me...liasing

the division had a change of command and here is me with the outgoing commander a few days before he left.

and the combat camera was still hanging around when I was talking to LT Oh in the enlisted aides' office - if you look closely you can see me sticking my tongue out at the camera.

"I [pant] need [pant] a crane!! [pant] "

so SSG R said to me and SSG C as he came running in the DFAC.

SSG R [all panicky]: The gravel truck just tipped over! SSG C I need you to get a crane from the Koreans!

SSG C [calmly still eating lunch]: Ok, I'll talk to them.

SSG R [still panicky]: No, I need it now!

SSG C [again, calmly]: Ok, I'll talk to them.

me: Anyone hurt?

SSG R: No, but I don't know what is going to happen to the driver. An [local who brings these guys to us] is pretty pissed and I don't know what is going to happen to the driver!

me: Sit down. Have some lunch. Have you eaten?

There's a saying here in Iraq, "Inshallah" which means "God-willing" which also can mean "I'm not in a hurry." or "It will happen when it happens." Commonly said by any Iraqi, particularly when the impatient Americans want something, I just thought to myself "Inshallah."



Follow up: I can't tell you how many Koreans stopped and took pictures of the overturned truck, but we were able to get a crane from the maintenance battaion, quickly too. (we didnt even have to formally submit a memo request!) They turned the truck right side up and somehow drove it away.

Fun with Fijiians

Oh. My. Goodness.

Yesterday had to have been the best day I've had here. The Military Advisor to the UN assigned here in Irbil invited us to an awards ceremony. The Fijiian unit supporting the UN in Irbil is due to rotate, so this was their farewell ceremony.

Complete with grass skirts and a ukelele.

After the awards ceremony and reception, the soldiers sang their goodbyes. Sweet and deep voices. Friendly smiles. Welcoming and gracious demeanor.

And we were asked to join in the celebration...

G3 Dinner

Unfortunately don't have anything interesting to say about this picture.

We played Cho Gu and shared a special dinner with the G3 staff. The G3 section is the ROK staff I work with the most. You can see CPT Park in the second row!

This is in one of their dining facilites. Over our shoulders, the President of the Republic of Korea tells the Division "You are Korea"

mint mojito

I'm not sure which care package this came in, but thanks for the Orbit gum "exotic new flavor" Mint Mojito!

...and the contract is awarded to

the lowest bidder!

I'm in Iraq. I know this. I don't expect much, really. But I don't expected to be electrocuted while in the shower. (mom, don't worry, I am ok)

The US female population on this camp is very small. Thus, our bathroom is very small. Its a little container with 2 toilets, 1 sink, 2 shower stalls. We recently replaced the water heater and one of my guys tells me that its probably not grounded (anyone? is this true?).

Sketchy contractors, shoddy construction. And apparantly equally poor electrical work. I never thought I'd miss electrical codes and inspections and certifications, but I do.

My guys tell me the local electrician came in to fix it, but I still use one of my shower shoes to turn the faucet on and off.

Remorse

All over the news (even here) is the VA Tech killings.

All over the South Korean news is the VA Tech killings.

During a brief to the MNC-I Commanding General, the Zaytun Division commander stated that as a Korean he was ashamed and embarassed that the shooter was a young Korean.

Yesterday, the topic during my-almost-daily-English-lesson with the one-star was about "crazy" people and the pressure in Korean society to excel in academics. He also was deeply saddened.

Walking to the Korean morning briefing, the ROK Chaplain stopped me and put his hand on his heart and said he was very saddened about the "Virginia university shootings".

Girls Nite Out (?)

Sorry for the break in posting. I couldn't get to the website from my work computer or from the internet connection in my room! Well, I'm in my room now, and our ISP comes out of Italy. So, I'm learning to read Italian - dad's family would be proud.

salva come bozza = save draft
pubblica = publish
visualizza blog = view blog

The CG hosted a dinner for the women officers, and invited me!


One ROK (male) officer theory on the girl dinner was that the women soldiers here don't get to have any fun. They have to live together in a concertina-wired section of the camp AND they don't get to wear shorts! I couldn't believe that. Anyway, this theory doesn't have much to back it up. While I was doing the KKFD preperations and whatnot, I was in the 'dressing room' with all the girls. A few English words here and there, but no real conversation. Though there was a lot of giggling.

I'm pretty sure that everyone thinks that Iraq is all desert and dust. And from other accounts, yes, its is the desert. But as the picture shows you, at least here in Irbil, we've to got grass. and weeds. and poppies. and these little yellow stalks.


It really is pretty here. There are mountains to the East - which people tell me is Iran. Yay. And the weather is still pleasant; all in all, no complaints.

Extension...

Report on troop extension... read this:

Hmm, well, I haven't heard if I'm extended officially, but I wouldn't doubt it. I mean, I love my country, and I love the Army, but this is ridiculous. The burden of this war is shouldered by young soldiers and their families. Unless you have a personal tie to this war, I get the feeling that the rest of the country doesn't care.

On the bright side, that's an additional $18,000 I'll earn.

