From:  Bob Keith - Cool Dadio Media - Sulaymaniyah, Iraq, Monday, 3:00 p.m. 16 October 2006.

 

  The first version of this email did not send so well because the pictures were too big. So here is a second try with picture that should be easier to open.

 

  Remember, I am a cultural observer and writer, not a war correspondent.  So today readers get pictures of an Iraqi sandwich shop. They put up a sheet over the front of the shop to hide that they are eating during the day during Ramadan.  Experts on Islam and Ramadan are welcome to correct me.  Inside, the guys wait patiently for the "burgers" to come forth. An Iranian guy who frequents the shop calls the sandwich a kabob sandwich.  The Kurds call it a "burger."  All I know is the kabob-burgers are good.  Women stop by too but only for take out.  The beer shop is next door - open almost 24-hours. 

 

  The brother of the sandwich shop cook drives an ambulance and frequently stops by to help for a bit between emergency calls. He parks the rig outside the shop - it has a red crescent on the side.  He wraps sandwiches, has a beer, and talks politics before going back out again.  I do not know if I will have time to ride on an emergency call with him.  For those of you that do not know, I was an emergency medical technician for 10 years - among other things.

 

  Taking pictures of society and studying societies - especially those we Americans have had wars in and with - is my gig.  So taking pictures of and writing about sandwich shops, street life, bars, restaurants, street vendors and shops, street hookers, bus rides and taxis from hell, and university pictures are the best I can usually do.  However, if some entity or person out there does happen to be interested in me going into the heavy war zone they would have to pay an exorbitant fee of sorts.  Say hypothetically of course, something like around 50,000 non-refundable U.S. Dollars for two months work up front, plus paid taxes on the same, plus expenses, plus 150 U.S. Dollars a day while in-country, likewise all non-refundable.  So you see, sandwich shops are probably going to have to be a good war zone footage for now.   

 

End of message.

 

Bob Keith - Cool Dadio Media
 

    - Finish your own sandwich in Sulaymaniyah, Iraq.  The cook will give you the meat in the
bun, but then you are on your own.  Photo by Bob Keith, October 2006 -