by John Sprague

Created on: February 06, 2007   Last Updated: May 01, 2007

While living in the Mideast part of the world, my experiences have been numerous. Where do I begin? I've been here for over three years and have covered most of the distance between the Saudi border and the border with Turkey. I could talk about people places or things. I could probably fill a large manuscript on what I have observed about customs and religious beliefs in the Muslim world alone. I could discuss the war and what I have seen or the politics involved and my interpretation of all of this.

Yes, I have worked with and for the military here as a contractor. My first assignment was in Kuwait and later in Iraq from south to north. I compiled over two journals and then turned to my computer for additional writing. My website has a great deal of pictures I have recorded while working here. I've observed the military closely and have got to know a lot of different people from different countries. I've worked in Security, Materials Management and Logistics.
In Kuwait, I met Egyptians, Nepalese, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Kuwaitis, Bosnians, Albanians, Asians and Americans from many states. Kuwait is a rich oil country where foreign labor does most of the work. Kuwaitis do run the police and military. While in security, I got to know a few of their forces as well. I drank a lot of tea with the Egyptians. They did most of the security guard work there along with the Nepalese. Part of my job then was to check on the guards at the different sites around the country.
My first six months there, I covered most of the country on a daily basis and saw a lot of camels, sheep, goats, scorpions, vipers, a few sandstorms and lots of desert in between. The people that I met there were very nice and we got into a few intense discussions about the war, religion, customs, languages and different countries and their politics. It has been an education in itself.
Kuwait is not a very big country. It is probably about the size of RI with a Texas and a California next to it. Kuwait City could be about the same position on a map as Providence is in our US state. The large neighboring countries are Saudi Arabia and Iran while Iraq is also huge in area compared to Kuwait. Kuwait discovered Oil in 1938 and things have been on the up and up ever since. Kuwaitis drive a large number of Mercedes and BMW's and have their share of Porsches and Ferraris. They are quite affluent by anyone's standards. In fact, I had heard that the Kuwait government shares its oil wealth with its people. The

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