Photos from the Red Sea

So the diving outfit that I went scuba diving with in the Red Sea had a photographer go with us and I got these photos from him. They are beautiful, but can't really do justice to the amount of incredible coral and fish life there. Enjoy!

Diving in the Red Sea

Hello Family and Friends,

How are you? I'm doing well. As I mentioned before, June was so busy with so much work. July started to calm down a little. There was still a lot of work, but I hired two staff to help me with it and they are both excellent. We laugh and we all work hard. They are really great and we are doing good work together. We currently have 13 projects up and running, some of which have been completed. We are really happy with it.

One of the communities we work in had trash everywhere, literally. It had no green spaces, no place for children to play, not even at school and very little access to clean water. We have focused a lot on this particular community and we have several projects there. We are providing playground equipment at the schools, providing water to the homes, building a park for the community, installing water pumps in the homes of over 300 widows and doing a clean up campaign to get rid of all the trash currently there and make sure it stays gone. I'm proud of the work we are doing there and hope that the long-term implications of this work will be positive. The families are very excited about having a place for their children to play. The schools are so excited about the work that we are doing with them. I am excited about the clean up project and working with the widows. We are also building a soccer park for the youth to have something to do. Now, they hang out together in the streets to chat and do whatever because they have no real distractions, but the soccer park will get a LOT of use. I am very excited to fast forward a few months to begin seeing the impact of all these projects on this community.

We had a visit from one of the VPs from headquarters and I got to go with him to this community and talk to him about the projects we are doing there and the community in general. It was pretty cool because I love talking about our projects, as you can see by the length of this blog. It was nice to be able to show off the difference being made in the community and the immediate impact some of the projects are having on community members. We are building community trash containers so that there is a place to put the trash, so that it doesn't collect in the streets anymore and as we drove through town, you could see the containers, could see people using them and could see the workers hauling away the trash. We drove through part of town that had already been cleaned and another that hadn't yet been cleaned and could really see the difference then.

Well, as most of you know, there was a series of bombings in Baghdad this month. I was in the office when the bombings happened. There were reports that it was a series of 13 bombs that exploded over a half an hour period. Two of the largest bombs targeted two government ministries. We were sitting in the office having a discussion when we heard one of the bombs. It rattled the front door. We didn't really move, just remarked that it must have been somewhat close if we were actually able to hear it. Less than 1 minute later we heard another explosion which rattled the windows and doors and startled everyone in the office. Several people went out onto the front lawn where a large white cloud of dust could be seen rising into the sky. There is speculation that terrorists are responsible, that it was politically motivated leading up to elections, that it was a sectarian attack, etc. Some of our staff was out and about, but our staff was totally fine and luckily not in the vicinity of any of the explosions. We sent them home early to be with their families. Often times when there are incidents or celebrations the government closes the roads without any announcements, so we wanted to make sure they were able to get home too. I worry about them a lot. We are pretty secure in that we limit our movement, etc., but our staff is out and about everyday living their lives, so they have a much higher risk. Plus, the attacks are usually aimed at Iraqis and are pretty rarely targeted at foreign civilians.

Shortly after the bombings, I left Baghdad for my second R&R. A good time to be able to relax. I wanted to make sure that I went someplace much closer, so that I could relax and not spend a lot of time in transit and not be all jet-lagged. : ) So I went to the Sinai peninsula in Egypt. I got a great tan, swam everyday and did A LOT of diving. The coral in the Red Sea is amazing! There are so many fish and lots of baby fish at this time of year. I even got to see a turtle. It was awesome! Egypt isn't really what I expected. I don't know what I was expecting, but it was different. The Red Sea is beautiful. It's a really deep, clear blue. And from my hotel, I could look out across the water and see the mountains of Saudi Arabia. I guess I expected both Egypt and Saudi Arabia to be big, flat deserts, maybe with some sand dunes, but I wasn't expecting rocky mountains. I don't know why, but I was really surprised. The Sinai where I was reminded me a little of Arizona. The mountains aren't as high in Sinai though, I don't think.

So I get into the cab to bring me from the town where the airport is to the town where I was staying. We stopped at the gas station to fill up the tank and the pick up truck across from us had three camels in the back! What a great intro to the Sinai. They were super cute! I got to the hotel, which is right on the water and has a dive center on site. I made sure to get into the pool the next day and take in a few rays. I headed into town and sent postcards to the couple of addresses I actually have memorized (We are way to dependent on computers and cells. I can't remember anyone's addresses or phone numbers now. So sad!) It was kind of deserted, but nice. It was the first day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, so there weren't a lot of people in the restaurants.

