In the "Zone"

It has been a week since arriving in the Green Zone or International Zone. Everything is going well with my new job. I am getting to know my way around. It can be quite a chore navigating the IZ with all the check points and re-routes and lack of traffic law. It's like driving in Italy, really. I have a few photos posted to give you a sense of what I see everyday. Enjoy!

This is one of the driveways leading to Saddam's Palace.

This is one side of the Crossed Swords monument. There are two crossed swords monuments, one at each end of a parade field. You can also drive through them. The are is partially blocked now.

This is a shot taken from underneath the Crossed Swords monument.

This is the Palace Saddam used to reside in. It's used as the temporary U.S. Ebassy. It has a cafe, coffee bar, library and internet cafe. This shows what used to be a lush lawn. We use it for parking and a trailer park for military and civilians to live.

On my drive to work. I was driving our Humvee, knicknamed "The Screamer". The belts are a bit dried out and make enough noise to wake the dead.