Signs of Progress in Dahuk, Iraq - Iraq Project II
This is a reposting of my Iraq Project II. I will post a dispatch-entry Monday thru Friday until the original project is recreated. The real-time journey was posted by The Janesville Gazette in February and March, 2008.
Signs of Progress in Dahuk Iraq
posted February 26, 2008
Even though the temperatures hover around freezing, the street economy bustles in Dahuk. Areas vacant last time are built up this time. On the end of downtown they finished a bypass that was just a big hole in the ground last time. On the ride here we passed several eighteen wheelers struggling up the steep foothills. Some were carrying bags of cement and others were carrying reinforcement rods for all the new construction.
.JPG)
- Small cafe in Dahuk, Iraq, photo by Bob Keith, February, 2008 -
I found both my Internet shops. One has not changed so much. The other has gone upscale with a kerosene stove, carpeting and new computers. It may be worth noting at this point that there are workers tending to streets, garbage trucks picking up trash, and workers planting trees along the roads. I am not the one who came up with this next observation but it bears repeating, "If you are picking up the garbage; watering the flowers; there is actually glass in the windows of houses and shops; then, the war is on hold in your town."
.JPG)
- Stocked with products, street market in Dahuk, Iraq, photo by Bob Keith February, 2008 -
I found my little hotel on Cigarette Street. They on the other hand, have not changed a bit. The room is eight bucks a night - no heat. There are plenty of blankets and 200 TV channels. Last year the sleepy clerk did not register my name and passport number in his book. The hotel police (they check hotels for bad guys) were not happy about this and dragged me out of the room at 3:00 a.m. in the morning one night. After a few cell phone calls to the border to double check on my entry into the country, I was served tea and a cigarette by the plain-cloths cops. This year I walked the same clerk through the sign-in process - actually, isn't that his job?. Perhaps then, this year I will not be rousted out of my warm bed in the middle of the night to prove I am not a bad guy.
Bob Keith
Dahuk, Iraq
Signs of Progress in Dahuk Iraq
posted February 26, 2008
Even though the temperatures hover around freezing, the street economy bustles in Dahuk. Areas vacant last time are built up this time. On the end of downtown they finished a bypass that was just a big hole in the ground last time. On the ride here we passed several eighteen wheelers struggling up the steep foothills. Some were carrying bags of cement and others were carrying reinforcement rods for all the new construction.
- Small cafe in Dahuk, Iraq, photo by Bob Keith, February, 2008 -
I found both my Internet shops. One has not changed so much. The other has gone upscale with a kerosene stove, carpeting and new computers. It may be worth noting at this point that there are workers tending to streets, garbage trucks picking up trash, and workers planting trees along the roads. I am not the one who came up with this next observation but it bears repeating, "If you are picking up the garbage; watering the flowers; there is actually glass in the windows of houses and shops; then, the war is on hold in your town."
- Stocked with products, street market in Dahuk, Iraq, photo by Bob Keith February, 2008 -
I found my little hotel on Cigarette Street. They on the other hand, have not changed a bit. The room is eight bucks a night - no heat. There are plenty of blankets and 200 TV channels. Last year the sleepy clerk did not register my name and passport number in his book. The hotel police (they check hotels for bad guys) were not happy about this and dragged me out of the room at 3:00 a.m. in the morning one night. After a few cell phone calls to the border to double check on my entry into the country, I was served tea and a cigarette by the plain-cloths cops. This year I walked the same clerk through the sign-in process - actually, isn't that his job?. Perhaps then, this year I will not be rousted out of my warm bed in the middle of the night to prove I am not a bad guy.
Bob Keith
Dahuk, Iraq
Comments