Early October Adventures

In early October I got to go to Washington D.C and to Virginia. I LOOOVE D.C. There is an incredible energy there and I just love the fact that everyone looks so important. Here's me in front of the State Department...maybe I'll work here one day!

My boss, my coworker and I took an afternoon to tour around Williamsburg.

1 Sept. D-daddy's 90th birthday

We had a great party at Aunt Amy's and Uncle James' house.

We took Mima to the Atlanta Aquarium. She loved it! That's her looking up at the tank.

Everyone gets a treat

My parents have 4 dogs plus 1. They have adopted 4 dogs and most recently, a little 6 week old puppy adopted them when he showed up outside the gate to their property. So, the fifth dog is called "Roger Dodger." He is now 9 weeks and so smart. He's pretty wrinkly and gets even more pliable when he's tired. I think he hasn't grown into his skin yet.


Michael and I took our two rugrats to go visit my parents a couple of weekends ago and all the pups had a great time running around wrestling, sniffing all the trees, having "who can pee last on the same spot" competitions, and chasing my dad on his tractor lawnmower. Bodhi (our boy dog), Conaan (parents 2-year-old boy), and the baby (Roger) all went swimming in the pool.


Here's a picture of Roger as a very tired puppy. I wanted to take him home, but Michael said we had enough dog at home with our two hyperactive canines.


Here's a picture of me giving treats to 5 of the 7 dogs. You can't see Roger or Boo-Boo in the picture. Boo-Boo is my parents' girl dog who is sooo shy. She ended up coming up to the line a few seconds later. Roger was behind all the other dogs so he wouldn't get squashed since he's the smallest by a lot. I made sure he got a treat also. The two on the right are ours (Bodhi and Harley).

Girls are cute

This past Saturday, Michael and I had brunch with our good friend, Anne, and her 1 1/2 year-old daughter, Penny. I chased Penny with a camera capturing her every move as if I had never seen a child before. Of course I have, it's just that my photo subjects are typically just my dogs and my parents' dogs so this was a nice change. Penny's dad, our great pal James, is in Afghanistan right now. We can't wait to have him back home.

McGinleys in Chicago, 20-22 July 2007

Michael surprised me with a trip to Chicago for the weekend. When I was in architecture school a few years back, some of my friends went on a trip to view the architectural marvels the city had to offer. Due to work, school, and lack of money, I was unable to go until now. I think it may have been worth the wait to see it with more mature eyes....well, mature, I don't know about, but it was definitely worth it to see the city with Michael.







Here's us in MARTA (Atlanta's not so convenient rapid transit system) on our way to the airport.


We got in about lunch time on Friday and took the Chicago Transit into the city...it was fantastic not to even have to rent a car. Here's Michael as we stepped out into our first view of the city from the underground subway. He's standing in front of Rock Bottom Brewery....and a Chicago garbage can...not the best set up of a photo that I've ever done.







We walked to the hotel and got some world famous stuffed pizza at Giordano's based on a friend's recommendation. We ordered the small pizza and both of us couldn't even eat half of it. Here I am taking a big, vulgar bite. (I didn't get a picture of Michael eating pizza...but there's a vulgar food snapshot of him further down...keep reading!)

Later on we took a stroll to the Navy Pier and saw a Blues Brothers cover band. Here are a couple of pics of us at the pier. We went on a ferris wheel (something neither of us had donw since childhood) and on a twisting-swing ride that I coined the "gut buster." We got a pic on the ferris wheel ride, but not while on the gut buster ride....the only thing I was doing with my hands was hanging on until my knuckles turned white. Here's a pic of Michael leaving the "gut buster."




That evening, we found a real Chicago Jazz club to go to called "Andy's." There was actually Blues playing and the guy was an older man who was flirting with all the ladies in the audience. He sang a song called "I'm a Hoochie-Man".....if that doesn't help describe him then I don't know what will. Michael got called up on stage with 2 other unsuspecting males and helped make the entertainment even better.

That evening, we unexpectedly saw a sign for another one of Chicago's cultural attractions....as Borat would say....."NOOOOT." It was a sign for the Jerry Springer show...Michael is pointing it out in this picture.












The next day we went on a riverboat architectural tour given by the Chicago Historic Society. Our tour guide was fiesty older lady with a straw hat that had birds on it. She provided some very funny ad-lib commentary along with her architectural narrative. Here's a picture of her...you can kind of see her fiesty-ness in her face...I just wish I had sound bytes.

Later we saw Millenium Park which has an awesome Frank Gehry pavillion (see pic on left) and a big reflective lima-bean like sculpture...you'd just have to see it.

We had lunch in the park...Michael had a big ol'

Chicago hotdog. This is gross, but he's burping in this picture. We continued the afternoon with a quick tour of the Chicago Institute of Art...fabulous.

On a much less sophisticated note, we also saw a mailbox that looked like R2D2 from Star Wars. We don't have those in Atlanta so we felt compelled to take a picture.

This picture of an Armenian restaurant is in honor of our friend James Partamian.




Later that night we went to an awesome Italian restaurant that was bursting with people. I swore to Michael that I could tell this is was where Italian gangsters came to eat. We had oysters, homemade pasta, a bottle of wine, dessert and cappuccino. Here's a pic of Michael's opinion of the dinner and the cannoli...and here's me with a thumbs up to my favorite drink...cappuccino.

We had a fantastic time and we've already decided we'd move there if the opportunity ever came up. If you have never been to Chicago...do it!

If you take every step deliberately, then if you fall, at least you'll fall forward.

part 2 of what seemed like forever

I found this old draft that I never got to post in May 2006. I never finished it, but here it is, Part 2 of what seemed like forever.

Chris and I passed more time comparing our slick field adaptation for a towel. I had used my pillowcase and he had found a roll of paper towels. He told me that luckily he had found an extra pair of socks in his back pack so he was able to change those out; simple pleasures.

Here's me on a C-17. It might have been 3 am, but I love traveling like this. We basically only had to share the plane with 8 other folks. VIP!

account of my journey home, part 1 of what seemed forever

I just typed this on my blackberry so I could send it to Michael for him to post since I don’t have internet access right now. Unfortunately, I was too quick on my blackberry trigger finger and accidentally deleted this...so this is from memory and I hope I captured everything I initially wrote. This is just par for the course for how the last 24 hours have gone...keep reading.......

