1) Jennifer? Jennifer Lopez?
Oh if I got a dinar for every time an immigration official has pulled that line on me. Twice in one day this time! I have finally left Iraq for vacation (and time between old and new job). A move like this requires at least 2 days of travelling and much exhaustion. No matter how you swing it - there will never be a flight from or to Iraq that will meet convieniently with transatlantic travel. Even if there was - I wouldn't chance it. Sod's law that flight will always get to the next point 7 hours after you were suppose to have left on your next leg.
I can't figure out which flight I dislike more - the flight coming from Amman to Erbil that leaves at 3am, or the flight from Erbil to Amman that leaves at 5am. Both options allow some leway for sleeping, either before or after. Both leave at incredibly awkward times in the middle of the night and disrupt sleeping patterns enormously. I think I may have to go with the latter. Sleeping from 10pm - 3am before your flight in theory allows enough sleep to function at the airport and then afterwards when you land. However sleeping during this period is light at best - especially if you are unsure as to whether your airport pickup fully understood you. (Can you pick me up at 3am? - yes ok. You will pick me up in the parking lot? - yes ok. Will you call when you get here? - yes ok. Do you understand me? - yes ok.)
Sleeping on the 1h40min flight in itself is a feet - I've seen it done, but now that RJ has added a hot meal (wow!) to the leg (should be served on plates of gold for the amount they change to get in and out of the country - almost the same price as the rest of the trip home!) means that keep the lights on the entire time. By the time you arrive at Amman you are shattered, but 6am, and a perfectly reasonable time to start your day!
Fortunately I was not working (he he he) so crashing on the floor of my future apartment was in order - and I did so like a champ for about 5 hours. I needed to prepare for my next big night of disrupted sleeping patterns... 3 am to Frankfurt. Where I am now looking forward to 6 hours in an airport that does not believe in seating (seriously - there are hardly any benches/chairs - I'm currently on the floor) or power outlets. Yeah!
2) Nawrooztan Piroza!
I was lucky to have been born the day that I was. March 21st is Persian New Years. Much of the old Persian Empire from what could be considered "Kurdistan" all the way through pretty much all of the "Stans" celebrate the coming of Spring.
Not to say that winter in northern Iraq is particularly harsh - although I assume in places such as Afghanistan it is worse. It consists of cloudy, mediocre weather, with the occasional "rain" storm (sometimes it does properly rain, followed by flooding due to the lack (or need) of storm drains) and sand storm. Sand storms are different up north than in the south as well. In Baghdad they build slowly (with sadly no percipitation in advance of or following ) - you can see them coming. The horizon is usually orange, and the air gets increasingly dusty - to the point that you can easily stair at the sun. I've only been in one really bad one, that hit quickly - sand blowing everywhere with zero visability. Up north it's more like fog. It's easier to operate in because sand isn't blown in your face - but you still cannot breath, or wear contacts (sand goes under them) or really be outside.
The KRG has actually had a decent amount of rainfall this year - in what we thought was going to be another drought. In January the weather was almost tropical at times (15C) but in early February and March the weather turned back "wintery" (rainy). The ground is now actually green, not desolate and beige. I would dare say when I look out my window it's almost pretty.
Because of this, the Nawrooz weekend was beautiful. The weather was perfect (around 20C) and the sun was out. The traditional activities for Nawrooz essentially involve a lot of food, picnics and dancing spanning over a week or two. The evening of March 22nd marked the beginning of the festivities with a concert and fireworks over the citadel which you could see from the apartment. We would have liked to go but a combination of date mix-up and then security restrictions make these types of things verbotten, unfortunately. March 21st - the actual Nawrooz date saw massive picnics in every available field that hasn't been slated for construction - meaning that the field near a friend's house in the christian village of Ainkawa became a prime location.
Hundreds of cars, barbeques, drums and girls in sparkly dresses spotted the fields. There was also live music with dancing, although others tried to overpower the wall of speakers with their own sound track. Looking at it from the roof top of the friend's house it looked more like a rock festival or a tailgate party rather than a picnic.
