A trip to the field and a two-wheeled adventure...

So, I went out into the field again today.  The Chief Observer, Neil, took me and Bogdan out to see the areas of the survey that we are currently shooting and will be shooting over the next few weeks.  It was a nice afternoon of driving about.  It was hot, of course, but it is always a bit of a joy to get out of the camp for a few hours and see a little bit of the country that I have spent so much time in but have seen so little of.  We were able to drive through two villages today, so I got to take more pictures of the houses and living environments of the so-called Marsh Arabs who reside in this part of Iraq.

The villages that I have seen are handsome enough, certainly they aren't modern, but they are full of garbage...the villages here tend to be located near major water sources and are cut through with canals, but the canals are often simply choked with trash.  There is nothing so sad as watching a woman drawing water out of a canal where she is having to push garbage out of the way to get her bucket into it, and seeing the livestock swimming in the same water really makes a statement about how rare good, clean, and reliable water is in the underdeveloped parts of the world.  It reminded me a bit of Port Au Prince, Haiti, to be honest.

This was a suburban...you can see the armor plating on the door panel...it was hit with armor piercing rounds and then blown up which landed it on its top...all of the bullet proof glass is melted around it...evidence of the violence that has plagued Iraq for so long

Finally...a picture of one of the ruined tanks!! It may be hard to tell, but that IS a tank!

Village canal...this is one of the few that wasn't choked with floating garbage...I love the boats

Date palms just ouside one of the little villages

This was once a very cool building in this little village...fallen into disrepair these days

As with everywhere in these part...oil works are almost always visible, particularly the gas flares

These guys are net-fishing outside of their village

These boys chased the truck for quite a while

A little greenery breaks the desert monotony

On the whole though, the field trip was very good...there were far more people out today than the last time I went out, and the population here away from the camp seems quite friendly.  We were greeted always with waves and smiles...the kids here are adorable.  They always beam at you and wave; innocence has not yet been lost to them, and I hope that with the increasing exposure to people from outside Iraq and continued improvements in the basic infrastructure of the country they will never have to live through the hard times, oppression, and warfare that their parents had to endure.  I may be accused of being paternalistic or of viewing everything through the lens of an American abroad by some of my more liberal friends, but I just want everyone to have the chance to live a safe, healthy, and secure life, whatever that means in their country and culture.

Well, that was my day in the field...it was a rare and enjoyable day for Iraq.  I was very glad to have had another opportunity to get outside of the walls and see some more of the countryside.  One day, when the country has settled back into a relatively safe place, I hope to come back and see far more.  So much of the history of mankind took place here, so it is sad that those treasures of history are unavailable to see and experience.  Perhaps, one day...

Speaking of enjoyable things...did you know that I bought a motorcycle while I was last home?  If you didn't, then now you do!  I LOVE it..it is so much fun to ride, though I am still taking it very easy as I am not a very experienced rider yet, and I didn't buy it to die on it.  I bought it because it gets amazing gas mileage and will help me save a lot of money on gas and mileage on my Jeep while I am in town. Plus, of course, it is FUN to ride.  I bought a 2012 Triumph Bonneville SE...it is beautiful, I think.  I still have a lot of experience to gain, but I am looking forward to riding it much more the next time that I am home.  Before anyone comments on the safety aspects of riding a motorcycle, again let me say, I didn't buy it do die on it, and I assure you all that I will wear a helmet, and jacket, and gloves at all times on the motorways and will stay off of the interstates on it, generally speaking.

So much fun to ride...and so nice to look at!

Well, I suppose that is what I have to share for now.  We are about to be back on standby out here again, so I am not looking forward to more days with nothing to do.  Bye for now...

A Break for July Comes to an End in August

I am back in Iraq for one last hitch (or that is what I am being told now), albeit a long one...six or seven weeks depending on when we get the last shotpoint.  I am a bit bummed about the duration of my final stay, particularly in light of the abbreviated vacation (28 short, sweet days), but at least this will be my last work rotation for a bit.  After this hitch it is ass-time for at least six weeks, then a class in Abu Dhabi for two weeks, and then likely a posting to a vessel somehwere in the world in mid-November (does that mean that I will miss both Christmas and New Year? NOOO!).

I had an amazing time at home, starting with Wine Weekend 2013 at Legend in Blue Ridge, GA.  It was great to see my family and enjoy wines of a calibre that I can't normally afford.  We drank a lot of amazing bottles on this particular trip, played a good deal of poker and billiards, and laughed a lot at each other's expense.  The food was also wonderful this year, with each of the "kids" taking a night of cooking duties and leaving the first night up to a local pizza company.  We ate Morgan's famous Picadillo the second night, Erin and Roger made grilled flank steak on the third night, and I completed the trifecta with Grillades and Grits on night four. It was all so good, and complimented the wines we were drinking admirably.  Also, my sister (bless her) baked a cake from scratch for my birthday which was delicious!  All in all a great family get together in a stunning location...likely to be repeated for 2014!

