Back in Baghdad

 
I’ve been back for some time, actually. It took me three days to return from leave (as distinguished from the four days required to get home); I arrived very early in the morning, slept for ten hours, and then spent the rest of the day getting officially reinstated on the roster and recovering my weapon from the arms room, plus a certain amount of general relaxing. Since my office was toward the end of its weekly cycle, I had the advantage of a few more days of light duty before starting back into the regular schedule.

The weather remains mystifying. The summer just past never got as hot as I remember from 2003-4; the winter never got as cold (or wet), and remains similarly temperate. Does this mean that the summer to come will be the type of unholy scorcher I experienced the first time through? Remains to be seen.

One thing is different. Our division headquarters now has the Iraqi flag flying out front, but no American flag. What the hell? I could understand along with, but not instead of. Okay, it’s their country … but it’s our base. I’m in the U.S. Army, so why am I serving ‘under’ the Iraqi flag?

I’m back. Overall, I like it. Now the party can resume.