A Sliver of Gold

I woke this morning to the call to prayer. The wind must have been just right, it was before five am, and loud enough to wake me from a deep slumber. Once I was awake, I decided to make a visit to the female bathroom next door to my CHU. When I went outside I was greeted by the prettiest moon. It has been overcast and raining the last day and a half, but there was a perfect gap in the clouds framing the moon. It was just a sliver, a very petite moon, but in a beautiful shade of gold with a soft glow of white around the edges. It made the early morning wake-up worthwhile. I tucked myself back in bed and eventually fell back to sleep after the call to prayer ended. Sunday morning is our “sleep- in” morning, I was grateful the alarm was not set and there would be no hurry to get up.

I was up a little past eight. After spending some time reading the latest news, I decided to take a short run. I took a loop around the NEC (1.7 miles), just one lap, and then a quick lift at the gym. I did a load of laundry, tidied my CHU, took a leisurely shower, and read a bit before heading to an early lunch. It was a nice, relaxing morning.

This past week was pretty uneventful for me. But it is another week down, and now I am just 6 weeks from returning home for R&R. January has flown by! And speaking of flying, I will do a little travelling this week. It will be nice to get off the Compound. I promise to share all the details next Sunday.

Love,

Krista

p.s. The pictures are compliments of gentleman here that does IT training. They are all taken here in the IZ. I am happy to be able to share them with you.

Watch Out!

Another week down, and officially at my half way point as of today! I suppose it would be a good time to reflect on my first six months in theatre. It has been an experience. I have gone from feeling very unsettled with the start of each new phase to now feeling very rooted at the Embassy. Often I recognize, and am recognized, with a smile as I walk to and fro. It feels nice to be connected in a way, even though it is all very temporary. I have learned to take care of myself in a way that I do not always do at home. I have become a more conscious eater and exerciser and am now confident that I will go home stronger, and healthier despite the inevitable stress of separation. Even though it is outside of work, it sure feels like an achievement in itself. The finish line is going home, and although it is a most desirable end point, I mark my days, weeks and months with small milestones. I don’t want to lose sight of the special moments here, within this experience, by only focusing on my departure date. I have seen others take that path, and I can tell you that they don’t smile much.

With that philosophy in mind, I have also seized most reasonable opportunities for fun. Flag football games (player to spectator), game nights, the occasional movie night, and a new one this week- golfing on the Embassy green. On the way back from lunch on Friday, I noticed they were setting up what looked like a fairway (marked by orange construction cones) with one pin at the end. Speakers for music, a popcorn maker and a few nets for swing practice were set up alongside. Periodic glances out the window clued me in to what seemed like a start of something. It took a few walks around the office trying to recruit someone to join me, for what I wasn’t totally sure, but it looked like sanctioned fun. Jason, from our Personnel Security Detachment, joined me and we headed out. Turns out it was a contest- 5 balls, closest shot to the pin would win. Hmmm, don’t really know how to golf and generally putter out on the 12th hole of putt putt. But it was a beautiful day, and I was out of the office for a bit. Jason gave me some tips, and after about a dozen tries in the practice net, I could almost consistently hit the ball off the tee. That was progress.

We took our place in line, me with a six iron (I think) and watched as about twenty others took their turns. My goal was to hit the ball; a swing and a miss was going to be a little embarrassing. Well, I did hit the ball, all five, and pretty hard too but four hooked left and one puttered early. There were enough seasoned golfers around that the “gallery” was warned each time I struck the ball. I definitely had the potential to take someone out but fortunately did not. It wasn’t pretty, but it was fun, and I have learned that is enough here in Baghdad. It was enough to make my day, and in this case, a unique memory to mark another week down.

Love to all at home,

Krista

Another Week Down

As I sit down to write, I am reflecting on a pretty busy, effective week. With government formation complete, we are reconnecting with our Government of Iraq contacts and forging ahead with our relationship. For me, that means accelerated work on a few projects. My workload will also pick up a bit with my State Department colleague heading out of town shortly to meet his wife for a weeklong vacation. We are fortunate to have a great working relationship and in the past I have been able to provide more robust support to the Embassy in his absence. I am sure it will be the same this trip too.

As was widely reported, we had a visit by Vice President Biden this past week. He met with senior Government of Iraq officials and USF-I leadership but not on the New Embassy Compound. There was a marked increase in activity for a VP visit, and a definite buzz in the air, but no real impact for me. Joan Jett and Kellie Pickler also visited this week, but they were also at nearby Victory Base where the majority of our Baghdad troops are located. This is the norm for morale visits, which makes sense, since they are troop centric. It is ok with me- if pushed to choose, I will gladly take the paved roads, sidewalks and other amenities the NEC offers over a USO visit.

My morale has also been lifted by some regular runs with my Navy LT friend, Candace. We are slow and steady but really happy to have gotten in three runs. I feel like I am making some good progress on my previously announced goals and that is leaving me feeling rather fulfilled this week.

So, as I sign off after an uneventful, but satisfying week, I just want to end by saying thanks for all the support and encouragement!

