I'm Going to Iraq
It’s looking very likely now that I will be accepted for a –30-day– 42-day (after 42 days, you get 25% bonus hazardous duty pay) deployment to Baghdad in support of a project for the Iraqi justice system, with which the Emerging Markets segment of BearingPoint is assisting. I’ll be mentoring a small team of Iraqi developers, introducing them to software engineering in general, and .NET 2.0 technologies in particular.
After 12 years of embargo, even the most technical of Iraqis have had access to only ancient (pre-1992) technologies, and they need to ramp up fast. I am very excited to have the opportunity to participate in their growth, and can’t wait to get on the ground.
I’ll ship out in mid January, and come back a month later.
A few things:
- What to bring
- What tech to bring
- Steps to take now to work around high-latency satellite link
Someone I’ll be working with on the ground turned me on to TravelSmith, purveyor of clothing and other stuff for the traveler. One of their remarkable innovations: the 8 Days a Week travel pants, which never wrinkle and have some sort of antibiotic treatment to prevent odor. Sweet.
I’ll also need a lifetime supply of MP3s, both music and Teaching Company courses, some books, and my digital camera. The list isn’t by any means complete yet; I’ll build it up over the next month as I notice things I’ll want around.
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