This blog will probably not receive any new updates. We'll leave it up for a while, but the war zone travels are over for now.
Thanks!
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Sunday, February 3, 2008
New pics
M here...
Apparently there have been three earthquakes over the past few days, although, being in a war zone, they were actually relieved to find out that they were, in fact, only earthquakes.
Strange the perspective that comes from being in a warzone. Every one is fine. Here are a few recent pics:
Also, there is about to be a very happy M, as she will be home this Thursday afternoon!
Apparently there have been three earthquakes over the past few days, although, being in a war zone, they were actually relieved to find out that they were, in fact, only earthquakes.
Strange the perspective that comes from being in a warzone. Every one is fine. Here are a few recent pics:
Also, there is about to be a very happy M, as she will be home this Thursday afternoon!
Monday, January 28, 2008
27 JAN 08, Sunday
On Sunday I spent most of the morning in the PAX (passenger) terminal trying to get a couple of team members out the door back to their respective origins. There weren't any exciting tours so I don't really have much to post. Well, actually, here's a pic of some PAX loading into a fixed wing cargo plane. I think it's cool.
26 JAN 08: one of the best places to learn Salsa
It’s been a couple of days since I’ve written. I haven’t found a computer that will give me access to the page to post something so the entries will probably be a day behind.
26 Jan 08, Saturday: We had interviews and site tours most of the day. I got to ride around and drive an up-armored SUV that our client borrowed. It looks like a regular SUV from the States, you know, the ones that are everywhere in the suburbs and that bully all the other cars on the road. Anyway, this one probably weighs twice as much as those and the doors take a lot of muscle power to open and close. The plate glass windows seem like they are almost an inch thick, but I can’t really tell. We were thinking that it probably doesn’t get any more than 8 miles per gallon because of its weight. You press on the gas pedal and it’s like getting a locomotive to start. I could be exaggerating, though, because I have never owned an SUV or a truck so I have no idea how heavy those things are. All I know is that it was like driving a locomotive on the roads compared to the station wagon and sedan we own. I actually felt pretty cool driving it.
We got to tour a big hangar and also some of the areas on the airfield. We met with the Romanians who were very happy to speak with us and show us around their area. We also got to meet with some Polish soldiers. One of the best parts of traveling to these parts is that you get to meet lots of different kinds of people and because everyone is in Iraq, a lot of the personal barriers dissolve. People like to speak with new faces they haven’t seen before and they are typically more open about themselves than you would expect outside a war zone.
I hope that one of the many things that comes out of this situation in Iraq is that new relationships are started between countries, that existing relationships are made stronger, and that the relationship with the host country (Iraq) evolves into one of long-term commitment toward reconstruction, economic growth, and identifying those who cause harm because they are threatened by these goals. I want so much for this country to return to the time when they were able to freely celebrate arts, culture, education and economic prosperity. That’s my personal humble hope, but I also realize that there are many of my Western ideals which may or may not be translated into the Iraqi culture the same way that I experience them. I roomed with an Iraqi translator last week. She had lived here when she was younger and now she had traveled to the U.S. and Australia and New Zealand. She had the same hopes I did, but she did say that the Iraqi culture is very hard to understand because it has always been complicated and unique. That coupled with conflicts and dictatorship has generated a culture that is even more complex. I was very impressed with this young lady. She has come over here to try to do what she can to restore the country which she understands she comes from, but to which she cannot relate to her day-to-day life. I hope she stays safe.
On Saturday night we also had a short Salsa lesson. It turns out that one of the Senior Airmen in the office we’re working in is Cuban from Miami and used to be a dance instructor. He teaches class here as a way to help pass the time to whomever is interested. Our two clients, Chris and I lined up as he explained the robotics of each of 4 steps. I’m sure we were a sight…camo clothing, muddied boots, in a small office. Last year I fly-fished for the first time in Baghdad and this year I had my first Salsa lesson here! I think there is going to be another class on Tuesday which I hope to get to. I have been wanting to take dance lessons for a looooong time and since there’s nothing to do here other than work, it will be a good opportunity to squeeze a couple of introductory lessons in.