Devout Muslims fast for the month of Ramadan from sun up to sun down. Nothing is allowed to pass their lips. So not only do they fast from food, but they also don't drink anything (not even water) and smokers don't smoke. This is from sunup to sundown everyday for one month. Can you imagine working in the hot desert in the middle of summer in an industry like food service, or scuba diving, or manual labor or anything physical and still abstain from food and water?? That kind of faith and devotion is incredible to me! I don't know if I could do it. Could you?

So I was able to find some friends at the dive center. Like I said, the coral there was amazing! It's apparently been growing for thousands of years and was huge. Also, one of the dive sites we went to had been dived by Jacques Couteau. It was pretty awesome! At another dive site, we saw lots of fish and a turtle. Once we even rode camels for a little over an hour to a secluded dive site in a bedouin village. So many people commented on how uncomfortable it was to ride the camels, but the whole time I was thinking that it was actually really pretty comfortable. More comfortable than riding horses. Course, by the time we got to the dive site I got off the camel and found walking upright difficult because my lower back was in so much pain. Sigh...I'm getting old. : )

Do you ever have those moments and time stops for a few seconds and you feel totally at peace and completely content? The sun and the water always tend to do it for me. You know...sunsets, the ocean...rivers. We were riding back to the hotel on the camels. The sun was setting over the mountains making the blue of the Red Sea even more instense and making the sun spread in a fat, magenta line from the shore. The rocking of the camel was soothing and the waves were splashing against the rock. I had just been diving and seeing some of the most amazing coral ever and I was tan and relaxed and in a new country and new culture. It was a few moments of perfect happiness that I was able to enjoy. I think sometimes you notice it even more when you are on your own because you have no choice but to focus on your environment. I always prefer traveling with family or friends, but then I find that I am focused on being together and having fun hanging out, that I don't take time to "stop and smell the roses" as it were. Anyway....maybe you have no idea what I am talking about. But I find as I am getting older, my memory is already sliding downhill and those few perfect moments of remembered perfect happiness stick out boldly in my memory.

Anyhoo.....back to the grind. I really hope all is well with you and hope that you will remember to keep in touch. You should have my email. Come on....send a few lines about what's up with you. Pleeeaaassee! Pretty please with cherries on top? : )

Keep in touch! Lots of Love! Enjoy the pictures! Kisses. hee hee hee

Love,

Jill

Summer in Baghdad

Hello Family and Friends,

I hope all is well with you wherever you may be. Things are going well in Baghdad. I'm afraid this is going to be a long one. But what do you expect, when I haven't written for about 3 months or so. So....when last we left off, Jill was on her way to her first R&R. I had a great time in Costa Rica with my stepsister, Christol, my niece, Kylie and my friend, Hector. We hung out in San Jose, we flew to the west coast where we went scuba diving, swimming, boogie-boarding and got massages. We ate delicious food and enjoyed the beach. On the third day, we headed inland to the rainforests of Monteverde, where we laughed through a canopy tour, learned all about Costa Rican insects, bats, etc. and enjoyed the rainy season in Costa Rica. It was a great vacation!!

Well, you may have read about the not so pleasant trip back to Baghdad, but in the end, I got my luggage and I made it back on time, so all is well that ends well, although I would still avoid traveling American Airlines at any cost. Anyhoooo, when I got back to the office, I waded right into all kinds of things to get done. June was an incredibly busy month and I was working 16 hour days. I was trying to get my programs up and running and monitoring the ones that were running and was trying to find staff to hire. I have finally hired two staff members who are both amazing and fun. We laugh a lot together, but they are very hard workers and we have gotten a lot done. We have 9 programs up and running in Baghdad and will start 4 more in the next couple weeks. I really like our projects and think that we are getting good work accomplished. We are working with families who have been displaced by violence or families who are vulnerable economically or women who've lost their husbands. We have done three distributions of non-food items, such as water filters, cooking utensils and hygiene bags. We are currently running a women's literacy program through a local partner. In addition to learning to read and write Arabic and learning basic mathematics, the women are also exposed to workshops on first aid, women's health issues, women's rights, etc. It is very exciting. We are also working with youth to explore alternatives to violence. I am really enjoying being in Baghdad and my work here. I love the heat, although I may be the only one. We moved into a new office, which is beautiful and I love, love, love my room. It has windows, which is very exciting!

