Lots of bad things have happened in the past few days. Without outlining them here in great detail, you can read about some of them, if you want:
March 27 - More People Killed in Mosul
March 28 - 2 British Guards Reported Shot in Mosul (One was Canadian) and the Globe & Mail report Canadian and Brit Killed in Drive-by Shooting in Mosul
March 28 - Two Killed in Rocket Attack in Mosul
March 31 - US Soldiers and Contractors Killed in Fallujah
Also this week, and closer to home - well, to our project, anyway - Siemens, one of our equipment suppliers, evacuated their Project Manager from Mosul. Their acting PM was attacked on his way to our storage site at the Mosul TV station. A masked man stood up in the back of a pickup truck in front of his car and emptied his AK-47 into the AsiaCell vehicle. According to our Western Operations Manager, "His car was hit many times with automatic gun fire and he received five bullet wounds to his body. He has now been medivaced to his home country (Lebanon). He was extremely lucky not to be killed and a further report will follow on this incident." Our CEO has now banned all AsiaCell expat travel to Mosul and all travel on any roads after dark. I think it is a very good idea.
And locally, two more incidents this week. The Palace Hotel was the scene of some gunfire late Sunday night. Nobody was allowed out of their rooms and there were no details provided to our staff there. The CIA stays there, so who knows? A poker game gone mad? And I heard three shots around 11 PM on Monday night, about a half-section away from my window as the wild goose flies. Not enough to cause me to don the bulletproof vest for the night, but disconcerting, nonetheless.
So, as my time winds down here, things are heating up. (Hey! There's my title!) Everyone was out of the office today (April 2) on a picnic, of all things. I couldn't go, since I have a lot to do to prepare for our CEO's return today. He is bringing a new CEO since he's had it with the place. Can't say I blame him. Heather was glad I didn't go on the picnic, since the roads are not very safe. I said today was likely the day that some goof would choose to blow up the AsiaCell office here in Sulaymaniya! If I don't finish this page, fear the worst.
Hey, remember the Saddam Palace I mentioned a few pages ago? Well I found this nifty overhead shot of it on the 'net. Of course, now it is surrounded by sandbags and barbed wire and there are various armored vehicles at every junction. I was inside the palace on the left side, overlooking Mr. Bigshot Saddam's fancy-pants swimming pool. And no, I was not envious. Heather and I will buy a larger place like this one, as soon as we find something suitable, in which we can entertain our worthy friends. Nothing but the best for you folks!
And here is an overhead shot of Kirkuk. See the airport on the left hand side? The town is nowhere near as peaceful as it looks in this picture, let me tell 'ya. If you zoom in, you can actually see me near Gate 3, organizing one of the many truck convoys. (That bulge in my tummy is just my flak jacket!)
I took the opportunity to do a bit of shopping yesterday. Gold here is very cheap. Well, gold is the same price as everywhere, but the labor involved in making fine gold pieces is very cheap. Sulaymaniya has a local good luck piece which is a blue stone with a black dot in the center. Kind of like a blue eyeball. It is supposed to bring good luck to the person who owns it, but if you buy it, you need to give it to someone for the luck to work. You can't keep it for yourself. My initial question was if this works so well, why is the country in the state it is in. Then I realized that Sulaymaniya is the best place in Iraq, so maybe... Anyway, I bought a couple of necklaces. One big one and one small one. And a special set of earrings for my dear wife. All the stuff is 22 carat gold and the chains are quite thick and nicely detailed. I like them, anyway, and it is hard to bring any local item back that has some sort of meaning. The beautiful carpets here are from Iran, and no deal to get home unless I pay a gazillion dollars for overweight baggage. They have these huge hookah pipes which I've seen people smoking, and those are cool, but nope. So gold jewelry it is. I'll swallow it all before I get on the plane so I don't have to pay duty.
Heather and I have taken a two-prong approach to dealing with customer care issues while I am away, including some related to our upcoming Florida trip. She gets things moving and whenever she runs into some smarmy agent somewhere who is less than helpful, I call and say "I'm in IRAQ for heaven sake!" Then they bend over backward to help (sometimes). Except for that useless weasel Carol, at CAA insurance. If you know her, tell her she has officially been flamed on the Internet now. A free web page built for anyone who can find her and pie her!
Sorry. Sometimes things get away from me a bit. I blame it on
the stress of the job and the never-ending pressure of wondering if each day is
my last. Any of you who know me know that I have always been a dedicated follower
of fashion professional, and this is first and foremost a serious endeavor.
By the way, thanks to all of you who have sent me Iraq jokes by E-mail, in an
effort to keep my spirits up. I've done a few updates to previous pages, so if
you haven't looked backward through my missives, you might want to do so.
Well, that's it for now. Adam, the South African guy who arrived in Sulaymaniya with me, is headed home next week. He won't be back and I wish him nothing but the best in the future. We still hope to get there at some point. I, on the other hand, have 19 more sleeps to go before I am home. But who's counting?
Blessings upon you all,
Steve