Outside the Wire

I got to go on my first trip outside the Green Zone on Saturday. We had two investors interested in looking at a bus factory that is about 25 minutes by helo from Baghdad. My friend and workmate Stacy went with me. It was pretty fun riding in the helo, except for on the way there the Army Col who was with us was trying to impress the investor and asked the pilot to do some crazy maneuvers. It was 106 degrees out, I had all my personal protective equipment (PPE) - helmet and flack jacket that weighs like 15 lbs on, I had just eaten lunch and I was facing backward in the helo. I don't mind the rollercoaster like moves, but the side to side on top of it about put me over the top. I had a "car sick" headache the entire day after that. The way back was nice a smooth though. I attached some pictures of the landscape so you can see what it is like. If you didn't know any better, you'd think it was a peaceful place.

Sand Storm

Today the weather was horrible. There is a sand storm and I can hardly breath. Light orangeish sand is everywhere - all over everything. We got a thermometer that we put right outside our office area - funny thing is, it's American and it only goes to 120 degrees. Yesterday it was around 98-100 degrees. Today it got up to 88 and it felt cool. I don't like the sand at all - I hope it doesn't last long. The pictures are of the backyard of the Villa - the one on the bottom is during the sand storm.

I got my hair cut today - one of the little bases in the IZ has a salon - although it is a called Cleopatra's Saloon. I was expecting the worst and it came out not bad at all. I was pleasantly surprised. $35 plus an $8 tip and I used a $6 box of hair color that I brought with me. $49 sure beats the $200 bill I got last time I went to the hair dresser in DC.

Normal

These pictures are from Camp Victory, there is a building there called the Flintsone House. I 'm not sure what it used to be, but it reminds me of some of the buildings in Barcelona. Now it sits empty and people have put graffiti all over it. It seems to me like it would be a great place to have a party.

If you are following the news, you know that the cease fire is now back in effect. We had a rough week, but things are getting back to what - from my experience seems - normal. It was very quiet up until Easter for me, so my experience has been that it's normally quiet. People who have been here for a couple years say that is really not the norm, that last week, with all the blasts (maybe not sooo many), is more the norm and the quiet is abnormal. So....we will see - I like it better when it's quiet though.

On the mosquitoe front, I have made progress. I have procured some spray for my room and for my body, so the double effect seems to be working. I am back to sleeping through the night.

I have been very very busy with our senior manager here the past two weeks as well as planning for many investor trips this month. Things are still busy, but many of the trips have been moved to May, so that spaces our my workload at bit.

I have been neglecting the gym the past two weeks. While there was a lot of activity, we couldn't really get to the gym and also I have been working so much, that it's been hard to get away now that things have settled. I have no excuse though really because we have a treadmill and rowing machine in the villa now. We've had it for two weeks probably and I haven't tried it out yet. Unsat!!

During all the bombings, we had to wear our flack jackets and helmets when we left the villa - I was complaining about wearing it for 1/2 hour or so, but then I think of the soldiers out there who wear it everyday all day long. They really do sacrifice in so many ways for our country. I appreciate them so much.