Dust Storm

It's rarely windy here in Baghdad. Heck, there's generally not even a slight breeze blowing! However, there are some days that prove to be the exception.

Yesterday I woke up and thought that it must be cloudy. It was time to get up, but not as much light as it should have been at that time of day. I was partially right.....it wasn't cloudy in the normal sense, instead it was a dust storm....a huge cloud of dust! The pictures above are taken from the same spot. The first picture was taken a few months ago, the second picture was taken yesterday. It tells the story!

Funny thing was that we had the same visual effect inside the Embassy! As we looked down the long hallways inside, we saw the same haze hanging in the air.

This dust is very, very fine! Folks describe it as "talcum powder" dust, an apt description!

Business Growth

The International Zone has a lot of Iraqis living within it's boundary. After all, this was pretty much the seat of power during the Saddam era. One of the pleasures of living here is taking a walk through the IZ and checking out what passes for "normal" life in Baghdad. We can walk to many of the Iraqi landmarks like the "Crossed Swords", "Memorial to the Unknown Soldier", and the famous Al-Rahseed Hotel. This hotel was the on-site location for many of the international news reporters who were here during the 2003 invasion.

There are a limited number of businesses here. One is the Freedom Cafe. It's located down the street from the Embassy and serves authentic Arabic food. We can walk there in a few minutes and have a traditional lunch of hummus, lamb kebabs and swarhima. It's a nice break from the food at the Embassy Dining Facility (which serves great food).

On a recent trek to the Freedom Cafe, we noticed that they've added a little food market in the back of the cafe. We noticed some fresh vegetables, ketchup, laundry detergent, honey, pancake syrup, olives, paper towels, some TV dinners (not frozen), canned vegetables, rice, and some sweet breads for a nice dessert. We commented that this is a good sign of businesses "coming back". We hear of things like this happening all around the country. Slowly, but ever so slowly things are improving. I hope they continue!

A Great Mann

This is in honor of a fallen friend, Doug Mann. Doug was a rare gift to a lot of people. Full of life, humor, compassion and a passion for life, Doug was a friend to so many people. Many of them needed a friend very badly. As a family therapist, Doug helped many people through some difficult times. If you walked into a room full of people, he'd made you feel like the most important person in the room!

Although his profession was family therapy, his serious hobby was firearms and marksmanship. A few months ago, Doug decided to make a career change from family therapist to security guard in the Middle East! Not an easy transition! But with his expert marksmanship skills, Doug was hired! He "broke into" that fraternity that is usually composed of ex-military or ex-cops! That speaks to his abilities, and passion.

Doug died March 9th, not in the Middle East, but back in the mountains that he loved so much. Doug loved his dogs, horses, friends, and his wife more than everything else.

He will be missed by many people. He'll be remembered as a great Mann! Semper fi, Doug! We'll be looking for you on the other side!

Dangers in the IZ

Many of you probably know that the last few weeks have been a bit dangerous here in the IZ. There are so many political fights (Iraqi politics, that is) that I can't begin to keep up with them, much less understand them. Add to that the fact that Gen. Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker are in Washington this week to brief our leaders and you get a volatile situation as the insurgents look for the next "CNN moment".

But, for us in the IZ, it's been a bit of a distraction. I returned from my R&R to find a group of sleep-deprived colleagues who have been sleeping on cots. But, overall, morale is quite high. The insurgent attacks are seen as an inconvenience. There have been some deaths associated with the recent attacks. The threat is real. But, our job is real; our efforts are genuine; our desire to do something good for this country is undeniable. We press on, take all precautions suggested and keep moving ahead. Are we right, wrong or just crazy? History will be the judge. In the meantime, I've got to go grab my sleeping bag and toothbrush so I can sleep on a cot tonight!!

Back to the Green Zone

Gee, sorry for my tardiness in posting! My mother passed away in Feb, so I went back home for 2 weeks emergency leave. Then, we had a big conference here in March, and immediately after that I took my 3 weeks of R&R and returned home. It's been a busy few months.

I'm back in the Green Zone (aka IZ - International Zone) now. During my absence there were a number of rockets fired into the IZ, and some deaths. People here in the IZ had been instructed to sleep in the Embassy, so there have been hundreds of cots brought in. People had been sleeping in the hallways, offices and large rooms all over the Embassy. When I returned a few days ago, that restriction had been lifted, so I was able to enjoy the last few nights in the privacy of my little hooch. Well, today the restriction was put back in place and I'll be sleeping in the Embassy tonight. At least I'll be in a semi-private room!

My R&R was anything but! However, it sure was good to see friends and family!

More later!