The Embassy is now housed in one of Saddam's palaces, known as the Republican Palace. By the end of December, we expect to vacate the Palace and hand it back to the government of Iraq. It's been an unusual workplace! A few days ago I took a couple of pictures to share with you.
The chairs and couch are in a little corner around from my office. Since there are about 10 of us in my office, with no privacy, we often use these little sitting areas to hold conversations that require privacy.
The other photo shows the ceiling in one of the ballrooms in the Palace. The story I heard was that the artist was instructed to paint these horses, all stallions, in this scene. (Saddam saw himself as quite the "stallion"). The artist knew that upon completion of his work in this palace, he would be executed. (I was told that this was because Saddam didn't want the artist doing any future, better, work for anyone else.....that's sick, huh)? Anyway, as a last act of defiance, the artist painted the horses as geldings, not stallions.
If I could show you the ballroom floor, you'd be surprised! When the Palace was set up as our Embassy, our construction crews built a series of plywood cubicles all across the ballroom. Underneath that ornate, beautiful ceiling.......it's Dilbertville!!! I find this so ironic!!
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