Sgt Rachel Brune,101st Sustainment Bde, 10 April 2006 MAKHMUR, Iraq - This week I rode along with the civil affairs team, on a trip back to Makhmur to look at the courthouse. I have not made the habit of hanging around many courtrooms. My idea of what one looks like is mostly formed from watching My Cousin Vinny, or one too many episodes of JAG. Makhmur looks like no television courthouse I have ever seen. Instead of hushed hallways populated by serious folks in business suits and skirts, the bare walls echo with many conversations in Kurdish and Arabic. Some men wear Western-style suits, while others wear traditional robes. Most of the women wear traditional skirts and dresses, covered over in black, although I saw one woman in a black business pantsuit. The building itself looks like it is barely hanging in there. The courtrooms are unusable; broken, dusty furniture covers the floor and the walls are stained with water and bird droppings. Most business is conducted in the three judges’ chambers, which are not too badly furnished, although the electricity is a little spotty. The civil affairs team was there to go over a tender, which is a list by a contractor, compiled in order to bid on the project for American funds. My friend, Sgt. Brian Hawthorne, and I snuck out of the last part of the meeting to take our own tour of the courthouse. As Hawthorne, Zack the interpreter and another soldier from our escort unit checked out the roof, an Iraqi police officer struck up a conversation. It wasn’t much of a conversation, but it was fun. As we spoke, I realized that the Iraqi pronunciation of my first name sounds something like Ray-jel, which is very close to Rej-jul, which is actually the Iraqi word for “man.” I think I’m going to introduce myself as Areef Brune from now on. After our visit to the courthouse, the CA team and our escorts went to visit the Makhmur market. Although it was getting close to closing time, we still attracted quite a crowd of youngsters as we trolled the marketplace. The streets were lined with stalls selling food, drinks, car parts, toys, cloth, dresses, chai sets, framed calligraphic Koranic verse and everything else you could possibly want or need and some extra things besides. We stopped at one stall filled with brightly-colored bolts of cloth in bold geometric patterns. Hawthorne and the team leader, Maj. Andy Ingalsbe, picked out some lengths to send back home. The shopkeeper had been working out of his narrow stall for more than 20 years. As I waited for the guys, I used my camcorder to shoot some video to bring with me when I come home on R&R leave in May. One or two of the children noticed my colorful collection of pens in my sleeve pen-holders. (Did I mention the new Army uniform encourages geekiness?) I then proceeded to fend off a dozen requests for my black Sharpie marker. The routine was settled pretty quickly. One child would reach for the Sharpie, I would reach my hand way in the air and say, “No!” Very soon, one child would ask the question and the other would respond, “Mister! No!” (I’m not sure if they just didn’t know the word, or if I had them really confused.) I’m glad I could share some new vocabulary with the children of Makhmur, although I’m not sure what the next Americans the children see will make of “NO!” Still, it was fun to walk through the market, and take a few pictures and memories for when I get back home. Rachel Brune is from Highland Lakes. She is currently serving in Iraq. This is a personal commentary and not an official release from the 101st Sustainment Brigade.