Saturday, September 27, 2003

I was woken this morning from my restful sleep by the sound of explosions going off near by, reminding me of exactly where I am. When my roommate returned from the gym, he informed me that the Rasheed Hotel, the place where I go dancing, was hit by two RPG rounds this morning, once again bringing to mind the stark realty of the dangers that surround us and how vulnerable we are. I lay in bed for a while pondering the facts of the moment, wondering how someone could have gotten so close to the hotel deep in the heart of the green zone.

I haven¡¯t heard, but I am sure people were either killed or injured at the hotel, the place where a lot of our soldiers live, along with dignitaries and other important people. I believe Drew Carey along with the other comics of his USO tour was staying in the hotel last night. As visions of the explosion dance through my head, I can¡¯t help but wonder what damage was caused and if the hotel employees along with the gherkin guards at the front door were also injured.

All of the entranceways to our buildings are guarded by a group of retired gurkas from Nepal, known for being some of the best soldiers in the world. They are all very diligent in performing their duties, taking their jobs very seriously. I have found all of them to be very courteous and polite, having taken the time to learn enough English to greet us with the appropriate salutation. I have made friends with a number of them that I see day in and day out, also having learned how to greet them in their language.

Last night Drew Carey¡¯s USO tour put on a concert over at the convention center, which is across from the Rasheed Hotel, in a large auditorium. Drew and about 5 other comedians made us laugh for a couple of hours, helping us remember what it is like to laugh out loud again, feeling as if we were back in America hearing Drew do his stand up routine.

There were a few off colored jokes about Iraq, its people and their food, and I hope that this morning¡¯s explosions weren¡¯t in retaliation for that. Not everyone in the world understands our sarcastic humor and the freedom we have to make fun of everything, even if it isn¡¯t true. The sad part is that some of the jokes weren¡¯t too funny even somewhat offensive, at times we caught our selves looking at each other wondering if that probably shouldn¡¯t have been said.

 As we left the concert we all commented on how nice it was to laugh, feeling like it had been quite sometime since we have laughed that loud. It was definitely good therapy, a much needed break in the seriousness of our surroundings.

It definitely reminded me of past times laughing uncontrollably with friends and family back home, especially with people at work at our annual sales conferences (which I missed this year).

On my way back from the front gate this morning I swung by the Rasheed hotel to see what really happened this morning with the explosions. I found out that three RPG rounds were fired at the hotel, only one striking its intended target, no one was hurt and there was no visible damage to the hotel. I was so relieved to hear that no one was hurt, which was my first fear. 

That is so great.

I had a great day meeting with one of our sources who has his own team of about 20 people, all out doing great things for their country, out taking down bad guys, discovering caches of weapons, finding out about attacks, and so on and so forth.

I will tell you more later.

Good night for now. Totally exhausted Chief Wiggles.