One week done...
Most people at post create a "post tracker." It is an Excel file used to track the amount of time that you still have at a post. Most of our tours are 2-3 years, and the tracker counts down slowly, showing years, months, weeks, days and percent of time left. On a one year assignment, the tracker moves more quickly through all of those numbers. After only one week on the ground I have already completed 2.6% of my time here. Days, hours and minutes drag on in life, but weeks, months and years fly by...I think that saying will be very appropraite to my time in Baghdad.
I have spent the past week trying to learn everything there is to learn before the woman I am replacing departs. She leaves soon, and I still feel like I really don't know what it is I am supposed to be doing on a day-to-day basis. My new job is less specific tasks and more responding to the larger issues and questions that arise in the field. A lot of it is meetings- keeping everyone who needs to know things in the loop. The military likes powerpoint for these, and I do too, but State is not yet a powerpoint embracing organization. I use the word "yet" because I hope that over time, and with continued interaction with DOD, that State will adapt some of the more effective tools of communication and planning. Of course, that is unlikely to happen completely while State is still employing fewer people than the military has in its military bands. And we can't employ more people in diplomacy until we are given more funding. It all comes down to money :)
I am safe, but I have lost a friend.
My friend and colleague, Steven Farley, was killed in a bombing on June 24th. Steve and I met in training to come to Baghdad, and from the start he was one of those people in class who everyone turned to as a reasoned, talented leader. Throughout all of the time in training and the breakfast we had together just a day before he was killed, he was always enthusiastic about the future of Iraq and the progress that is being made by the leaders of Iraq with support from US team on the ground.
The washington post did a good article about him...a hero who will be missed by many.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/24/AR2008062400229.html
Working in a palace
My first day of work went smoothly. I attended lots of meetings (it looks like this job will be very "meeting-ful"). I also started going through my check in list. The actual check in process here is similar to most other places I have been, but the one advantage here is the "office building." We are still officed at the Palace. I cannot begin to describe the amazing things I saw today as I wandered from one office to another doing my check in process. Let's start in my office. My office was probably once a guest bedroom, closet and bath. The floor is beautiful inlaid marble. The bathroom has gold fixtures on everything. The ceilings are at least 15 feet high, but they have been painted an unfortunate shade of creamy peach (I am sure that was a post-Saddam change made to add a calm feeling to the room.)
The hallways throughout the building have amazing ceilings. I am going to get a stiff neck or run smack into someone if I don't stop staring at the ceilings. Most of the hallways I have seen so far have carved flowers and other designs. They appear to have been hand carved and hand painted. I am wishing for a tall step ladder so I can get closer to see the detail in them. The floors in the halls are also fabulous- inlaid marble in flower and other patterns. I could go on for pages about the beauty of the artistry in this place. I feel lucky to have a chance to work here, even for a short time. In a future blog I will describe the ballrooms and rotundas and other parts of the building I have not been able to explore yet, but promise to stun me even further with their beauty.
Unfortunately, there are also signs of the damage that has been done because of our use of the building for offices. The afforementioned peach paint. The beauty of the floors covered up with desks and cubicles. Curtain ties and chandelier strands missing. Fancy furniture, not designed for constant use, with faded cushions and gaping holes. Even worse are the huge chunks of the building that have been destroyed by incoming mortar fire and electrical fires.
Weekends are good
Weekends here are Friday and Saturday, so the timing of my arrival was perfect. Yesterday I went to the office to meet my boss and see the office and start to get adjusted, but today I think I will enjoy one last day of quiet before the actual chaos of work and life begins here for me.
Some initial thoughts...
1- the heat is overwhelming and not bad at the same time. How is this possible? So far I have basically gone from AC apartment to AC shuttle bus to AC office, with only short bits of outside exposure. But the outside exposure is tough, even in small doses. I have a huge respect for our troops, who are able to hike in full gear in the heat. They are amazing.
2- the personal protective gear is heavy. I have photos of me in my vest and helmet, but have been unable to upload them yet. The only good way to carry them from place to place is to wear them- all 35 pounds of them.
3- From the airport to the IZ, I got to ride in on a big helicopter. I had the last seat in the back. We walked on from the rear, through the searing heat of the engines, carrying our gear on with us. After we were all loaded, the soldier raised the platform up, and though I could still see through the back of the helicopter, I felt pretty secure. Little did I realize that he would actually LOWER the platform again once we were in the air. He walked right out and swung his feet out the back of the platform. I must admit, I was scared enough, not being seatbelted in or anything, sitting there 5 feet away from the gaping platform, with only the air between me and the city below. I clung tight to the side of my seat and leaned as close of possible toward the the guy sitting next to me and prayed for no evasive maneuvers. We landed safely, and obviously I did not get sucked out of the helicopter.
4- I moved directly into my new apartment in the New Embassy Compound. The apartments are larger than I expected. I should have a roommate, but the woman assigned to room with me decided not to come back from her last R&R. So I have a two bedroom place to myself for the moment. I don't expect that moment to last long though, with the constant arrival of new people. Originally the apartments were designed as one bedroom units, but with the much larger numbers of staff than ever projected working here, they were all converted into 2 bedroom places by enclosing the living room into a second bedroom. That is the room I am in. I will upload photos when I can. Basically, when I enter through the front door there is a small dining area and kitchen, then there is my bedroom immediately in front of me and my roommates to the right of my room, and the down the hallway there is a bathroom. The bathroom has a great tub and excellent water pressure, but the shower nozzle broke during my first shower. The building quality of the whole complex leaves a lot to be desired. The original contractor is currently in the process of fixing some of the issues, but it is a real disappointment to me, as a US taxpayer, that we continue to allow contractors to rip us off by accepting shoddy workmanship.
