I had to meet our driver at the airport today to deliver of all things a BBQ for the gang in town.  On the way back into the camp there were 21 trucks waiting to get in through the gate.  I got behind the last truck and prepared to wait, there were two cars, one van and one PSD truck in the second lane next to the line of trucks, it looked like they were trying to sneak in.  As I prepared to enter between the cement walls, the guy in the silver truck, the PSD guy yelled for me to let him in.  I told him I didn’t want to wait, that Iwas outside the wire without arms.  He said, “Idon’t care! That’s my convoy.”  I said, “Well if you don’t care I don’t care,” 

He then proceeded to try and get in ahead of one of his trucks, then he changed his mind and came back and knocked on my window.  I didn’t want to open my window to him and at first I ignored him, then I rolled it down.  He was yelling at me that he had to be in his convoy because they are all counted together.  I told him when he got some manners I would care.  But then I let him in. 

He then went and whined to the American Military who guards the gate.  I felt bad for them.  And I apologized to Johnson for having to deal with that.  Then after I got through they were waiting for me and the gate commander came up and explained how convoys worked.  I told him that was fine, but why if he was the last vehicle wasn’t he in line with his convoy and I also told him that there was nothing to indicate that the silver PSD truck was part off the convoy.  And then I told the guys that it wouldn’t be a problem if the guy had manners, but that I didn’t appreciate him not caring that I didn’t want to be waiting to get in the gate, when there had been three gate incidents this week.   Then I apologized to the gate commander.

The PSD guy said, “We deal with IEDs and that stuff all the time,”  I turned to him and said, “And that’s your choice and you get paid well to do it so don’t complain to me.”  PSD can make $400 a day, that is way more than the army makes, I thought it was in extremely poor taste to brag about what he’s subject too, in front of military personnell that make 1/4 of what he makes and take the same if not more risks.

The guy and his buddy then started yelling at me and I asked the army guy if I could be excused and he said yes, so I took off. 

I don’t mind following the rules when I know what they are, but what I hate is when those guys puff up their chests and try and intimidate you.

All has been calm in Basra as far as IDF goes since I left on August 31, which was about the time RTI another NGO brought in two new guys so Shaun from RTI thinks they are our good luck charms.  Although we haven’t had IDF, there have been a couple of gate incidents, where the military has shut down the Alpha or the Delta gate.  The last one which occurred Tuesday, was a lockdown so we all had to stay in our compounds until the all clear which I never heard.  I have to attend a security meeting at the request of the Mayor’s cell on Saturday so it will be interesting to hear what is going on.

They still have Charlie Brown’s Dad doing the annoucements Waa, waah, waah, waaa Alpha Gate waah, waaa, waa.  The only time I heard the annoucement clearly was when I was in the PX.  The PX has expanded and is huge although all the shelves are low enough for a clear line of site.  The big news this week is that Burger King and Pizza Hut have opened, but I’m currently trying to drop the ten pounds I put over break, so I’ll have to check them out later.  It has also been humid here lately, I wake up and my carpet is wet and my sandals are wet from the humidity. 

Work wise I’ve been tasked with organizing the four trainings that we have to give under Objective II, so I have been going through all the materials and am working to create training manuals.  Last Sunday I went to church and my two buddies from the Red Bull Troops, Jennifer and Kim were there, it was great to see them. 

I still feel like I’m in limbo, waiting on Africa, but at least I have something to do.

It was interesting right after I posted on mean girls and my confrontation with one from the past, I got blindsided by one in my work sphere.  It’s a long story and doesn’t bear repeating, but she had dumped on me once, than came back and wanted to be friends because she wanted something again, and then I guess when my usefulness was over she dumped on me again.  I told her that I didn’t appreciate being used by her and called her on her behvaior.  What was amazing was the gyrations she went threw trying to justify herself when there was absolutely no reasonable justification except perhaps self-centeredness.  I wish I could tell the whole story, becuase it’s really amazing, but someday I’ll write about it in my book about my Iraq experience.  I think I’m going to call it “Cursed by God”  reflective of the fact that uneducated Arabs think that people with disabilities are cursed by God and my experience.  

In the meantime I’ve ordered the book “Mean Girls Grown Up”  I don’t want to be blindsided anymore.  It’s sad that when you are naive and trusting you can get completely runover.  I’ve also learned that in a situation like this, where you are very isolated and your support group is far away that it’s important to be a little more guarded, maybe not let people in so quickly because the isolation makes drama ten times worse than if you can go home at night or get away from it.  That and I need to get better at spotting drama queens quicker so I can distance myself.

