Fahrenholz 1

Alexis Fahrenholz

Professor Debra Jizi

UWRT 1104

15 November 2017

Expatriate Interview

My father was in the National Guard and was deployed to Iraq/Afghanistan two

separate times, not back to back, but added together would

almost be a total of two years spent there.

1. What surprises did you encounter in the new country?

The conditions in which people lived over in Iraq was something

that was very surprising. The infostructure, no power, people

living in huts and other building similar to that. The rural areas.

2. What differences did you notice?

Less infostructure, less paved roads, the architecture was

very different compared to here at home.

3. How did you adjust?

The military didnt live with the general population while over

there. They had their over area where they stayed together.

Pretty much just had to suck it up I guess, And deal with the

situation.

4. Were there any particular challenges you faced when

returning to the United States?

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When returning to the U.S. one of the hardest things was getting use to the fact that not

everybody was trying to kill you. Getting back to the swing of things was difficult, all the hustle

and bustle. Over there in Iraq/Afghanistan, everybody is so chill and not in any hurry or a rush to

do things.

5. Do you recommend the experience for someone else? Why or why not?

Highly recommend traveling abroad because you get to see and experience more and different

things. Makes you appreciate things more when you see what these people are living without

compared to what we have at home.

6. Despite being the fact that you were U.S. military, were the people generally nice?

The people in Iraq/Afghanistan were yeah, generally nice.

7. What was the weather like over there?

The weather was very HOT! Cold when we first got there in February and warmed up towards

the end of March. Then it was around 110-120 degrees almost everyday during the summer

months until December started rolling around. Then it started getting cool and rainy.

8. How did the people interact with you?

The people seemed welcoming, we had to do a lot of our talking through interpreters.

9. How did this experience change you?

Well like I said, gave me a better appreciation for what we have here.

10. How were you able to communicate to those of us back here at home?

Usually by telephone, and then later on I was able to use skype. Even though they were

surrounded by places that had power problems, they actually had their own generators.

11. What was the potable water situation like?

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While us soldiers drank bottled water while over there, the people of the country drank whatever

they could. They would drink canal water and stuff like that.

12. Were there any attractions that you got to see?

The Baghdad Zoo, Ziggurat of Ur, some of the palaces in the area.

13. What were some of the animals that you encountered and interacted with?

There were camel spiders, little lizards, camels.

My Thoughts

My thoughts on the country are that it does not seem like a place I would like to live in

for an extended period of time. I knew that Iraq/Afghanistan was, I guess you could say,

a poor country like you see in the movies. But hearing a person you know speaking their

experience and seeing the pictures that they took, makes you realize that it is actually like

that.

Like my dad said in the interview, he learned to not take the simplest things for granted. I

think he gained friendships, memories, the experience, good and bad. Going over to

Iraq/Afghanistan in a war zone is obviously going to be a traumatic experience but I

know it taught my dad many things that he will carry with him throughout his life.

My thoughts on visiting other countries are simple, go everywhere and do everything!

Maybe not necessarily near a war zone but nowadays, everywhere can potentially be a

war zone. Its just life and you cant let it hold you back. So far I have been out of the

country a handful of times and hope to do it many more. Its just amazing with how

different each country is from one another and all the and seeing how all the different

cultures vary.
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Journal Entries

11/14/2017-Prep 7:26 p.m.

I discovered I could use my dad as the subject for this interview. To me he would be the

perfect candidate for this topic because he has definitely lived outside of the country for

almost two years. The directions also didnt say why the person was living in the other

country so I feel that it means it didnt matter that he was over there for military purposes. In

order to prepare for this interview, I found pictures from my dad's time there and tried to get

some background on the objects in the pictures; which I will bring up in the interview. I am

hoping to be able to hear and learn a little bit more about the time my dad spend there and

have him to talk about the cultural experiences he was involved in.

11/15/2017-Post 9:32 p.m.

I didnt really know what to expect from this interview. I have asked my dad random

questions throughout my life about his experience overseas but never for something like this.

Of course I didnt ask a lot because I wasnt really sure what to ask. I did learn some new

things I didnt know about but not a lot. I am glad I did this interview with my dad though,

just because In a way it was kind of a bonding experience.