This is the second week of Ramadan-a-ding-dong. So far so good. This map is uh, sorta funny. I'm a little north of 'Wha-Tafuk-Wazi-Tinkin.'



R/Chris

It's finally getting cooler here in southern Iraq and cool enough to run at noon. This is the most convenient time to run and and if it's not too hot, I try to get out there. Unfortunately it's still over 100 and can be exhausting just to run a few miles. It supposed to be good for you so I do it. Oddly enough Iraq has been very good (heathwise.) I have no allergy problems here and haven't been sick once. So maybe there ARE some good theraputic benefits to the depleted U238 dust in the air here! And no, there aren't too many other people out there running around noon.

Scorpions and snakes abound here. Below are a few pics of some 'locals' that have been caught and are kept for educational purposes. Generally the bugs leave each other alone (until they become hungry.) And 'generally' it's not the big knarly scorpions you need to worry about as the smaller ones typically have a deadlier sting. Since it's cooled down you also notice a lot more geckos running around everywhere here. Bigger bugs will soon follow and then we'll see more snakes and small mamals. In a few months there'll be a lot more jackel sightings as well. If you see one jackel, generally you don't need to be worried, but 20 jackels will form a 'pack' and attack. Supposidely there are hyneas here in southern Iraq as well but I've never seen any.

There's a lot of work that goes on at night here. Since this is Ramadan-a-ding-dong there's been an emphasis to get the bunkers built and sand bags placed (since we'll probably be using them alot more often.) Strictly speaking, there is no sand here at Tallil. This area was historically marshlands until 92 when Sadam initiated one of the greatest ecological disasters in history. He did this by draining the marshes of southern Iraq. By doing so, thousands of square miles or verdant marshland turned to dust. So there is no sand here but only a fine powdery dust. Here are a few pic of the sand bag mission. I think this was also scheduled at night since it was cooler.




The workers are either Pakistani or Indian. The 'regular' hours are 6 to 6 (12 hours) but they'll always jump at the chance to work more. While their pay isn't great, it's much more than what they'd make in Pakistan or India.





One of the Labor foremen just started talking to me one day or should I say he started giving me a hard time but in a friendly way. I sorta found this odd since I don't have much to do with Labor and so it can be tough to 'break into that crowd' for an outsider (one who doesn't get his hands dirty, so to speak.) Long story short, he's been very kind to me and I appreciate the rapport that has developed. When I was taking these pics he started giving me a hard time about whether or not I have permission to take pics on a military base (I do) but I just grabbed him around the neck and told him to shut up and smile for the camera (and he did.) Here's the pic.