Our journey home seems never-ending and we haven’t even made it half way. Last night (Wednesday) Chris and I reported to the passenger terminal at our base in Iraq to catch a flight to Kuwait. The rest of the team had already left earlier Wednesday morning so it was just the two of us sitting on a wooden bench outside the holding tent along with a flurry of military personnel walking around waiting for their outgoing flights. It started raining a little at first and then it got a bit windy with larger raindrops. After waiting about 2 hours and seeing the lightning we heard the weather was to the point that outgoing flights were grounded. A couple of hours later our flight was given the okay and we grabbed our luggage and made our way onto one of 4 buses taking passengers to the aircraft ramp. We boarded a C-17 with over 100 other military personnel. Less than an hour into the flight, the message on the loudspeaker informed us that the plane was being diverted to Al Udeid, Qatar because of the poor visibility in Kuwait. Apparently Chris had slept through this announcement so when the plane landed and people started standing up, he asked someone if this was the Kuwait stop (the plane was supposed to continue on after stopping in Kuwait).
Not much after 3 am, we arrived in Qatar and dumped our luggage in a holding tent waiting to hear the fate of our night. We learned that we could get onto a flight before lunch....we would spend the next few hours in a crowded passenger terminal on non-ergonomic rows of metal chairs. We went across the street to the grab-and-go trailer where we were each issued a brown paper bag and allowed to choose 2 sandwiches, 2 drinks, 2 snacks, 1 bag of chips, and 1 piece of fruit. We returned to the pax terminal and wedged ourselves into some of those uncomfortable metal seats. A couple of hours later, we heard a message over the loudspeaker announcing that the flight would be delayed until after dinnertime because of the weather. Ugh. Unwilling to stay here for another 12 hours, we called a couple of our co-workers who are assigned to Al Udeid. Audrey and Tom (from my February Iraq trip) came and picked us up and drove us over to transient housing. It was so good to see familiar faces through our exhausted eyes. They dropped us off and we checked in where we were each assigned a tent and bunk number. At this point we were hot, sticky, exhausted and just wanted a place to sleep horizontally. Unfortunately all we had with us was our computer backpacks, our helmets and our vests. Since we were originally supposed to leave earlier in the day, we had already turned in our baggage to be palletized. This was a blessing because we didn’t have to keep track of it and haul it around, but it meant that we didn’t have access to any of our clean clothing or toiletries. I couldn’t think of a shower now anyway, I just wanted to lie down.
It is so bright here that it is blinding when you enter or exit a building. I was blinded by the dark contrast of the dim lights inside the female tent. It took me a minute to make out the numbers on the bunks. I walked all the way to the back right and found I had a top bunk. I put my bags down, removed my shoes and crawled up. Oh, the construction I had seen upon arriving at the transient tents....just happened to be right outside the back of my tent. It was tough to get any kind of uninterrupted sleep. I remember waking up once, actually paying attention to the loudness and wondering how in the heck I had actually been able to fall asleep to begin with. It’s crazy what your brain allows when you’re exhausted. After falling asleep and waking up a couple of more times I finally decided to wake up at 3pm. I got up, put my shoes on, got my toothbrush and toothpaste, pillowcase and walked to the “Cadillac” (latrine). The tent was cooler than the outside, but it was still warm so that I was still sticky and sweaty. I brushed my teeth and took a rinse shower (no soap, no shampoo), dried off with the pillowcase and put my old clothes back on. I surprisingly felt better at least being able to get rid off of the top layer of ick.

Chris and I met up and walked to the dining facility. It was so hot that neither of us felt much like eating. I mostly ate my salad and downed a couple of cold drinks. Speaking of cold drinks, Al Udeid is an R&R facility for the military in the Middle East so there is a pool here and personnel are allowed to have 2 alcoholic drinks per day. Issuing the drinks is highly controlled and the rules are very strict. When you arrive, you are issued a drink card which is stamped when you get a drink and pay for it. So, after dinner Chris and I thought we’d each get a drink and chill out. I haven’t had a drink since New Year’s Eve so I actually didn’t even want one; I was worried that even a single beer would affect me given the heat and probable dehydrated state I was in. My worries were quenched when we got the door of the club and saw that it was closed from 4:30 to 5:30 for cleaning. It was 4:57. This place is open 24/7. Would you believe that it is closed for 1 hour per day and that is exactly when we showed up? Did I mention par for the course? We wouldn’t have time to wait until 5:30 and then have time to get back to the pax terminal to check in for our flight. We hung our heads, got our bags, boarded the crowded bus and are now sitting on those darn metal chairs again watching ESPN. I don’t really watch ESPN so it’s just on in the background. Chris found a couple of books to read. Well, actually, he found one book to read and another one was a prop for a picture (which i accidentally deleted...or Chris purposefully deleted)...a cheesy romance novel with a pink cover and a Fabio look-alike on the cover. It’s funny to think that this book is in a military passenger terminal...I guess to some folks, this kind of reading makes the time pass quicker. It’s been about an hour so far and we’re still sitting here hoping that our flight will actually leave tonight.

Sorry, no pictures to post with this one....pretty miserable so not feeling as hammy as usual for the camera.

Erika is on her way home

She has had one helluva time getting where she needs to go these past few days due to events that may or may not have included sandstorms and runway lighting failures and nearly two days worth of waiting to get on a flight to get to the right country, but she should finally be home this weekend. Oh, and she was just hanging out with JP at whatever place they may be that I can't say that's on the other side of the world and is very hot. Such a small world! Of course, he's on his way to fight for the next year and she's on her way home (for a few weeks at least), but how neat for good friends who live right down the street from each other to be able to cross paths on the other side of the world and spend some time together.

May 2006 Sunday, continued

this is old...from May 2006 and it's part 2 of the blog called Sunday. It's not that interesting, but sometimes work in Iraq is just that, work.

We had another tour of a big airfield hangar still here from when the base was built 25 years ago. Pretty cool. Then, we had Taco Bell for lunch. Yep, there's one of those here, believe it or not. Although, they are out of lettuce so all the soft taco supremes were missing the whitish-green shredded lettuce they typically have; no big deal, I don't think that adds much nutritional value anyway. We've been sticking in the conference room working most of the afternoon and evening and the rest of the team left to go eat dinner while I stayed behind to get some work done....and type this on the blog. Before dinner we took a few minutes of respite and Mylinka wowed us with a couple of card magic tricks and we shot some photos. I think we realized that we had a lot of pictures of things, but not many of us actually being here. So, here are a couple pics of us.

Sunday Morning

Here is our team: bright and early on a Sunday morning...well, not early really, but very bright.

Take care of your Mom's and grandma's today and make them feel extra special. We have 2 mom's on our team here and although we can't take them out for a fancy dinner here, I think we may go to the Turkish Restaurant on base.

Happy Mothers Day, Mom!

Saturday 12 May 2007

Not much going on for us this Saturday night. We had more meetings and site visits today. We met some really good people today handling some of the operations. It's really good to meet people who are really trying hard and want to do a good job (and are not here just because "it's good money").



There was just the noise of the fighter jet thrusts overhead for the last minute as I'm typing this. It is so cool to hear them, but maybe if I lived here longer it would get old. However, I am pretty fascinated by them and I don't know if I would ever get tired of seeing them in the skies.



I forgot my camera in my room otherwise I would post a picture from today, instead here is a picture of Al Faw Palace in Baghdad that I took about 1.5 weeks ago.

