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Travel/work in other countries
tempo_n_groove
Posts: 38,968
Have you worked/traveled to a less than desirable place? Maybe a great tourist spot?
Where have you worked and traveled to that was good bad or indifferent and share your experience.
Where have you worked and traveled to that was good bad or indifferent and share your experience.
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In the late summer/fall of 2011 our company had a project coming up in Iraq. I had asked to be a part of this project. Why? Who says that they went to Iraq because they wanted to and NOT in the military?
For my company I was a superintendent that problem solved and trail-blazed for them. We were a precast concrete company that specialized in doing local production so we had the ability to build anything, anywhere. I also had the ability to blend in anywhere. "When in Rome" was a motto I lived by.
Before going I was prepared to not come back. Things happen. I said goodbye to all my family and close friends before I left.
I'll start off by saying that I tell everyone the same thing when I mention Iraq, "If you have the chance to go, don't."
The company sent only 3 of us to build a mock up/showcase villa made from precast concrete. I was the Superintendent and was with a guy Brian whom I worked with very well with in the past and he was to be my Production super and a new guy Billy was our QC. We would use local labor and teach/show them how to use the tools and assist us.
We went to the town of Samawah. It's somewhere in between Basra and Baghdad. 4 hour drive from the airport.
Now I've worked out of country before but never to a place where I know some people loathe Americans.
The overall experience was just that, an experience. I was able to try food that I would never find here in the states. Was able to eat "Ro-man" which is a pomegranate. I was invited to pray to Allah which I accepted and joined in the Islamic ritual of prayer. I met people who were no different than you or I and people that were very much polar opposites.
We were not allowed to wander/walk around town for our own protection. We were under the care of a very wealthy Iraqi family and I still believe that we three made it home safely strictly because we were under his watch.
You have to remember that Iraqi are very proud people. It would be a direct insult to their family name if harm was to come to any of us so they made the precautions to assure our safety and staying in the confines of the compound was one of them.
We were allowed to go to work and go on the roof. The roof is where I got to get away and workout or just stretch my legs. The roof was take away from me though as I was seen on the front looking down the street. They Iraqi caretakers put a lock on the door so I wasn't able to go out there anymore, none of us were. The reason? Exact words. "You are going to get someones wife killed and yourself killed too.
In this area Sharia law was practiced. If I was to see a woman's hair without her cover and the husband had found out that woman and myself would have to be killed to preserve honor in that family.
I should mention that I was not "peeping" at anyone or anything but the people were scared for my safety.
I should also mention that every house has 10' high walls around their house AND on their roofs so that families can have privacy and not worry about strangers seeing a woman's head without a cover.
Previously when we first arrived I brought my two guys out to the roof and discussed escape plans in case we were ever had trouble. We made plans to meet up and discussed all the different possibilities of escaping from the roof so we wouldn't get taken. Sounds a bit much right? Our care takers would tell you otherwise and we weren't about to be out of options or a plan, just in case.
Well, the lock on that door became a problem and no one would give me a key. They didn't understand that it was our only way to escape if shit hit the fan. They said I didn't understand that I die if I'm caught looking around at people.
I ended up breaking the lock off and putting my own one on. No one ever knew the difference. The other two guys got keys, just in case.
We worked a mile from the compound. We had a mold that was 18' in the air and had a 6' fence around the perimeter. Again I brought the guys together on top of the mold and explained that if someone wants to get us we are sitting ducks so just be alert as much as you can.
Going into town was a rare treat. A few times I got to go for tools and a food shopping spree.
People stopped in their tracks when they saw me. Paused while sipping tea. I stopped traffic when walking down the streets. The locals were very much shocked that someone that looked like me, fair skin(actually I had a tan), amber hair, was in Samawah.
I watched a little girl stare at me like I was an alien. I tried to make eye contact with her but she turned away so I watched her under my sunglasses look up at me in wonder.
The head of security dressed me up with a kiffiyeh(head scarf) one day to go into town. He was playing dress up with me that day and got laughs from everyone. I played along and wore it into town though I wasn't fooling anyone, lol.
