I wasn't in the U.N.Building at the time, obviously, as the
Delegation from the respectable Kingdom of Mike Williams wasnt required there
today, so that was pretty lucky timing on my part. Whew! Im not gonna lie
though, things can be pretty hairy around here sometimes. On our second night
here, there was some gunfire down the street, and our friendly Iraqi guards
went out to check it out. (Did I mention that I live in a house that is guarded
by the sons of a very rich Iraqi mobster, who is also the owner of the
house?) A minute later there was some
AK-47 action right outside our door, and I then realized that I had left
something really important under my bed, and went quickly to go find it. We
heard some shells dropping right within our courtyard, then silence. When I
heard someone walking through the courtyard, I realized that the very important
thing that I was looking for was in fact in the bathroom; unfortunately I had
somehow gotten stuck under my bed and could not retrieve it. The person walking
through the courtyard turned out to be our guard, laughing, and I then found
that I wasnt so stuck after all. It seems that all that had happened was that
the Iraq soccer team had won an important match, and people were celebrating by shooting
their guns off into the air, and when our guard heard this he went outside to
join in the celebration. I never did
find that really important thing that I was looking for, whatever it was. And
last night, on our way home from work, we kind of got lost and then decided to
do some sight seeing. We hadnt finished by the time it got dark, and as I
understand it, its a really bad idea to go sightseeing after the sun goes down
because, well, I guess because its dark and you cant see stuff. Its
apparently also generally considered a bad idea to sightsee during the day, but
I havent quite figured out the logic behind that one yet. At any rate, we
eventually found our way home, and everything turned out alright. Well, except
for this whole bombing thing, of course. Dont worry, though, thats like,
really far from where I live; you have to cross the Tigris River to get there from here, and that
thing is wide.
Work is going okay I
am indeed in charge of a gaggle of Iraqi housekeepers, and I think that one of
them may even be sweet on me. They are really really great people, and assure
me that most Iraqis feel that the U.S. invasion, er, rescue mission, is something to be grateful for. They do seem
very happy that we are here. One of them invited me to her brothers wedding
this Sunday, and seemed very disappointed when I told her that I would love to
go, except that I would hate to ruin the wedding by getting shot or something
on the way. My housekeepers names are Nadim, Saad, Steven, Hanan, another
Hanan, Rena, Armad, and Kristen. They are all Christians, not Muslims, although
we have hired a few Muslims who work in other areas of the hotel, which is
actually in one of Saddams palaces.
And the news is
certainly correct about Saddams love of Palaces; He had a million of 'em. The
other day we toured Saddams secret palace compound, which consists of a lake
surrounded by 64 palaces ranging in size from large villas to monstrosities
bordering on the Germanic. Its secret because until after the war, no Iraqi
civilians, except for Saddams buddies, were allowed to see it, and most didnt
even know it existed. And this is only one area he had the things all over the
place. There is also some work being done in another area where Udays (One of
Saddams sons) palace is, and it seems like we drive by palaces every day that
we havent seen before. And they are all beautiful. The ones that arent bombed
to hell, that is. I still havent even gotten close to the main presidential
palace, yet, but you can see it from miles away. Its HUGE. Im afraid that
most of the pictures I am taking here wont be very satisfying, only because
most of them have to be taken from inside our car at high speed. Walking around
at a leisurely pace in your Hawaiian T-shirt and white socks doesnt seem to be
a trend that has caught on here, as of yet. (Sorry, Greg.)
At any rate, thats
all I can think of for now, but its been such an action packed week that Im
sure Ive left a lot out, though I think Ive given you the gist of it. The
daily grind stuff that usually isnt that interesting consists of tanks driving
down the street at any given hour, going through military checkpoints with lots
of really big guns pointed at you, weird looks from the locals because all of a
sudden I'm the minority, and cleaning
windows and scrubbing floors. Well, having my Iraqis cleaning windows and
scrubbing floors, anyway. Did I mention that we scrub floors in a palace? A
very nice one, too.
Well, until next
time!
Much love,
Mike
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