Artistic Release

For Christmas I gave James a paint class and some painting tools.  I figured it would be a nice hobby/release to fill some of our recess hours.

It's been surprisingly fun.  Let me say that neither of us has ANY training (except said 2 hour paint class in Dec) and that one of us doesn't have ANY talent.  I think James does, and his family will agree.  I know this because last time we were home they couldn't stop talking about his awesome frog man painting he did when he was a child prodigy of, oh, i dunno - like 8 or something.  It was amazing truth be told.

So here - per Andrea's request - our some samples of our artistic dabbling.  Don't be jealous, and yes, they can all be bought for a price. 

Bite Size Baghdad

Who'd a thunk it would be a harder adjustment coming back from R&R than it was arriving in Baghdad?  Not this kid.

Jet lag was expected...and lasted for almost 3 weeks, as well as bouts w/ varied illnesses, but the emotional adjustment...wow.

Wow.

I think the normal let down after leaving family and friends and recognizing you still have 9 months ahead of you in this luxurious white collar, high security prison is a little disheartening, but when you combine it with all the upheaval in the country, it's been, well, emotionally tumultuous.

We continue to hear crazy bits and pieces of stories about folks who are clearly out to pin us for crimes and to do their best to get us out of here.  For example four of our security folks got held up in a car in Baghdad and put temporarily in prison.  They were just driving, but apparently the governor of Baghdad thought they had a suicide plot against him.  Not so much.  Well, maybe now.

Or the fact that they won't give any of our contractors visas - so they can't ever leave the country, or they won't be getting back in.  Yeah, that's causing some stress.

No food or mail for a bunch of weeks hasn't helped.  We got to the point a week ago where no food convoy had gotten through for so long, that half of the lines in the DFAC had shut down and there was no fresh produce.  Emergency rations were handed out to be stored in apartments.  You know, just in case.

Another example.  Our Peruvian guards who we wouldn't pay enough and were at the point of deserting us when they struck a deal at the 11th hour.  Glad to know we aren't losing the military and our paid guards.

Anywho, it's interesting to say the least.  But nevertheless and notwithstanding, I think we're back in stride.  Doing the work without wanting to hide in bed...dealing with shortages...hoping no one gets too angry and swarms the compound.  You know, the usual.

And with everything else starting to get back to normal, I thought hey, what ever happened to that blog?  It used to be pretty nice.  So here I am.  Opening a dialogue with you, my people.

Did I mention that we are finalizing plans for our next R&R in March?  I now understand that three 3-week-long R&R's aren't a nice to have - they are a must.  Bite size Baghdad.  We can do it!

I like big butts and I can not lie.

Thank you Fox News for your unerring nose for the best news.  Once again a headline has truly brightened a Baghdad day.  Spoiler alert:  The end of this story is a bit of a let down for those of us who hoped it was somehow real flesh and blood.  I mean how sick (in all senses of the word) would that be??  Still, fascinating, hilarious and apparently...newsworthy.  Read on.

Iraq demands former UK soldier return piece of Saddam Hussein's buttock (Fox, January 17)

More than five years after Saddam Hussein was executed, Iraq still wants a piece of its former president: his buttock, currently being held by an ex-UK soldier.

Nigel Ely, 52, grabbed a 2-pound piece of Hussein’s bronze statue – that made up part of his rear-end -- when it was pulled down by Iraqis in 2003, the Sun reports.

Ely claims he is the legal owner of the buttock since he has turned it into a work of art. But the Iraqi government is demanding that he returns it or face possible theft charges, as it views the piece of scrap metal as a “cultural antiquity,” the Sun reports.

Ely attempted to auction off the buttock last year to raise money for injured troops through military charities, but was unsuccessful.

"When I got it, it was just a piece of scrap metal,” he told the Sun.

British police are investigating ownership of the buttock.

Huey, Deweys, no Louie

For those of you not as uber cool as those of us who live in a war zone, a Huey is a helo or helicopter.  I did not know this, but when James kept talking about the huey, shortly after riding in a helicopter, I used my amazing powers of deduction and figured out he meant the helicopter.

Due to the critical threat we have been facing here in Baghdad, we are no longer allowed to take the armored vehicles to the airport.  Instead, we go to our landing pad, wait for 3-6 hours, climb in a helicopter and fly for 5 minutes to the airport.  It's a huge time suck and it made our 36 hour journey longer, but for James it was a dream come true. 

(Aside:  Here's why our journey is so long:  3 hours to get from home to airbase (4 miles), 6 hours to get from Baghdad air base to airport (100 yards), 4 hours to get from Baghdad airport to Kuwait airport (1 hour flight).  So 13 hours JUST getting to our jumping off point which is a one hour flight.  Nightmare.) 

Here are some pictures of us taking the helicopter on our way home.  These helicopters sat about 10-12 people and were pretty stable.  Note how happy James is.  Note how cool I am.

For our return to Baghdad we also took the "hueys", but because of our place in line we were selected with 3 other people to ride in a very tiny helicopter back to the Embassy while the others went in the 10 passenger ones.  Our helicopter sat 5 people, and flew with the door open, and a guy with a gun hanging out that door, and me sitting about two inches from, and facing that open door. 

James was thrilled.  I was less than thrilled in the pitch black, and in my jet-lagged state to re-enter Baghdad this way, but it did feel appropriate.  And it was lovely to see Baghdad from the air at night.  It seemed so much more peaceful and lovely.  Except for the guy next to me with the gun of course.   No pictures allowed on this trip.

Home sweet home.  It's odd to think of this place as home, but that's what it is for a year, and truthfully there was some sense of relief to be in a place where we weren't living out of a suitcase and we had our own space.  3 months down, 9 to go. 

Jetlag

Horrible, miserable, mind-numbing, heavy-eyed jetlag.  Back in Baghdad.  The re-entry was safe...but shockingly painful.  More to come when I can actually read what I'm typing.