We were in Samawah for 10 weeks too long. We had shoddy internet. We had any food we wanted if available. It just wan't an enjoyable place.
The locals that we worked with were very nice to us. I had one of them say to me "before I meet you, I no like Americans. Now I meet you and I give them a chance."
Till this day that is still one of the best things I've ever heard out of another human being and I know I made a difference.
We finished the project of casting and erecting the villa to the delight and talk of the town.
It was time for us to leave and we were promised a day in Jordan to go see Petra for a job well done.
We made it to Baghdad and I was tired of this place, tired of worrying if someone might "get us". I wanted to go for a walk. Down to see the Tigris up close. One of the caretakers in Baghdad wouldn't let me go there. "It isn't safe for locals, it would be even worse for an American."
We did walk down the main drag of Baghdad though. At this point I didn't care if anyone heard me speak or knew that I was American. I didn't blend anyways so I stopped pretending to.
It was less stressful on the streets of Baghdad then it was in Samawah. It felt good to walk around the city. I was the ONLY American or Caucasian walking on that street that night.
The next day we left for the airport but got delayed. There was a suicide bomber attack a few blocks away and roads were closed leaving that part of the area.
Going to the airport, the closer we got the more military presence there was. Signs in English and Arabic that claimed "deadly force will be used" for failing to yield to military commands.
It took us 4 hours to get through security checkpoints going into the airport. Bag check, screens, dogs, over and over again. When asked about the security I was given this reply "if those checkpoints weren't in place the airport would be blown to pieces and be a big hole in the ground."
We couldn't get on a plane that day. We did not have an exit stamp to leave the country. Something my company forgot to research and inform us of.
We didn't make it to Petra either. At that point when we finally got to leave(getting out of Iraq is another story in itself)the two other guys just wanted to go home. I was upset that they didn't want to go to Petra. It was something i knew I'd never be back to see so this was our only chance.
I've traveled and worked all over the world and Iraq was the most stressful environment I've ever been in.
There is more to this obviously but figured I would share with everyone. There are other things that I could talk about like watching families scour garbage patches, street cleaners sweeping live puppies into a pile, a child on a donkey delivering blocks of ice to people, children sorting through the food thrown out in the garbage and into neat slots on their cart, workers welding with nothing more than a pair of sunglasses or how the local laborer makes only the equivalent of $20 US dollars a day.
One of the more interesting things I saw was a satellite dish on a mud hut house.
Ask questions if you want. Like I said there is a lot more I can add and share.
Because of the villa I helped build there are thousands of these being built in Iraq now so if you go there and see them erecting these then that was partly because of me.
Baghdad has a brewery too.
Samawah is like a bible belt where Baghdad has a bunch of western influence.
Oh and the average temp was 120+ each day.
Had to brush our teeth with bottled water. The water there was really bad for non locals. They were used to it.
Parts of it sound similar to my summer in Iran (the pomegranates, prayers, our likenesses and differences, and being "under protection" via my uncle). I imagine the climate in your time there was much different than when I went to Tehran (1976-ish), and while many women wore beautiful, colored clothing and scarves, I - at 11 years old, mind you - had stones thrown at me for wearing a tube top. Forgive me for having a body whose breasts are developing. Maybe it didn't help that I was fair-skinned (still am) and blonde (no more). One tends to stand out like that there, regardless of age.
We also went on picnics outside of the city, where family had farms and expansive land. Chasing chickens, eating their brethren, so much warm love and laughter from these people I'd never met before. I remember setting a watermelon in the stream, and eating it ice-cold from the chilly water. I remember the incredibly frightening traffic (I don't even know if there were signals), and the barrage of scents and music and car horns and shouting...almost sensory overload.
I echo you on damning the heat though. AND being mindful of your water sources.
Ill share a story about driving in Iraq. It’s just like what u described, lol.
