Stories from Iraq, vol. 1

I've decided to post some stories of things that have happened to me so far in Iraq that I find amusing, unique, unusual, or just funny here. It's up to you which category they fall under.

The Shepherd.

I ride the bus to work everyday. I vary my schedule so that it's not predictable. Unfortunately there's only one route, so I'm stuck with it. I am not authorized to have a vehicle. Even if I was, I'd have to have authorization for gas, which is even harder to get than a vehicle. So I ride the bus.

There are some things that I find enjoyable about the bus. Sometimes the radio plays some great music. At the same time every morning, just across the wire, a shepherd walks his flock to somewhere unknown. If I ride the bus at that time, I get to see him and his flock. I used to enjoy watching them pass.

Although I interact with the Iraqi people as little as possible (so far I've only spoken to one, better to be safe than sorry), the soldiers tell me that they are very friendly people, aside from the insurgents. Apparently, the shepherd is one of those very friendly people, and tries to sell sheep to the Americans at one of the gates for $2.00 each.

One morning, on a day that I rode the bus at the same time as the shepherd was walking his flock, friendly took on a whole new meaning. As the bus neared the wire, one of the soldiers on the bus got excited and started pointing at the shepherd and shouting "That's him! That's the guy I was telling you about!" According to his story, the soldier works the gate pretty often. He's one of the Americans to whom the shepherd has tried to sell the sheep. On one occasion the shepherd went out near the gate, but didn't approach the guards. Instead, he got near the gate and showed his love for his sheep. That's right, he dropped his pants and he loved his sheep. Barry White was on the radio when we passed the flock. Bearing in mind the communication gap with the local nationals, it makes me wonder what you really get for $2.00.