Iraq

on my flight last week, the Atlanta to Syracuse leg, I was among the minority. civilian that is, as the majority of the people on the plane were servicemen returning home from a 9mth tour in Iraq. I was lucky enough to sit next to Staff Sergeant Garcia. He was a really nice guy and so interesting. I learned more about Iraq and the Arabic culture in those 2 hours than I did in all of highschool history. Count your blessings women that you don't live over there, what a terrible way to live. Men, on the other hand, would probably pay to be an Iraqi as polygamy is still largely practiced!!
Aside from learning about Iraq he also answered my zillion questions about military life over there. Its really not too much like I imagined. He described their "camp"(living quarters) as a mini-palace(it was once an Iraqi train station that they overtook apparently) He said they had a swimming pool, full gym, and fast food chains like Pizza Hut and KFC. He also said everyone has a webcam and daily access to the Internet which is great. On a more serious note he kept reminding me that they were making progress over there and that the Iraqi gov't and people were finally beginning to trust the American military. In his job he deals with Iraqi leaders a lot and said that it was difficult as their culture is so different than ours, much slower paced and beauracratic . I guess most of their military meetings take place on the floor over tea, funny! Unfortunately as I told him we here in the states never hear or see anything about Iraq unless its in regards to a suicide bombing or military deaths. Apparently there are many improvements going on behind the scenes, the building of schools and improving relations with the Iraqi people. Even weekly soccer games between the US Army and the local Iraqis.
The group of men and women on my plane were on leave for just 18 days. Then back to Iraq til December. The guy I sat next to had a wife, 9 yr old daughter and 4 yr old boy, I can't imagine seeing your kids once a year for 18 days!
He wanted to show me pictures of Iraq,the people,the poverty, and "their Army palace" but his computer was checked so he promised to email me some. If he does I'll post them, I'm sure they'll be eye-opening.