11 May 2007

Last night I went to bed pretty late (early in the morning). I creeped into the room I'm sharing with my two team mates, changed in the dark and pulled myself like a cat up to the top bunk. Luckily it's a wooden bunk bed so it doesn't creek and squeak. I crawled under the covers so exhausted and as soon as I did all I could hear was deep, loud jet blast overhead. It seemed like it lasted for a few minutes, but my exhaustion blurred my sense of time. I think it only lasted a few seconds and was then followed by a second one. In that foggy state of mind I couldn't distinguish if the sound was of a fighter taking off or of a projectile overhead. I remember moving closer to the edge of my bunk and surveying the floor below planning my landing stance if I had to take cover. What a crazy thing to have to think about, but when you're over here, you have to be aware of the possibility.

We had more meetings today. This morning Mylinka and I tried to get some coffee and Grean Bean and we were denied when we walked in and were told the power was out and the coffee machines couldn't function. What a shame.

It actually rained a little bit today and it was cooler than usual, although somewhat windy and overcast. What this means is that it was probably only 100 degrees today instead of the 110+ degrees that it has been. We welcomed the respite from the pounding sun rays...especially when we ride in the back of the pick up truck.

On another note, our living trailers are pretty nice. We have to walk through gravel about 200 feet to the shower trailer and pretty much the same distance to the toilet trailer. Although it's cumbersome at first, you get used to having to get dressed just to get to the shower. You also get used to showering with flip flops on, not shaving, getting dust on your flip-flopped feet as you walk back from the shower, and just simplyifing your morning routine. It's all about function and time efficiency. There's no room for excess over here, and one finds a much higher priority in sleeping a couple of extra minutes than performing non-essential grooming. It's always a culture shock to go from this mode of operations back to the corporate life in Atlanta; wearing high heels, putting make up on, and walking through a stone-tiled office building to arrive at my cube. I like both, but can only take so much of either at a time.

Wed 9 May

We had a brief today which went well. The team got to check out the air traffic control tower and see a few fighters take off along with a few cargo planes land and take off. The control tower visit is always a highlight when the runway is active.

We were invited to have dinner at the facilities of a Turkish contractor on base. They had quite a spread for us. The menu was chicken kebab and lamb with flat breat and two tomato accents for the meat. Although I'm not much of a lamb eater, it was quite delicious. We had Turkish Baklava and chai tea for dessert. Delicious. (That's me on the left in the blue shirt.)

The young man waiting on us looked so young and was very efficient and on top of his game. I wondered where he was from and if this was just a temporary job and if he would be able to go back to his home country and go to college. I was very impressed with him and my impression of him was that he was very quiet, smart and did his job well. You could just see his desire to do well in every way he performed his job; he was just so meticulous. His uniform was starched white and it looked like he had just gotten his hair trimmed. I wondered what he would be doing now if he had been born into a family in the States. I doubt that he would be in Iraq serving food in a Turkish dining room to foreign contractors like me. Sometimes I focus on people who would normally fall into the background of daily life. I mean that I don't know if anyone at that table was wondering about this young man or really could even describe what he looked like. For some reason, I just got to thinking about how different our lives are.

On the way back to the office we thought we were going to be able to see some Jackals, which I guess are kind of like a cross between a fox and a dog...well, i don't know what they are really other than they are considered a pest. Anyway, I can't describe what they are since we didn't see anything.

Tuesday 8 May

More meetings and more hot weather. It feels like we eat every 2 hours because we always seem to be at the DFAC. I think that the days just go by quickly with meetings. Well, that and b/c we're at the DFAC probably every 4 hours, which is actually prett often. THere's not much to do out here other than work so an outing to the DFAC proves to be a nice excursion and a diversion from the day.

I've heard several people over here say they felt the same way about mealtimes....that it's something to do and somewhere to go so it becomes something by which you truly plan your day. I think about how many meals I've skipped and how many I just work through back home during a normal workday. Back home it sometimes becomes a nuisance and here it is such an event. It's the little things like that that I guess make the time pass quicker.

The helicopter pad at the hospital it near us so we hear the choppers go overhead several times per day. Every time I hear them it makes me stop and think...I hope that they are just doing exercise runs and not actually going out to pick someone up. Seeing the medical choppers (especially land at a hospital) really makes you stop any conversation and pause.

Monday 7 May

Well, I think I took my last load of laundry out of the dryer at 2:44 a.m. Chris fell asleep sitting up in the tv area and I fell asleep with my head down on a table by the dryers. I woke up just before the last dryer cycle finished.

We had a cool airfield tour this morning. This is typically my favorite part of my work. I got to see some fighters take off, which is always so exciting to me. It never gets old.

In the past hour we've had three announcements over the loud speaker about receiving Indirect Fire Attacks, all clear, all clear, all clear. We're just sitting here in the conference room working away on our wireless internet connections and then we hear "all clear." Crazy.

We are all well other than being a little dusty and hot.

Bunker tour

Friday 4 May, continued
Chris and I ended up sitting in a terminal at BIAP for a few hours into the early hours of the morning. Would you believe that there was wireless computer access! Crazy. It's hard to get wireless at most of the bases we've been to, but at the terminal they have it. The purpose of this trip was to meet 3 of our co-workers (Mylinka, Karen and Heyward), and our client escort at another Iraq base. All 3 team members are from our Atlanta office so it was nice to see some familiar faces.

Saturday 5 May.
Chris and I arrived at the new base at about 4:30 in the morning, then about an hour later we found transient tents to stay in until about 8:30 when we woke up. At that point we rolled out of cots to go find the team who had arrived just a couple of hours before we had. The weather is also very hot and dry here (about 100 degrees). We acquainted ourselves with another dining facility at lunch. The food is pretty much the same at every DFAC in Iraq.
After lunch we went back to the office and got our first introduction to the inside of a bunker. We were working away in the office when we heard the warning over the loud speaker and all scurried outside underneath the concrete “C” bunker. It was pretty crazy to have to react to this kind of situation. Unfortunately, as we found out from our bunker roommates (some officers from the base hospital), this is pretty standard operating procedure. A few minutes later, we heard the “all clear” and about 10 of us emerged from the bunker into daylight. About an hour later we were all in the pick up truck driving around (Chris and I were in the back of the pick up), when we heard another warning over the speaker system. Our driver had not yet stopped the car fully when Mylinka opened the door and jumped out and Chris and I literally jumped off of the back of the truck to find cover. I ran to my left behind some concrete barriers with Mylinka a few steps behind, while the rest of the team ran to the right behind a sand bag wall. Mylinka and I were sitting next to each other and at that exact point I quickly became overwhelmed with emotion and my eyes started tearing up. I didn’t cry, the moment was just intense for me and lots of thoughts were running through my head. I just couldn’t’ believe what my team and I just had to react to, that we had to literally “take cover” just in case. It is so different from my world back home...so foreign to have to react to this. A few minutes later we were back in the truck and people were walking around conducting normal business without even flinching. I flinched. I flinched and wondered why people were threatening the base on a daily basis, why it had to become normal operating procedure to identify close-by bunkers and duck under cover, why I had to jump behind a bunker. I don’t know the answer, but the folks who live and work here seem used to it. They’re not complacent; they are just used to it. It was a dose of reality for us who had newly arrived.
We continued the afternoon with a meeting, a short driving tour and a stop at the Green Bean to get some coffee. Here’s a photo op we took advantage of; from Right to Left you’ll see Chris, Heyward, Mylinka, me, Karen, and then 2 client representatives.
Going on less than 3 hours of sleep we wrapped up the day at midnight eating dinner (pizza hut). We went back to our trailers and I got on my top bunk. Mylinka was on the bottom bunk and Karen and our client shared the 2nd bunk bed in the room. Right after we turned the lights out I mentioned that I felt like I was at summer camp. It’s been a long while since I’ve shared a room with other girls on bunk beds. Well, I take that back, the lodging here in Iraq has included various tents filled with bunk beds or cots shared with numerous women. Maybe it’s just that I knew these women and that made it like camp because we talked and interacted instead of sharing a room with a bunch of strangers.

