LIFE OF A QUEENS FAN IN IRAQ – PART TWO
August is a great month, start of the new footie season, kids go back to school and of course out here in Iraq it is Ramadan. For those not in the know this is the month of fasting for those who wish to do so, most Iraqi’s (not just Muslims) will fast during the period, some for one day others for the whole month. Even the Indian & Pakistani staff join in to a certain extent.
Those that participate are not allowed to eat, drink, smoke or chew gum during daylight hours, which surprises me as it is probably the hottest month of the year. A real hard slog if you do the whole month, I would imagine. Already I have had at least 3 staff put on drips through severe dehydration. No truer is the saying you can only lead a horse to water.
I, personally look forward to Eid Iftar where they break their fast with buttermilk, lentil soup and other celebratory food. The Eid festival will last 3 days and they will visit each other’s houses giving gifts of sweets (think rum-baba but 3 times sweeter and sicklier)
Well since writing part one of the installment I said we had a rocket attack about every two weeks, sods law we have had 3 already this week, so work stops and we have to get into a hardened location with body armour and helmet on until the all clear is given.
Luckily there have been no casualties. However it keeps us all on our toes, stops us from getting complacent as some do, also makes you think more about where is my body armour and helmet. Probably the worst part is I usually have to work late to catch up. Doesn’t matter where you work, when you don’t get paid overtime staying late is always that bit harder.
The skeptical side of me says the attacks are actually to ensure the military stays as they should be pulling out of here at the end of the year, this will lose the local populous about 2500 jobs. If the security situation seems to get worse as the US draw down then they may be asked to stay on beyond the rest of the year. (This is a whole other political debate on its own)
Tuesday night and I am glued to the laptop using the latest scores/updates from the Official Site. The accommodation block wonders what has hit them as three times I am jumping up and down and screaming “get in the South”. Hopefully this win will give the team confidence and we can build a good run for the league on the back of this.
We are 2 hours ahead here, so after the game it’s into bed. Just dozing off and the rockets start again. I am now wondering if the rocket firers are Forfar fans, again no-one injured but later to bed than anticipated.
The security situation is definitely worsening as a suicide bomber blows himself up near a Shia Mosque, killing 3 and wounding another 50, a terrible waste of life.
We also have operations in Afghanistan and the Site Manager out there is a Thistle fan so there has been a lot of banter between the pair of us pre match. I had hoped the Forfar game would have given us the edge over Thistle but to no avail, I will just have to put up with the ribbing until they are at Palmerston in November where hopefully we can reverse the fortunes.
