Baghdad Babble - volume 2

Date: Sat, 23 Aug 2008

Hello all! I've nearly made it through my first week in Baghdad. You'll be happy to know that I'm still able to get a daily latte. In the palace, we have a Green Beans Coffee shop. Much like Starbucks, you can even pay for your purchases using a card that you load money onto. Seeing as this is one of my only expenses, I don't mind spending $3 for a coffee every day. My coffee habit is going to be stronger than ever when I get back to the States.

It's been an interesting week. I'm still getting to know my way around the compound. I work at the palace, which is gigantic, and there are lots of little buildings in the surrounding area. I'm sure I'll get lost many more times in the coming weeks.

As usual, my apartment is a mess. Right now, I'm attributing it to unpacking my UAB (unaccompanied air baggage) as well as the 4 boxes of stuff that I mailed to myself from Virginia. I need to get things organized before I get a roommate. I'd hate to make a bad impression. I'm just hoping that I get some advanced notice before someone moves in. It doesn't have to be a lot of notice. It would just be weird to come home and have someone else already there. But who knows, anything is possible I guess.

In some ways things seem so organized and tightly controlled, but in other ways it seems like things just get made up as we go along. Yesterday and today (Friday and Saturday) were my first weekend here. I was in the office both days, but although the rest of the people in my section seemed quite busy, I was didn't have much to do. Until my boss gets here, it will be hard to know what a "normal" work week will be. I did get a bit of a treat yesterday. I got to go to the Al Rasheed hotel for a little shopping. There is a carpet merchant and 2 ladies with small shops with jewelry and other little things. My colleagues both bought rugs and a some jewelry to give as gifts to people back home. They are leaving in a couple days so this was their last chance to pick up some souvenirs. I have plenty of time left and didn't see anything I absolutely loved, so all I bought was a necklace made primarily from lapis and turquoise beads with one large silver bead. It was cool being in the Al Rashid hotel (or Al Rasheed, depending on what type of transliteration you use to write Arabic in English letters). One of the lessons in my Arabic class used the Al Rasheed hotel as the setting of the dialogue. The Al Rashid hotel is historic for many reasons. If you are interested, you can google it or read more about it on wikipedia.

Aside from this little shopping outing, a clear pattern to my days is emerging: sleep, eat, work, eat, work, eat, sleep. I'm hoping to add working out to the routine this week. There is a step aerobics and self defense class that I'm eager to check out this week. Or maybe I could draw some inspiration from Michael Phelps and try some swimming. There is a lap pool in the fitness center near my apartment, but I'm not sure I want to embarrass myself by trying that. I might need some remedial swimming classes first. I've also seen some fliers with contact info of personal trainers. I'm thinking about hiring someone to help me get a weight training regime set up for myself. Another thing I'm interested in learning more about is the Boy and Girl Scout troops in Baghdad. I saw t-shirts for sale and a short ad in the embassy newsletter asking people to volunteer, but I'm still sketchy on the details. I still have a lot to learn here. I hope you are doing well. Keep me up to date with what's going on with you. I'd love to hear from you.

Take care, Valerie