I just got back from Bucca a few days ago. It's a prison camp and that about says it all. I thought Tallil was hot but Bucca was damn hot. Routinely it was 115 - 118 in the shade and with the sun glaring down on you it was hotter (130 -135 or so) still. Bucca is also at the edge of the Persian Gulf so it can be dang humid as well depending on which way the wind blows.

When it's that dern hot you unconsciously do things to avoid the heat like put your hands in your pockets.

Anyway, I also recently got a 'care package' (thank you VERY much Ken.) Inside were some good stuff like Blue Diamond smoked almonds (the best!), beef jerkey, gummy bears and some lifting straps (which I REALLY needed - Thanks again Ken) and Chocolate! Well, chocolate and Iraqi summer heat simply do NOT mix. Instead of getting a bag of chocolate I got a bag of gooyey, drippy, oily chocolatly stuff. Now I immediately put it in the fridge to salvage what I could but chocolate contains a lot of chocolate oil that makes chocolate 'good'! Without the oil mixed in, chocolate is a dry, bland substance. Eh, it's the thougth that counts. I REALLY needed the lifting straps.