Baghdad Babble - volume 3

Date: 09/05/2008

Marhaba! Ramadan Kameer.

It's been an eventful week. Ramadan started this week. One of the main components of Ramadan is the fasting from sunrise for sunset. For more information on Ramadan, I will refer you elsewhere.

In training, I learned about this most important Muslim religious holiday and I was prepared not to eat at my desk and to be mindful of the local customs. However, despite my readiness and best intentions, I haven't have to alter my behavior. There are no local employees in my office (or on my entire floor for that manner). I'm just happy when we have to have light bulbs changed or some other work done in the office so that some local employees come in and I can attempt to speak some Arabic. So unless we have any office repairs, the constant eating in the office continues.

My desk is home to one of the most popular places in the office, the candy dish. I don't even fill this dish, it just magically gets filled by others. It's a nice fixture in the office, but doesn't do much for my productivity (or my waistline). Ramadan is interesting, for one thing it's hard to directly compare to other Christian holidays. Some people compare it to Lent, due to the aspect of sacrifice and increased religious practice throughout the month. Since I'm not particularly religious, I see direct comparison in a more secular/commercial realm. Ramadan is also accompanied by lots of good stuff on TV. I've been seeing lots of commercials advertising all the hottest movies during the month of Ramadan. I guess, just like we in the U.S. like to gather around the tv after a big feast, it's a popular way to pass the evening here too. After a big Iftar meal, you can kick back and watch Ice Age or other family friendly blockbusters on tv.

My TV situation has improved dramatically. I have double the channels that I had when I first arrived. I have a variety of regional tv shows, news, movies, an MTV equivalent. These cable channels have most of their programming in English with Arabic subtitles and most of the commercials are in Arabic. I also have some news channels in Arabic. Maybe I will buckle down to watch some news in Arabic and try to improve my language skills. I also have about 8 AFN (Armed Forces Network) channels. AFN broadcasts a variety of the most popular shows from network tv from the United States. There are no commercials in the traditional sense, just tons of PSAs - lots of messages about doing your duty and voting from overseas.

The big news of the week is that my boss arrived. He seems like a really nice guy. He has offered to make some calls or send my emails to help me find my onward assignment and he's only known me for a week. He's trying to get the office to stop working on the weekend; but so far hasn't had much success. I think he's finding out that even if we don't want to work on the weekend, there's no stopping the military from working and if we aren't there, we can't work together successfully. So for the foreseeable future, the long workweeks will continue. That's ok though, there's not much else to do, so the long hours make the weeks fly by.

My first R&R is rapidly approaching. I'll be back in DC for a conference Oct. 1-3 and will be staying in the area for some rest and relaxation following that. I'm looking forward to catching up with friends in the DC area again. I hope things are going well in your neck of the woods.

Tale care, Valerie