Sunday 6 May. We started our day with a meeting, ate lunch, had another meeting, went back to the office and had another meeting, ate dinner, went back and worked and then brewed some coffee with bugs in it. No, Mylinka made a fresh cup of coffee at about 10 pm and a bug flew in it right after. Chris posed for this picture. We took a short field trip to the Base Exchange where Chris ambushed me and sprayed me with about 3 good sprays of Jovan Musk for Men. Don’t ask me why he thought that would be fun to do. My nose is still burning from the potent scent on my clothes. I had to do laundry anyway so now I’m sitting in the self-help laundromat doing laundry at 1:15 am. I hope the clothes dry soon so I can get to bed.

Here’s a picture of Mylinka and me today. We were sitting in the back of the pick up as we drove back to our CHUs...the dust billowing out from the back of the tires.

Relocated office

Friday 4 May.
It is so hot over here. It feels kind of like an oven, although there is typically a very slight breeze that you can count on every few minutes which mitigates the burning. I can’t bear the thought that it gets even hotter.

While at Victory, we are squatting in a meeting area so we have to vacate every once in a while when someone actually has a meeting to run. Here’s a picture of us in our relocated, temporary office...a picnic table just outside the building. Thank goodness it had overhead cover and protection from the sun. One thing I’ll say about our teams doing this kind of work over here: I have been very impressed by our ability to adapt and work around unconventional challenges. It definitely takes a certain kind of personality to be able to handle the challenges of working over here and keep on keeping on...and still maintain a positive attitude. I think this is something Chris and I have learned from our boss, Mike G, who takes challenges in stride and tackles them with a smile.

Late night jog

On Monday, Chris H. and I saw Chuck and Chris K. off for their long journey home. I was kind of sad to see them go, but happy that it meant going home to comfortable beds and sand-free air to breathe. So, now it was down to two of us...the partners in crime.

Tuesday we mapped out our way forward for the next week and had a day to just do some work instead of going to meetings.

Wednesday we worked more and ended up going to get coffee in the middle of the afternoon. We wisely got iced coffees so as not to add to the outdoor radiant temperature of about 100 degrees. We had a good conversation about life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. On a side note pertaining to the heat, the folks at the Dept of Public Works here have been really great to us to allow us to use some of their air conditioned work space, so we only suffer when we're doing important stuff like walking to the dining facility or to get coffee or to pick up our laundry.

Thursday, today, I had no idea what day it was until I asked Chris. It 's weird how you feel like you're in a time vaccuum over here because every day is a work day and there are no things like days off or holidays. We got coffee again in the afternoon and then made a phone call to our good friend and co-worker, Wazza, who's working nearby and happens to be a Kiwi. Here's a tip on the term Kiwi: In case you have never been corrected by a New Zealander, a Kiwi is a reference to a person. If you want to discuss the brown fruit with a green inside, you have to refer to that as a kiwi fruit. I'm just forewarning all of you. Wazza is a super guy and we're lucky to have him on our team.

Later in the day, Chris bugged me enough that he convinced me to go work out. I was on a roll at working and really didn't want to go, but I finally gave up. Chris is a former West Point Army Ranger, Diver, Sapper, Airborne Captain (I'm sure I forgot something else), so he can be pretty stubborn about completing his mission...in this case it was getting me to work out. Anyway, we did a little jog/walk around the Al Faw Lake. Realistically I would say I set the pace at a granny-shuffle most of the way. Chris graciously stayed with me, however I think he tried to make me flinch as he led me to this road that ended up smelling like vomit. No, he didn't do it on purpose...or at least he acted surprised about the stink. When I started sniffing the air and mentioned it reminded me of vomit, Chris coined it Vomit Alley Road. I had to stop I was giggling so hard. He had no idea what the smell was, but noted that we were probably runnning through an industrial area and that we couldn't be picky about our jogging trail.

After this rough patch, we came to the lake. It looked really, really pretty at night with the dim lights reflecting on the calm waters. Every so often we'd here gun fire echoing in the distance and I'd ask Chris if that was real, already knowing what the answer would be, but hoping he'd say it was from training or something. We also saw some pretty cool views of helicopters flying across the sky; their silhouettes contrasting well with the night sky glowing from the full moon. The reflecting water was so pretty, but the choppers clearly reminded me of where we were. There are some interesting sights to see here and we're so busy when we're here that often I don't consciously think of where I am. Quite often I have to remind myself that I am in Baghdad...in Iraq. It's important not to forget that.

After the granny-shuffle jog we went to the gym and did some upper body weightlifting. We followed that off with a stop at the Dining Facility to catch something to eat at midnight chow; 24/7 operations over here, so there's chow in the middle of the night.

The last couple of days haven't been as hectic as usual and that has really been a blessing.

wastewater portrait and ham

Saturday 28 April 2007. We took a driving tour of the base and didn’t see too many exciting things. However, when we saw this wastewater pond under construction we asked our tour guide to halt the brakes so we could jump out, take a closer look and snap some photos. Yeah, our day-to-day lives and our work over here changes our perspective of what “cool” and “exciting” is. This especially struck me when I was thinking what to write about; I thought to myself “Oh man, this is pretty bad.” Then I thought, I’ll throw in a picture to make it more exciting....yeah, I’m just kidding, the picture won’t really help, but I’m including it anyway since I was glad I got a good shot.

