The Perks and Pitfalls of Working for the Red Cross in Iraq

8 AUG 08
Today, for the first time on Speicher, I was deliberately saluted when there was full knowledge of the fact that I am not someone it is necessary to salute (every so often we get the "I'm not sure what rank you are, but you're shiny, so I'll half salute until I realize that you're Red Cross" salute). I don't know about anyone else, but a voluntary salute is just a big huge, "I respect you; thank you for what you do to support us". It's a warm and fuzzy feeling to know that we really do make a difference for the good of service members. It kind of makes me wonder: did we help you or someone you know, or is it simply the knowledge of what we do that earns your respect? We may not be out there physically fighting the war, but by golly, we'll try to support you in whatever way we can so you can go fight that war.

On the other hand, the reason I was even by those particular servicemen was because there's going to be a power outage in our building Saturday and we're not sure if we're hooked up to the emergency generator, so we may have to go to a different building in order to be able to do our work at all. Sigh. The good definitely outweighs the bad, though.

My bike is also now in working order (thank you, Dave). I've had a good little time trekking over the gravel and pot-holed roads trying to break myself in to bike riding again. We (the bike and I) have only been fully operational for the past two days, so we're slowsly and surely getting used to each other. I'm confident that in no time at all we'll be racing all over base (or at least that parts onto which we're allowed, haha).

9 AUG 08
Ah, just another day of good Red Cross vibes. Today we got a call from a young soldier who was in Kuwait trying to get home to take care of his kids. Somehow he traveled the whole way from northern Iraq to Kuwait and manifested on a flight to the States without a very vital part of leaving theatre: his release from theatre orders. So, what does someone with no unit phone numbers who is supposed to be a role call in a couple hours do? Why, call the Red Cross, of course. Basically, he couldn't call his unit, even when we got the phone number for him, and no one (not us or his unit) could call him (crazy Kuwait phones). We had his brigade on one phone and him on the other while we arranged for all his paperwork to be emailed to him. He was incredibly grateful; there was an audible sigh of relief from the other end of the phone.

18 AUG 08
The other morning, for whatever reason, I was extremely motivated to clean my room. Those of you who know me know that when the mood strikes, it's practically a blow...but it doesn't strike often. I spent around 4-5 hours cleaning my room (which is not very big) - literally from top to bottom. I was completely unaware that dust could collect thickly on a wall. To me, dust falls and sticks to horizontal surfaces and floors etc. No, no, ladies and gents - not in Iraq! Not only does it do that, but it also congregates on the walls as well. My sponge and I attacked with fervor until my room was as close to spotless as Iraq deems possible. I took the well-intentioned advice of a friend who said to pour water on the OUTSIDE of our air conditioning unit a little too far. I poured water on the outside unit AND the inside unit. All I can claim is sleep deprivation or stupidity.

Around 1100 hours (well past my bedtime, might I note), right when Iraq is starting into the 110s or 120s, I tried to turn my AC on. No luck. Our air conditioners are such that you must operate them with a remote control. If something happens to the remote or it's lost, you're stuck with your current setting indefinitely.My remote worked; however, I could get my AC to do nothing. It wouldn't beep (its usual groan of operation), it wouldn't move - nothing. I decided that I would attempt to bear the heat and get some sleep (with my only other option being to ride my bike or walk a mile up the road - in the direct sunlight - to put in a work order to maybe get it fixed that day, maybe not). After all, I don't have AC in the States. Yeah, right. That worked pretty well (with the accompaniment of a small fan and a squirt bottle) for a couple of hours. About 1330 I woke up and could not go back to sleep for the life of me (the fan and bottle trick no longer
worked). Finally, I decided to check out the breaker box in the common area, an idea I had formerly shunned because I figured opening my door would let in more heat. I flipped the breaker. The glorious chime of the AC unit coming to life was my instantaneous and fleeting reward.

While the unit had turned on, there was a flashing green light: a sign of some internal mechanical protest. The remote refused to communicate with the unit despite my initially gentle prodding. I tried resetting the remote. I tried pushing all the buttons. I tried pushing them all with a little more fervor, and finally, I will admit, I pounded them pretty hard. Alas, t'was to no avail. With no other hope (and no toolbox), I pulled out my knife determined to MAKE the unit listen to me. In true Godfather style, I gave it an offer it couldn't refuse. (Ok, in honesty, I pulled the cover off and found a reset button which turned it on - but doesn't the Godfather sound better?) For some reason the remote still didn't work, but I was NOT complaining. Miraculously, when I woke up that night, the remote also worked.

A couple of helicopters just flew overhead shaking the whole CHU, a much less frequent occasion than that to which I was accustomed in Baghdad, I must say.