Mmm. Well. Back to the Korean Army's contribution to the coalition.

The final KKFD performance was the other night. Oh, I am so glad that is over. I didn't have the time or energy to rehearse as much as they'd have liked. Tuesday night was the big night - local important people and local press was on hand.

According to the US types in the audience, while I was on stage, the Korean soldiers were chanting "We! Love! Ah-Mah-To!" I didn't hear it, I was too horrified that I was actually playing, poorly at that, in front of all these people.


SSG Kim was the girl playing piano during our song. She also was modeling a traditional Kurdish costume (pictured here), played during the drum circle and helped with the Tae Kwon Do demonstration. It was her hanbok I wore the other night.

Fun with the Enlisteds.

Usually its the ROK officers we interact with - there are so many of them. But the enlisteds are the fun ones. They're in this for the shortest time possible - 2 years of mandatory service as an enlisted versus 3 for officers. More than you'd think spent significant time in the US (or Canada). They're a lot of fun and we try to take care of them the best we can - invite them to eat at our DFAC or give them junk food from our care packages. Typically their English is better than the average officer, so its easy to joke around with them.

Feeling left out, they asked if we would play soccer with them. It was more fun playing with them than with the senior officers - they would actually play with us, instead of kicking the ball around us. (Most of us Americans aren't good at soccer - they all think I'm the best player, and I haven't played in years)

Happy Birthday to Me!

Everyone - thanks for the birthday emails and wishes and cards and packages! I had more meetings Sunday than any other day in recent history - happy birthday to me, right?


Well, I did get 3 cakes: 1 from the DCG, BG Lee, 1 from one of the teams here and another from the MAJ who talked me into participating in Korea/Kurdish Friendship Day.

Speaking of KKFD - check me out. That's me in a hanbok. I am sure I sounded awful, but everyone clapped and cheered for me anyway.





I've been pretty busy the past few days, so sorry for the delay in posting.

opposites and superlatives

I've got NPR going in the background, and a recent topic was bipolar disorder and other mental illnesses...I can't remember which radio show. And somehow, I jumped from that to deciding to post this picture. Anyway, the other day a storm came in and came in fast. You know the moment, when the sky competes with itself - rain or shine? I took a picture.

According to the ROK Chief of Staff, I'm "the best soccer player!" I love their extreme vocabulary, the best when they mean good, beautiful when they mean cute, genius when they mean 'not dumb'. Ah, all words used to describe me! Who wouldn't want to work with them?

Until the day they called me fat. mmm. Maybe they meant 'not as skinny as a Korean'?

Interesting Reading

mail call

Finally. Mail. We've only been waiting a month!

This is genius, let me tell you. Fuel and mail came last night and we knew we had a ton of mail - 7 pallets accoring to the mail peeps over at FOB A. There were about 7 of us ready to download the trailer. Its 0130 - 1:30 am for you non-military folks. We just want our mail. Well, the convoy people loaded our full of mail shipping container BACKWARDS on the flatbed. One of our guys said "Now, I'm not a load master, but the doors are blocked." We convinced the driver to drop the trailer, coordinated with the ROKs to forklift the container so we could open the door.

Good news. I had 18 packages. 18! I think that's a record.

I miss my coffee pot.

I know I'm at war. And that I'm in a remote location.

But still.

I miss my coffee pot.

Thanks to Conway's very thoughtful housewarming gift, a Cuisinart Grind and Brew (with stainless steel carafe - keeps coffee hot for hours!), the pink house wakes to the spaceship sounding coffee grinder. Really, it sounds like a spaceship. (Natalie, Lisa and I jumped when we first heard it - so loud!)

Anyway, this little blue translucent contraption does the job. If you look closely, you can see my attempt at a self-portrait.

Its not just the coffee pot I miss, really; the events and moments that come after the grinding and brewing and hot-coffee-keeping, I miss them too. The rare occasion the three of us could sit before leaving and starting/continuing our day - Christy before her 5 min drive to work, Lisa's 50 step commute to her office, me in between PT and work call.

Or when Mom and Dad came to visit (or more accurately to take care of me after surgery and assume the role of "mr. fix it") being able to sit, talk, drink coffee like grown ups.

This picture...

has no bearing on today's post. I just thought you'd like another picture posted.

We had a killer thunderstorm last night. I've never seen lightening bolts so thick. And the eerie orange daylight-like with each strike. I was scared. I can't lie. And the wind! I thought my container was going to blow over.

I was able to sneak in an easy 3 mile run in mid-morning. The sun peeked out. With the storm and the time change and the schedule change, its been too dark to run early in the morning. The sky cleared up around 8 am and now, at 4, more wind and more rain.

Daylight savings time... yeah, the Coalition, at the request of the Iraqi government, changed clocks at 0001 31 Mar. The rest of the country, to include the Iraqi Army, didn't change clocks until the following day. {insert look of annoyance here}

For Maria and her + 3

Cousin, as requested!

Another friend asked to see what the inside of my room looked like. I did the best I could with photoshop to make this panorama. I did not do a good job, but I think you get the idea.

more later...