Two new things

Fun in the Wind

Yesterday’s mission required one of my soldiers to fill a 3,000 gallon water blivet that was on his trailer. The blivet is like an enormous bag that is filled with liquid and then strapped to a flatbed. Normally it’s not a problem, but yesterday was a stormy, windy and rainy day. As soon as he loosened the straps the wind caught the blivet and blew it off the trailer. He then came over to my truck to ask for help, so my driver and I went to try to hold the canvas sheet on the flatbed. I got up on the truck and then the wind caught the sheet again and just about threw me back off the truck. After a few minutes there were four us trying desperately to hold it on, but barely succeeding and we were making no progress in getting more of it on. We were all laughing at situation, despite being almost blown across the truck. I went inside the truck to get on the radio for help, while the 3 other soldiers sprawled out across the sheet to keep it there. About five minutes later an Infantry squad rolled up, and they lifted the blivet up for us while we stood on the sheet to keep in there. Then we stationed 3 people to sit on the blivet while we attempted to pump water into it. Out pump was not working for some reason, and it took half an hour for the Iraqi water people to get it working, but not before sending a 2in wide by 20ft tall geyser of water out, soaking two people. To make things more interesting, there was a lightning storm overheard and EOD was setting of controlled detonations nearby for most of the time we spent there.

More Culture lessons

One of the things that I love the most about this base is being able to spend time with the interpreters. I love to travel and see new places, and so I am glad that this deployment has allowed me to see a glimpse of what Iraq is like, in contrast to my first deployment, where I never left the airport. If I could, I would want to go on some foot patrols and see what the country is really like.

Tonight I stopped in to the shop where the interpreters cook their food. They had been cooking all three times I had been in that area, and the smell made me hungry every time. It smelled just like my mother making taco shells. There was one person there I knew, but the other one I had not yet met. The person I had already met was a teenager, and here their teenagers do the cooking for the older men. There are no Iraqi women on the base, nor any American women. The one I had not met invited me to sit at the table with him and we introduced ourselves and started to talk. He immediately offered me some of his food, and I gladly accepted. The younger man was cooking some eggs and tomatoes and when they were done the older man (who is a year older than me) shared them with me. We ate it with Samoon and it was very good. Every time we ran out of Samoon the younger man would get more or the older man would cut his piece in half for me. I enjoyed talking to him. He graduated from Baghdad University a few years ago, but could not find a job so he took one as an interpreter. We shared details about out homes and families and the weather in our countries.

One of the most important things in Arab culture is hospitality. They will offer or do almost anything to for a guest. I saw some of that tonight, but I have noticed it in all of my dealings with the Iraqi people at this base. When I go to deliver fuel, the Iraqi man that I give it to will sometimes invite me to come and sit. When I dropped off laundry to get done, the man there invited me in to sit with him. Again, I wish I knew more Arabic, but what I do know is at least enough to win some favor with those I come into contact with. I wish that I was in a position to learn it. It is very rare that I come into contact with someone that does not speak English well, so I rarely have a need to use the language.

Sheep In A Jeep