Sunday 29 April, 2007. We are back at Victory Base Complex in Baghdad and met up with 2 more of our team members: Chris K. and Chris H, who both work with me in Atlanta. It was good to see them again and to add more folks to our dinner conversations. It was pretty sandy and overcast today so when we took Chuck around I felt bad that he wasn’t getting the best views of the Al Faw Palace and the lakes. Chuck was just happy that he got his photo taken on “the chair” in the Al Faw Palace; his mission was complete. Check out this very hammy picture of him. He’s a really fun guy, a good planner, has a kindred coffee addiction like mine, and has a contagious laugh. Getting to know him better has been a really good perk from this trip.

Monday 30 April, 2007. The weather cleared up a lot from Sunday and it got pretty hot, about 94 degrees. We had a good briefing today. Afterwards we went to the roof of the Palace and took a couple of pics. Here’s a pretty fun one of us that starts to show the relief after having completed another milestone for the trip (L to R: Chuck, Chris H, me, Chris K). This work has been made 100 times better by having truly great people to work with (many of whom weren't on this trip, but were on the first trip in February.) We worked a bit more and then went to the edge of the lake to watch the sun set and talk a little bit. When I closed my eyes and listened to the water it kind of felt a little bit like I was on a pier in [insert any place other than Iraq]. Of course, that feeling is short-lived when you pay attention to the other sounds around.

More: Sat 28 April

We were given a tour of some of the gardens in Camp F. Apparently the geese in the ponds are quite friendly and will talk to you in their goose language if you speak to them first. I was very surprised that the base was very jungle-like with palm trees and flowering bushes. It was still pretty dusty, but the scenery was pretty nice.

Here's another picture of me with Chuck. Chris Hurst (my coworker said I should add it to my portfolio for my future career in the State Department.)

summary of 24-28 April

This is how the past few days have gone:

Tues, 24 April: finally got called to a flight at about 2:30ish a.m. I slipped and fell while trying to get on a C-130 loaded up with the following items: my steel-framed hiking backpack on my back, computer backpack on my front, flack jacket, kevlar helmet. I stepped up with my left foot and lost my balance...I tried to recover with my right foot and stepped on a roller that they roll pallets over. I banged up my right elbow, but nothing else...good thing I had my helmet on. I arrived at a Marine base at about 4:30 am and was greeted by my trusty team mate Chuck Donaldson, who stayed up all night at the passenger terminal waiting for me. I got the key to my SWA-hut (plywood cabin) and slept for 3 hours before starting my day at 9 o'clock with meetings. Worked all day and into the night..I think we stopped at about midnight-ish.

Wed, 25 April: full day of meetings and worked until 3 a.m. Thursday a.m.; lots of coffee consumed. We took a look at a natural water pond fed by a stream. When you take a look at the clear blue waters and rocks you would think you were in the Mediterranean. You would never know that there is tactical Army equipment and HMMWVs lined up just behind me and helicopters buzzing overhead me as I took this photo.




Thursday, 26 April: more meetings, briefing/presentation, coffee and coke.We invited ourselves to lunch with the Iraqi General, but stumbled into a meeting room with translators and lots of talking instead. We ended up eating at the DFAC. Dinner was Crab legs and some kind of red meat. I don't really eat crab legs so much. As a matter of fact, I think the first time I tried them was this past February when I was in Iraq. They weren't bad...who would've thought I would like the crab legs in the middle of Iraq. Anyway, so this night at dinner the CPT asked if I would get some anyway and just give them to him. Of course I did since he's a nice guy and he's my client and likes crab legs. Well, we sat down and I thought I'd try them again. Not bad when you dip them in butter, although, I guess nothing is really bad if it's dipped in butter. About 15 minutes later he's done with his pile-o-crab and asks if I was going to give him some of what I had gotten. OOps! I had eaten about half of them already. I gave him the rest, he finished them and commented how he could eat more. Since I'm a contractor and a girl in a sea of guys, we decided our tactic for his guilt-free second/third serving would be for me to go back up to the serving line and get another plate full. It was not a problem and my client was gracious.....talk about good customer service! Here's a picture of the empty shells on the plate behind the cans.




Friday, 27 April: more meetings, another briefing/presentation, coffee and coke and coffee again. We caught a CH-53 (Marine helo) to Camp F; arrived there at about midnight just in time for midnight chow at the DFAC. We had outstanding accommodations in a hard-walled building that may have been an old Iranian Army dormitory. The building had a really nice courtyard out front with a fountain and running water that reminded us of a miniature golf course...seriously. The CPT and Chuck had about 6 bunkbeds in a room with real mattresses, pillows and sheets. Then we went down the hall to check out my room. The hallway was lined with rooms on the left and windows on the right covered by royal blue curtains. When you pulled back the curtains to reveal the view through the windows, however all you see is sandbags so no light gets in...war zone decor. (see picture of hallway and then of sandbag windows)




We got to my room, the last one on the left, and there was a sign on it that said Ms. Erika McGinley. I felt so important. I told the Marine Sgt who was showing us around that I didn't know who had called and said someone important was coming, but I really appreciated it. We opened it and as soon as I turned the light out CPT and Chuck said I was not going to live this down. The room was fairly large with a tiled floor, real wood furniture and a rug that seemed to be about 14 x 20 feet large. To the right there were 2 sitting chairs with a small table inbetween that held a porcelain, gold-rimmed coffee set. To the left was a desk with two phones. You wouldn't think phones would be a big luxury, but communications are pretty spotty over here so if you have direct access to one without having to sign up for one and wait in line to use it then it's a pretty big deal. Here's the cherry on top: one of the phones had a speed dial menu with the #2 speed dial as the Major General...the Garrison Commander for the Camp. I chuckled and CPT and Chuck joked about calling him and asking for room service. The room also had it's own bathroom, which was austere, but then again, it wasn't a port-a-pottie or a shower trailer that I had to walk to. (Here's a pic of my room and my camo flack jacket and big hiking backpack leaning up on the right.) From then on, CPT and Chuck said they were going to call me Princess as long as we were at this base. After a good night of sleep on a real mattress, the next morning I noticed the following "edit" to the sign on my door courtesy of the CPT.

Saturday, 28 April: we had another brief at Camp F and encountered the smallest Green Beans coffee stand in Iraq so far. Check it out: Chuck is in khakis at the counter putting sugar in our coffee. Notice the flooding and mud mitigating pallets for standing in line. I bet this coffee stand makes a lot of money at $3 per latte.

