Spring is Coming

3 March 2009

February has flown by. Can't say we were all having a lot of fun, but it flew by none the less. March will mark our 6 month point. Hopefully it remains our half way mark but sometimes you just never know.

Spring brings in the famous dust storms blowing dust from Africa all the way to the Amazon ( I learned that from the BBC series The Planet Earth!). It's pretty annoying actually. The sand gets blown by winds that in this area can reach 100knots. So far I think our max has been about 50 knots, but it still sucks. The sand whips around, blowing, swirling, and covering everything. There are vents in the bathrooms so the showers, sinks, and toilets are covered in sand, port-o-potties are covered in sand, the dining facility is covered in sand, WE'RE covered in sand. It's a sand event for sure. The dust storms last about 3 days usually. We've been getting one about every week. Sometimes they bring a little rain, but the rain doesn't turn the dust into mud anymore. Some of the storms have brought cooler weather, which is nice. Doesn't mean it's not going to get up to 130 in a couple months, but for now it's nice.

The Elections have come and gone here in Iraq. Overall the initial impression was they went very smoothly and everyone was happy. Then about two weeks ago several cases of fraud started popping up, several in the area we're in. Some of it was Sunni vs. Shia trying to stay in charge or get in charge, others I don't know too much more about.

There hasn't been a huge change since the security agreement was signed or since President Obama announced his troop with drawl plan. Part of the security agreement was for US Forces to draw down their footprint, mainly get out of major cities, or build joint bases with Iraqi Army and Police by the summer. May sound tough but it hasn't been so bad.

Other than that it's work as usual. It's the mid way point and people are getting tired. There are clashes of personalities, but it's inevitable when everyone works at least 10 hours a day every day. We all try to take a half day once a week, but even those days something tends to pull us back to work or keep us longer. Working so much becomes a way to pass time, it's not like there's a lot of other things to do.

I should be in Greece in about 3 weeks so that will be a nice change. I plan to wear my hair down every day! Or at least the first day until it annoys me to the point where I put it up again. Once I get on a computer that's a little more picture friendly, look for lots of pictures coming your way!