Not much else is going on in Basra.  The NGO group stationed on the base, MC, RTI and TRC have recommenced Friday lobster night at the DFAC, yum.  Upon my return from Basra, I was tailgated by a humvee.  I had my colleague in the car and I heard this squeaking noise and I turned to him and said is someone honking, we both looked at each other and then I turned down the radio and looked behind me to see a humvee that was hauling laying on it’s horn which was wimpy.  It sounded like a little squeak, like something you would find on a VW or something, I moved over and let them pass, after all they had a huge gun.  I guess I had gotten in the middle of a convoy. 

Then on my way back I got passed by the Private Security Detail of the British Embassy driving likes bats out of hell and I know I didn’t interrupt their convoy.  It’s Thrusday which means the weekend is coming up, but I also have been sick, I must have ate something at the guesthouse in Basra that didn’t sit well with me, because I have had knifing stomach pains for two days and been unable to eat anything.  Hopefully, I’ll be able to eat tonight.

Basra

This week I went into Basra to attend a meeting on changes to the CAP III program.  I got to see Z who I used to work with on the Gender program who has been recently married, to a man of her choice and a bunch of other MC employees I hadn’t seen in a long time.  In addtion, to the changes in the program, we recieved an update from the new Gender Program Manager about the direction of the program and it looks good. 

The sad news is our guesthouse attendent, the man who used to cook for us, died recently.  He was electrocuted during a power surge at his house.  He leaves behind a wife and five children.  We collected donations for his family to try and give them one month of his salary, because moving forward it will be very hard for them.  When the primary breadwinner dies, which happens a lot in Iraq, the wife usually doesn’t have the skills to support the family or earn a living so they are dependent on relatives.  This is a huge issue in Iraq because of the number of widows.  But sad that six years after the fall of Saddam, Iraqi’s still don’t have consistent safe electricity and/or safe drinking water.  The lack of the government’s ability to provide this with the help of the U.S. government is a point of contention. 

Since I have returned there has been no incoming direct fire (IDF) and reports say there hasn’t been any since I left.  New additions to the base include a giant PX, what’s interesting though is the shelves are low enough to can see everybody all the time and I wonder if that is regulation.  So when you are in a supermarket you can’t see everyone in the store because the aisles are so high, but in the PX there is a clear line of sight.  In addition to the PX there is a market where local Iraqi vendors sell their wares on Saturday and Sunday, it’s called the Oasis.  You can also have a camel ride.  The set up is actually quite nice, there are places to smoke Sheesha, to buy food, then the shops and a fountain in the middle of it all, but considering the water situation the fountain seems a bit much. Other than the new PX and the Oasis the base hasn’t changed much.  There are advertisements for a Burger King and Pizza Hut which are “Coming Soon.”  And there is going to be a larger beauty shop.  In addition, they have started putting up street signs, named after fallen soliders.  Not sure which street I live on yet. 

My second trip to Basra was with the Gender Program Manager, she was doing focus group discussions at the literacy centers for the women.  I went along as a notetaker.  We went to literacy center in Al Midaina (see map) and Al Deer, which is in the Al Qurna sub-district, both to the north of Basra city.  In the first center we spoke to eight women of varying ages the youngest 16 and the oldest was in her mid-thirties.  One woman was 22 and divorced with a seven-year old child.  When asked why they were attending classes, they said they wanted to learn to read and write to be able to help their children with homework and read the Qu’ran.  A couple said they were interested in getting jobs.  When asked what other activities they would like to see the women said sewing, which they always say and more advanced classes. 

Our second visit was to Al Deer in Al Qurna sub-district also north of Basra, we met in a woman’s home, it was also where the literacy classes took place.  Most of the women we met with in both centers said they had attended school, but didn’t learn anything.  The 16-year-old at the second visit was engaged to be married and she said she that when she attended school she didn’t like the teachers.  I think there is a lot of corporeal punishment that goes on in the schools.  When asked what other programs they would like to see, the women during the second visit wanted sewing classes and computer training for the literacy center and the girls in the village.  At the second house we sat on the floor on rugs and the women were older, late 30s and 40s, all were married, except the 16-year-old and all the women we spoke to that day wore the traditional abaya.  I were the modern abaya which is like a black bathrobe, but fancier.  The traditional abaya is worn over the hijab (head scarf) and it is almost like a cape that is attached near the forhead and they wrap it around themselves and sometimes even put part of it in their mouth when they are carrying something.

It is fascinating to speak to the women.  We asked if they could express their needs to their local leaders and the answer was no.  No woman can speak to a man she is not related too.  Some of them are also very shy around men.  So if they need something from their leaders they have to send a son, or their husband.  Sometimes it is difficult to get them to speak they are very polite and grateful for what we have provided and they don’t want to offend, so sometimes it is difficult to get information from them.  My colleage and I kept pondering about the sewing issue, why they always ask for sewing classes, I think it may be because they don’t know anything else, because of the lack of information they receive so sewing in the only thing they can think of that would help them make money. 

