Hillah, Iraq.
True to his word, the Team Sergeant had a team meeting at 0400. He begins virtually every meeting the same way: “Is everybody here? Okay, let’s have a meeting.” I was really tired, but went anyway as a show of team spirit. However, not many others were there. The race was delayed for rain, and I thought that I might just sit down in that chair over there for just a bit. Just rest until the race starts, you see. I woke up an hour later and the race was further delayed, so I just went to bed.
We worked hard on the deck today. Some of the Special Forces guys went to the lumber store in town. Only one Iraqi employee helped load the truck while a dozen looked on. When the job was done, the SF guy told the Iraqi “You work like an American, so I will tip you like an American.” and gave him $50, which is about half a month’s pay for the average Iraqi.
We built frames on the ground, then lifted them up onto the Hesco baskets. The deck serves a number of purposes. Mostly, it will keep people from walking all over the top of the pool. Plus, the overhang should help keep people from tearing up the plastic liner as they get in and out. Finally, you simply have to have a deck if you have a pool.
A lot of the SF guys and Marines have worked construction, so they really knew what they were doing. My help in construction is of questionable value, but I offered what help I could. Building the deck was surreal. We could have been building a deck in anybody’s back yard, except for the gunships flying over.The pool has become the talk of the camp. We are starting to get Pool Tourists, visitors that just want to come and see the pool for themselves.The KBR guys finally relented, and delivered us hamburgers, hot dogs, condiments, Cokes, and side dishes. While we appreciate their generosity, we had already given up on them and purchased our own stuff. The El Salvadorans do remarkable work with a grill, and they were more than happy to take part in our Independence Day celebration. We have nearly 300 pounds of meat for them to cook, as well as plenty of side dishes. Honestly, between the KBR food and the stuff we bought, we could probably feed the whole camp.
Best comment from today’s team meeting: “All right. Don’t take beer out of the upstairs fridge for Gatorade. Somebody took cold beer out so they could chill down their Gatorade. We have plenty of freezers for water and Gatorade, so don’t mess with the damn beer.”
One of our best informants brought food today. The Marines are not overly keen on the local food, but I was happy to eat it, not only as a show of gratitude and faith, but also any change in the chow routine is a good one. He brought some onions stuffed with rice, some other type of leafy vegetable stuffed with rice, and pickles, all eaten wrapped in the local flat bread. Very tasty! He claims it is actually a Turkish dish that has been adopted by the Iraqis.We went to the embassy for a farewell ceremony. The director of the embassy is a former Special Forces colonel. While I was there, I met an El Salvadoran lieutenant who happened to graduated from the Naval Academy in 2001. We had a good time talking. Soon, the Colonel and the Captain, both West Point grads, were in on our discussion. The Captain and I have established a standing bet on the Army/Navy game: one bottle of Jameson’s to the winner, with the promise to make an effort to drink it together. The best stands for the rest of our natural lives.