A Geography Lesson by the Book

So, I worked 18+ hours again yesterday, but don't be concerned as I am in far better spirits today...I don't know why I was so cranky yesterday, but it was very out of character.  I am usually the guy with unflagging enthusiasm, always looking for the silver lining, and cheering up the wavering spirits of others.  Yesterday just got me down for whatever reason.  Things are a bit stressful over here at the moment for a number of reasons...the situation in Algeria has many here on camp worried which is not so great for morale, and increasing security protocols are in place to ensure the same sort of thing won't happen here.  Also, I will be the only person in my department for about four days due to a scheduling issue, so I am gearing up and seeking to get ahead of the curve so that I won't end up too far behind it when all is said and done.  Thus, the crazy long hours and hefty burden of stress for me over the last few days.

Well then, here I am in Southern Iraq, and I have been here for eleven days so far, and I still know so little about the place, the country, the region, the city of Basra, and the people.  To remedy this inexcusable lack of knowledge I stayed up even later last night researching Iraq and Basra, and I would like to share some of my findings with you.  I hope that this doesn't come across as a history or geography lesson, as I think the information is quite interesting.  I won't share it all today, in fact, today I think I will focus on the region of Iraq that I am currently in, the Basra region (Basra is a city, but also the Iraqi version of a state [Governorate]).  I am going to post some pictures that I found online today, so please don't think that I have seen these places, but I wanted to share them nonetheless.

I know it is small, but this is apparently what Basra looks like at night -  certainly seems pleasant enough!

This is a closer view during the day...

First lets cover the most basic facts...Basra is the second largest as well as second most populous city in Iraq, just behind Bagdad, and has a 2012 population of just over 2 million.  The city functions as Iraq's primary port, though it doesn't have access to deep water, so goods must be barged up to it.  It is consistently one of the hottest cities on the planet with summer temperatures often recorded in excess of 45 degree centigrade (113 degrees fahrenheit).  Basra is set to be the new home of the much-beloved Iraqi National Football Club, and their new facility was finished here last year.  I can attest that the Iraqis love this football team passionately, as I spoke about in my first post, they all stopped working in the airport to watch the team defeat Kuwait in the first round, I believe, of the Gulf Cup, and a few nights ago we honestly thought something bad was happening as suddenly there was an amazing amount of screaming and noise from the junior side of the camp (made up almost entirely of Iraqis) and heading into the Senior camp.  When we headed out to investigate we found the entire Junior camp population marching around waving arms and swinging their scarves and dropping to the ground to praise Allah...turns out the Iraq National Team had just beaten Bahrain in the semi-final of the Gulf Cup in a game that went to penalty shots (Iraq won 4-2).  Last night the entire camp was sullen after Iraq lost the final in extra time to the UAE...but you could hear the cheering throughout the game from the Junior camp.

Basra was founded in 636 AD and has been known by many names and nicknames in its long history, including al Khariba, al Faiha, "the Mother of Iraq", "the Reservoir of Arabs", "the Prosperous City", and "the Venice of the East". In Persian Basra means "where many paths meet".  The city has been under the rule of various groups throughout the centuries including the Persians, Arabs, Mongols, the Ottoman Empire, the British, and then finally the sovereign nation of modern Iraq.  It was part of the area known as Sumer, the home of Sinbad the Sailor of legend and myth, and his seven voyages departed from here.  It has been proposed that the city is the real world geographical location for the Garden of Eden.

The city proper is bounded on East and West by major commercial waterways, which connect to each other through numerous small canals cutting through the city (these canals were once widely used to transport goods and people throughout the city, but in recent years are no longer suitable for this use due to pollution and low water levels).  It is this relatively extensive canal system which earned the city its comparison to Venice. Here is a quote that I found about the old city from a travel website, "Ashar is the heart of the city and the old commercial center; its covered bazaar and mosque mark the end of the creek that links it and the river to Old Basra. Upstream is Margil, the garden suburb fanning out from the forest of cranes at the wharves of the Old Basra port and the railway station; and a little further you cross to the island that faces the Shatt El-Arab Hotel, where Basra's airport was sited until the 1960's when it was moved to Shuaiba. Here are flowers and palms and that blessed water that is the glory of all Iraq, but particularly of the south." Sounds nicer than we hear about from the media, right? I am not allowed to head into the city while I am posted in Iraq, but once my tour is over here, my visa will allow me to check out some of these sites, and I would very much like to see it. Back home, this entire country is portrayed very poorly, and I have seen firsthand many of the problems and issues the country is facing...the fact that it takes over four months just to secure a visa points to some serious problems, but I don't think we are getting a very fair or clear view of what the day to day existence is over here at all.

This type of architecture is called Shanasheel and is made from timber and adobe.

This is called the Anah Minaret, it is near Basra...it is like the Iraqi Leaning Tower of Pisa.

Well, I guess that will end the geography lesson for the day. What should I write about now, I wonder? Ah yes, we will continue through my New Year's Resolution list...to continue the recap tradition: 1) Not a whale, but a man, 2) DAD not BAD, 3) Debt crisis averted, 4) Vacations are key and Big Bend NP is where it's at. Alright, that brings us up to Resolution #5: I solemnly resolve to read at least one book of value per month this year. I love this one for a couple of reasons, reason number one is that I LOVE to read, seriously it is one of my most favorite pastimes. Reason number two is that I already read four to six books per month, so I seemingly threw myself a softball on this one, at least on the surface, but not by intent, as there is more to this resolution than meets the eye. The real key word here is VALUE...that means much of the stuff that I normally would read is out...I am not being pretentious here, there is plenty of quality and value to Maurice Herzog, and John Krakauer and John Irving, etc, but I am specifically wanting to read some of the classics of literature that I somehow missed along the way. I have read many of the "classics", but I have missed plenty of "Top Reads" as well. So, to that end, I have compiled a list of twelve books that I have not yet read (or read but completely don't remember), but feel like I should, so they will be read this year at the leisurely clip of one per month (to allow myself to continue reading other things that I enjoy). My book list is as follows:

1) Siddhartha - Hermann Hesse (This is a cheat, as I read this book many years ago and loved it)

2) The Epic of Gilgamesh - Anonymous (Takes place in Ancient Sumeria - where Iraq is now)

3) The Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck

4) Great Expectations - Charles Dickens (I am sure I read this before, but I feel I should do it again)

5) Nostromo - Joseph Conrad

6) The Call of the Wild - Jack London (I have read White Fang, but don't know that I ever read Call of the Wild)

7) The Brothers Karamazov - Fyodor Dostoevsky

8) The Old Man and the Sea - Ernest Hemmingway

9) To the Lighthouse - Virginia Wolfe

10) Absalom, Absalom! - William Faulkner (I love Faulkner, but missed this one)

11) A Passage to India - E.M. Forster

12) The Three Musketeers - Alexander Dumas

Obviously this list doesn't even begin to truly complete the classics for me, but if it goes well this year perhaps next year I will shoot to read two "classics" a month.  Regardless, I am excited to be reading things that I haven't had the opportunity to read before, as I have always believed that being well-read is one of the surest signs of being well-educated. And that, my friends, is my fifth resolution of 2013...two more to share with you still.

Beard Check...yep, still growing (Observation Day 6)

So I guess that is about all that I have to share for the day.  It is a big day here, as we have weekly deliverables to prepare as well as a daily production and deliverables run this evening (which I have just started).  I hope that you all have an excellent weekend out there in the great beyond!