I received a notice today that my friend and former colleague, Aaron, had posted more good stuff on his blog Wingtips on the Ground. I was particularly amused by this photograph:
I also noticed that my updates must not have been coming through, because he has put up a lot of new posts I had not seen that included a plethora of interesting information about diplomacy and the security situation in Iraq. I think Aaron is a natural diplomat; while I was in Japan, I watched how he interacted with people and, although I don’t think he knew it, I tried to emulate him in a lot of ways. It gives me hope, knowing he’s on the ground in Iraq; if anyone can cut through cultural difficulties, it is Aaron. I loved the pictures of him with Iraqi kids, too. I loved the Iraqi children I worked with when I was volunteering here with refugees; like children in Japan, there was an innocence and lack of materialism that we do not see as much here in the U.S. Thinking about Aaron working on bringing drinking water and soccer fields to rural Iraq certainly makes my day — and Aaron, if you need more chocolate chip cookies? Just say the word. 