Monday, 23 April 2007

Packed up stuff, met the Deputy Commanding Officer (DCO) and a couple of others for coffee at Green Beans.
Gathered up my stuff, said a couple more goodbyes and headed to passenger terminal at 11 am to check into the flight to Balad.
I would be traveling with the POC from my base, LTC who was finally on his way home after an 18 month tour. I really like LTC , a straight-shooter from Tennessee. He’s straight forward, tells it like he sees it, very practical and doesn’t seem to be impressed too easily. Hopefully he’ll let me know next time he’s in Atlanta so I can repay his hospitality with a nice seafood dinner at Pappadeux (apparently he’s a big fan of that place). He and his two NCO’s were on the same C-130 flight with me and it was nice to have company. When we arrived at the next base I found out I had about 8 hours to kill with no where to go and no idea where anything was. LTC had me accompany them as he settled into his transient lodging and said hi to a couple of his Engineer Brigade colleagues. When we were in the Engineer Brigade building, apparently there was a 3-star Army General there at the same time. It would have been neat to see him or even shake his hand...I guess it’s kind of like a celebrity siting or something. We walked outside and saw his two SUVs with the 3 star emblem in the tinted front windshield. Pretty neat.
LTC and I went to dinner and I had some kind of Indian vegetable curry. LTC had fried fish, mac and cheese, peas and pecan pie. There’s always an interesting variety of foods to choose from. He dropped me off and I said my grateful thank you for helping pass at least 3 hours of my time with company. At that point my night turned into a struggle to snooze sitting up and staying awake until 2 am when we headed out to the bird. It is not fun to sit in a holding tent.

"John" the translator

Sunday, 22 April 2007, P.M. Barbecue # 1. Earlier in the day, I received an email from a strange email address. I recognized it once I read the message in broken English. If you read my blog from February, you know that my team and I spent some time with the Military Transition Team (MiTT). The MiTT employs local Iraqi translators in their missions. My team and a couple of the MiTT team military members and translators traded email addresses back then. One of the email trades was with a young 21 year-old translator, “John”. Back to the email I got: the gist of the email I received was that a MiTT translator saw me in the Dining Facility and told John. John was asking if I was, indeed at this base. I replied that I was and he countered with an invitation to a barbecue that they were having. Of course, I would try to go.

I showed up and was greeted with smiles and a couple of familiar faces. It's good to see familiar faces when you're traveling by yourself in Iraq. They had a primitive looking grill that looked like it was made of about a 12-inch diameter cut in half and then welded to 2 metal tripods. The pipe was then filled with charcoal and lit...there was no grill rack, the lamb kabobs were put directly on the coals. I don't usually have much of a taste for lamb, but this lamb was pretty good; apparently it was from a local village "outside the wire." The had about 10 lbs of local flat bread wrapped up in a black plastic bag that you would use to wrap up the meat, lettuce, tomatoes, and onions in. It was really quite delicious. John gave me a local canned beverage which was like orange juice with lots of pulp; also very good. A few more guests arrived and we ate until it got dark with rap playing in the background. After the eating it was time to make chai tea. They drink a heck of a lot of chai tea in Iraq. John brought out a small metal teapot filled with loose tea leaves and put it directly on the coals. It seemed like forever, but finally it was ready. A middle-aged Iraqi translator was answering many of my questions about the proper way to brew the Iraqi tea; the proper color, and the amount of sugar to add to it. He prepared a few styrofoam cups full and it was sooo sweet and also soo good.
John gave me a bag of the tea and some other kind of tea pods to take with me. I thought it was very sweet that he was so eager to share one of his native foods. I also appreciated that he gave me some from his supply knowing that he is not able to buy it very often.

John is a sweet kid and, although I barely know him, when you meet people over here there is not much time to be anything but genuine and honest, so you feel like you've known people longer than you actually have. I worry about him working with the MiTT team and the impact to his family. If the wrong people were to find out who he worked with, it could mean very bad things for his family. He told me that he has almost completed the visa process to get to the U.S. for a little bit to spend time with a Major from the previous MiTT team. In the near future he wants to join the U.S. Army an become a linguist so he can become a U.S. citizen. He said that that was his dream, to be a U.S. citizen. It's crazy to think of all the people that are born with seemingly nothing EXCEPT their U.S. citizenship and how much that is worth to so many people. So many Americans don't realize its value and here this young Iraqi was putting his life in danger every day so he may eventually gain that which so many people don't think about.

So, John will be in my thoughts when I think about Iraq. I hope he will reach his dream and I hope to get an email from him one day telling me about it. I took a couple of pictures, but i can't post them because it could potentially harm his safety...think about that.

weekend, 21-22 april

Saturday 21 April. Since I didn’t get into bed until 2 am or so, I woke up a bit late on Saturday. I met with my base contact, then met with a couple of other folks and then headed over to the base engineer building to do some work. The day was pretty uneventful. I did work, bought a sweatshirt and hoped that my team would make it in later than evening so I could catch up with them for the briefing the next day. We made plans to meet each other at the building since they would come in late and my lodging was across the base.
Sunday 22 April. When I went to the engineer building I didn’t see evidence that my team had arrived. I checked transient lodging and they hadn’t checked in. Darn it! I guess they got bumped from the flight. This meant I would be flying solo all day and through all conversations. No worries, the folks at this base are some of the best Base staff I have ever encountered hands down. I got coffee at Green Beans and sat a little bit enjoying the pure sun. The weather at the base both on Saturday and Sunday was gorgeous. The sun is pure in the cloudless sky, but it’s not so intense that it cooks you. The temperature was probably high 70s or low 80s, just like Spring in Atlanta, but a lot drier and with a lot more dust in the air. Later on, I worked on my brief, skipped lunch, downed a Powerbar Harvest granola bar, and went to the brief in the Brigade HQ conference room. The room was pretty nice and had big overstuffed leather-ish chairs. It was a fairly informal brief that turned into somewhat of a discussion, which was nice. Actually, I don’t know if it is officially a discussion if I’m the only mostly listening and asking some questions, while everyone else does most of the talking. At one point I thought to myself, “Geesh, Erika, look at you. You’re in a room with 7 Army guys (3 Majors, 3 Lietenant Colonels) and one U.S. Corps of Engineers civilian talking about big picture stuff in Iraq. Crazy.” Then I thought to myself, “This is crazy, but you are crazy...look at all the things you volunteer for and the situations you end up in.” It kind of made me giggle and chuckle inside, and I don’t know if it was nervous giggle or an I’m-glad-I-don’t-take-myself-too-seriously-chuckle.
One of the neatest tidbits from the meeting is the discussion that came up about bases getting stuff. This wasn’t specifically bases in Iraq or this base, but general discussion that it seems easier for a base to get stuff if there is a General Officer there. I think I agree; a General just innately provides a higher amount of visibility. A LTC suggested that they should make up a General for this base.... me! They would paint a door that said General McGinley and put a sign outside the building. That really tickled me and I don’t know exactly why. My mom has a saying where she says she (and therefore I, since I’m her daughter) have a General’s attitude and taste, but with a Private’s amount of influence. We think big and want big, but sometimes this is bigger than reality. The allusion to General McGinley made me think of this and also made me think that finally someone had recognized my potential! I’m kidding, of course.
Two hours later, we concluded the conversation and, since it was Sunday, most folks took it easy for a couple of hours and went back to their CHUs. I went back to mine as well and dropped off my stuff with a sense of relief that I had some time to unwind a bit before my next required travel.