I knew you'd been across America but I didn't know you had worked in places like Iraq. Pretty scary job - hope you got hazard pay! No wonder you have such an expansive PJ collection
I would be nervous because of the suicide bombers that are always active in the Middle East. Close call on your exit from the country.
So only three guys constructed a villa? Who was going to live in it? What did you do when you were at the rich Iraqi's home everyday? How did you like going to Mosque and praying? What was your favorite food that you'd never had before (not pomegranates, though they are delicious)? How did you get your exit stamp to leave the country and how did the military people treat you guys when you didn't have the right papers? Where did you stay while waiting for what you needed? Were you able to look at the women that lived in the home you were staying in or were you separated from the family? What was your exit plan (and it was pretty stupid to look over the front of the building - duh)? Did you watch TV or listen to the radio and if so what did you watch/hear? Were you scared or was there a particular time that you were scared greatly if not most of the time? Were you nervous that the locals would turn on you (the workers)?
There you go - I gave you a bunch of questions so you can form your next story. I love reading about your adventures around the world. I haven't read one in awhile - that was Alaska, I'll follow up in PM for more on that.
Oh, did you have to dress a certain way while you were there or were you not allowed to swear or say or do certain things due to local customs? One thing I do know about Middle Eastern customs - if you put your feet up you are disrespecting the person who the bottom of your shoes are facing - greatly disrespecting, not just being rude. My ex-husband's best friend was married to a woman who was from Jordan and I learned some stuff from her. She was a great cook - I love Middle Eastern food - she would make her own cheese - farmer's cheese, from milk. Yum.
Okay, get busy writing Chris!!!!
Not Iraq though. LOL.
I wound up getting pulled over at some police checkpoint between Havana and Cienfuegos. The cops kept me on the side of the road for a good forty-five minutes asking me questions- mainly about Obama and the easing of US sanctions. Eventually I had to slip $80 in my passport and they let me go.
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He also has talked about how the locals were very reluctant to take up common western building standards, such as proper foundations. Also he had mentioned if they needed a part or piece of equipment that it had to be Iraqi, or middle eastern sourced, because the locals would refuse to use western parts
We eventually got out of Iraq because the Shekh had someone with a stack of government credentials escort us through. I could write a small novel on how that went down, lol.
We built the villa out of precast with just the 3 of us, yes. We had local help for a few things but we did the majority of it. The finishing was all locally doe like electric, tile and what not. They were very skilled in that part of construction but not in precast. The traditional build of coluns and brick is still popular out there but when a bomb goes off everything crumbles.
I never tried, nor looked for other people/women when I was in the compound. Women outside of their homes was nonexistent. If a family went to eat there was a separate entrance for that. Only women we saw were school girls or poor peasants. Woman of breeding age were locked up, so to speak.
Our exit plan? Basically I described every vantage point we had on the building. Told them they could go any which way to escape and to meet back at the jobsite. I always carried cash on me for just an occasion. Cash is king out there and will get u out of trouble.
We had TV. I found it odd that there was Western style TV on. Women scantily dressed on some shows.
I watched a sport, no idea what it's called, where everyone is blindfolded and they lay on the ground and throw/roll a ball and try to get it in a goal. Imagine water polo played on land, blindfolded. Confused yet? I still am.
The only time I was scared was when I first got there. I came to grips that if I were to get "taken" it was going to happen and I would fight my way out. No way I was going peacefully and no way I was going to be filmed getting executed. These are the things I thought about and after being there for a few weeks my fear went away and didn't care.
@Thorns2010 we used many a thing brought over from the states and used local equipment too. I had started to write a long response to fill in the holes but it became far too long. I need to write a book, lol!
I was allowed to go out of the compound only a handful of times. There was a fear for my safety when we went looking for a crane one time. There were Iranian people in the area and they (My security)grabbed me up and got me back in the car and took me away. They said that the people in the area were being a little too curious, asking too many questions about me, so off I went.
I have a big drawn out response that I have saved in my drafts, maybe I'll finish it. There were so many other things that went on over there that could be talked about.
Keep the questions coming!
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