On June 30th, the US troops pulled out of major cities and into their posts. The cities were handed over to Iraqi Army and Police. Baghdad was in celebration for several days and the police vehicles were decorated for the occasion. There were a few extra security incidents in the city leading up to the handover, but things have been relatively calm since. While we are cautious and travel carefully, I feel safe here and am very fond of Baghdad. I love our staff. They are great people and we have a lot of fun together and we all work hard together.

The duststorms have been pretty bad in June and July. Sometimes the dust gets so bad you can barely see. It's looks a lot like a very foggy day, only it's a very fine dust in the air, like baby powder or something. Sometimes it's white, sometimes it's orange. Not long ago we had a bad orange duststorm for two or three days in a row. The windows were glowing orange where the sun reflected off the orange dust. This photo was taken during the day...not at sunset....just keep that in mind. It's pretty amazing. I have never seen anything like it. Planes are grounded during these duststorms and no one can get in or out. When you go outside, it's a little hard to breathe. I started caughing after just a few minutes outside. A colleague went outside in dress shoes for about two minutes and came in looking like he drug his shoes in the sand.

There is a kitten hanging around the house, so of course I give her a little food now and then. I sometimes heat up some milk and have taken to petting her. She's pretty cute! When we first got here she was all skinny and pathetic looking and didn't have a lot of energy. We named her Meskina, which means "poor thing" in Arabic. She's perked up quite a bit with the food, milk, and loving she gets. The expats feed her, the watchmen feed her, the landlady feeds her. She's a happy fat cat now. How cute is she??

Well, I suppose that is about it. I have just been work, work, working. The handover was interesting and the duststorms have been an incredible thing to see. Other than that....not much to tell. Please keep in touch. Don't forget....I love hearing what's going on with you too! This way, when I get back home, people don't say, "Haven't you heard this story? Where have you been?" : )

Lots of Love and Misses!! Jill

Travel - Blah!

Remember back when traveling was fun and it wasn't horrible to go to the airport or fly?? I remember loving flying when I was a kid. I loved everything about it. Maybe it was a nightmare for my mom, but I don't remember it being so horrible until recently. The airlines are mean to their customers. They are even rude to the first class/business class customers who are paying $6k just to get an extra two inches of leg room and an extra 20 lbs of luggage. By the time I get back to Baghdad, I will have been on 10 flights in the last 10 days, all of them on American Airlines, but one. The one that wasn't American Airlines was the only one that was on time. Let me paint you a little picture here....

I left Baghdad, spent the night in Amman. From Amman, I connected through London and then arrived in New York an hour late, which gave me about 3 hours of sleep before heading back to the airport and heading to Costa Rica via a layover in Miami. Flight to Miami, delayed. Flight to Costa Rica, arrived an hour late. Shocker! I mean...I was flying American. Do any of you ever remember taking an American Airlines flight that was on time in the last 10 years or so? On the way home from Costa Rica, American Airlines managment told the crew that they couldn't fly or something, so all of us passengers show up at the airport to board the plane and AA realizes that there is no crew for our plane. They realize their mistake and call the crew and tell them to pretty please come to the airport because apparently we made a mistake. So, an hour and half after our flight was supposed to leave the crew shows up to several rounds of applause and our flight leaves only two hours delayed. This, of course, means that I missed my connection in Miami and the next one out doesn't even leave until an hour after my original flight would have landed. I suck it up, grab a Nathan's hot dog and wait. I get to New York about 4 hours late. Are we seeing a pattern here?? (Hint: Each delay is getting longer).

Sooo....now the coup de grace. I get a phone call from American Airlines telling me that my direct flight to Amman (on my way back to Baghdad) is delayed by 2 hours. So I show up to the airport last night three hours before when I think my flight is supposed to be. Silly Jilly..... My flight was not actually delayed. Thanks a lot American Airlines!! By the time I show up for the flight (45 minutes before it leaves, since it isn't actually delayed after all), the flight is full and there is no seat for me. Thank you again for overselling the flight!! I go to American Airlines to rebook. The agent, very nice, is able to get me into Amman before my flight to Baghdad. No harm, no foul. Little problem. Only an hour and a half layover in London. Is that enough time, I ask? Sure. Of course it is. Great! Book 'em, Dan-o. Show up to the airport this morning after $100 at a hotel to sleep for 4 hours and am told that it is an illegal booking because it is 5 minutes too short of a layover. Really?? I mean....really? : P

