Everybody wants to get photographed! :-)

Some boys that want to take me on in soccer!

A proud father!

Hey folks. Sorry for taking so long to write. A lot has happened since I last wrote - of course it is all good. I am now living on a very nice base with all the amenities that you would expect from a military base - gym, three hot meals a day, plenty of air conditioning, etc. My roommate is very easy to live with which makes the time go by fast. This picture was taken when we went out into the city and met some Kurdish families that were returning to their city. A little history is in order - several years ago Saddam Hussein ordered many Kurds to leave their native cities and forced many Arabs to populate those areas that had traditionally been Kurdish...I guess he wanted to break up a potential political coup or something like that...anyway in my part of Iraq there are many, many folks that are now returning to lands and cities where they once lived. The guy center stage of this photograph is one of my favorite interpreters...I call him "Big Glasses". I wrote about him in an earlier blog. He is great to work with and speaks several languages! As I work with him and others in trying to assess living conditions and people's needs one thing is universal - humor. The other day I was visiting a primary school and was interviewing the principal, a middle-aged lady. Anyway, when I asked her if she minded if we take her photograph I also asked her what her favorite side was - left or right...with a smile. They all laughed in the room.