Mike Green, center, spent 17 months in Iraq
By Mike Green, Special to The Antarctic Sun
Posted February 4, 2007
Mike Green compares the disparities between his overseas assignments in Iraq and Antarctica
The emotions of worry, exhaustion, hunger, suspicion, confusion, hope, and the blank stare of numbness can be found on the faces of these men. I worked with these men in hopes of building a better life of stability and security for their country and loved ones. It was a profoundly emotional struggle. Strong friendships were made. In the end neither they nor I will be able to judge if our time was well spent. That answer will come from the generations to follow. Together these Men and I ran cranes and heavy equipment to build a Military Base. Each day they risked their lives to earn in one hour what they made in one month under Saddam. At the end of the day we hoped that we had laid a small piece of the foundation in which prosperity, health, and peace would be built upon. Only time will tell if the toil and risk were worth it.
My Friends,* Photo Disclaimer: These “Antarctica photos are by the Author or copied from the common “twisted I drive” within the “intranet network”. The photos were placed on the “twisted I drive” (noted with “tid” in the label) to share and copy for all to enjoy.
Happy Camper is a class that all personal who wish to travel outside the realm of McMurdo have to go thru. As you know I used to instruct Winter Survival/Camping so I wasn’t that excited to be there. I was worried that I would revert back into my Instructor Mentality and begin to Field Marshall everyone. I fought the urge better than I thought I would. However, I made sure everyone was fed at night, well hydrated, and had a place to sleep comfortably before I went to bed in my “quansi hut”. Which is a snow dome made by shoveling snow into a huge pile, packing it down, and then digging a flat place to sleep inside. I slept great. So well that I got up about 20 minutes before we were picked up and all the camp chores where done. Oh well. I wasn’t the instructor. I was a student that was a slacker in the morning. It was warm enough to smoke but I didn’t have my Pipe or Cigars due to my congestion in my chest/cough. Either way, the whole experience reinforced that I am getting to old to sleep outside in the cold.
I first met Sergio Torres, 8 years ago, introduced to him by his cousin whom I met (by happenstance) on the street in Esteli, Nicaragua, Cigar Capital of Nicaragua. We bonded together as the blue smoke of our cigars disappeared into sticky summer air and the empty bottles of beer collected on the small wobbly table before us on that easy feeling afternoon. The story is way to long to explain here. But the long (Churchill) and short (Robusto) of it is that the next day I got a straight razor shave (while smoking a cigar), toured his Uncles Cigar Factories, met the Vice President of Nicaragua (now the President), had dinner with some of the finest cigar rollers alive, and to top it all off, I sang “It’s now or never” to a packed bar. It was by far one of the best days in my life.
Fast forward to February 2006. Enter Seth Pleasant Young and Kelly Pressley, add a couple of lost bags, a detour in Guatemala City, 16 hours of being late and beer at 6:45am until we get picked up by Sergio at the Airport, 4 beers (each) and 2 ” half hours later; Sergio meet Seth and Kelly.
We were there to tour the Factories and Fields of Nicaragua. We had Guaybera’s of several colors as our formal attire, Cigars of different sizes, and loads of beer, rum, and papas fritas.
Sergio is the Nephew of Nester Placensia. Nestro’s cigar factories produce more cigars than any other cigar factory in all of Central America. Also, Nester produces the only Organic Cigar in the world! These Cigars are sure to be a huge hit (they use garlic as a natural pesticide). Sergio’s Family took us all into their homes, factories, fields, and made sure we felt welcome.
Together Sergio, Seth, Kelly, and I toured the Cigar factories, fields, and a bit of the culture. It was a quick trip, with small incidents of frustration however, the large sum was fraternity wrapped like a Double Corona in a meticulously grown Tobacco leaf.