26 Jan 08, Saturday: We had interviews and site tours most of the day. I got to ride around and drive an up-armored SUV that our client borrowed. It looks like a regular SUV from the States, you know, the ones that are everywhere in the suburbs and that bully all the other cars on the road. Anyway, this one probably weighs twice as much as those and the doors take a lot of muscle power to open and close. The plate glass windows seem like they are almost an inch thick, but I can’t really tell. We were thinking that it probably doesn’t get any more than 8 miles per gallon because of its weight. You press on the gas pedal and it’s like getting a locomotive to start. I could be exaggerating, though, because I have never owned an SUV or a truck so I have no idea how heavy those things are. All I know is that it was like driving a locomotive on the roads compared to the station wagon and sedan we own. I actually felt pretty cool driving it.
We got to tour a big hangar and also some of the areas on the airfield. We met with the Romanians who were very happy to speak with us and show us around their area. We also got to meet with some Polish soldiers. One of the best parts of traveling to these parts is that you get to meet lots of different kinds of people and because everyone is in Iraq, a lot of the personal barriers dissolve. People like to speak with new faces they haven’t seen before and they are typically more open about themselves than you would expect outside a war zone.
I hope that one of the many things that comes out of this situation in Iraq is that new relationships are started between countries, that existing relationships are made stronger, and that the relationship with the host country (Iraq) evolves into one of long-term commitment toward reconstruction, economic growth, and identifying those who cause harm because they are threatened by these goals. I want so much for this country to return to the time when they were able to freely celebrate arts, culture, education and economic prosperity. That’s my personal humble hope, but I also realize that there are many of my Western ideals which may or may not be translated into the Iraqi culture the same way that I experience them. I roomed with an Iraqi translator last week. She had lived here when she was younger and now she had traveled to the U.S. and Australia and New Zealand. She had the same hopes I did, but she did say that the Iraqi culture is very hard to understand because it has always been complicated and unique. That coupled with conflicts and dictatorship has generated a culture that is even more complex. I was very impressed with this young lady. She has come over here to try to do what she can to restore the country which she understands she comes from, but to which she cannot relate to her day-to-day life. I hope she stays safe.
On Saturday night we also had a short Salsa lesson. It turns out that one of the Senior Airmen in the office we’re working in is Cuban from Miami and used to be a dance instructor. He teaches class here as a way to help pass the time to whomever is interested. Our two clients, Chris and I lined up as he explained the robotics of each of 4 steps. I’m sure we were a sight…camo clothing, muddied boots, in a small office. Last year I fly-fished for the first time in Baghdad and this year I had my first Salsa lesson here! I think there is going to be another class on Tuesday which I hope to get to. I have been wanting to take dance lessons for a looooong time and since there’s nothing to do here other than work, it will be a good opportunity to squeeze a couple of introductory lessons in.
25 JAN 08
HERE IS A BLOG I WROTE ON 25 JAN, FRIDAY THAT I WAS NOT ABLE TO POST. IT CORRESPONDS TO SOME OF THE PICS BELOW THAT M POSTED.
It rained on Tuesday night and it was soooo muddy on Wednesday. Imagine that there is no dry land to step on AT ALL so there's not even any relief from it. I'm not even kidding. Here is a picture of the tent I stayed in. You can kind of see the puddled water right outside the door. The gravel kind of makes it okay in some spots, but it typically sinks into the mud after enough people walk on it and cars drive on it. It feels like you’re walking on about 4-6” of cake icing. Your feet sometimes get suctioned to it and it’s slick! Awful. I’d walk out of my tent and about 30 feet outside the bottom of my pants would be splattered with thick mud and my boots would be covered with the stuff. At the end of the day the bottoms of my pants were all mud splatter up to a third or the middle of my calf. Ugh. Everyone is like that, though, so there’s no reason to be self conscious about being muddy.