Love,

Krista

Movie Night

Our week-ends are not traditional week-ends here but Saturday night seemed like a fitting evening for a movie, so I pre-popped some popcorn at work and brought out a large selection of movie candy my Mom sent- all in preparation for a screening of “Inception.” Once my guests were in place, we started the movie. There is not a lot of early plot development in this film; it starts off quick. It is a movie that you (hopefully, me- barely) figure out as it goes along. And although I generally choose lighter cinematic fare- I was committed to enjoying the usual escape from reality that a film typically affords. So there we were, just a few minutes in, when things start blowing up on screen. Simultaneously our duck and cover alarm sounded. There went the escape…it was all too real with the sound and vibration of two rockets impacting within a mere ten seconds or so. There are no injuries to report, but it put a damper on the evening for sure. A rude jolt back to reality, yes, we are in Iraq.

It has been quiet lately, very quiet really, but the familiar alarm and accompanying thud never fail to change the pattern of my heartbeat. With the exception of taking cover- really there is nothing you can do. It will land where it lands. And that makes those few seconds between alarm and impact almost unbearable. I should include, that it does not always land- sometimes you hear the alarm and then nothing… crickets. Perhaps it was a false track or just impacted too far away to hear. In all cases, eventually my heart rate returns to normal and I carry on.

But what is most disturbing to me is the random nature of the attacks. In the past I have generally associated the word “random” with random kindness; something I am happy to be the cause, or recipient of. This random is not kind though. It puts me off balance, and for someone that likes control- that is a pretty uncomfortable feeling. Of course, life everywhere is full of random things, good and bad. Normally I can find the bright side. It is hard to find the bright side of a rocket. Well, after a few moments of thought- one positive might be on the job training for the EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) guys. Still, I am down on rockets.

My coping skills include working out (thank goodness for endorphins), laughing with coworkers (a laugh feels great), and the daily reach back to home. I think all are contributing to keeping me balanced but this place does start to take a toll. I am very excited to have my R&R in sight and that is what I am choosing to focus on.

As for the next movie night- it will probably be a chick flick!

Love,

Krista

Happy New Year!

As one who has always prized sleep over social engagements, it probably comes as no surprise that I rang in the New Year tucked away in my CHU. I enjoyed a quiet New Year’s Day too. My boss encouraged us to take the day off, and I embraced the opportunity. I slept in and then spent the day reading, tidying, watching a little TV and a movie before bed. It was a very self-indulgent day.

Part of my reading included past blog posts and I now realize there are a few things that I should update you on. One of the big ones is that I no longer have a roommate, she actually moved out just before Thanksgiving. As the USF-I drawdown continues, there is some reshuffling going on. For my directorate (J9) that included a little reorganization that sent my roommate to nearby Victory Base. It appears that I am senior enough to hold on to my solo status- a luxury I am excited about. So I have rearranged my room where, with imagination, one might consider it an Embassy Suites-like CHU. I have a seating area in the front with mini-fridge and TV and a sleeping area in the rear with my desk. I have been fortunate to acquire two low slung chairs (thanks SFC Llamas) and have the other bed fashioned as a couch. But the fanciest part of my room is a new flat screen TV, sent with complimentary shipping by Best Buy. Attracted to some great holiday offers, I sheepishly mentioned the idea to Adam and he kindly gave it a hearty endorsement. I was previously watching things on my laptop so this is quite an upgrade! My room is still a tin can but it is definitely my retreat.

The weather is cold now- nothing compared to home but chilly enough that I am rarely without my fleece. In the morning my floor is freezing so I try to slip on my crocs before stepping off my carpet. And now I throw on a super fuzzy, floor length robe that Adam and the kids sent for Christmas. It makes trips to the bathroom much more comfortable! But the heat will return in the late spring, and by the time I leave Iraq the robe will have been long tucked away. For now though- I am so happy to wrap myself up!

So with those little updates done, I will tell you that I am excited to be in 2011. My holiday “week-end” culminated this morning with a New Year’s brunch at the “home” of Karen and her husband Eric, two State Department colleagues. Their State Department supplied apartment includes a mini kitchen and man do they get the most out of it! They are striving for normalcy here by cooking their own meals as much as possible. Somehow they managed to gather the ingredients to prepare a frittata, waffles, bacon, handmade rolls and then the most lovely apple tart (from scratch, crust too). I know I am in Baghdad, and a little deprived of non-institutional food, but I have perused and sampled many Parisian’ patisseries and their apple tart surpassed any tarte tatin I have ever had. Now, I will say, they did comment that if they shared the amount of butter that went into preparing said apple tart, it might take away from the dining experience, but regardless- boy was it amazing. Karen and Eric are amazing!

So here I am with just a couple weeks over 6 months to go in my mobilization and only 10 weeks before heading home for R&R. With Adam flying, the kids joined the Day Family for a special, overdue redbox (No. FIVE) holiday-break outing that included Steak & Shake and a trip to the movie theatre to see Secretariat. Between basketball (Willis, Manny, Noah, Ross), swim team (Mimi), Science Olympiad (Noah), gymnastics (Amelia), piano (Amelia & Manny) and guitar (Noah) it has been a big challenge to get the kids all together but somehow Amy made it happen!

Hoping you all wrapped up 2010 and welcomed 2011 with family or friends. One thing I know I will take away from this experience, is to treasure time with those I love.

Love,

Krista