Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Dust!
Most people's experience with dust in the United States is that thin layer of dirt that covers everything after they've neglected to clean for a few weeks. Here in the middle east, "dust" means something entirely different. This is a picture that was taken at almost 10:00AM. The sky was darkened by the amount of dust in the air. This isn't the worst it's been since I've arrived in theater, however, it was still quite filthy. This brown out condition tends to happen whenever the wind picks up to high sustained speeds. Yesterday, wind speeds were over 45 knots in some areas, which brought back fond memories of Kansas. Below are two pictures that were taken while standing on the porch in front of our office.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Baath Party!!
Part of the tour I took one week ago led us through the Baath Party house. The Baath Party being the controlling party of Iraq prior to the invasion in 2003. The luxury that these people lived in, while the average person less than a mile away was living in poverty is sickening. That being said, the use of marble and the extreme lavishness that these buildings held was overwhelming. I really would have enjoyed seeing what the buildings looked like before they were destroyed by JDAMS and Tomahawk cruise missiles.
The swimming pool, supposedly it was never filled with water, and was instead used for the elemination of opponents. The wall not shown has a large "stain"
I don't have very many pictures of me on here, so I figured I would load a couple up. These were taken at the Baath Party House and the Victory Over America Palace respectively.
The above picture is of the lobby, just as you enter the party headquarters.
The swimming pool, supposedly it was never filled with water, and was instead used for the elemination of opponents. The wall not shown has a large "stain"
Looking out from inside the lobby . . . you can almost imagine how beautiful this would have looked in its prime.
I don't have very many pictures of me on here, so I figured I would load a couple up. These were taken at the Baath Party House and the Victory Over America Palace respectively.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Victory Over America Part 1.
There are many things in life that can be classified as Ironic. Alanis Morissette even sang a song about it. In that spirit, I present to you the palace that Saddam Hussein so ironically named "Victory Over America."
The palace, from a distance, looks quite stunning. The cranes that sit around the palace give the appearance that the reconstruction of the palace is under way. In fact, when the war started in 2003, a French company was building the palace for Saddam. After the breakout of the war, the French left the country, and their equipment stayed behind.
This is on the second level of the palace, inside of the grand ballroom. to the right, just behind the column, a JDAM was dropped in, and is a major source of the destruction that you see in the room.
Looking out from the balcony. All of the water was a sign of power for Saddam. As you can imagine, in a desert, the more water you have, the more powerful you are.
A picture from the roof of the palace.
The tour of the palace was really eye opening. It's hard to imagine that a leader of a country could build this palace while the people in his country starved and fought daily for water and basic needs. In the next installment, it'll be time for a Baath Party!
The palace, from a distance, looks quite stunning. The cranes that sit around the palace give the appearance that the reconstruction of the palace is under way. In fact, when the war started in 2003, a French company was building the palace for Saddam. After the breakout of the war, the French left the country, and their equipment stayed behind.
This is on the second level of the palace, inside of the grand ballroom. to the right, just behind the column, a JDAM was dropped in, and is a major source of the destruction that you see in the room.
Looking out from the balcony. All of the water was a sign of power for Saddam. As you can imagine, in a desert, the more water you have, the more powerful you are.
A picture from the roof of the palace.
The tour of the palace was really eye opening. It's hard to imagine that a leader of a country could build this palace while the people in his country starved and fought daily for water and basic needs. In the next installment, it'll be time for a Baath Party!
Saturday, January 31, 2009
FOBulous
As promised, I said I was going to post about mobile home entertainment. . .well . . .here it is.
In the first picture, you'll see the finest in CHU entertainment. I have a 22" LCD hooked up to my Mac Book Pro. Below the LCD Monitor, you'll see the speakers. The speakers aren't much, but they work well for what I want them for. Below that is my Xbox 360. It's really not much, but it serves me well in the few hours i get to spend in here every day.
In the second picture, you'll see one of the best parts about being in Iraq. Cheap DVD's. I'm not saying they're completely legit, but hey, they're sold on post. They're relatively expensive here, at a cost of $2.50 per movie. In another base, Scania, I can get 6 for $10. I guess you can't win em all.
I've really started settling into my job here. I love the schedule, the job, and the fact that I have my own room. It really hasn't sank in yet, but by the time it does, I'm sure it will be time to go home. Only a few short months now, and I'll be out of this place and on to bigger and better things.
For the next installment, I'll show you a little bit of Camp Stryker, my home away from home.
In the first picture, you'll see the finest in CHU entertainment. I have a 22" LCD hooked up to my Mac Book Pro. Below the LCD Monitor, you'll see the speakers. The speakers aren't much, but they work well for what I want them for. Below that is my Xbox 360. It's really not much, but it serves me well in the few hours i get to spend in here every day.
In the second picture, you'll see one of the best parts about being in Iraq. Cheap DVD's. I'm not saying they're completely legit, but hey, they're sold on post. They're relatively expensive here, at a cost of $2.50 per movie. In another base, Scania, I can get 6 for $10. I guess you can't win em all.
I've really started settling into my job here. I love the schedule, the job, and the fact that I have my own room. It really hasn't sank in yet, but by the time it does, I'm sure it will be time to go home. Only a few short months now, and I'll be out of this place and on to bigger and better things.
For the next installment, I'll show you a little bit of Camp Stryker, my home away from home.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Trailer living
Life at Camp Stryker (my new home) is quite different than my previous six months at Camp Arifjan in Kuwait. Nearly every aspect of life is different, from my daily tasks to my living arrangements. I never thought I'd find myself living in a mobile home, but here I am living in a room in a trailer. Part of me feels like I should put a chair out front and start drinking beer with my shirt off. Thankfully, this urge is impossible to fulfull here since I can't drink here (not that I drink anyway).
The picture above is looking down the row of trailers just outside of my door. The concrete T-Barriers are for our protection, and are all around our CHU (Container(ized) Housing Unit). Well, that's the grand tour of my new trailer life. In the next installment, we'll talk about mobile home entertainment.
The picture above is looking down the row of trailers just outside of my door. The concrete T-Barriers are for our protection, and are all around our CHU (Container(ized) Housing Unit). Well, that's the grand tour of my new trailer life. In the next installment, we'll talk about mobile home entertainment.
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