Lock Down

I have talked to my brother since he has been over in Iraq. He has told my family a little bit of how he has been living and how things have been going for him. When he first arrived there, two of the deported groups were there overlapping their times. The ones that had already been there for a year were ready to get out. My brother first had to stay in a 10 by 12 room with seven men sleeping in it. He said that the mattresses were so old, that he would wake up with bruises from the springs. The food there is apparently the same every day and he has started to figure out what is the best to eat. For his job, he is in a big building where the Iraqis used to torture people. Most of the time he just sits by a computer he works with that has three different screens for him to pull up different things on. He says that there are also big holes in walls all over the fort, that are from J-dam's. The holes are about 5 feet wide and look like they would have caused a lot of damage.

As he has gotten settled in, he now shares a room with two other guys. My parents are starting to send him things back home that it would take away the monotony of the day and benefit his living. My dad sent him some comic book, candy, thermal clothes, and soon some boots. From Iowa to Iraq, it takes about two to four months to ship, depending on how big the item is and any difficulties along the way. I can not remember how long the first package took to get to him but I do not think it was too long for all the way across the world. There is a nine hour time difference between here and Baghdad. Usually he calls us when it is almost midnight for him on Sundays, making it around three for us. My dad always is great at keeping a good conversation with him. He found out that the people my brother used to get along with back at the base, now he can not stand and clashes with. And the people he used to not get along with he now does. He says that those people do not seem to have freaked out from the deployment over and their situation there and that is why he gets along with them better over there.

Recently for a couple of weeks we did not hear anything from him. My mom was worrying, but then again she always does. He finally called us but it felt like he was very distant. He seemed scattered and he could not really talk about anything. Then about a week or so ago he called again and seemed more talkative. He told us that they had been on lockdown and did not have internet or phone use. Two of their men had been killed when they were on patrol. Since their group had been there they never really felt the danger until then. The deaths really made things more realistic.