Day 13: A quiet Friday

Temperatures reached 100 degrees here; it was a dry heat though, so it wasn't too bad.

There were no events to speak of from insurgents. And yesterday's gate explosion was, in fact, a self detonation by security troops who discovered a car parked in the wrong area for too long. You can never be too careful.

I see that the Lakers are headed back to the finals ... being from the East Coast, I'll have to pull for the Celtics. I'd like to see KG win a ring, he's been a class act his entire career and deserves it.

Laundry in this heat isn't fun, but it does tend to get dry quick. I did the entire set in an hour.

In the distance I could finally hear prayers over the loud speakers. I'm used to that having spent two years in Turkey. At the time, my dog would sit and stare off into the distance towards the mineretts and howl ... as if he were praying along.

My diet is a challenge as I'm taking in what I would consider "junk" food -- there's no salmon, brown rice, wheat pastas etc. So I make due with what's left and try to watch the calories.

Tonight I'm working my abs at the gym. I can feel they need work.

And I'm back on my green tea and protein shake ritual; and it would be great if I could ad some red fruits to the mix. That will have to wait though and I gry to get a little more settled here.

I find myself wiping dirt from my face quite often as it tends to swirl about here. I even bought seven or eight scarvs from vendors. That way I can wrap them around my head like locals to keep such mess out of my eyes and mouth. Or at least try.