I landed in Baghdad today at about 5 p.m. local time (that's 9 a.m. for you East Coasters). The landing, which I have told many of you about, was a bit harrowing. To avoid anti-aircraft fire, the pilot guides the plane in a very tight spiral for the final 8,000 feet. It made me somewhat dizzy, but lunch stayed in my stomach (which you may know is an impressive accomplishment for me!). After I got off the plan, a taxi driver met me at the airport. He took me a few miles out to a parking lot behind a military checkpoint, where I got in an armored vehicle being trailed by a regular vehicle. We got to our residence around 7 p.m., where I met more people than my sleepy brain can remember names of. Since then, I've been hanging out, chatting with our female translator and a driver who decided my name was "veeeeeeery pretty!" I have my own bedroom, which is twice the size of mine in D.C. and is well air-conditioned, so life is good.
I feel like I haven't seen enough of Iraq to describe yet, but I have a few initial impressions. The first is that there are so many guns here. Police and military officials obviously use weapons, but there were also several ordinary citizens wandering around with AKs. Concealed, revealed, it doesn't really matter.
I was told to avoid eye contact with people, especially men, as we drove to the residence, out of modesty. A "good Iraqi woman" would not look a man directly in the eye. It's a difficult thing to avoid, especially when the sight of people riding in the back of pickup trucks is common, since they're at eye level. The result is a weird form of reverse tunnel vision--you can see everything except what's in front of your nose. I don't like being a good Iraqi woman.
Okay, that's enough rambling for the moment--it's 1 a.m. and I think I'll go to bed. Future posts will be a bit more thematic and less train-of-thought, I promise.
2 comments:
well, the travel prayers have been answered... now moving into the continued safety prayers.
i think it would be really fascinating to hear more about the differences in custom that you encounter here in your blog. back when i was in seminary with your mom, and leading the youth group (and when i was supposed to teach you to drive, which never happened and now i think that you are out there in the world hitchhiking everywhere you go... oh, anyway) i went to panama with michael dresbach and others, and i was the one who kept putting my culturally insensitive foot in my mouth. or the time i went to japan and would pour sake for others at the table (including the women), and was told that men do not pour for women.
then there is the fact that i think it's really weird to not make eye contact with people you encounter (must be a southern thing). i'm guessing that your cultural discoveries might not be part of your beat, so i'd love to read more about them here. and i'm so glad that here exists... i can't wait to read more.
peace to you,
sean
Somehow that weird, brief, echo-y phone call from Baghdad was the best part of my day! Glad you landed with stomach intact.
GG-Mom
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