the air with their vile cigarette habit. (For me, it is a fine cigar poolside in the sunshine rather than under the inhabited trees.)

Housing: Promises of moves to the new embassy housing compound in November are hedged with the oft-stated "security conditions permitting". Moving Chief of Mission personnel to the new housing compound befor moving them into the new embassy building would create a marvelous set of problems about shuttling people back and forth. so, we wait to see. and, with the decision to incorporate/include some of the military's staff into the new housing, well, those nice one-bedroom condo-like units have gone from cute and cozy one-person units to cramped and crowded two-person units. BTW: Nancy and I had to present our marriage certificate to prove we were a married couple. part of the rules. i'm quite happy, of course, with the rule that the two room trailers can only be shared by same-sex couples (not that type of same-sex couple!) unless they are married to each other, but requiring a copy of our marriage license when we are of the same last name and on the same travel orders seemed a bit much. the best was the look of genuine surprise on the face of the housing official when i told him, "no, i did not bring my marriage license with me nor do I have it in my wallet with my driver's license."

The Empire: As a historian by training, i'm fascianted by the similarities between what i see in the u.s.-dominated coatlition's presence vis-a-vis the local government and population and what I read about the British Empire's dealing with subject peoples in the late Victorian and Edwardian eras. our notions of sovereignty and governance are fine ones; but without the proper tutelage, we really can't let the locals run things, now can we? i think we realize we will be hoisted on our own petard someday, that is that at some point the Iraqis will say, "Thanks for the training in running a democratic country under the rule of law. No we can run things - go home." but, that day is not around the corner, though I don't think it is decades away either. seems our role is to speed that day while not expecting too much too fast. we must be persuasive and patient, nudging them along while giving a hand as required.

that's all for now. off to the mall - local artisans who operate next to the PX.

EgS

Baghdad Arrival

We arrived in Baghdad via Paris and Amman 38 hours after departing the U.S. Nice hotel accomodations in Amman, a city built on 7 good size hills, and within easy drive of the Dead Sea. We plan to visit the Dead Sea, maybe even Jerusalem, N'sh'allah, on the return trip. could be interesting.

First impressions of Baghdad: dust, dust, and more dust. We are approaching the end of Ramadan, so the city has been relatively quiet (emphasis on the relatively). We expect a lot of noise, from many sources, once Ramadan ends.

Food is good, and it's plentiful. Water is unsafe, go for the bottled stuff only.

Sunsets are quite attractive - credit the dust in the air.

4 October 2007 A.D.