I love being around the women, they are very nice and I love learning about their lives, which are so different from my own.  One woman said that her husband is a double-amputee and she asked the local council for help, but none was forth-coming.  All the women said that during the election period they heard from a lot of canidates who promised them different things, but so far nothing has come of those promises.  I wish I could go out an visit with the beneficiaries every week, it is informative and very interesting, but it also is tiring, because it highlights how much work there is to be done. 

I spent the night at the guesthouse which is near our office in Basra City and came back to the base on Friday.  Normally when I ride into town I just have to wear long pants, a long sleeve shirt and a hijab, but when we went out to the centers I had to wear my abaya over that and there was no air condition, it was hot.  But it’s funny as much as I sweat dressed like that, the Iraqi women do not, not at least as far as I’ve seen.  On my way home, I was sitting in the back of the car at a stoplight and these two women completely veiled like black ghosts were engaged in a conversation and one woman was animatedly moving her hands.  I wonder what it would be like to have a conversation with someone in person, but not be able to see their face.  Then the grand hand gestures made sense.

Facebook is incredibly interesting the debates that happen over one person’s post.  So one of my Facebook buddies posted this:  “Why is it everytime I turn around Obama is disappointing me.”  This of course set off a hail storm of comments about how Obama sucks and how he is responsible for the depression one woman even blamed him for torture.  This was my favorite post:

“Fox News is a wealth of GOOD information. If they don’t have the facts yet, they tell you. And they are always saying here’s the information, now form your OWN opinion. If you don’t like Fox News its because you are a democrat!!

The housing market down sprial is the result of 2 things. One, yes builders and everyone saw a boom in the market and took advantage of it, who wouldn’t. And if it had been that alone we would have recovered easily. But no, this lovely President we had called Clinton, decided to change the criteria for home loans with Freddy Mae & Mac so the banks had to follow. Not since the 80’s have we seen such a problem with housing. And if you want documentation on that I can get it for you.

And our economic situation is not the worst since the Great Depression. Has everyone forgot (I know we were young) sitting in line for gas in the 80’s?? The prime rate reaching almost 20%??

As far as a National Health Care, I won’t even go there….”

So first of all, everyone knows that Fox news is a wealth of misinformation, even reporters for Fox news know that.   We actually get Fox news in Iraq and it’s funny because the Brits, Australians ans other nationalities view it as entertainment.  They can’t believe the commentary.  One of the Brits said to me, “My God, they the commentator convincted the man before he even had a trial.  How is that news?  I didn’t have an anwer for him. 

As far as Clinton deregulating the banks, that didn’t cause the recession, the fact that the oversights and enforcements that were in place weren’t used and financial institutions started acquiring businesses in which they had no experience are all part of the current financial situation.  That and human greed, the need that Americans have to keep up with the Joneses.   She talks about how not since the 1980’s have we had such a problem with housing, in the 1980’s was when our homeless problem started because of Reagan who took away a lot of low income housing.

And finally, how can you blame the current ecomonic situation on Obama, he inherited it.  When I went home in December, before he took office we were in the middle of it. 

I think what is hardest for me to stomach is when people debate like Fox news reports, they base their opinions or little of inaccurate information.  What is most difficult for me right now, is how much the Republicans hate Obama.  When America lost the bid for the Olympics they were happy.  How you can you hate someone so much that you would be happy that your country failed; just so you could chalk it up to a failure on your President’s part.  As much as I didn’t like Bush, I never wanted to see America fail.  It’s a sad state of affairs that are elected officials are acting like high schoolers, cliquey high schoolers. 

We should all be disgusted.

So Wednesday when I was working out in the gym, I met a PSD who was the former Team Leader for General Petraeus, he was very proud of the fact so I managed to keep my mouth shut.  As a matter of fact he has his personal e-mail and contacted him about the recent report on his prostrate cancer.  But I guess as with every political figure they can maybe be o.k. people, even if their politics or decisions suck.

So everything is pretty much the same here; other than meeting the General’s former team leader I’m pretty much back in my battle routine, up at 7:15 a.m. make it to breakfast by 8:00 a.m. to the office, work until lunch,  eat fruit for lunch and relax in my hutch (prounounced hootch)  head to the gym at 5:00 p.m. work out for 45 minutes to an hour then head to dinner all sweaty, back to my room, shower, right now I don’t have any hot water, then read a chapter in my French novel,  then work on my recipes or the book, then read or watch a little TV and bed.  It’s like groundhog day.

