In the Bagh'

My new friend - Sandbag. Could have been named "Hairbag" but I thought Sandbag was slightly kinder.

I am greeted most every mornings by Sandbag. I don't feed her/him/it but somebody must be. Yesterday, Sandbag was lying on a piece of paper that had fallen off the CHU door - all of 24" from this spot. I guess the paper was cleaner so less cleansing required later and a smaller resulting hairball.

I went to an Iftar dinner tonight at one of Saddam's old guest houses. Iftar is the meal that Muslims break the fast every day during Ramadan. It was a very fancy deal for our highly placed friends within the Government of Iraq, put on by the military and State department staffs - hosted by LTG Hunzeker (Deputy Commanding General of MNF-I).

This is a picture of the speakers podium, with a very elaborate sword and the two national flags.

Unfortunately the RSVP system must have gone very badly in translation and there were twice as many people as there were seats. We quietly snuck out the back and two of my Muslim friends (CPT Imran Waseem, US Army and my bilingual/bi cultural advisor - Kevin) took us out to eat at a local restaurant. The food was more expensive than I expected but was very good - very similar to Mediterranean style dishes - kibabs, hummus, flatbread.

More pictures of the newly remodelled CHU tomorrow night!!

Grace & peace.