Me showing off the jeroboam that we polished off...that's a double magnum(3L) for those who have never seen one in real life

Some of the treasure trove of great bottles to be consumed this year

The adults minus my stepmom, Cathy, enjoying amazing wine!

The whole gang for Wine Weekend 2013

Zach is actually playing the guitar, I am merely strumming three chords along

Back in Houston, the fine meals continued unabated...my girlfriend, Christiann, took me out to a wonderful sushi dinner to celebrate my birthday (old) at Kata Robata.  We had a wonderful appetizer of Kobe steak and a special roll, and for dinner had the sashimi for two which was amazing! They also served us the fried heads of the sweet shrimp from our sashimi, which was certainly a first for me...once you get past eating a shrimp shell and the eyeballs it was actually pretty tasty.  They brought me a really cool dessert to close the meal, I am still unsure of what all was in it, but it sure was good!

Ah...sushi for my birthday...very good sashimi and the appetizers were great as well! You can see the shrimp heads which were later served fried

I cooked us pork chops, grits, and collard greens one night...we had sesame encrusted ahi salad...seared scallops with cannelini beans and spinach...a wonderful bib lettuce salad with fried goat cheese, roasted beets, toasted pecans, and two types of figs...Christiann and the kids baked cupcakes from scratch...we made homemade sushi for Christiann's birthday...shrimp ettouffee...and finally crab cakes.  So much good food!!  And those were just the meals prepared at home!  I get so into food when I am out here because the food is not typically very good, so it is nice to think about what I ate and will eat back home.  This hitch the food quality here has deteriorated even further...normally I haven't been actually upset by what was being served, but these days the food is just plain bad.  How do you lock hundreds of guys in a compound in the desert and then serve them bad food...it is one of the few pleasurable things we have to look forward to each day; it seems wrong to fail us on something that should be pretty easy. Sad.

Aside from the food, which was wonderful, I was lucky to continue on from Wine Weekend with some nice bottles of both reds and whites (which I don't normally go in for so much).  We had a couple of vintages of Kuleto Estates (excellent 2003 and 2009), a very good 2009 Conn Creek, a Coup de Foudre Pinot Noir, a Gruner Veltliner, an Alsatian, and a couple of Italians that I would have to check the wine journal to remember, but quite good nonetheless.  We had many more bottles that I am forgetting here...including two with my brother Zach when he came through Houston for work...a Zinfandel, I believe, and a Mourvedre from Spain, I think.

This scallop dish turned out so much better than I envisioned and paired nicely with an Alsatian wine

Excellent salad...wine was good but would have gone better with BBQ

Cupcakes!! Strawberry cupcakes with strawberry buttercream frosting...I decorated this one actually

Homemade sushi with a spinach, watermelon, and bleu cheese salad...Happy Birthday, Christiann!

One of the biggest highlights of my time at home was, of course, visiting with the kids each day.  I had them basically every day during the day and early evening which was wonderful! We played a lot, I tried to help Bea and Hardie with their swimming, and we just generally had a really great time.  We went sailing one weekend with their mom and some friends down in Galveston, which was awesome!  Sadly, Bea and myself were both stung by a jellyfish swimming in Galveston Bay, so I am not sure we will get Bea back in the water anytime soon...Hardie seemed to have a blast though in and out of the boat. I got to attend lots of baseball / tee ball practices and games, Beatrice competed in a Triathlon (her third) while I was home, which I was able to attend, and I got to attend Bea's award ceremony for baseball.  These are the things that I miss most in this job where I am gone more than half of every year.  The kids seem to be doing really well though...I am so proud of them!

Bea sitting up in the stern of the boat pre-jellyfish sting

Hardie kicking it in the boat's cockpit...sweet little guy!

This picture is courtesy of Shawn (she always takes better pics than I do), but here is Beatrice proudly showing off her baseball medal and trophy...she was a pretty good little ball player!

What else should I write about today...oh yes, the BUGS! I thought the bugs were bad last time I was out, but I had no idea!  We have an infestation of nasty flying crickets right now...millions of them every night descend upon the camp.  When you walk outside they land on you in droves and crawl inside of your clothes...disgusting! Walking at night is like walking on a moving carpet, almost, they exist in such numbers.  One of the worst things is when the sun returns the yard is covered with their corpses, everywhere piles of dead crickets...and then the sun goes to work cooking them all day - the smell of it doesn't become apparent until the sun starts to set...this swampy, fetid smell that nearly gags you when you walk outside.  I HATE BUGS!!

Well, I guess that is enough for today...need to save some stuff for future posts.  I am not exactly glad to be back, but work is going pretty well so far, and life on the whole seems brighter everyday.  It is a rare time in life where you just find yourself happy, you know?

Until next time...

I will leave you all with one of me taken yesterday outside the QC Shack