30 March 2007 – Friday
Today was one of those days that didn’t seem real… I was at the Iraq/Kuwait border today. The road to the border (Abdali is the Kuwait town) is long, straight and empty once you get past Jahra, just north of Kuwait City. The land rises slowly as you approach Kuwait, and alongside the road all you see are bedu tents, goats, camels, and not much else…a bit eerie. The land is scruffy, yet it is a traditional pathway for herding and grazing. At one time, borders in this part of the world were very fluid, and what are now called Iraqis and Kuwaitis and Saudis and were then bedu all trekked about in the desert on their own, seeking food for their stock of animals.
At the border, the guards were very helpful. One spoke some basic English, and he summoned a young man who was more conversant. While waiting for the young guy, we all had a half-nodding, gesturing, smiling chat with tea served. When the young guy showed, we had a chat, and then he invited me in to the compound/border area for a meal – – why not, says I, so in I go. We were served a plate of rice big enough for a family, some beef stew and some chicken – way too much food for lunch, but when in Rome (or the neutral zone), what the heck… I must say it felt a little surreal to be so close to Iraq. (As an aside, some of the land on the Kuwaiti side of the border used to be Iraq’s, so I have actually been “in Iraq” if that counts.) After our brief lunch, I walked out on my own. The area is very quiet on a Friday, and I had this feeling I was in a movie, strutting out of the bad country into the freedom of another exotic place – I know, way too Romantic. The drive home went quickly, again with camels and many goats hovering near the road. The weather getting a bit hotter now, so the road had that kind of “hot sheen” whereby it seems to disappear as in a mirage… “Ok, Action: cue goats, camels get to the left, set up Bedu tents, spray road with water to create mist…”