The Green Zone - Week One

Well I have settled in a little, albeit I am sharing a temporary room with 5 other people. It's a cramped room with three bunk beds and barely enough room to change clothes. I should be assigned my own room in the next few days.

The building is like a dorm but they call it the Barracks. We have a common shower area and there is no living area to speak of. I really want my own room and not be assigned to the barracks. I have only been sleeping in that room since there is no room so I stay at the office longer to avoid my room. ...Yeah it's that bad. But hopefully it will get better.

The people here are friendly and seem to like where they are. There are been some incoming mortars since I've been here. It's a little unnerving but from what I understand, they are sent from 3-6 miles away and they are trying to target specific places like the embassies, warehouses and who knows what else. But their target areas vary wildly and as long as you take cover when the alarm goes off, you should be okay. I guess we'll see.

There are several checkpoints to get into specific compounds, like from where we live and where we work and other places. Security is everywhere. The IZ is also home to several thousand Iraqis. There are apartments, villas and other homes in the IZ that belong to Iraqis. But it's nothing like the U.S. The apartments are run-down and the villas are constructed entirely of concrete except for the roofs. The paved roads have a lot of wear and tear form miitary vehicles, bombs, mortars, heavy machinery, etc. Some street lights work but it can get dark for being in the middle of a city of millions. Traffic laws are non-existent. There are stop signs and round-abouts but no working stop lights. The speed bumps are brutal but exist to slow potentially threatening vehicles.

You have to make sure you ahve the right badge to enter the compounds. Each one is run by a specific entity. There are many countries represented. Many companies. I'll get more of a feel for things I' sure. So far I like it compared to the camp I was at. at least there are sidewalks, streets and shuttles.