Home » Archives » "A different culture for women"

A different culture for women

Dec-29-2005 » Filed Under: 172nd SBCT

Link to Full Article
By Margaret Friedenauer, News-Miner

While embedded with Fort Wainwright's 172nd Stryker Brigade in Mosul, Iraq, reporter Margaret Friedenauer is sharing some personal observations and smaller stories through her Web log. Two of those entries follow. The full Web log, her news stories and photos can be found at www.newsminer .com/iraq.

(Dec. 28)

While visiting surrounding villages today, I had to check my girl-power at the door.

The area surrounding Forward Operation Base Q-West, where the 4th Battalion, 11th Field Artillery of the Stryker Brigade is stationed, is rural, dusty and reminds me of scenes from "The Grapes of Wrath."

In general, homes around here are simple, usually with no windows, second floors or extraneous trappings. They look adobe-like.

The building process is actually thousands of years old. The locals build with brick then make a concrete-like mixture of gypsum, found locally, animal dung and water. The mixture is plastered over the bricks and dries to light henna color.

Local sheiks or muktars and other influential leaders often have larger, more conventional homes. So do residents in the larger cities in the area.

But the villages are simple, to say the least. There are sheep being herded, chickens running free, barefoot children clamoring to see the soldiers and asking for candy or gifts. The children wear an odd assortment of clothes: old Nike sweatshirts, flip flops, dusty T-shirts and dresses. One little girl today had a snowman shirt on that said "Herbst" which I think is "fall or autumn" in German. [...]


Post a comment

(If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by a site administrator before your comment will appear. We appreciate your patience.)

Advertisements