Today was my day off and I was still tired so I spent most of the day reading and napping. Then around 3 p.m. I took the Tracer medical people to Auntie Anne’s for a pretzel, yes, that’s right we have an Auntie Anne’s on the base over near Delta camp.  Tracer medical is a private medical company that offers medical care to contractors or basically anyone who wants to pay for it.  It took the B & B where we live six months to get the clinic set up.  The B & B is making a mint over here, they charge $135 a day for half a trailer, $105 if you want to keep your trailer, but aren’t here.  Rumor is Halliburton just asked them to set up a life support camp for them and they quoted them $19 million, when it can probably be done for 5 or 6 million.  It’s a good thing that the people who are charging these prices are going to be set for life, because I don’t think this type of opportunity wheere you can charge an arm and a leg will come again soon.   But the greed here is absolutely amazing.

So far not anxious and everything is well, of course I’m only two days into it and trying to get back into my battle routine. Well actually everything isn’t going perfectly, so far I have no hot water in my shower and the toilet isn’t working, but those are minor. Today, I start back on my workout routine, my goal is to lose 10 to 20 pounds.

The good news is that the food isn’t all that great so already I’m not eating as much. In the meantime I have gained a new job title the PWD and Gender Project Coordinator and that is about all the news that is fit to print.

As far as working on my letting go not worrying about the future Mr. Prather and I are on release number 6, I am going to identify the dominant or most persistent feeling of distribance I’ve had in the last few hours or in the last few days or weeks and the next time I experience it I’m supposed to sit quietly with the emotion and write down every though I notice. Don’t worry I’m not going to do it here. (I say that to reassure one of my regular blog readers, Tom, he hates touchy, feely stuff). I think the biggest distribance I’ve been having is I recently met a new PSD guy and he keeps e-mailing me calling me gorgoreous. Definately disconcerting.

So I’m back in Iraq. I feel like that scene in the movie Jurassic Park where they start out in the car, then are in the tree, the car chases them down the tree and then Timmy says, “Well were back in the car.”

I had a great break and not sure what is next, I’m supposed to be headed to Africa, so hopefully that will happen soon, in the meantime I’ve decided that I buy into Hugh Prather’s idea that happiness is an essential part of a life well-lived. So during my remaining time in Iraq I will be working with Hugh through his book “The Little Book of Letting Go,” a revolutionary 30-day program to cleanse your mind. The idea is with everything in my life up in the air, to not worry about the future.

So for those of you who know me, you know what a worry wort I am so this should be a challenge. But after this year, I’ve decided that it’s important to be able to be happy no matter what you are doing or where you are at. So if I can achieve mental peace in a war zone, the rest should be cake, right? So I’ve already had two kicks in the ass. One, I left my ID in the states, which I didn’t discover until I was on the way to the airport in France, so I let it bother me for a bit, then came up with a plan and it all worked out. Second, the R & R policy just changed for us here in Iraq, it was the Regional Director’s last gift to the expat staff. Our R & R now starts on the day we fly out of Iraq, instead of the day we fly out of Amman, Kuwait or Istanbul. But as I’ve been informed R & R isn’t for travel it’s just to get you out of the country that’s at war. So I just shrugged my shoulders when I was told, after all we probably do have too many perks working in Iraq. Lol.

Right now I’m on the chapter “Letting Go of Mental Pollutants.” Wish me luck.

So I was supposed to fly out of Basra on Skylink on Sept. 2 so I could catch my flight to the states from Kuwait on Sept. 4. Keep in mind, flights out of Iraq go to Dubai and Amman on Mondays and Wednesdays, and they used to go to Kuwait on Monday, Wedsnesday and Friday and pretty much only one flight per day. So on Monday, there is one flight to Amman and one flight to Dubai. Also Jupiter airlines flies to Dubai on Thursdays, so there are not a lot of options. However, starting on August 7, the ICAA, International Civil Aviation Association Representatives in Iraq grounded Skylink. Why? Well I guess this happens every six months or so, that the ICAA guys want bribes and each time they want a bigger bribe, so finally Skylink put it’s foot down. They were in limbo until yesterday when the office in Baghdad announced that all flights were cancelled indefinately. Well since Skylink is the only airline offering flights to Kuwait, that posed a problem for me.

So, I was going to travel by car over the border and then I found out that in order to get out of Iraq I had to be a resident or have been in the country less than 10 days. So then I started looking at military flights, there is military flight on Tuesdays and I decided fine I would do that, but then my colleague brought up the fact of how do you get through passport control, you can but your not a priority so it can take 24 hours to get into the country. And they make you wait in a tent. So after running around yesterday afternoon and figuring all this out, I’m now rebooking my ticket through Amman. I was originally going to fly through Amman, but I couldn’t get the extra days approved in Amman. Craziness.

So after all the stress of trying to figure out how to get out of Basra, this morning I got locked out of my hutch. Maybe Iraq is trying to tell me something.