I’ve moved to a new and much smaller base. Below is a pic of me on the Blackhawk helo ride over. I look pretty cool with the sunglasses on. It actually wasn’t sunny, but you have to wear those so the dust doesn’t fly in your eyes when you’re walking to and getting into the helicopter while the blades are spinning. I think I would look even better than pretty cool except that my kevlar helmet is crooked, which makes me look like Private Benjamin. That and they squeezed 10 grown adults into the helo and piled all of our bags in between and on top of our l
egs. Here are a couple of pics looking out the window. One shows some agricultural farm land and the other shows some buildings in a small village. The helo ride was an hour and I didn’t take my eyes off of the scenery the whole time (except to pose for the picture). It’s sooo crazy that I was flying over the countryside. I mean, I have before, but it’s only been at night so this was the first real glimpse into what the Iraqi countryside looks like. I was surprised at how green it is and how much farms make up the land below. For some reason I thought it was all desert and desolate. I know they have pretty well-developed irrigation from the river and they have fairly wet and rainy winters, but for some reason I just didn’t believe how many farms there are. It was actually really pretty from the air. You could see the nice even rows of crops and the white greenhouses.
Anyway, back to where I am now. I think this is one of the most austere bases to which I have been. (See PX pic below that M posted. The PX is not the building...it's the container on the right of the building. Yep, it's in a shipping container.) My billeting is not bad, though. I am in a hardstand all concrete building with high ceilings and an environmental control unit (heater and AC). Here is a pic of my room. There are three lockers and three beds with real linens. It’s not bad. The only jarring thing was the 3 sets of zip-tie handcuffs randomly hanging on the coat hook on the wall. Yikes! I’m just not used to seeing stuff like that. I guess they use those in the States, but I just wasn’t expecting that as the room décor. I’m going to assume someone was using those as a creative solution for something else in the room and not their intended purpose. As far as the other amenities, well, there aren’t really any other than the necessities. The DFAC is typical buffet style, all you can eat with a dessert bar. It’s not bad. I had pretty good chicken fingers today and a nice bread pudding. The PX is open only part time and it only carries essentials, if they are in stock. It is very bare-boned. I haven’t been in it yet since it’s open very little and run by troop labor. I’ll let you know what kind of wares they sell once I get there.
I have a few more days here to get to know the place better and see what there is. I think this will be a good project.
I’ve moved to a new and much smaller base. Below is a pic of me on the Blackhawk helo ride over. I look pretty cool with the sunglasses on. It actually wasn’t sunny, but you have to wear those so the dust doesn’t fly in your eyes when you’re walking to and getting into the helicopter while the blades are spinning. I think I would look even better than pretty cool except that my kevlar helmet is crooked, which makes me look like Private Benjamin. That and they squeezed 10 grown adults into the helo and piled all of our bags in between and on top of our l
egs. Here are a couple of pics looking out the window. One shows some agricultural farm land and the other shows some buildings in a small village. The helo ride was an hour and I didn’t take my eyes off of the scenery the whole time (except to pose for the picture). It’s sooo crazy that I was flying over the countryside. I mean, I have before, but it’s only been at night so this was the first real glimpse into what the Iraqi countryside looks like. I was surprised at how green it is and how much farms make up the land below. For some reason I thought it was all desert and desolate. I know they have pretty well-developed irrigation from the river and they have fairly wet and rainy winters, but for some reason I just didn’t believe how many farms there are. It was actually really pretty from the air. You could see the nice even rows of crops and the white greenhouses.