We were lucky to have the means to sneak into he massive dance party going on in the fields through the friend's coworkers, and spent the rest of the evening picnic-ing on her roof watching the parties below and the sun set.
Tuesday 24 March 2009
Saturday 14 March 2009
Things that go Boom
In all my ranting and raving regarding the tardiness of flights and food poisoning I never touched on the fact that last week was one of the deadliest weeks Baghdad has had in a while.
The day I left for Erbil close to 30 were killed in a bombing in central (east - Palestine Street) Baghdad, and later this week over 30 were killed in Abu Ghrab (yes where the prison is - it's technically in Anbar Governorate, but it is just on the outskirts of Baghdad).
Now there are attacks everyday. Rocket fire is constant, so are improvised explosive devices. They reckon 40-60 projectiles are thrown at the green zone each week. Most don't make it in, those that do often don't explode. Occasionally some one is unlucky (in December when I was there it was the UN Bangladeshi contract caterers - who are not provided the same protection as the actual UN staff), but on a whole very few are injured or killed. Every day there are explosions in the city. You can hear them from the IZ. Sometimes they kill or injure people, now a days a lot of them are caught by the police and the military and safely detonated away from people. I have experienced the army quickly cordoning off an areas and redirecting traffic after a car bomb was discovered near a ministry building. This is a testament to how far the Iraqi Army and police have come in their development. Flashback just a couple years ago, and all these attacks were more than likely going to be deadly.
However the recent events show that those who want to re-destailise the country are learning to get around new security developments. I worry because this may only get worse. The government and multi-national forces are in the process of disbanding the "Sons of Iraq" councils (Sahwa Councils) - the Sunni - come insurgent scheme to bring hostile actors into a legitimate security role (paying them off in the process - which combats the major cause of conflict in Iraq which is unemployment, poverty and boredom). The success of these councils is shown in the vast reduction of violence in places such as Anbar Governorate. But with these councils now being disbanded, and no new jobs to provide a similar income, a lot of angry young men will be left in a spot where they will turn to the militias (or organised criminal gangs) again.
Coming back to myself (me me me), this is why I'm particularly angry about the end of my youth program. I know its small fish (30 youth per governorate) but its initiatives that bring youth together that help reduce the likelihood of young people turning to violence! My program is not interested in finding means to support the youth groups externally, so I have to go at it alone. I hope that I can find some interested donors that are willing to support these actions, but we will see.
I'm not sure where my current organisation gets off on this... particularly since they adhere to the "do no harm" principle.
The day I left for Erbil close to 30 were killed in a bombing in central (east - Palestine Street) Baghdad, and later this week over 30 were killed in Abu Ghrab (yes where the prison is - it's technically in Anbar Governorate, but it is just on the outskirts of Baghdad).
Now there are attacks everyday. Rocket fire is constant, so are improvised explosive devices. They reckon 40-60 projectiles are thrown at the green zone each week. Most don't make it in, those that do often don't explode. Occasionally some one is unlucky (in December when I was there it was the UN Bangladeshi contract caterers - who are not provided the same protection as the actual UN staff), but on a whole very few are injured or killed. Every day there are explosions in the city. You can hear them from the IZ. Sometimes they kill or injure people, now a days a lot of them are caught by the police and the military and safely detonated away from people. I have experienced the army quickly cordoning off an areas and redirecting traffic after a car bomb was discovered near a ministry building. This is a testament to how far the Iraqi Army and police have come in their development. Flashback just a couple years ago, and all these attacks were more than likely going to be deadly.
However the recent events show that those who want to re-destailise the country are learning to get around new security developments. I worry because this may only get worse. The government and multi-national forces are in the process of disbanding the "Sons of Iraq" councils (Sahwa Councils) - the Sunni - come insurgent scheme to bring hostile actors into a legitimate security role (paying them off in the process - which combats the major cause of conflict in Iraq which is unemployment, poverty and boredom). The success of these councils is shown in the vast reduction of violence in places such as Anbar Governorate. But with these councils now being disbanded, and no new jobs to provide a similar income, a lot of angry young men will be left in a spot where they will turn to the militias (or organised criminal gangs) again.
