I went with (HHC 1-327 IN) on a presence patrol of a frequented neighborhood, close to the Bayji oil Refinery, called 600 Homes. We were invited by the External Security Unit (ESU) Commander, CPT Ali to a break-the-fast dinner at his compound. The month of September for Muslims is a holy month celebrating the holiday “Ramadan.” During this month devout Muslims fast from sunrise to sundown to show an increased devotion to Allah. When the sun goes down, however, it is game on, and they really start to feast. When we arrived at the compound we were greeted by CPT Ali and his men and invited into an old hotel that he had confiscated and made into his base camp. The formal Muslim greetings were exchanged “Assalaam Alaikum” (Aws-alawm Aw-lakume) which means "Peace be unto you" and the reply “Wa Alaikum assalaam” (Wah Aw-lakume Aws-alawm) which means "And peace be unto you." It’s also customary to place your right hand over your heart while you greet others as a sign of respect. The only other word I know how to say is “Shukran” (shew-crawn) which means thank you very much. I used that quite a bit tonight. We were first invited into a sitting room, where we waited for dinner to be served. While we were visiting and talking, one of the Iraqi ESU Soldiers came in and said something frantic to CPT Ali. CPT Ali quickly excused himself and rushed outside. Our interpreter told us that his CPT Ali’s Soldiers had found a 5-6 foot cobra that had come into the front yard and was trying get into the house through a crack in the wall. A few minutes later CPT Ali came back into the room and said that it had been taken care of. I found out later that he had gotten a shovel and killed it and thrown it away. I didn’t get a picture of it because it happened so fast, but I thought that the incident was pretty cool anyway. 
Dinner was then served on huge platters at a standing table. I didn't want to be intrusive with my picture taking, so I only got a few shots of the food, and me stuffing my face. Dinner consisted of the following: Unidentified lamb parts, rice, currents, raisins, dates, peanuts, cucumbers, tomatoes, and huge 15 inch round pieces of unleavened bread. The bread was outstanding, but fruit and nuts are not my favorite companions with a savory main course. Of course I graciously stuffed my face so as to not appear rude. It really wasn’t too bad but it definitely was not something I was used to. During the meal CPT Ali noticed that our platters were running low on Lamb meat and so he summoned one of his men to get some more. When the Soldier returned he brought with him two large bowls of Lamb which he proceeded to scoop out with his hands and place in front of each of us. He smiled, plopping large chunks in front of each of us, shaking the lamb drippings from his fingers as he went. There was no way to eat around it so we just smiled back and dug in. Not the most sanitary practice but when in Rome I guess.
After dinner they brought four rounds of Chi tea out to all the guests and we moved back to the sitting room. One of the visiting officers came up to me, measuring my height with his hand, and said in broken English, “You play basketball?” I said “Yes I do.” He said “You must be very good.” I didn’t want to disappoint him in his delusion, so I just smiled and nodded. I think the reason I got attention was the fact that I was the tallest person in the room and was kind of an oddity to them. There are tall Iraqi’s in this country, some of which are taller than me, but in this region I’m still very tall. After a few hours we said our goodbyes and loaded back up in our vehicles and headed back to the patrol base. All and all it was a good evening of public relations and if nothing else a chance to solidify our presence in the area.
It can be difficult to do laundry in the desert. This is one of a few clear days that I could actually hang my laundry out to dry without it turning into mudsicles on my improvised clothes line. The hot desert sun does a great job of drying my clothes usually in about 30 minutes most days. That is of course if our military dog doesn’t eat it, which he loves to do.
Here is a picture of the clothes eater. Don’t be fooled by that sad face or puppy dog eyes, he is a cold blooded killer of clothes. He waits until you hang all your clothes on the line and then when you go inside he sneaks over and rips your clothes down one by one. Then he takes them to his favorite spot in the compound to chew on them. As you might have guessed I have taken to hanging my laundry indoors because this guy can’t be trusted.
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