Baghdad Burning

Editor's Note: This is an edited excerpt from "Baghdad Burning: Girl Blog from Iraq" by Riverbend, published by The Feminist Press. The book is a collection of blog entries that rougly span the first year of U.S. occupation, from August 2003 through September, 2004.

Saturday, September 06, 2003: Bad, Bad, Bad Day

Bad #1: Mosque shooting.

Bad #2: No water.

Bad #3: Rumsfeld.

Today in Al-Sha’ab area, a highly populated area of Baghdad, armed men pulled up to a mosque during morning prayer and opened fire on the people. It was horrific and chilling. Someone said three people died, but someone else said it was more . . . no one knows who they are or where they’re from, but it’s said that they were using semiautomatic machine-guns (not a part of the army arsenal, as far as I know). And these were just ordinary people. It’s incomprehensible and nightmarish . . . if you are no longer safe in a shrine or a mosque, where *are* you safe?

No running water all day today. Horrible. Usually there are at least a few hours of running water, today there’s none. E. went out and asked if there was perhaps a pipe broken? The neighbors have no idea. Everyone is annoyed beyond reason. A word of advice: never take water for granted. Every time you wash your hands in cold, clean, clear water -- say a prayer of thanks to whatever deity you revere. Every time you drink fresh, odorless water -- say the same prayer. Never throw out the clean water remaining in your glass -- water a plant, give it to the cat, throw it out into the garden . . . whatever. Never take it for granted.

Luckily, yesterday I filled all the water bottles. We have dozens of water bottles, both glass and plastic. Every time there’s even a semblance of running water, we put something under the faucet to catch the precious drops. We fill bottles, pots, thermoses, buckets -- anything that will hold water. Some days are better than others.

The problem is this: when the electricity is off, the municipal water pumps don’t work -- the water pressure is so low, the water won’t go up the faucet. When there *is* electricity, everyone starts up their own, personal water pumps to fill the water tanks on the roof and the water pressure drops again.

Washing clothes is a trial. Automatic washers are obsolete -- useless. The best washers to use are those little “National” washers. They look like small garbage bins. You fill them with water and detergent and throw the clothes in. The clothes rotate and swish for about 10 minutes (there has to be electricity). We pull them out, rinse them in clean water, and wring out the excess water. The excess water goes back into the washer. After the washing is done, the dirty soap water is used to wash the tiled driveway.

Washing dishes is another problem. We try to limit the use of dishes to what is absolutely necessary. Most of the water we store in buckets and tubs is used to wash people. We wash using the old-fashioned way -- a smallish tub full of water, a ladle, a loofah, soap, and shampoo. The problem is that because of the heat, everyone wants to wash at least twice a day. The best time to wash is right before going to bed because for a few heavenly minutes after you wash, you feel cool enough to try to sleep. I have forgotten the delights of a shower . . .

To make matters worse, Rumsfeld is in Iraq. It’s awful to see him strutting all over the place. I hate the hard, smug look that seems plastered on his face . . . some people just have cruel features. The reaction to seeing him on TV differs from the reaction to seeing Bremer or one of the puppets. The latter are greeted with jeers and scorn. Seeing Rumsfeld is something else -- there’s resentment and disgust. It feels like he’s here to add insult to injury . . . you know, just in case anyone forgets we’re an occupied country.