Out my window

Somebody said they wanted to know what I saw out my window. Out of my bedroom window- not much. Just the apartment complex and the parking lot. If I lean off the balcony I could probably see the guards smoking. The view out of my living room (which I share) is much different. Out of one window is a view of the newly built mosque, which is quite beautiful. There are still a bunch of construction trucks surrounding it though. Then you see the hotel, which glows orange at night and looks a bit like a brothel. Past that is a a part of the city, which is a sea of drab colors and electrical lines strung about. Then past that are the mountains, which are a greyish green, but glow when the sun is setting. They also glow when they are on fire, which happened my first night here. I went running to Kari and she said, "oh yeah, they do that". They burn off the brush in order to prevent fire, kind of like they used to do on the prairie (good thing I read all those Little House on the Prairie books. Fire is a serious threat here. Just last month a hotel caught on fire and instead of evacuating the guests the hotel owner called the owners of the cars parked below. People were jumping out of the windows and most of them died. So, after hearing that story you can understand my fear. We do have a fire extinguisher. I checked.

Out of the other window is a huge building that is only partially built and blocks a beautiful view of the city and the surrounding mountains. Who knows if the building will ever be completed. Considering what I have seen of the skeleton, I don't know if I will ever set foot in it. Building standards around here are nonexistent. The light in my office is not quite secured and there are electrical wires just hanging out. When you walk into a room it looks really nice, but then you stop and look and it is just off. For example, the tiles in one of the bathrooms have a border of flowers that are really pretty, except one of the tiles was hung upside down.

A view out of my window leads to a segue about building standards. Ironically, as I type this the lights are out. Which happens frequently. Usually the electricity goes out and the generator kicks in. This country couldn't run without generators. This time though, the generators haven't kicked on. Anyway, that pretty much mimics my day. This morning I got up with one plan, but then I had to go get my residency visa and the day was hijacked by something else. The good news is there is an Iraqi visa in my passport that is good for two months. I have to go back then and get another one. In sh'allah it will be for a year.