No More Rain

Well, that was short-lived. We thought the rain would stay a few days but it's gone now. There are still some puddles around from the poor drain off system, or lack thereof. HA! Hopefully those will clear up soon or else we'll have lots of mosquitoes.

I'm hoping the beginning of the year brings us rain or we'll have the same problem as this past summer. We had lots of sand storms since the rainy season was very mild. It's hard to see, hard to breath, yuck. AND....transportation in and out of country gets canceled; so if you're due to go out on R&R, you might get held back and that affects all your travel plans. I've had that happen to me once and it was terrible. Not to mention that you usually get stuck somewhere you don't want to be, sharing a small room with 5 other strangers. But that's how it goes.

Rain, Rain

Well it is officially raining here today. I mean REAL rain...not just a sprinkle. The ground has gotten enough water to create a little runoff. This is an interesting point because the streets here are not built for runoff. There are lots of pools of water that collect in odd places. You tend to take these kind of things for granted in the US with all the regulations and standards. But I have yet to see a runoff drainage built into a curb.
Rain here is just so rare, especially this time of year. No one can explain why we are getting rain since the rainy season is typically in the early part of the year, like Jan-Feb.
It is a nice change of pace, although there is so much mucky build up of oil, soil, and goop and some of the walkways are slippery.

U.S.Presidential Election - Part 2

Well today is the day. Many of us already cast our votes for the election weeks ago as required by the Foreign Voting Service. We printed ballots from the government web site and mailed them in. Now, we are eagerly waiting for the first polling places to close and for the networks to report the results....trying to screen out the exit poll info that got everyone in trouble the last two elections.

Some of us are staying up late to just to watch the fireworks on TV. In all reality, it looks like Obama is going to be our next President. There are some people here who are so upset about that possibility that it is unreal. I think this election has created a deep divide in our country and I hope that we can cure it.

Halloween in the IZ

So Halloween is definitely different here than when I was at Kirkuk. There were hundreds of people who showed up to work wearing anything from simple T-shirts and masks to full head-to-toe costumes. There were evil jesters, Hare Krishnas, pirates, zombies, the cast of Wizard of Oz including monkeys, witches & trees, werewolfs, fairy tale creatures and so much more. Some people showed up at meetings and official functions wearing their costumes. It was hilarious and no one seemed to mind, including the management. Some of the management actually showed up in dress as well. I guess it's all part of breaking the levity of being in a war zone.

It was all good fun. Plus there was lots of candy in each department. Chocolates, gum, lollipops, Tootsie Rolls, Twizzlers and most everything you can get in the states. Now I'll have to hit the gym more to work off all the extra sugar I have consumed. HA!