Rivers of Babylon
Get to know about Sunshine only a few days ago and it stirred up memories of Iraq which I visited back in 1982! During that time, there was a war going on between Iraq and Iran. The day I arrived in Baghdad and just as I was alighting from the taxi, there was an explosion a few hundred yards away from the Hilton Hotel where I was staying. What a memorable welcome that was. Life went on as usual as though explosions were a daily affair and in a few hours everyone was on the streets except that area of the blast was cordoned off.
After the official business there I took two days to visit the Ancient City of Babylon, somewhere between the Rivers Euphrates and Tigris which I call the Rivers of Babylon. I was impressed and I heard that they were already trying to re-built the Tower of Babel Took some photos there with the ancient walls as back-drop and mind you they were huge tall walls! Not surprisingly the Mueseum was named after King Nebuchednezzar. I could sense the rich history of that place! Visiting the Middle East is very enriching for these were the land of Bibilical times and read so much about them. Personally saw salt on the dessert sand which reminded me of the phrase 'Salt of the earth'. The only thing which upsets me was to see old donkeys with their leg joint broken intentionally to prevent them from running around! Another awful thing was that they did not have sewerage system in desert towns or villages! they just made a pipe and everything just went into the sand! Through years of doing that certain villages were somewhat flooded with sewerage water and oh! the stench!
Going home was a bit scary because we had to take off in the early hours of the morning around 2am to 3am and you were required to check-in around 8pm! Moreover all flights took off in the dark for fear of being shot down! No cabin lights and no runway lights! I never prayed so hard Welcome to Iraq!
Model of Tower of Babel.
What you described is so true. I was in Baghdad for a law enforcement missionary trip for 24 days and I’m at a loss of words to describe the place. Even the word “living hell” isn’t substantial enough.
Everywhere I go, I see bodies laying all over the streets. Children, teenagers, adults, elderly… walked past these bodies like it’s a norm. Maybe, it is indeed a common sight for them. But for us in sophisticated world, it is hard to comprehend.
I was looking at that 3 pictures, because we wasn’t allowed to travel around without US troops coverage. I wish I had more time to walk right into the heart of their town and experience life in Iraq for real.
wow
amazing…tks for this post!
It is putting a cardboard cut-out of you and then place them everywhere to take photographs. Both of the photos have the same pose.
The famous 2 hands in the pocket and with baggy pants..