Today was my last day watching the fence contractors at the bunker complex.  As I stated in my previous post, we guard the largest weapons/ammunition complex in Iraq.  For a while, about two and half miles of fence was down.  People and animals were getting in and there wasn't much we could do.  The fence contractors were hired to put up the missing fence and then put three rows of razor wire around the outside.  These guys were fast.  The two miles or so of fence were up in less than two weeks and the razor wire is nearly done after about a week, the razor wire had to go around four miles of fence.  The contractors were very friendly and I'll soon post a picture I took with one of the foremen and his son.  I spent most of my time watching the foreman crack the whip on the kids (13-18 year old boys) as they pulled the razor wire around the fence.  When he wasn't yelling at them, he was trying to teach me Arabic.  My grasp of foreign languages tends to be pretty decent but Arabic, no matter how many times I went over it, is just too hard for me to pick up.  I can understand a few phrases and words now and have a new Arabic nickname, Abu Katie or father of Katie.  Kristi is refered to as mama or madame, "mama" being the common word but "om" being the formal word. 

The Arabic culture is very friendly (most of the time) and sharing what you have is common place.  The workers brought fresh flat bread, fruit and vegetables in for us and fed us at lunch time.  In return we bring bottled water, english lessons, and candy for their kids (though I'm sure some of them save it for themselves).  They took a great interest in learning about America and learning english words.  I was even invited to bring the family with me on my next trip to Iraq and visit the foreman and his family.  Fat chance of that happening in the near future, but I was given his name and address and the invite is considered a great honor.

A lesson is counting in Arabic:

Kristi, I expect Katie to learn this by the time I get back :).   A hint, the "aa" sound is made by pronouncing both a's as in "ah-ah"