Pictures

Some pictures in Iraq

Me sitting in a busted up broken down Mig

lift with your legs!!!!

Doing a preflight in the 208

Citadel of Erbil, the oldest town in the world

Soccer Balls

Soccerballs are like gold over here. My cousin Leigh sent me a football and a soccerball in a kickass care package. I don't see kids here on base... but all of my students and the instructors go home on "mujas" (vaccation) and they take gifts home to their kids. So I gave the soccerball to one of my students who is actually from Kirkuk to give to his little brother. It was a HUGE hit! Col Ayash, an IP in the SQ, said that his little boy would LOVE a soccerball. Then another IP, whose name is Saddam Hussein by the way, told me that he has a daughter exactly like me, pretty (he actually said that) and that she too would love a soccerball. (good ploy Saddam.) It's so strange how something that we as Americans take for granted is treated like gold over here. So if you're looking to send something to Iraq, soccerballs are the way to go!

Bulls-Eye

Here's a quick funny story. Tessa likes to watch Toy Story and in one of the movies, Woody (the main cowboy toy) has a horse named Bullseye. This horse;s character is like that of a big, goofy, puppy. He'll wag his tail in excitement and lick, just like a dog. One of Kirsten's three rescue dogs, Simon, only has one eye. Tessa has started calling him Bulls-Eye. I think it's just a funny coincidence that she calls the one dog that only has one eye, Bulls-Eye. GOOBER.

Different Culture

I obviously knew coming here that this would be an entirely different culture. As most of you know, I love different cultures and ethnic foods and what not, but some things I dont think I'll ever quite grasp. Not uncommon in most of europe and apparently VERY common here is smoking. Although I respect their decision to smoke and that it may be part of their culture, I don't fully grasp the lure behind smoking. Which brings me to my point. I was driving over to a chili cook off (run by the Americans) when I passed an Iraqi running. My first thought was "huh, eventhough they play alot of soccer, they still like to run to keep in shape. Good on you buddy!!" Then, as I looked in my rearview mirrow one last time I laughed out loud at what I saw. The kid was literally smoking a cigarette and running at the same time. Now THAT is dedication!!! And partcially coordination to run like that!

Anyhow, here are two pictures of the Chili Cook Off. With the help of some local Iraqi's and a couple of lambs we had some pretty awesome chili!

My very first update!!!

So.... I know you've been asking yourself... "why is Kirsten so lame and not updating her blog?" Well, if you see the picture below you'll see why. Sarah literally had to set it all up for me because my internet browser defaults to arabic with no english hyperlinks. Yay Sarah!

Life in Iraq is actually not bad at all. Oddly enough I don't really miss anything about my life in Texas other than my dogs! And the sad part about that is that they LOVE it in Atlanta. They are living it up at Omi and Opa's and get treats for literally everything. They also get to go to the cabin and have the run of the mountains. They aren't missing Texas either, that I can promise you.