"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts.”-Mark Twain
This quote was in my daily "Art of Manliness" email this morning, and it reminded me of what I have experienced in my adventures in Iraq.
I find myself very fortunate to be working in Iraq right now. Besides the obvious monetary benefits, I have the joy of working with people from so many different ethnic backgrounds, countries and cultures, that it has enabled me to see people in ways I never have before. I have written about the certain amount of "sameness" which I have discovered is common amongst all the people I have worked with, despite their country-of-origin. I have been able to form meaningful friendships with so many different people, more than I ever thought possible, being just a kid from Illinois. I have learned to speak rather fluent arabic and I still email some of the Iraqis I met whilst working in Nasiriyah, even now that I am living in Basrah. A few weeks ago I had the privilege of talking to a local Iraqi man who has been working as an interpreter for the US military since the 2003 liberation. He told me how he and his friends and family had been waiting for the US to liberate them from Saddam's oppression. He was careful to clarify with me that he was being honest, that he wasn't telling me this simply because I was "American". He explained that under Saddam, there was no hope, no future for Iraqis. An Iraqi could go to a university, but there was no opportunity to really use that higher education....they were oppressed and limited. Now, he is able to use his degrees to travel and work around the world, something he never could have done only 6 years ago. He was a teacher before the war began, and said teachers now make many times more than they did before the war. Yes, he is tired of the troops being here, but is forever grateful for us liberating them. He specifically said, several times, "no one would do anything....the entire world just sat back and watched us suffer....only the US was brave enough to go in and free us......" The thing is, this is a tune I heard hundreds of times when I was here as a Marine in 2004; Iraqis thanking us for their newfound freedom. We spoke of who exactly the people were who continued the insurgency, who continued to attack US troops and Iraqis. His explanation reflected what I have learned in my sociology classes; that it's generally the less educated people, the people who don't really understand just what freedom means, that continue to fight. People with less education are typically more close-minded. But the majority, he said, are truly grateful to us.
I have worked with and befriended countless Indians (dots, not feathers) and Nepalis. I have sat and listened to 3 Sri Lankens describe, in detail, how they swam for their lives on December 26, 2004, as tsunami waves engulfed their entire village and killed every member of their families and thousands of their neighbors.
I have become friends with many, many Bosnians who told me countless horror stories of the Serbians executing thousands upon thousands of their countrymen, and how they too, could only sit back and take it, wondering why the rest of Europe only watched the genocide take place. Just this morning I spoke at length with former Bosnian soldiers who described the Serbs' calculated ethnic-cleansing campaign, and how they were powerless to stop it until the United States stepped in and beefed up Bosnia's forces, finally turning the odds around and putting an end to the slaughter. They said they love the United States for interceding and fighting for them. It is true, we do step on a lot of toes around the world. We irritate a lot of people and we often come across as imperialist war junkies. But when people are in need, we are the first and often-times only country to step in and help those less fortunate than us.
I have become good friends with a Kenyan, named Simon. Simon looks like he could be Seal's twin brother; he even has the facial scars. Of course, when I found out he was from Kenya, I naturally had to ask him if he had ever seen a lion. He responded with a 2-hour-long explanation on how yes, he has indeed not only seen many lions, he has killed a lion, and how it is a prerequisite for a Kenyan male to marry a Kenyan woman, to kill a lion with his bare hands. He went into detail on the methodology, execution, techniques, etc, on how one must go about killing a lion, complete with marker board outlines and vivid descriptions. I only later discovered that he was making it up as he went along. Simon speaks with a very thick, Kenyan accent, yet speaks perfect English. His grammar is flawless, something I appreciate, but moreover, it is amusing to listen to him speak because he uses very precise, proper words- absolutely no slang. "The room is illuminated!" as opposed to "it's bright in here", for example. I love it. Simon is a Christian, as I have found that most Kenyans are. He is the happiest and most gracious person I have ever met, and it is my pleasure to speak to him. He was a soldier in Nairobi in 1998 when Al Qaeda blew up the US embassy, killing several of his friends. Since then, the Kenyan military has put him through medical school, and he is here earning money to buy a CT Scan and Xray machine to open his own clinic in Kenya. His face and hands bear the scars of a medical school chem-lab accident, when a fellow student mixed combustable chemicals, resulting in Simon's severe burns.....and he is still the happiest person I have ever met, just grateful for every day life.
I arrived in Basrah on April 5, after a 4-hour Blackhawk ride (we made several stops). It was interesting to see the Iraqi terrain from the air, most notably the vast wetland that intersects the arid desert.....it's remarkable....brown desert, then abruptly it's lush green vegetation, blue water, then brown desert. The above picture is the Tigris River. The other photo is a wild camel I managed to capture with my bare hands on my last day in Nasiriyah. I am lucky to be here.
