As I head into my 11th (!) month here, I should mention that there have been constant improvements in the facilities and quality of life around here. Since I moved in, the dining facility was moved to a new building and they have used the old space in the Palace for a smaller Sandwich-Salad-Soup Lunch Line. They also added a fancy lounge area, Internet Café, and library. Most likely, all improvements will be complete just as we all leave and hand it back over!
The crown jewel is the addition of the “Green Bean Café” which has become the much sought after Starbuck’s-like chain of Cafés for remotely deployed U.S. Bases around the world. Sitting in a calm Café in the middle of Baghdad (complete w/ that coffee-shop Euro-jazz music) is rather surreal.
It is hard to explain the lines of caffeine-addicted people ready and willing to pay for an over-priced coffee even though free coffee is about 20 feet away! You might think coffee named “Green Bean” would turn people off..... the business plan for this thing needs to be studied in business schools. It serves as a monopoly for this service. Much of the facility & utility costs are absorbed by the U.S. Government. Employees are hired from just about anywhere in the world… with the result of employing some amazingly industrious guys who deserve to be paid a lot more than they are getting.
The law of supply and demand is completely out of whack. The customer base has very few things to spend cash on, making the act of spending it a luxury in itself. The next closest Starbucks is between 2000 and 10000 miles away. The next closest “Green Bean Café” is probably much closer, but it’s down the road, which may or may not have an IED on it!