I have been back in Iraq for a little over three weeks but I feel like I have been here the whole time. My time at home was surreal and now my time here is surreal but in a negative kind of way. I am well aware that my attitude has dramatically changed and although I do my best to look at everything through rose color glasses—as other people seem to do—I cannot bring myself to the idea of being such a conformist.
As I stated in one of my previous posts, I have changed my strategy with the Iraqis from providing everything to them to encouraging them to use their systems by not giving them everything they ask for right away. I am tired of watching how we are handicapping this culture and I do not want to be part of that tragedy—even if they look at me as the mean one that did not get them the cool American things.
Not much has changed with them; they still cannot get one story straight, their plans never follow through and they are still expecting to get everything they need from the Americans. As for us, not much has changed either. We still cannot establish good communication within our group and we are still not focusing on what we should focus on. Although it is utterly irritating to me, I cannot do anything about it since my position in the group is that of a ghost.
It snowed here, yes! It snows in Iraq but it is not nearly as beautiful as it is in the States. There is nothing that can camouflage the trash, and the fruitless land we are living in. It has been very cold and we lose power daily and without notice. It can be funny and/or frustrating at times, depending where you are when the power goes out, i.e. your room, the shower or the toilet… :). Our water heaters broke because of the power surge and so there is no hot water—when there is water. The water has been shut down for over a week now and we can get a drop or two of cold water maybe once a day if we monitor the faucets.
We are taking showers with bottles of water that we heat up in the microwave—when there is electricity. We are also using the bottled water to flush the toilets and soon to wash our clothes. It is a real nuisance but I cannot do anything about it and apparently, nobody else can. We finally received some kiwis and oranges today, which makes me happy. I am playing a cheap psychological game on myself to keep my sanity through it all; I have started packing and sending boxes home. It is nice to see my stuff gone and it gives me something to look forward to every week. I may have my life in the dark right now but I am working to find the light even if it is through mind games. 
At the home front, Kabral won fourth place in the wrestling tournament and has continued with his academic excellence. The child is a star…the brightest thirteen—soon to be fourteen—year old star in the world. Sammo lost his front two teeth as soon as he returned from Puerto Rico. We tried, unsuccessfully, to pull them out while we were together in PR but it did not work out. It does break my heart that I missed yet another precious moment in his life but I have faith that I will be able to make it up to him. I did get to listen to him on the web cam though, I heard how funny, and cute he speaks without his front two teeth. Vance is going to the toilet now more regularly than before. He continues to amaze us with his incredible memory and his loving nature. I miss them all and I cannot wait to be home to witness their stroll through life.
I have been following the primaries and I have to say that I am extremely excited about this election year. People seem to be involved and motivated to make a “change” (get it?) in our current situation. I hope that people feel the importance of voting, how it can turn our Country into another direction or let it continue its course. The only thing that I ask from those who read this blog is that you actually study and analyze the options given to us and vote for the person that addresses the issues at hand and has the best solution for it, overall. I ask that you look at the big picture—i.e. economy, the war, health care, trade, taxes (including who the tax cut will benefit)—instead of focusing in one issue especially if they involve private matters. That is all I ask…
