bruce's day off

welcome to baghdad, iraq...and my feddish with doorways. no, goliath doesn't live here...it's just the popular fad for the century.

i had the privilage to see the Al Faw palace with other military and local (iraqi) dentists after an excellent dental conference with lectures on cleft palates, forensics, and management of jaw fractures. the following are pictures of the palace so friends and family can enjoy a piece of history. i love and miss y'all.

inside you'll find...

gorgeous chandeliers...this one is in the middle and is HUGE! and, yes i laid on the floor to take the picture...generals and other officers looking on. i don't get what's so unusual about getting on the floor. hmmmmmm.

MASSIVE marble and granite pillars...yep, i was laying on the floor for this one too. that's three stories you're looking up. woohoo. to answer my sons: no, i'm not as strong as samson...at least not on these babies. but, i had to try. ha! i wonder if that workout counts for p.t. i'm exhausted. oh, the hard life right? as you'll see in the next pic, this lovely piece was given to Saddam by Yaser Arafat. (i feel like "little me") zoom or squint...or better yet, join the army, say i referred you so i get the $2,000 bonus, and come see it for yourself. deal?

ok, you'll also find...

a marble staircase with dangling crystal for half the trip up the stairs. and if you look close you'll see a lot of light colors on the ceiling around the chandelier...this is common in all the palaces or finer buildings i've been in. i think it's plaster molds that have been painted. gold plating is common in other buildings.

here's a closeup of the intricate detail. it's really quite stunning. i love detail, but doing this would drive me crazy...for those of you that don't think i'm there yet.

the view from the top floor is nice too. no, i do have some respect...i didn't check for a good echo. but, i was tempted.

and here's my new friend and colleagues....the local iraqi dentists that attended our conference with us. they all speak near perfect english. they were very courteous and loved to explain/translate the arabic writing on the walls, ceilings, floors, etc. they also pointed out all the locations Saddam put his initials into the building. while this is a pretty place, they made a point to say that northern iraq is much more beautiful and there was a mind blowing palace there that was destroyed a couple decades ago in war. pity. anyway, these are great people. they appreciate the good done here and are more like americans than most people seem to realize. being here and making more muslim friends has helped me to only solidify my fondness for them. they are generally a god fearing, people loving nation. may god bless them like he's blessed me.