Soooo, they won't check my bag all the way to Amman because those pesky 5 minutes make it an illegal booking. So the very nice agent, tells me to take all three of my bags as a carry on. Two of which fit under my seat and so should really only be considered one carry on, right?? I think so too. Well, the AA guard at the security gate disagrees. The male supervisor she brings over to okay it also disagrees. When try to explain that I am in this predicament thanks to American Airlines and all their infinite wisdom, he kindly explains to me what an idiot I am, thank you very much. Well, I am not the most patient of people as those of you who know me are well aware. I explain again how AA is to blame for all of my troubles and how they are trying to fix it by allowing me to carry on these three bags. He tells me no and doesn't care that if he makes me check my bag I will miss my flight to Amman and will therefore arrive in Baghdad 1-2 days late. Lovely fellow...really. After 9 terrible flights on American Airlines (my fault really for choosing American Airlines, but I have just been lazy about signing up for another frequent flier program), I have decided never to fly American Airlines again if I can help it. I inform the supervisor of this decision (as if he cares). And he so kindly responds "Thank you". Gotta love a guy who represents your company by telling customers "thank you" for no longer using your company.

I am trying to figure out how to create an "I hate American Airlines" group on Facebook. It has been very cathartic sitting here and writing this as I wait for my failed flight to London. Of course, I suppose there are worse places to be stuck. So, I guess it was a good thing that I have money left over in savings....it turns out I needed it for this trip back to Baghdad, all thanks to your favorite airline and mine, American.

Actually, this entry is not really part of my blog. Mostly, it is just a public service announcement. Do not fly American Airlines if you care about little things like flying on time, courtesy, being treated like you are not, in fact, an idiot, making connections, not loosing your luggage, etc. I mean, because of pure laziness, I have been very loyal to American Airlines over the last 1o years. Silly Jilly..... So I do know what I am talking about where they are concerned. Ahhhh....remember when traveling used to be fun, instead of causing gray hairs and huge stress? : )

And it begins...

So, I am currently sitting in a hotel here in Jordan waiting for a driver to pick me up and take me to the airport where I will board a plane to NY, spend the night there visiting with friends and then board another airplane tomorrow morning to Costa Rica! My first R&R (rest and relaxation) trip and am I ready for it!

Last time I wrote, things hadn't really gotten underway. I kept saying that I couldn't wait to get up and running and everyone kept telling me to be careful what I wished for. They were right! I still love it, I'm just a little exhausted. : ) I have been working with a local organization that will partner with us on several projects in an area of northeast Baghdad. There are 2.5-3 million people living a very small neighborhood. It's supposed to be in the top 3 most densely populated areas in the Middle East. We will be working with extremely vulnerable populations there, including IDPs, returnees and host community families living in extreme poverty.

Also, my regional director and I made a foray into another town hoping to learn more. We ran into a very nice man who invited to his home to speak with his wife and children. He also introduced us to the local leadership. I am now working with the local community leader on several projects, including building a park, so kids have a clean, safe place to play. We will also do a distribution of some non-food items to the most vulnerable in the area and a clean-up campaign to help them remove some trash from the streets (the government ran out of funding to do trash pick-up in their area). Think about if the garbage truck stopped coming to your neighborhood twice a week to take away all the trash...what would you do? Where would you put it? What if you didn't have a car to haul it to the garbage dump and couldn't afford to hire a taxi? Then what?

This town is on the outskirts of Baghdad and doesn't enjoy a great infrastructure. Most of the roads are unpaved. It is desert, so there is no green place for kids to play. No garbage pick-up, no sewage system, 3-7 hours of electricity a day, limited water supply, etc. But on the outskirts of the capital city of the country. Can you picture it in your mind? Many of the people living in this town are living in houses that the government provided for government employees. When the violence broke out in 05-07, the employees fled the area, leaving the houses abandoned. People fleeing more dangerous areas in other parts of the country arrived and moved into the abandoned houses. People from the area living, 11 to a house, moved into the abandoned houses for more space. However, even though they've been living there for 4-5 years, the houses are owned by the government and the government has the legal right to evict them at any time. There is a national law in Iraq, that the government enacted to try to get the homes of returnees back from squatters. The government will provide the squatters with 6 months rent while they look for a new place to live when they return the homes to their original owners. Another problem is that the government's revenues are based almost entirely on oil revenues and with the huge drop in the prices of oil, the government's budget for 09 has been cut nearly in half, so that means less resources for schools, infrastructure (electricity, water, sewage, trash pick-up, etc.), IDP programs, etc. It's a very unique situation over here and my past experiences, while they help me a little bit here are so vastly different that it has been a big adjustment.

