every day...

feels like Monday.

This little event broke up my morning monotony..

Hanging out at the CGs office, talking to his staff... a flurry of Hangeul and then everyone goes and grabs their gear. Body armor, helmets, handheld radios... the major said "Amato, come..come"

An indirect fire drill. I usually run away when the ROKs start doing these drills, but I was stuck.

Following everyone to the concrete bunker, they put me in the middle :) I didn't have any gear. But I did bring my coffee.

Tonight, May 16

I feel I have nothing to write about right now.

I took this picture while sitting outside. The concrete T-walls have a base that's the perfect height to sit, though you end up with dust on your butt. A friend was staying here for a week. MAJ S usually spends his days avoiding mortars in the IZ (International Zone) and he was up here on mission.

We had met at the Denver airport waiting for our flight to El Paso to begin predeployment training. I figured the gate with all the other army people in uniform was the right one. He brought me coffeemate lite and copies of pirated movies from Baghdad. What a pal :)

Currently listening to: Ray LaMontagne

Edited to add this picture.

what used to be...

the Ministry of Interior.

This morning a truck exploded in the city of Irbil, right outside the KRG (Kurdistan Regional Goverment) MOI (Ministry of Interior), destroying this building and 3 others. Local media reports that 19+ locals were killed and 50+ wounded.

Trucks and vehicles and people explode all over this country - in Baghdad, Mosul, Tikrit, Fallujah... but not in Irbil, not since 2005.

We were inside this building a week ago for a planning meeting (this is the captain picture).

Sulamaniya

Again, I made it off the FOB. Yesterday I accompanied the UN down to Sulamaniya, a city southeast of Irbil. Roughly 2 hours by convoy, through farm country and sheep tending territory, and over mountain passes that reminded me of driving through Colorado, Sulamaniya gave me a slightly more 'western' feel than Irbil. I can't really describe why I felt that way; maybe it was the mcdonal (McDonalds) or the fact that I saw men and women walking together - in public.



The UNHCR went for some meetings and then to visit two refugee camps. The first, which was so awful, I can't even post pictures, housed 72 families; most are displaced Arabs from Baghdad. The second camp we visited is more established as the UNCHR had built houses and other infastructure. Iraninan Kurds, some of these families have been in Suly for almost 30 years and have nowhere to go. Kids, being kids, were happy to see new faces and smile and try out English phrases. And pose for pictures.

aka...

Ah... the thing about this job is keeping everyone's names straight.

Kim, Lee, Choi, Park....MAJ C solves this problem by giving the enlisteds nicknames.

Pictured are 2 Lee's, 1 Kim and me. (Or is it 1 Lee and 2 Kim's? I am so bad at this!) Anyway, we call them Smiley, Beckham and Joe... Smiley (who replaced 'Lamb Chop') is the G3 runner and power point slide updater and is always happy to see us, Beckham...well his friends call him Beckham for his soccer skills, and Joe is short for G.I. Joe because he sounds like a native English speaker when he translates the morning meetings for us.

I was getting Joe confused with Corporal Jo, one of the CGs enlisted aides, so we started calling him Van Damme. Also not pictured is the opera baritone whose (absolutely amazing) voice doesn't match his body.

We call him Barry (White).