Coming back to myself (me me me), this is why I'm particularly angry about the end of my youth program. I know its small fish (30 youth per governorate) but its initiatives that bring youth together that help reduce the likelihood of young people turning to violence! My program is not interested in finding means to support the youth groups externally, so I have to go at it alone. I hope that I can find some interested donors that are willing to support these actions, but we will see.
I'm not sure where my current organisation gets off on this... particularly since they adhere to the "do no harm" principle.
Monday 9 March 2009
Ain't no Hawler Back Girl.... (I guess I am technically)
It's always fun to fly in Iraq. There are always surprises, twists and turns. Nothing ever goes to plan - particularly when you're flying Iraqi (sc)Airways.
To start, there is no flight time. They will tell you a time to shut you up, sometimes (in the north it's always 8am, until you arrive at 6am at the airport for your flight to find out it's been changed to 3pm) but on a whole you're in the dark. Secondly, you may have ticket, you may have a reservation, you may have even paid the 100,000 IDs (approx 85USD), but that doesn't mean that you're on the name list (which in some cases doesn't emerge until 15mins prior to boarding). Finally, you may have paid, you may be on the list, you may be in the departure lounge (heck you may be flying in the plane) but that does not guarantee you will end up at your intended destination. No, no. Whilst flying in Iraq, you can never be certain that you have arrived until your feet touch the ground. Essentially, unless the sun, the moon and the stars are perfectly aligned, there is no way in hell you are getting to your destination at the time you intended to. Barriers to this can include dust, rain, VIPs, and your pilot feeling like he didn't want to get out of bed this morning.
This being said, you will always eventually leave. You just have to come prepared. Always bring a book. Always charge your laptop and iPod. Always book and extra night (or two) in a hotel in Sulaimaniyah. I was once stuck in that airport for 3 days, for, actually all of the reasons started above. I finally made it to Baghdad - they got me, my colleagues and the steady growing crowd of stranded travellers down. They had to charter a massive Airbus from "Seagull Airways" (they are slovakian in case you are wondering) to do it - but they got us there.
Yesterday was no different. After being left to ponder what time my PSDs would be banging on my pod in the morning to take me to the airport, I was scurrying around at 7:30 to cram all my stuff into my giant 70L backpack to rush to the airport. We got confirmation that the flight would be leaving at 10 - and it being rushhour in Baghdad (Sunday is the first day of the week here) we needed to get there ASAP (Yalla Yalla Yalla). At 9am we made down through Route Irish into BIAP, with our Airport pick-up (aka Palm Greaser) pacing worried we would not get tickets or on to the plane. He had already "taken care of the ticket guy" (BIAP is run by the GOI (gov't of Iraq) and therefore is the third most corrupt place on earth), but he was still unsure. At about 9:45 we got our tickets, finally, and he got us through the VIP line to check in. Withing 10 mins we were in the departure lounge.
Thinking - Wow - given the urgency in which we got our tickets, maybe we'll actually leave on time today - my colleagues and I joined the line at the usual gate to board the plane up north and I called my staff coming into Erbil to tell them that I would be able to meet this afternoon. We stood there for about 3 mins until the ticket collector walked past saying "Damacus, Damascus, Damascus". Ha ha... who were we kidding. Leaving on time?
2 hours later we board the plane to Sulaimaniyah/Erbil. It's more than half empty (and I'm angry because given our numbers, we could have taken their smaller, newer, cleaner Bombardiers that are less likely to fall out of the sky - Inshallah). I'm still going to make it up north to meet my staff, but not for as long as I would like (given we have MASSIVE youth conference we're running this week - and I have been stuck in the IZ for the last month).