I have pictures of my bedroom, which I will attach. I like it. We have a nice area on the roof too, where we sometimes sit in the evenings. We were up there a couple weeks ago and could hear the military helicopters flying by. We always wondered if they used lights at night....they don't. But all of the sudden one of the helicopters had lights....no wait....what is that....it's red and yellow and there are like 6 shooting out of the helicopter, less than a block from our house. Yikes! We hauled a** into the house and took cover. Then we felt a little ridiculous, turns out the helicopters shoot out flares at night. The different colors of the flares signifies a certain signal to other troops. Our hearts nearly beat out of our chests, but it was the first time we'd ever seen that. The next night when the helicopter shot out green flares and it was a few blocks a way, we barely blinked. Live and learn! : )

What else? Hmmm.....oh, another organization that lives near us has poker night once or twice a week. I have started going and really enjoy myself. Plus, I usually come back either even or up. Shocker, Dad. I know!

Well...I guess that is it for now. I have to either update this blog more often or write notes on things I want to mention. I can't remember everything, but I know there were several times that I thought, this should go in my blog. Anyway, I am having a great time and learning a lot. I sort of feel like it's my first job out of college and I have no experience. That's how much I am learning. Well, please keep in touch and don't forget to tell me what's up with you.

Back by popular demand....

Hello All,

Due to the high demand for my witty commentary (just kidding), I'm starting up another blog! I don't have any pictures this time, but I hope that you read it anyway. Please! : )

Well, to review.....last year I was living in Connecticut working for a non-profit there, but I became a victim of the economy and started looking for a new job in mid-January of this year. Happy New Year! Anyway, I was lucky enough to get a new job as a Program Manager for another international humanitarian organization. I am living and working out of our office in Baghdad working with Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and Returnees. IDPs (for those of you who don't know) are people who have fled their homes to resettle in a different area of their country. They are basically refugees who don't cross an international border, but are still displaced from their home area, usually due to conflict or some kind of disaster (like a tsunami or earthquake). Returnees are either refugees or IDPs who are returning to their original location once they feel secure enough to do so. A little social studies for you…. ; ) I am very excited about my new position and the work that I will be doing!

I went to my brother’s wedding in Las Vegas on Mar 14th and got to spend some time with my nieces and nephew! Then I hopped on a plane on the 15th and headed over to Amman, Jordan. There was a regional meeting at that time, so I was lucky enough to meet quite a bit of the staff that is over here in my neck of the woods and they were all great! From Amman, I headed up to Beirut to go to the Iraqi embassy and pick up my visa so that I could fly into Baghdad. On March 20th, I was very excited/nervous to arrive in Baghdad with a couple other staff members. I have mostly been settling in and getting situated. I am starting to have a better idea of the direction that I will start to move in and I can’t wait to get started.

I was lucky enough to be able to travel north to a town called Sulemaniya, which is very green and surrounded by mountains. It was beautiful and I really enjoyed it. Plus, I received a great orientation and was able to get in a site visit to watch some of the work being done with extremely vulnerable populations nearby. I was also very lucky to meet a friend of mine there. She was in my grad school program in Sri Lanka and is also working for this new organization. She was in town for some meetings and it was great to finally see her again!

I got back to Baghdad today and decided that I couldn’t put off starting the blog for much longer, so I decided to tackle it tonight. Hope you enjoy it, even if there aren’t any pics! : ) I have taken a couple, but I haven’t downloaded them onto the computer yet. I promise I will take more pictures in the near future and will hopefully even motivate to get them onto the computer and uploaded here.

I really like Baghdad. It is starting to get quite warm here. It has beautiful architecture and statues. The first few days, we were able to do site visits to several neighborhoods and I have had a few meeting in the International Zone (IZ…aka Green Zone). We even drove past Firdos Square, which is where the Saddam Hussein statue used to be. People are in the streets and there are lots of shops. There are some traffic circles with a large green area (like a park) in the middle with benches, etc. and I’ve seen little boys playing soccer there a couple of times. You can feel the history here. I have to keep passing the Tigris River, which just seems so historic in and of itself. My movement is still a little limited for security reasons, but I look forward to getting to know this city/country, the culture and the people here much better.

Well….until next time. Please keep in touch! And let me know what you are up to! People always write to ask me what I’ve been up to, but they hardly ever tell me what they’ve been up to. : ( Can’t wait to hear from you.

Love, me

Arrival in Baghdad

Hi All,

Welcome back to my blogging world. I hope that you enjoy this blog and that it helps keep you informed as to where I am and what I am doing! I will post pictures if I can and will let you know how I am doing. I will update when I can and try to keep you entertained.

Hugs,
Jill