Arrive in Baghdad, Iraq on October 25, 2994

In a letter to Brenda

"Its Saturday night and its about 10:30 pm. We arrived her late last
night and we were up until 2:00 am. We were up at about 6:45 this morning
and started teaching at 9:00 am. After we were done teaching for the
day we had to get our clearanced finalized for the embassy and obtain
another ID card. We ate dinner and we are now working on the lessons for
Sunday. We are teaching 6 days per week. The work week here in Iraq is
Saturday thru Wednesday. Thursday in Iraq is the equivalent of our
Saturday and Friday in Iraq is the equivalent of our Sunday. The Iraqis
are not happy that they have to attend training on Thursday.

The number of people here is unbelievable. Military personnel, embassy
personnel, Private security companies, contractors, etc.

We are staying in a compound that only houses FBI personnel. This
building used to house the Republican Army and it is a fortress. HRT is
housed here and provide protection at the inner perimeter. The military
provides protection at the outter perimeter and The coalition provides
security at a number of checkpoints and the entry to the Green zone.
Everywhere we go we wear vests, helmets and carry a sorted array of
firepower.

There is no doubt that this place was bombed heavily by the US. just
about every building has damage. We are teaching in the Adnan Palace.
The Baath building is totally destroyed. We eat dinner in the Al Rashid
palace. When we get a chance we are going to take pictures of all of
the landmarks and buildings that we have seen on the news. Saddam spent
an unbeleivable amount of money on these buildings and the furnishings

. The food isnt too bad. Havent slept much yet but as soon as my body
adjusts and things slow down I will crash.

Since we arrived the phones have been down. They tell us that they will
be working within the next few hours so I will try to call then.
Tell the kids hello, I miss all of you and I love all of you.

Happy birthday

Love David