And... ohhhh... it's a holiday today... another one (Happy Birthday Prophet Mohammad) - that's what... the 3rd one this month and we still have Kurdish new years to go? (it's March 9th)
(Iraqis work about 85 days a year... but that is a subject of another post)
To start, there is no flight time. They will tell you a time to shut you up, sometimes (in the north it's always 8am, until you arrive at 6am at the airport for your flight to find out it's been changed to 3pm) but on a whole you're in the dark. Secondly, you may have ticket, you may have a reservation, you may have even paid the 100,000 IDs (approx 85USD), but that doesn't mean that you're on the name list (which in some cases doesn't emerge until 15mins prior to boarding). Finally, you may have paid, you may be on the list, you may be in the departure lounge (heck you may be flying in the plane) but that does not guarantee you will end up at your intended destination. No, no. Whilst flying in Iraq, you can never be certain that you have arrived until your feet touch the ground. Essentially, unless the sun, the moon and the stars are perfectly aligned, there is no way in hell you are getting to your destination at the time you intended to. Barriers to this can include dust, rain, VIPs, and your pilot feeling like he didn't want to get out of bed this morning.
This being said, you will always eventually leave. You just have to come prepared. Always bring a book. Always charge your laptop and iPod. Always book and extra night (or two) in a hotel in Sulaimaniyah. I was once stuck in that airport for 3 days, for, actually all of the reasons started above. I finally made it to Baghdad - they got me, my colleagues and the steady growing crowd of stranded travellers down. They had to charter a massive Airbus from "Seagull Airways" (they are slovakian in case you are wondering) to do it - but they got us there.
Yesterday was no different. After being left to ponder what time my PSDs would be banging on my pod in the morning to take me to the airport, I was scurrying around at 7:30 to cram all my stuff into my giant 70L backpack to rush to the airport. We got confirmation that the flight would be leaving at 10 - and it being rushhour in Baghdad (Sunday is the first day of the week here) we needed to get there ASAP (Yalla Yalla Yalla). At 9am we made down through Route Irish into BIAP, with our Airport pick-up (aka Palm Greaser) pacing worried we would not get tickets or on to the plane. He had already "taken care of the ticket guy" (BIAP is run by the GOI (gov't of Iraq) and therefore is the third most corrupt place on earth), but he was still unsure. At about 9:45 we got our tickets, finally, and he got us through the VIP line to check in. Withing 10 mins we were in the departure lounge.
Thinking - Wow - given the urgency in which we got our tickets, maybe we'll actually leave on time today - my colleagues and I joined the line at the usual gate to board the plane up north and I called my staff coming into Erbil to tell them that I would be able to meet this afternoon. We stood there for about 3 mins until the ticket collector walked past saying "Damacus, Damascus, Damascus". Ha ha... who were we kidding. Leaving on time?
2 hours later we board the plane to Sulaimaniyah/Erbil. It's more than half empty (and I'm angry because given our numbers, we could have taken their smaller, newer, cleaner Bombardiers that are less likely to fall out of the sky - Inshallah). I'm still going to make it up north to meet my staff, but not for as long as I would like (given we have MASSIVE youth conference we're running this week - and I have been stuck in the IZ for the last month).
And... ohhhh... it's a holiday today... another one (Happy Birthday Prophet Mohammad) - that's what... the 3rd one this month and we still have Kurdish new years to go? (it's March 9th)
(Iraqis work about 85 days a year... but that is a subject of another post)
Wednesday 4 March 2009
Survived to stay another day...
Our travel agent on the compound must think that our program is schizophrenic. We cannot decide whether we are coming or going. Up until 8pm last evening I was suppose to be leaving on a plane for the north today. Now I have to stick around for a couple more days to create more reports, for more meetings, for more donor questions.
Will there ever be a good time for me to leave? Probably not - but I have a massive event up north to attend next week - so I don't have a choice. I have to go.
