May 11, 2003

Going Out of Business

AN NAJAF, Iraq – I would be the only person on the roof of the hotel if it weren’t for these TV guys setting up for tomorrow’s broadcast. I can’t understand a word they holler at each other in Arabic standing six feet apart.

“Mohammed! Mohammed! Blah blah blah blah blah!!!”

If they weren’t up here disturbing my peace, I’d enjoy the humid aroma of a just-passed desert thunderstorm; the distinct freshness of the remaining moisture evaporating into the arid atmosphere.

Even at night the water doesn’t accumulate. Iraqis have a saying; a Spring rain does not make it wet.

The three-quarter moon illuminates the night wonderfully. Without the light from the computer screen, after about 10 minutes outside one would be able to see as if during the day.

During the thunderstorm I came up to the roof to experience the first precipitation I’d experienced in more than a month. It was no Florida downpour, but I’ll take it. The water disappeared within minutes of striking the ground. The roof appeared pockmarked with droplets as if it’d just began raining, and it had been coming down for about half an hour by the time I got upstairs.

And now the sky sits nearly cloudless. A gentle breeze blows dust around that I have to occasionally clear off of the computer keyboard. And for the time being my peace has returned as I’m serenaded by car horns and dogfights even at nearly 11 p.m.

The day was easy. We made the return drive to An Najaf from Al Basrah after covering the arrival of the Ayatollah Mohammed Baqr al Hakim (more about his arrival in a subsequent journal). The nearly five-hour drive was, as roadtrips should go, rather uneventful. Our driver displayed his outstanding skill by avoiding some charging cows that decided rather suddenly to dash across the two-lane highway. Hitting a 1,000-pound cow would’ve put one hell of a dent in the Peugeot.

Along the way down to Al Basrah and back, U.S. Army and Marine convoys lined the road like black worker ants to and from the hill. Nothing else of note caught our eye.

We got back to the hotel and unloaded our gear like a homecoming in KR’s An Najaf Bureau. After three weeks here, the writer is headed home after three months on the road, and I’m headed to Baghdad to team up with another reporter for about two more weeks. We’ll be based there trolling for stories, I’m told. Luckily we’ll be closing the bureau’s doors in the next couple of days after al Hakim has his own homecoming. Perhaps we should throw him a party.

- Rich