Ra's Life

For those of you who don;t know the Hash House Harriers, this may be bewildering; the 'drinking club with a running problem' has been running every Friday (exceot one when a torential downpour forced them to skip the run part altogether) for over 2 years, in the Green/International Zone (IZ). Baghdad H3 bills itself as 'The Most Dangerous hash in the World', it may have been but I think my liver was at more risk than any part of my hide.

We met after dark Friday night near Saddam's Place (one of the 63 he had), 3 women and about 20 men, mostly military, ran through the streets of the IZ, doign what Hasher;s do: chasing "hare's" who laid a trail of flour blobs, false trails and checkpoints that took us past the tomb of the unknown soldier, rows of humvees, fortified walls and various compounds yelling "On On" and "Are You?" to communicate the pack that we were on trail or wondering who was.

On On (On)The trail finished in a gated villa where we did the Hash 'circle' and Down-Downs in the grass, with ice seats for the offenders, and named 4 hash virgins, including one elder Scotsman who protested loudly when his new Hash name of "English Rose" was announced - his real name is Rosie (not sure how he spells that.)
Then we headed to a giant party with an open bar somewhere with some group (I never found out who) but it was a lively gathering and filled with a mix of civilians and military from all over.

The disco at USAID After all that I returned to USAID to join the outdoor party in progress in the compound with dancing festivities into the wee hours.

Photos and more detals are coming for this post. check back later.