I stranger bought us expensive suits and told us we were going to go to the Iraqi Government, the US Embassy and potentially meet the Iraqi Prime Minister... this is what happened instead...
On our first day in Baghdad Iraq we had the misfortune of meeting this very suspicious man. At the start, he was very kind, put together and we took a liking to him right away. It was very clear he had a lot of money.
Once we met him, he was talking himself up, saying that if we went around with him he could show us things like Saddam Hussein's Palace, the US Embassy, the Iraqi Government and potentially meet politicians such as the US Ambassador and the Iraqi Prime Minister. It sounded too good to be true but when he told us about his job, working with US generals and for the Embassy, and having a US passport, we believed him... we are stupid, don't be like us.
So we met up with him the next day. He told us to bring no money and don't worry about paying for anything! He bought us nice suits and shoes. Even at this point I was a little sussed out, like why not start with a lunch or a coffee, we are just two dumb, irrelevant vloggers, we ain't special dude.
My first red flag was when we were approached by a nice man in the street who wanted to have a conversation with us and bring us out for shisha some night soon. He got all upset we were making new friends and rushed us in a cab. He started to give us shit about trusting strangers. I tried to tell him he was hypocritical since he is stranger to us. He said he is an officer and works with the US embassy and he knows the streets. I tried to tell him that these are just words and I don't know these things are true. I was very close to asking for evidence of this stuff, I really wish I did before we continued the day even further.
We took a quick lunch then went back to our hotel to rest up before the evening. He started to come around on me at lunch as we were making jokes over tea. But just cause a guy is funny, doesn't mean he should be trusted.
We waited till 10pm to leave with his private driver. We met him in his neighbourhood where he claimed the military and police presence were his private guards.
We went to "Saddam Hussein's" Palace that for some reason opens at 10:00PM? It was a complex with stores and restaurants and had been open all day. We also didn't need the suits for this part which he insisted we did. As much as it's a nice gesture I did not want to be wearing these damn suits.
The next stop was the most sus stop of the night.He claimed we were meeting the Ex - Finance Minister who served under Saddam. Apparently such a prestigious man lives down a dark ally. We were made to wait at the door. For him to get in position, maybe? We walked in to him doing prayers (later we looked it up and it was not prayer time). We met, sat for a quick second, had a few sips of tea then he said okay, time to go, BUT first pictures. This was the only time he ever took out his phone to take videos or pictures the whole night. We took some photos with the "finance minister" and his family then he filmed us, asking us to say "___ is a great man with a nice family and home" very strange....
At this point I was over it. But we made one more stop at a mosque where once again he was getting on our case about talking to strangers. but i did not want to listen to him and struck up a conversation with a kind Afghani kid who told us his story about escaping Afghanistan. I really wanted to hear the kid's story but he insisted on interrupting us to give the guy shit about having a visa and him being here. At this point I WAS OVER IT! I wanted to go home and cry in the shower.
We went home and I let out all my feelings on camera. I don't think I've ever been so vulnerable on this channel, but fuck it.
The next day we didn't talk to the guy or leave are hotel. We started to develop crazy theories about who he was and get in our heads. It honestly kept me on edge for the rest of my stay in Iraq!
But I don't want this video to convince you not to come to Iraq! GO TO IRAQ. It is an amazing place. The mistakes we made in this video have nothing to do with Iraq, they have everything to do with us being stupid and not keeping our guards up. No matter where you go, you can't trust everyone. But talk to everyone you see, have tea if they invite you, build up some trust before you get in their vehicle or go to their house. There's levels to this. This goes without saying ANYWHERE you go. Not just the middle east! I am still a very trust worthy traveler, but I also realized I can't be bought over, and the people I wanna meet traveling will never be the people who want to buy me things. I'm attracted to good vibes and good energy, not money. I hope to continue to meet those kind of people around the world from now and not trust those who just wanna toss money at you and are REALLY SUS!!!!
INSTA - YABOYSEAL
Conner's channel; @SmallBrainedAmerican
18 ноя 2022
