Week 12 - My Week In Iraq

Sabah-al-hair (Good Morning)

Greetings from Umm Qasr (Umm Qasr – which is Arabic for “when you’re hot you’re hot….. and when you’re not  - -  you’re probably not here”)
Well, how was your week? I had a great one – thank you to all for the anniversary wishes – they were well received. FYI, Jeanette and I skyped the night before our anniversary and had a good few minutes to ourselves. Okay, as for good ol’ Umm Qasr, I have had an interesting week.
Do you remember a few weeks ago when I showed you the photos of the Iraqi Marine site? Well, I went and met with the Iraqi Marine Commander (General Hassan) and a few of his colonels (Battalion Commanders) and I did a nice little design for him. Now, for force protection reasons, I can’t show you the whole thing (even though it will be slightly different from what is built)…. but I did want to show you some of what I am planning.
But, first, let me set the stage (minor gross-out alert….) of what the Iraqis are presently cooking and eating in…. here is another photo of one of the kitchens that the Iraqi marines use (I have sent several before) - but basically it is a pot of water (where they cook rice – or meats, etc.) and they put the pot on a propane burner and cook it. 

The Iraqi Marine “kitchen”

Yes, it is “sparse” but they do a lot with a little. Now, I did not eat food from this kitchen, but I am showing you the conditions they live in. I have told you before about some of the problems we have with the Iraqis – the big thing being greywater (shower water, soapy kitchen water, leftover dish water) – not “blackwater” – which is the REAL nasty stuff…. and they do take care of that… not in a great way – but it is not out in the open.

Any rate, as I told you I am putting in a design to correct most of their infrastructure problems (which will take care of the greywater and blackwater problems as well as their fresh water and electrical problems.) All in all – pretty darn rewarding as some of these guys really have it rough.

Greywater just outside of the DFAC

You can see above, the Iraqis don’t seem to have a problem letting this water just drain out and evaporate – and again, it does eventually – but dogs, cats, birds, mice and other vermin get into the water and flies get into it, etc. and all of those things can carry diseases (and trust me – there are not many animals around here that get vaccinations or rabies shots)…. so the soil is contaminated and the critters that get into it become contaminated. All in all – you can get a whole camp sick really quick this way. Again, as I stated – this part of the work (cleaning up an area to prevent people getting sick) is very rewarding mentally and spiritually for me.

So, here I am walking with the Iraqi Marine Commander – General Hassan…. as you can see… we are both “out standing” in our field…. (yep…I know – I can’t believe they aren’t paying me to do this either!!!). But the General is a really great guy. We laughed and yucked it up (I had a cup of chai tea brought to me – and he leans over, points to the tea and says “this is Iraqi whiskey…”) – but we had a great time.

Look closely – I am whispering to him – “yeah, they may salute you – but no way is your hat this cool….”

Alright, so this is pretty much a former dump that we are standing on – if you look close behind the general and I - on this berm (that is placed around the dump) there were “foxholes” for defending…. the dump. Don’t ask me why – but I guess it was their dump and they were going to defend it. Any rate, here is a “soon to be – before”  photo:

Future home of Iraqi Marine “cool” area….

Now, you may ask yourself – what in the world is he gonna do with that? I will tell you… I am going to make this the coolest area – I can’t show you the whole thing – as that would “jeopardize” the force protection – but I can show you a part of the part. So here is one portion of what I am going to do…. now you will notice there is Arabic writing on the slide – that is because I am presenting this to a group of Arabs (go figure!) – but in every design I am doing – I am putting all of the writing (by way of my local Engineers) into Arabic – so as the General and his officers go up to Baghdad or meet with their counterparts, they can show exactly what I am planning:

Mr. Wide Original Design

The “brown” lines are walls that are the shell of the DFAC building (the roof is not shown – but the DFAC will have a roof and be air conditioned) and the higher “blue-grey lines” represent chain link fence. The rounded “arcs” are just the doors (the arc show the way they swing open). The kitchen is going to have counters where the Iraqis can pass out food (now they put it on a table in a big tent with no air conditioning) – and the doors open up so you eat in the DFAC or you can go outside into the “oasis” and hang out. The oasis area will be covered on top with cloth – so the sun is not directly on them – and this area is in the middle of the camp – so the wind will not be as prevalent. I am also hoping to put a small fountain in the area along with some tables, lights, etc. to try and make this a great informal gathering place. The “curvy” thing is a walkway to a gate so they can enter into another area…. but any rate – THAT is part of what I am going to do to this area. This will go from the biggest disaster area – to the coolest area by just adding one large dose of “Mr. Wide.” What is not to love? (Okay, I guess you can see, I get passionate about designing and making cool areas.)

As I told you – I didn’t eat in either of the areas above – but I did get lunch and….. oh….my….goodness!  It was su-oh-oh good. We had fish that they grill – here is the “holder” they use. They slap the fish into this metal cage, close the cage around it and then grill it over an open fire. I know they put some spices and stuff on it – but it is a very mild fish –and went well with the other items.

