“I’m Rasid Fuad, fucking moron idiot in the YPG.”

That’s the adopted name of irony left Twitter account @PissPigGranddad, whose owner has attracted attention and followers over the past few months as he fights in Syria as part of the Kurdish militant group People’s Protection Units (YPG).

I talked to Fuad about the war and his experiences in the Middle Eastern country this week over a series of text messages.

“The YPG are a socialist force aimed to establish democratic confederalism,” Fuad explained. “I joined them because of course I am a Communist, and thus an internationalist.”

Fuad’s photos from the front and quick-hit comedic takes on the war and politics have earned him a fan base in the tens of thousands since late September. He’s a long way from home.

“I was a florist in San Francisco,” Fuad said.

When he arrived in Syria, Fuad went through military training.

“I have a pistol at home, but I’m a city rat and hadn’t fired a rifle before,” he said. “Learned in training from a French Foreign Legion deserter.”

It’s a different environment for the “city rat.”

“I’m in Rojava, the primarily Kurdish area of northern Syria,” said Fuad.

The landscape is “pretty desolate in parts,” he said. Northern Syria is cold in the winter with snow and frigid temperatures. And it smells like diesel fuel, chicken shit, and gunfire, Fuad said.

“Everywhere else [it’s] like dust or it’s just too cold to smell anything,” he said.