The one good thing about sticking around is that the weather has turned absolutely glorious! It's well over 20C daily, it will be a shock once I'm back up north where it has been rainy and cold. Prep for Canada I guess. I'll also get to stick around and play a few more games of ultimate - there's co-ed sports in Baghdad, in addition to yoga, step, spin. kickboxing and aerobics classes. Something that is tough to put together up north with everyone's various security provisions. It's nice to have regular activity - the downside is that it is such a sedentary lifestyle other than this! I work 3 meters from my bed.
Another positive thing about not being up north is that I'm not in an office. I had to send out the notice today that the program would be ending early, and that my component in particular will be shutting down before others. I have only had one response? Is this normal? Is no news good news?
I was expecting dramatic emails, or questions about job security. But nothing? I wonder if my Iraqi program managers are fielding most of it and deflecting questions or criticism, or whether we had left them in the dark for so long that they figured that something like this was happening? It's really sad what is happening. I truly believed that the program I was running was innovative. Creating volunteerism with a purpose across in Iraq, and through this, linking youth from all over the country to combat major conflict causes. We had brilliant responses - but it didn't burn enough money - go figure! So whilst the rest of the program is a quagmire, the one thing that is actually functioning gets dropped for a mess that is costing 100x's the cost.
I'm hoping that I can end of the program in a way that will not deter the participants from continuing their good work. I hope we didn't do too much harm by cutting a number of our promises. To address this I'm trying to fold them into an Iraqi NGO that we have helped to gain official status. They seem receptive to this, so maybe there is hope. Inshallah.
Will there ever be a good time for me to leave? Probably not - but I have a massive event up north to attend next week - so I don't have a choice. I have to go.
The one good thing about sticking around is that the weather has turned absolutely glorious! It's well over 20C daily, it will be a shock once I'm back up north where it has been rainy and cold. Prep for Canada I guess. I'll also get to stick around and play a few more games of ultimate - there's co-ed sports in Baghdad, in addition to yoga, step, spin. kickboxing and aerobics classes. Something that is tough to put together up north with everyone's various security provisions. It's nice to have regular activity - the downside is that it is such a sedentary lifestyle other than this! I work 3 meters from my bed.
Another positive thing about not being up north is that I'm not in an office. I had to send out the notice today that the program would be ending early, and that my component in particular will be shutting down before others. I have only had one response? Is this normal? Is no news good news?
I was expecting dramatic emails, or questions about job security. But nothing? I wonder if my Iraqi program managers are fielding most of it and deflecting questions or criticism, or whether we had left them in the dark for so long that they figured that something like this was happening? It's really sad what is happening. I truly believed that the program I was running was innovative. Creating volunteerism with a purpose across in Iraq, and through this, linking youth from all over the country to combat major conflict causes. We had brilliant responses - but it didn't burn enough money - go figure! So whilst the rest of the program is a quagmire, the one thing that is actually functioning gets dropped for a mess that is costing 100x's the cost.
I'm hoping that I can end of the program in a way that will not deter the participants from continuing their good work. I hope we didn't do too much harm by cutting a number of our promises. To address this I'm trying to fold them into an Iraqi NGO that we have helped to gain official status. They seem receptive to this, so maybe there is hope. Inshallah.
Monday 2 March 2009
Bad Blogger
I'm a bad blogger, but I promise to get better in the future. I have just been offered a new position to continue working out here, but at the same time, have been told that our funding on our current program is being cut, and that I will probably be the first one out. I guess timing is good - now I don't feel so guilty about leaving the program early, but the situation is sad, as I'm beginning to realise that this may be my last few days in Baghdad for a while.
See my new position is 50% Jordan, 50% Iraq. Which is a great split. Just enough Sushi and Wine, to counter the food poisoning and general sense of insecurity. However, the 50% Iraq likely means 100% Erbil. It's expensive to pay for people to come to Baghdad, particularly if I will no longer be a US Government contractor, and cannot get on those handy-dandy free flights and buses between the IZ and the airport.
