Kids

I love little kids. I don’t know why that is. I don’t know what it is about them. It’s just that they always bring a smile to my face. I’m always happy to see them. It’s always something of a blessing to see them because there are no kids on any camp in Iraq. Anyone stuck on this camp without going outside the wire would never see a kid. I guess it would be sort of strange for some to go a year without seeing a child.

I see kids almost everyday so for me it’s almost a blessing. I’m fortunate to have the job that I do in Iraq. At least I have the opportunity to leave camp unlike others.

I met this little boy today. He was hanging around with his Mom while she was doing some laundry. I waved to him and tried to get his attention. I thought he was cute. I didn’t have any toys to give him at the time. I usually have candy but I didn’t even bring that with me. So I gave him one of my Harvest Power Bars and a bottle of Gatorade. He was very excited about it. Then I asked his Mom if it was ok if I took a picture of him. She was ok with it. I wish I would’ve got a picture of the both of us but that might make my own boys jealous!

So I shook his hand. He said a few words but I had no idea what he said. I shook his hand. I asked him what his name was but I knew he wouldn’t understand. So I waved and said bye. I repeated it several times and finally he repeated what I said. He said bye too and waved his hand. I also gave him a thumbs up and he gave one right back to me. I think to the Arabic culture the thumbs up gesture is something obscene but I don’t care. To us Americans it means something good.