Friday, April 20

Friday 20 April 2007. My team and I were still in up North after having tried to catch a flight on Thursday, but having it cancelled to weather (wind and sand storms). We showed up at the passenger terminal at about 1700 (5pm), our show time wasn’t until 2000. We were the first ones there so we set up on the front row of the dozen or so rows of chairs. This was right in front of the TV. Lauren, Chuck and I were sitting right behind each other on 3 separate rows; strategically spaced among the outlets. My Army escort (CPT) sat with me in the front row along with the JAG Major we ran into that was on his way to our next base. CPT and I knew the JAG officer from our last visit in February. Small world.
In any case, 2030 came after having spanned an episode of Emeril, boxing, and 2 movies (Courage Under Fire, and Independence Day). I was working about 80% of the time, but looked up at the tv during the intense scenes....in Courage Under Fire, not in Emeril...although, sometimes he is pretty captivating. The tent was packed and all that remained was standing room only. We went up to the front desk waiting for them to call space available (Space-A) openings. This means that if there is space on a flight after all the reservations have been confirmed, they call those folks who signed up for the flight on a first come, first serve basis. Because the flight had about 5 stops, they only had space –A for 2 people to the next base. So, since my team and the Major were the first on the list, we had to figure out if 2 of us would go or if my team and I would stay back. The Major and I ended up taking the 2 slots, because ultimately, I had to give the brief to the base decision-makers.
It was all pretty rushed because 10 minutes later I was suited up in my flack jacket and helmet and lugging my steel-frame hiking backpack and computer bag onto a CH-47. For those of you who don’t know, this is a helicopter called a Chinook that has two sets of rotar blades. You see this kind of chopper in a lot of movies about Vietnam. I was pretty excited since this would be my first time on one of these things. They’re kind of strange looking so I was curious how they flew. We got on and there are seats (kind of like sitting on a cot) along both sides. There’s about 3-4 feet in between where they put cargo and where you put your bags. There are small porthole windows, though the netting from the back of the seats kind of ruins any potential view. The craziest thing was that the back of the helicopter is pretty much open. There is a flap that serves as an on ramp when you step on the chopper, but when it comes up it doesn’t completely close the back of the aircraft. So when you’re sitting in it you can see out of the back. There is a person, I don’t know the exact title other than gutsy, that stands or sits at the back with a gun. He’s strapped in with a cable or harness or something. The ride was fine. It was not as graceful as a Blackhawk that kind of floats in the air and obviously maneuvers easily, but the Chinook was steady and confident. I arrived at the base and got lodging in a dry CHU (showers and toilets in separate trailers that you walk to).

Creature Comforts...in Fallujah

Michael here...

Erika really has had no connectivity to post at all on this trip, so I am going to keep updating some of the less mushy parts of our conversation up here.

She has successfully arrived back at VBC (Victory Base Camp) earlier today, but she spent the past few days in Fallujah, where, much to her surprise, she became the VIP on post. I know I am not surprised by this, but she certainly was. She was given the VIP room on the post, which included such long forgotten amenities as 1) a room to herself, 2) a real bed, and even 3) real sheets and pillows. Being Erika she claimed not to need such high class treatment, but the base insisted. She said that if the SecDef were to visit this post, this would be the room that he would stay in. She was very flattered. Also in this room were a variety of phones, including a standard DSN phone, some other unnamed phones, and one that she was told was a direct line to a three star. The funny part of this is that every guy I told this part of the story to, including when I first heard it, had the same first reaction, which was, "you should totally pick up that phone and try to order room service!" For some reason, she didn't find that as funny as I did.

At this point, she had another experience here that was special. Getting off the Marine helicopter that transported her on post, she encountered a Marine K-9 unit. Anyone that knows Erika, knows how she feels about dogs, and being able to pet a German Shepherd meant so much.

For example, when I first met her, she made it very clear up front that even though I got to make out with her, her German Shepherd was her real prince and protector.

Ironically, the Marine whose dog she got to pet went to the rival high school here in Marietta. What a small world! Anyway, it was a brief reminder of her home life, which came at a time when she really needed it.

Unfortunately, Erika may have to go to another base to help out, which would only postpone her current work and make it that much longer before she comes back. No rest for the weary right? (just when you think she's over halfway there, the finish line keeps getting pushed back.)

This reminds me of the stories I've heard of Ranger school and the "run of unspecified distance." This is a mental (and physical) toughness training exercise, where you start running without being told how far you are going. It could be one mile, two miles, ten miles, who knows. The point is you just have to keep putting one foot in front of the other. It may not sound that tough, but go out and try to start running and keep running until someone calls you and tells you to stop. See what starts going through your mind around mile 3 or 4 and see how badly you want to quit. It takes a very special, well trained, and highly disciplined person to just keep going.

On a different note, I was going through some old pictures the other day and found this one. The background to the picture is that Erika and I were travelling through Texas circa 2003 and stopped at Dyess Air Force Base just outside of Abilene, Texas for an air show. (Dyess is the home of the B-1B Lancer). This was long before Erika started her current job, but it is a good forshadowing of the next several years of her life. The quality isn't that great because I don't have a scanner, so I took a digital picture of the picture and uploaded it, but anyway, I thought it was pretty fitting, so here it is:

Michael posting for Erika

So Erika has had very little to no connectivity for the past while. I spoke to her a few times yesterday and the day before because she finally had access to an MWR phone. Unfortunately, these things are set with 15 minute time limits for soldiers to call home with, and this one kept cutting off at 5 minutes, so each call back we kept talking faster and faster.

Anyway, she has been SO busy and running around SO much that she sounded more tired than I have ever heard her before. In typical Erika fashion though, she was staying up late and working hard and still wasn't complaining about anything. I think she is invincible. One time in college, we had so much work to do that we were awake for four straight days without sleep. It was her final design project in Architecture school, our last semester, we had a combined total of 40 credit hours and all of our exams were loaded up together, plus it was one week before our wedding and graduation, so the amount of stuff that had to be done was just way more than either of us could possibly get done in the time we had, but she stuck with it and inspired me to push myself farther than I thought I could go, and we kept plugging away until we got it all done (and everything went perfectly too by the way).

Anyway, she wanted everyone to know that although she is tired, she is hanging in there and really appreciating everyone's support. There is SO much work to be done there, and with the fast pace of work in Iraq, needs come up unexpectedly so sometimes there just never seems to be enough resources. I worry about that and the stress that it puts on the people trying to do the work.

Without our full support and the right resources, they will never be able to complete their mission, and denying them the right tools to do the job is demoralizing and frankly unjust. Enough of my politics though.

There is a chance that she may be able to come home early in order to re-group before going back. If that works, she may be home as early as May 7 or 8 but would have to turn around and go back in about two weeks. We'll see, as her schedule is completely out of her control.

I was reading a quote in a book last night from Tommy Franks to the leader of Bahrain in the lead up to the Iraq war that seemed quite fitting for Erika. It went something like this, "I go where I'm told to go, but no matter what, I win where I go."

