They Call Me....Tariq
I have spent the last five days in Tarmiyah. Our Iraqi Battalion owns the battle space in this area. We rotate members of our team in and out of there to serve as advisors and liaisons between our Iraqi counterparts and the other military units in this area. At times it was very boring and then there were times we were busy and the time flew. The Iraqis love watching Arabic music videos. That got real old, real quick. At night we would watch American movies with the Arabic subtitles on the bottom of the screen. We also played a cool card game called 51. It is like gin rummy but with two decks and you cannot lay any cards down on the table until they reach 51 points or higher when adding up their face value.
I ate like crazy. They were constantly feeding me. They do not take the word no well. I ate fish, all kinds of beef and sheep dishes, rice, cucumbers, stewed tomatoes (remember I dislike tomatoes), potatoes, and more bread then a bakery. After every meal its Chi time. Chi is hot sweet tea. Great stuff.
They gave me an Arabic name. They call me Tariq. They told me it's a strong name, normally given to leaders. Cool.
I found out that my leave dates have been pushed back. I thought I was going to be able to be home 01 June, no later than 02 June, but now that has been changed. I leave here on 04 June and will probably not make it to the US until 07 or 08 June. That stinks really bad since Caelan's fourth birthday is 01 June.
Got two cool things in the mail today. Grandpa sent me a letter. Normally it's Nana who does the writhing, so it was a surprise to open it and see it was from him. I will keep it forever and that is the truth.
The other thing I got was a DVD and CD from my partner in heavy metal adventures, Troy. Thanks dude for the movie. I have not watched it yet. I want to wait till I can kick my boots off and relax with my socks on. Did one scene have a waterfall in the dessert? I thought that is what I saw coming down those rocks. Also nice touch with the Bud commercials in between the songs. Plus the first song, Stryper and the Steel Dragon songs was a nice surprise.
Later Peeps (as Christian would say),
Randy
I ate like crazy. They were constantly feeding me. They do not take the word no well. I ate fish, all kinds of beef and sheep dishes, rice, cucumbers, stewed tomatoes (remember I dislike tomatoes), potatoes, and more bread then a bakery. After every meal its Chi time. Chi is hot sweet tea. Great stuff.
They gave me an Arabic name. They call me Tariq. They told me it's a strong name, normally given to leaders. Cool.
I found out that my leave dates have been pushed back. I thought I was going to be able to be home 01 June, no later than 02 June, but now that has been changed. I leave here on 04 June and will probably not make it to the US until 07 or 08 June. That stinks really bad since Caelan's fourth birthday is 01 June.
Got two cool things in the mail today. Grandpa sent me a letter. Normally it's Nana who does the writhing, so it was a surprise to open it and see it was from him. I will keep it forever and that is the truth.
The other thing I got was a DVD and CD from my partner in heavy metal adventures, Troy. Thanks dude for the movie. I have not watched it yet. I want to wait till I can kick my boots off and relax with my socks on. Did one scene have a waterfall in the dessert? I thought that is what I saw coming down those rocks. Also nice touch with the Bud commercials in between the songs. Plus the first song, Stryper and the Steel Dragon songs was a nice surprise.
Later Peeps (as Christian would say),
Randy
Hey Dude. You mentioned Troy and Stryper. Did you know that Stryper has reunited? I have the new cd,; though I haven't listened to it in its entirity yet. Also, I sent you a myspace address to check out on your myspace account. The guy's name is Chris Impellitteri (sp?)and he is one heck of a guitarist. His myspace music account has him doing a guitar solo version of Somewhere Over The Rainbow which is awesome. You need to check it out when you get a chance to. I am sorry that your trip home has been pushed back, but you have to believe that God is in control and that there is a good reason for it. Caelan's day will be just as special if celebrated at a later date because he will have his BIg Buddy home. I love you Bubba-Stay Safe!
Posted by
Nay |
4:55 PM