5- Someone asked me if being here is like being at summer camp with everyone wearing kevlar instead of shorts and t-shirts. So far, it has a bit of that feel to it, in the cafeteria style dining facility and the constant stream of people and activities. However, I think that feeling will go away when the real work day starts tomorrow. There is so much to learn in so little time while my sponsor, the woman I am replacing, is still here.
Time to go now...even though I could go on for days...send me questions via email and I will be happy to answer them here, if I can.
Feeling overwhelmed
The title of this blog describes how I feel today. Usually a move is not too tough...you just sort of stumble along until things start to make sense. This place is really throwing my stumbling out of rhythm though. Perhaps it is the t-wall (T-wall- not sure of the actual spelling- is 10-12 foot concrete walls which loom around every building to protect us from incoming mortar fire) everywhere. I think this place will take some getting used to.
Gotta go for now...just wanted to assure everyone I got here safely and am avidly scrambling to get myself settled.
Waiting for Godot?
After a great night sleep and a long day's sightseeing, I expected to sleep very well last night. Alas, I should have managed my own expectations. I managed about 4.5 hours- enough to feel a bit rested but not enough to make me feel great for another day of travel.
I killed a bunch of time playing Webkins online. This is a new hobby, thanks to my nieces. For my birthday they gave me a stuffed cow webkins toy. This is a great business plan- I wish I had thought of it. Run a website where the kids first have to buy a toy and then give them access for one year for free, get them addicted to playing online (with some learning tasks admittedly) and then know that mom and dad will fork over money at the end of the year to continue the subscription. Anyway, they do have some games and trivia suited for adults. Having access also gives me access to kinzpost, which is an email system I can use to chat with my nieces. Or so I tell myself that is why I am making the effort.
The rest of the day was "hurry up and wait" though the process of transporting us is like a well-oiled machine by this point. I arrived in Baghdad with about 60 other people on our milair flight. The flight was actually more comfortable than the Paris to Amman commercial flight! The interior of the transport plane is amazing. The layout is jumpseat style seats facing each other. When they were short a few seats the talented men and women of the screw just installed a few more quickly and we were on our way.
The staff here at Baghdad International Airport has been great. Once again, a well-oiled machine. The heat hit like a wave as soon as I exited the flight cooled aircraft, and the same is true now when i go out of the trailers. I have a few hours to wait until my helicopter takes me to the Green Zone (aka IZ).
The people I am traveling with have also been a real pleasure. There are a group of two other women and one guy who will work in my section that I have already started to get to know and feel comfortable with. So far, I am very impressed with everything.
The first meal in the DFAC was also great. DFAC stands for Dining Facility. We were really hungry, and the food tasted great and was plentiful. My goal of losing some weight is going to be more work than I thought.
On the road again...
I traveled from MSP to Paris to begin my journey to Baghdad. The 8-9 hour flight was actually quite comfortable, thanks to the NWA individual entertainment systems. I took a sleeping pill, hoping to get sleep and arrive in Paris refreshed in the morning, but that was a wasted effort. Not even a wink of sleep to be had, even with a sleeping pill. I watched some good movies- but have NO MEMORY of the titles of any of them.
I had a 6 hour layover in Paris. Not long enough to leave the airport but too long to stay in the airport anddo nothing. I found the airport spa and got a crazy expensive pedicure to pass the time. I think it helped that there were no other customers- I got a really good pedicure. I then had some ridiculously priced food and beverages. I finally decided to apply my sleep deprived brain to getting connected to the net. Of course, the website was all in French and I don’t really do French. Thank goodness for my days at Brink, when I used to have to poke around in it a bit. The flight out to Amman was delayed, so by the time I boarded I could barely keep my eyes open. The flight to Amman was horrible- crowded and I was stuck by the window behind someone who put the seat all the way back in front of me. Thankfully I fell asleep for a good chunk of the flight and ended up sitting next to a pretty nice guy who was also Iraq bound. The expeditors who met me and the driver were FABULOUS!!! I got whisked right through customs and they did all of the visa processing while I waited for my luggage. There are some benefits to a diplomatic passport and meet and greet services.
The driver is also a tour guide, and he gave me a deluxe tour of Jordan on my “free” day. I had a great night of sleep and we left Amman at 9 am. We drove to the Dead Sea area, and took a bunch of photos of the sea, which is actually a lake that is the lowest non-water covered area on earth. We were able to see across the Sea to Israel/Palestine. It is only 16 miles across the Sea. We also stopped at Mujib Nature Preserve and walked out to see the amazing rock formations. That area is worth exploring more- there are various hikes that can be done.
But the biggest thrill of the day was visiting Petra. Petra has been named one of the New Wonders of the World. Wikipedia can give you the history…I will just say that I was impressed, inspired and hope to go back again one day and spend much more than 2 hours there. Make a plan to visit Jordan- a wonderful country full of friendly people, beautiful desert and Dead Sea scenes and Petra- a wonder of the world.
Labels: Amman, Dead Sea, Paris, Petra
