Just one of those days...

Today was the anniversary of the 100% "referendum" in favour of Saddam last year, it was also the first day of the new dinar notes without Saddam's head on. There's been a lot of tension in the air and a heavy presence of soldiers. I came back to my hotel just now to find the proprieter sitting with his head in his hands - everything was going wrong: few guests, little water, problems getting supplies... and the fortifications around the Palastine hotel 200 meters away are extending each day, as if to gobble up the poor little Al-Fanar hotel.

I've had a frustrating day today, probably my low point in Baghdad. The finale just now was wandering into a roll of unexpected newly laid razor wire in the dark and cutting up my legs and new trousers. From 8am-6pm I drove all around Baghdad - Saddon to Mansour to Kadhamia to Sadr City, back to Kadhamia, to Rashid Street and then Karada, and every single meeting I had arranged was cancelled "bacher inshallah." In the process I managed to twice miss my dearest Iraqi friend Jamil (who was my flatmate in Jordan for 5 months) who I've been trying to meet with since I arrived two weeks ago, but with phones not working it's been so difficult. Anyhow, there's my moan. Obviously a lot of people in Iraq have much more serious things to moan about.

On a lighter note, here's that man walking a sheep (passed some bemused soldiers outside the Palastine hotel) I mentioned yestarday:



Apparently Bremer was trying to flirt with one of my Iraqi friend's girlfriend. She is one of the few Iraqis to have got a job with Bechtel and was at a CPA reconstruction meeting. She'd very beautiful and caught Mr.Bremer's eye, and he invited her to come up for a ride over Baghdad in his helicopter. Luckily she had the wits to decline pleading a fear of heights, otherwise my friend (on the left below) might well have become the next bomber.