Fish cooker

Lunch with Iraqi Marine General Hassan

The fish is in the middle of the table – there was also rice (with pine nuts and other assorted goodies in it), a tomato-based soup with cucumbers cooked in it, pickled vegetables and Iraqi Samoon (flat bread). The fish was farm-raised (not caught locally – which I am thankful for). We ate – like most middle easterners - we ate the fish communally (trying to use our right hand as we could) – but it took both hands to pull the fish apart – however, it was soft and delicate. We would spoon the cucumber soup onto the rice and mix in a little fish – I would take the samoon and get as much as I could. And after eating (or actually not eating) at the DFAC for the last few weeks (which again sometimes I think these cooks are on some kind of research project to see to what extremes they can torture the human taste buds) - but this was AB-SO-LUTE-LY delightful. I ate so much they started calling me “short-round”…. baby, that was good. I will leave you with a closeup of my plate (before I started eating….you didn’t want to see it afterwards – it was not a pretty sight.)

Iraqi Lunch “pre-Wade”

Well, that was just a short part of my week, but I wanted to share a really fun portion of it with you. It is not everyone who can say that they had fish and rice with an Iraqi General in the middle of a war zone – so I wanted you to enjoy it with me. And part of my “job” here is to develop relationships with Iraqis and let them know that we are here to help them and get their country moving in the right direction. I would say this – I am almost embarrassed at the generosity of the Iraqis. They give so much and they have so little. They sure “show the love” to their guests.

So, my dear reader, it is time to move on – I hope you enjoyed “having lunch” with me – I REALLY wish you were here to enjoy it in person. But for now, I will bid you Ma’a salama and….

God Bless America

Wade “Mr. Wide”

مهندس  واد  بروير

Bonus Alert

Okay, my daughter (once again) inspired me – like she has done most of her life – by writing “top ten reasons why my Dad is the best” on her blog (and yes, I cried like a baby – so what?!?) So, here was my reply back (in honor of Father’s day…) and NONE of these are taken off the internet – these are all “Mr. Wide” originals….

Top Ten Reasons I love being a Dad/Granddad...by Wade (the motorcycle riding, superhero t-shirt wearing - Dad/Granddad) Brower

#10.  They have to listen to me....no matter how much they roll their eyes - or make exaggerated "sighs" that they are bored...they have to listen to me.  What is funny is - now that they have become Moms and Dads themselves - now they ask for the advice.  I try not to roll my eyes and sigh when they ask.....

#9. Until they become about 12 - you are "SUPER DAD" - you can beat anyone else up, you are smarter than anyone else - you are the center of their world.  After they turn about 12 - you aren't as smart as the next door neighbor 13 year old - who is way smarter than you - because he/she/it is in "middle school" and they have seen it all.

#8.  I love teaching my kids/grandkids to be productive and show them that real "success" is in your family and your personal values.  Work on loving each other, helping others and being a good person.  Success (financially, spiritually, mentally) will come if you focus on those things. 

#7.  Hearing my kids "pass on" my wisdom (which was passed on to me)....such wise and encouraging words as "If you don't stop crying, I am going to give you something to cry about!"  and "If XXX (put 13 year old name from #9 above here) jumped off a roof, would you do it too?"  (bonus alert....in the middle of using "said wisdom", the child/now parent turns to me and says..."gosh, I sound just like you..."   heh-heh-heh..)

#6. Teaching and correcting my kids (and to a small part, my grandkids) as they grow up and experience life. Basically just being a part of my children's lives as they become productive members of society.  This is a Dad's "graduation" and to see that you are leaving a legacy thru your children/grandchildren to the world at large. 

#5. Watching my/our kids make funny noises and squinch their noses (same with grandkids) as my girl and I kiss/hug.  (btw, not that phony kissy/smoochy stuff - which can be fun occasionally - but they need to see a real kiss on the lips and a real hug - it is important that your kids/grandkids know that real emotion and feelings are part of a great marriage.  There is no reason to hide it.  It should be celebrated!) 

#4. Watching my kids/grandkids achieve something in their personal lives - such as - Civilian of the quarter, promotions, school graduations, etc.  Knowing that I was a (small) part of that is a great feeling.

#3.  Knowing that I am "on call" 24 hours a day, 365 days a year (more on leap year) - and need to be available at a moment's notice....everything from runny noses, to fixing a leak, to being the "shoulder to cry on" - this is what a "real" dad does - without hesitation - without thinking about it - and it is the best part of being a Dad.

#2. You get to experience unconditional love.  It may not be true all the time - but if you have kids - at some point in your life - they will love you unconditionally and you will love them back unconditionally.  Of course, then they learn to talk....and why is the first words they say always "no!"....

and.................... (drum roll, please.....)

#1. Because I said so....