That about sums up Erika and her mission right now.

M

P.S. Anyone that wants to come by and visit or take me out to dinner is welcome anytime! :)

blackwater adventure

Thursday

we started off the day signing up for a helicopter flight to our next base and then went on to take a tour of something i had never toured before. for those of you who don't know where the solid waste you personally produce goes, i can tell you now. we went and toured the graywater and blackwater ponds. those are polite and official terms for the "holding ponds." oh my goodness. i have a pretty rock hard stomach and high tolerance for a lot of things...a lot. when my team member, Lauren the wastewater engineer, got out of the truck at the edge of the ponds of course I hopped right out only to be greeted by a wall of stink so strong that my body's survival instinct kicked in and i proceeded to dry heave. then i put my head up and since i have to breathe to survive i breathed again...yet again i began to dry heave and then my eyes started to water. it was truly an uncontrollable reaction. now, this wasn't as dramatic as it may sound. Lauren and the tour operator were already at the edge of the pond and i was at the side of the truck and this was pretty low key looking at; the heaving convulsions emanating from my belly were not low-key at all. so, i put my head up gaining my composure again because i pride myself on not being delicate or squeamish. THen i experienced more watering from the eyes, but at least my head was up and i was done convulsing. i proceeded to walk up to the edge of the pond the whole time using whatever ab muscles I had to contain any heaving. i shook it off and i could handle the smell now. just at that point i could look over the edge of the pond and even though the stink was survivable, the visual of the...lets call it "solids" floating affected the self-control I had managed to wring out. alas, i didn't flinch too badly and i maintained composure for the next 30 minute tour. did i mention my other team member, chuck, and my Army escort chickened out and stayed in the car? it made me proud to out-toughen them in this competition, however, this also meant that they were the audience to my (apparently comical) initial reaction. i am attaching a picture of me at the conclusion of the tour with Lauren on my left and the tour guide on the far left. i could have called this picture many things. maybe i'll have a contest accepting proposals for titles; it could be fun. for now, i'm calling this picture either "my sense of smell is scarred forever" OR "I survived Blackwater Ponds, Iraq."

caffeine in arizona?

well, after my last entry at least my bday got a bit better. we went back to our lodging (more about the lodging later) and we all were getting ready to turn in for the night, i walked out of the bathroom and my 2 team members and the CPT were in one of the rooms together. after having discussed male practical jokes about passing gas earlier in the day, i thought for sure i was being ambushed. i walked out and asked why everyone was in there, as i hovered outside the doorway. then the three of them began singing happy birthday to me! then they handed me a plastic bag with a funny Godzilla card, 3 chocolate bars and a Latina magazine! If I hadn't been dehydrated I probably would have shed a tear. I gave them all hugs and thanked them. they were so sneaky earlier in the afternoon when we went to the PX...I usually catch on to stuff like that, but they completely surprised me. they were so sweet. they realized i was feeling pretty crummy and i was in transit away from home and i was in iraq. it really made at least the end of the day better for me.
unfortunately, i still woke up on WED with the bug so that kind of stunk. V8 and yogurt for breakfast: the no coffee thing would normally have been tough, but over here you kind of function with adrenaline and with constant jet lag. given that, you don't feel the caffeine highs and lows so much. our briefing to the COL went fine. it was short and sweet and we got some more data and met with some other folks. we stopped for coffee (my first cup in about 4 days) and talked a bit on a picnic table in the courtyard in front of the PX. it was good team building. as a result of the coffee, we stayed up past midnight working and going over notes and comments from the day. my team, chuck donaldson (environmental planner) and lauren fahnestock (water/wastewater engineer), are really great. they are very smart, professional and fun. I'm glad they're traveling with me. (you'll probably see them in some pics later.) i stayed up until after 2 am....the caffeine hit me hard. wednesday we went into the air traffic control tower and got a low-flying bird's eye view of the airfield and the base. We also had a bunch of sand storms all day. I don't have to tell you how many places sand can get in to when it's blowing constantly with high wind for hours on end.
the place they put us in this time is really cool. last time we were in CHUs or containerized housing units, this time we are in a refurbished/renvated hardstand building. this just means it's an old Iraqi facility that's been renovated. first of all, the buildings were old iraqi air force officer family housing units, which is neat, but kind of weird to be living somewhere where a pilot may have lived who engaged in fighter dog-fights with the U.S. air force. second, if you saw these houses you would think you were in arizona. they are stucco and painted in yellows and light peach colors. they have an enclosed front courtyard that probably used to be for fruit gardens and a rooftop patio. they are actually pretty nice and i can imagine they were really nice back in their hey-day. now, they've been renovated to look good with fresh paint and finishes and they are furnished to accommodate 20 people. we don't have 20 in ours, just the 4 of us, but each of us has our own room. we have one toilet room with sink and a bathroom only with a shower and 2 sinks. it's been okay for us, but i can't imagine sharing one toilet and 1 shower with 20 people. then again, i guess it's better than a port-a-john and no showers....that always puts things in perspective.

arrival in Iraq...oh, and it's my birthday today

Sunday: arrived in kuwait pm, go to the base on Monday a.m.
monday: caught a stomach bug or something and was pretty miserable all afternoon, caught a flight to iraq in the evening, arrived at our base just before midnight, waited 2 hrs for our bags
Tuesday: didn't have a ride so just stayed in transient tents overnight; woke up at 3:45 shivering and with awful stomach cramps...thought it was appendicitis, fell back asleep 2 hrs later..all of us slept until 11, got a car, went to our lodging (refurbished iraqi officer house), showered, had lunch (none for me..still felt lousy), toured around base and met with the client...oh, it's my birthday today. not the greatest i've ever had. had an ice cream sunday with dinner. at least i feel better now.

Editorial note from Michael: Erika wasn't able to get this posted on Tuesday, so I am putting it up here now.

Iraq, Take Two

As you may already know, I'm off to another adventure in Iraq. I'll be gone for another 5 weeks with the potential to be extended a bit longer....won't know until a few weeks from now. So, just when I'm getting ready to go home I'm sure I'll end up extending. I'm not complaining, it's far better to be extended by a couple of weeks than by 3 months like is happening for active duty Army over here. Poor things, they came over here for 12 months and just found out it's being extended for 15. I was talking to a young private on my flight from dulles (wash d.c) to kuwait and he just found out he was going to be going home in october instead of august...3 more months to wait until he would be able to live with his newborn son.

we arrived at kuwait city internationl airport at about 5 in the afternoon....it's 11:51 pm now. we've been warming the comfy seats at the starbucks for a while now. they only have shuttles to the air base every 4 hours so if you don't make one then you have a few lattes to get through until you can catch the next shuttle. 2 of my team members went on to the base at 10:30 and the 3 of us are still waiting for another shuttle. so, it's a good primer for the rest of the trip: learning patience and being flexible is key to sanity.