Baghdad Update
There is a neighborhood in Baghdad that belonged to members of the former regime which contains a canal like system. I call it Little Venice for obvious reasons. The houses are grand in Baghdad standards (not Hollywood standards). It has a cute little canal system with bridges surrounding the homes. I had snuck into the neighborhood once before, but this time my partner in crime found a boat. We rowed the boat. Well he rowed and when my turn came I struggled. Who would have thought I would get my first rowing lesson in Baghdad!
Pictures can be found at:
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I am sad about the new "Higher Media Commission". If free speech is threatened in Iraq, I fear that I will lose hope for the new Iraq. I realize Al-Jazeera pisses lotsa people off! But why fear "the other point of view" (Al-Jazeera's slogan). They aren't going away. The focus should be on Iraq becoming a better place.
I'll be in chitown on the 10th through 15th. I really hope to see you all then.
As you know being a translator around here is quite dirty. When a local asks me if I'm a translator I get very offended. They acknowledge after my reaction that a translator is another way of saying "slut" / "ho". One guy even went the extra mile to justify his impression on translators by telling me about 2 local girls that have sex with the folks out here for money. Since 2 girls are allegedly prostituting themselves, all local girls must be ... ? Well, I have to admit, I have been involved in 2 translation projects. Not the prostitution kind. I didn't get paid for either one. The first was kewl 'cos I got a chopper ride out of it. I got to go to a site of a former nuclear reactor and translate. It was quite a sight to see. The chopper ride was breathtaking. Seeing the palm trees that cover the landscape of this country was beautiful. The nuclear reactor site was interesting and devastated. I have pictures from the chopper ride. The link to pictures can be found below. The second translation gig was informal. I got some folks to let me watch the entire Saddam trial in exchange for an informal verbal translation. The experience was a great reminder in how insane and intimidating Saddam can be and how dangerous he could be if he had power. Most Iraqis are against the trial wishing that he would die without a trial just like a lot of innocent Iraqis. It's true that the trial justifies the US "liberation" / "invasion" of Iraq, but I do believe that it's necessary to document Saddam's crimes as painful as that experience may be for the Iraqi people. By documenting and not forgetting this sad time in history we can prevent it from being forgotten and hopefully that will prevent it from being repeated. In between the 2 translation experiences, I got to tour the Saddam bunker where he could have hid if he wanted to. He could have also run the country from it. A large opulent palace was built above it as a facade really. It did not serve much of a purpose other than hiding the bunker. There are 3 stories of rubble between the palace and the 3 story bunker in order to help hide the bunker underneath. The bunker remains intact even though the palace above is in ruins. Some pictures are available in the link below.
My trip to chitown has been postponed until the end of the summer. I'll let you know when I will be in town. Miss you lots.
http://f2.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/suha_y/album?.dir=/c0bf&.src=ph&store=&prodid=&.done=http%3a//f2.pg.photos.yahoo.com/suha_y
Sorry for being MIA. I have not written due to a few reasons: 1) I had a pending secret mission 2) uncertainty of transition 3) met people who not only are here but actually get to make important decisions that affect millions of people - my life seems insignificant to write about 4) other reasons - :-)