Now many of my fellow lefty-liberal, NGO/Think-Tank working friends would likely question my sadness. I am blatantly part of a war-machine whilst I'm down here. I'm fully immersed in the hyper-militarised environment of the IZ, living on a PSD FOB (Private Security Detail, Forward Operating Base) and across from a Military FOB I've gotten use to blackhwaks continuously flying over head, firing ranges flanking my "pod" - aka bungalo of reinforced concrete and sandbags , convoys after convoys of MRAPS (Mine resistant ambush protected) armoured vehicles and humvees, having to wear PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) whenever I leave for the "red zone" (read: anything that is not the IZ or an Army FOB), and eating bad, freeze dried and less than fresh food from the DFAC's (I'm not sure what that acronym is for - but it's where we eat - it's also called a GEM sometimes...) on site. I'll miss getting to see the sights of Baghdad and experiencing a war-effort that is truly sureal and I will (hopefully) never see again in my lifetime. I have been both fully appalled and amazed at the obnoxiousness of the occupation - but while I am the first to complain and want to distance myself from it, I am still glad I got to witness it. It is Weird. It is the only way to describe it. And you cannot understand unless you see and experience it. I digress. What I will miss most is good friends that I have met here. I'm coming to realise that with the restrictions still in place in Baghdad, and the nature of some of their work, it is a possibilty that I may not run into them again in the near future.
But such is the life of an Aid Worker. Flitting from one place to the next. And the more I stay in this work, the more I realize the world gets smaller and smaller.
I shouldn't be too sad, I am moving on to much bigger and better things. Seriously. Much. Bigger. And. Better. Things.
My Iraqi DCOP says that Baghdad needs 5 years, then I will be fine to walk on Abu Nawas street and eat Masgoof and go to a bar... Maybe I will see you in 5 years Baghdad... (Although I kind of hope I'm not in the Middle East by then). For now, Erbil is fine, and Amman is better.
See my new position is 50% Jordan, 50% Iraq. Which is a great split. Just enough Sushi and Wine, to counter the food poisoning and general sense of insecurity. However, the 50% Iraq likely means 100% Erbil. It's expensive to pay for people to come to Baghdad, particularly if I will no longer be a US Government contractor, and cannot get on those handy-dandy free flights and buses between the IZ and the airport.
Now many of my fellow lefty-liberal, NGO/Think-Tank working friends would likely question my sadness. I am blatantly part of a war-machine whilst I'm down here. I'm fully immersed in the hyper-militarised environment of the IZ, living on a PSD FOB (Private Security Detail, Forward Operating Base) and across from a Military FOB I've gotten use to blackhwaks continuously flying over head, firing ranges flanking my "pod" - aka bungalo of reinforced concrete and sandbags , convoys after convoys of MRAPS (Mine resistant ambush protected) armoured vehicles and humvees, having to wear PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) whenever I leave for the "red zone" (read: anything that is not the IZ or an Army FOB), and eating bad, freeze dried and less than fresh food from the DFAC's (I'm not sure what that acronym is for - but it's where we eat - it's also called a GEM sometimes...) on site. I'll miss getting to see the sights of Baghdad and experiencing a war-effort that is truly sureal and I will (hopefully) never see again in my lifetime. I have been both fully appalled and amazed at the obnoxiousness of the occupation - but while I am the first to complain and want to distance myself from it, I am still glad I got to witness it. It is Weird. It is the only way to describe it. And you cannot understand unless you see and experience it. I digress. What I will miss most is good friends that I have met here. I'm coming to realise that with the restrictions still in place in Baghdad, and the nature of some of their work, it is a possibilty that I may not run into them again in the near future.
But such is the life of an Aid Worker. Flitting from one place to the next. And the more I stay in this work, the more I realize the world gets smaller and smaller.
I shouldn't be too sad, I am moving on to much bigger and better things. Seriously. Much. Bigger. And. Better. Things.
My Iraqi DCOP says that Baghdad needs 5 years, then I will be fine to walk on Abu Nawas street and eat Masgoof and go to a bar... Maybe I will see you in 5 years Baghdad... (Although I kind of hope I'm not in the Middle East by then). For now, Erbil is fine, and Amman is better.
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