Tobiasly’s Blog

Today is my parents’ 40th wedding anniversary. All of my siblings and I are truly blessed to have had such wonderful parents growing up.

In these days when divorce is the norm, we have always been able to look to them as a steadfast symbol of what true love is in God’s eyes. I’m sure they must have had their difficult times as well, but it never really affected the way they treated us and guided us.

I can only hope that I am able to be the sort of husband (and eventually father) that my dad is. I’m very lucky to have had such a great role model.

Happy anniversary, Mom and Dad, and thanks for raising such a wonderful family!

Before being moved up to Kalsu, several of us bought Microsoft X-Box video game consoles in Kuwait, along with a few TVs, and four copies of “Halo”. We had some really good 16-way tournaments, and planned on continuing so once we arrived at Kalsu.

But, the generator power up here is pretty finicky, and a surge in the line toasted four of our X-Boxes. Since we couldn’t get to a PX nearby to exchange them (and didn’t have all the receipts and packaging anyway), we seemed to be pretty much out of luck. I wrote a letter to Microsoft explaining our problem, asking if they could send us some replacements as a Christmas gift.

Well, today I got a letter from Ann Heath, Coordinator of X-Box Marketing, saying they are “pleased and proud to send your platoon 4 replacement consoles and a selection of games. It is the least we could do to show our support and appreciation for your dedicated services during the holidays and throughout this last year.”

So, here’s a great big ol’ preemptive thanks to Microsoft for their generosity! (I just hope they arrive intact — some people at customs tend to get sticky fingers when it comes to large packages from businesses, it seems).

And, to show my support and appreciation, since I’m sure some perceive me as being anti-Microsoft (which isn’t true.. I think they are very good at some things and not very good at others), let me say the following: Windows whips all over Linux when it comes to the desktop (and will for a long time to come); Pocket PC is far and away the best PDA platform around (Palm Pilots would probably still be one-trick, monochrome, featureless pieces of junk if it weren’t for Pocket PCs setting the bar); and I can’t wait to get a Motorola MPx200 cell phone from AT&T Wireless, the first Windows Mobile smartphone in the U.S., when I get home.

Well, of course everyone’s pretty happy with the news over here. Hopefully it will help ease things up a little bit, although I guess there are the naysayers who say it won’t. We’ll see.

These Iraqis are so crazy. You probably all have heard about their tendency to fire weapons to celebrate. Well, we were out patrolling on foot last night (Sunday), looking for roadside bombs, when a gunshot rang out above our heads. It came from the direction of a nearby house, so we started walking towards there to check it out. Their dog started barking, and soon I heard a voice calling out from inside the house.

I shouted, “we’re Americans!”, wondering if he thought we were burglars. He yelled back something in Arabic, and the door outside creaked open. I was hoping he wouldn’t come around the corner carrying a rifle (almost every Iraqi household has an AK-47), and luckily he wasn’t. I tried asking him if he heard a gunshot, but I don’t think he understood me. He was pretty excited about Saddam’s capture though — he would yell “Americans, Saddam!” and grab his forearm, mimicking handcuffs being but on, smiling the whole time and shaking our hands.

I tried again to ask him about the gunshot (we didn’t have an interpreter with us at the time) but all I could get out of him was “Americans, friends! My friend!” He didn’t seem too concerned about the fact that we were walking over his property in the middle of the night. He even invited us inside for tea and something to eat; we graciously declined and went on our way.

Most of the people up here are poor farmers, and are pretty good people. I’d say most of them are glad that we’re here; on the days we do have interpreters with us, they’ll often tell us that they’re grateful to us for providing security. More often than not, they invite us to have tea or food, even if we just got through searching their house unannounced. It’s pretty amazing how gracious they are, especially for being so poor.

It’s rather evident that women play a secondary role in this culture. If we show up at a house while the men are home, the women will stay off to the side, rarely even making eye contact. It’s totally different, though, when the men aren’t home; then, they tend to swarm us and all talk at once. It’s like they’re eager to talk to outsiders, and they know Americans won’t treat them differently. If there’s a woman out working in the field when we drive by, she’ll often give us a tiny, concealed wave “hello” so that no one else can see.

Well, thanks to everyone who has been sending packages lately. Everyone up here has been getting lots of Christmas goodies, so hopefully just because we’re on the other side of the world doesn’t mean we won’t put on those customary holidays pounds!