Anyway, back to where I am now. I think this is one of the most austere bases to which I have been. (See PX pic below that M posted. The PX is not the building...it's the container on the right of the building. Yep, it's in a shipping container.) My billeting is not bad, though. I am in a hardstand all concrete building with high ceilings and an environmental control unit (heater and AC). Here is a pic of my room. There are three lockers and three beds with real linens. It’s not bad. The only jarring thing was the 3 sets of zip-tie handcuffs randomly hanging on the coat hook on the wall. Yikes! I’m just not used to seeing stuff like that. I guess they use those in the States, but I just wasn’t expecting that as the room décor. I’m going to assume someone was using those as a creative solution for something else in the room and not their intended purpose. As far as the other amenities, well, there aren’t really any other than the necessities. The DFAC is typical buffet style, all you can eat with a dessert bar. It’s not bad. I had pretty good chicken fingers today and a nice bread pudding. The PX is open only part time and it only carries essentials, if they are in stock. It is very bare-boned. I haven’t been in it yet since it’s open very little and run by troop labor. I’ll let you know what kind of wares they sell once I get there.I have a few more days here to get to know the place better and see what there is. I think this will be a good project.
A few more pictures
M here again. So apparently it's not the connectivity, it's that the blogger.com site is restricted where she is...so here are a few more pics that she sent over the weekend. The first one is her and CH with one of the logistics teams and the second picture is of them with the Romainians. Apparently there are a lot of Georgians at this location as well (the country of Georgia) but there are also a few Georgia National Guard (our state) folks as well. Small world. Anyway, I'll try to keep posting things as I get them until she gets back to where she can get on here.
Friday, January 25, 2008
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
MUDDIEST PLACE ON EARTH?
If you're like me, you wouldn't consider Iraq much of a muddy place. I can honestly say I have seen the best mud here. When I say "best" I don't mean that it's a good thing. I mean, in the spectrum of muddy characteristics, mud over here is truly an incredible specimen. It's super thick, deep and slick and it camouflages itself well as stable earth. My tent mate said she woke up at 4 a.m. and the tent was swaying in the wind of the rainstorm. I was glad I slept through that. I stumbled out of bed, gathered my toiletries and towel and headed out I was met by puddles of standing water outside the tent.
Good livin'
So I got the pictures uploaded. My cot is the one on the left with the comforter on it and the blue towel hanging down. It's not very glamorous, nor should it be, I guess, but it's good shelter and I'm thankful for that. There are folks in convoys that end up sleeping in their Humvees, so a tent is good livin' in comparison.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
abnormal DNA
Greetings all,
Unfortunately it wasn't such an exciting day as far as adventure or recounting stories. It was pretty typical: breakfast, meetings, lunch, working, coffee, working, dinner, meetings, midnight chow, talking with my tent mate, blogging. I did snap two pictures of the inside of my tent just so you could get a peek of what transient life is like. It's not so bad, but if it was for months it could get pretty uncomfortable. I've tried to upload the pics, but it's not cooperating with me so I'll see if I can do that tomorrow. I will say this, my Mom taught me how to be tough, how to speak up, and how to be strong, but her idea of camping is Camp Marriott or Camp Sheraton. I really don't know how I have the penchant for lugging around 70+ pounds of luggage and body armor and "roughing it" around Iraq. As a matter of fact, now that I think about it, I'm not sure there are many folks on either side of my family who would ever consider doing that. It must have been a fluke in the my gene sequence.
Oh. I had ketchup flavored potato chips from the DFAC. They are made in the UAE and they were pretty good.
Unfortunately it wasn't such an exciting day as far as adventure or recounting stories. It was pretty typical: breakfast, meetings, lunch, working, coffee, working, dinner, meetings, midnight chow, talking with my tent mate, blogging. I did snap two pictures of the inside of my tent just so you could get a peek of what transient life is like. It's not so bad, but if it was for months it could get pretty uncomfortable. I've tried to upload the pics, but it's not cooperating with me so I'll see if I can do that tomorrow. I will say this, my Mom taught me how to be tough, how to speak up, and how to be strong, but her idea of camping is Camp Marriott or Camp Sheraton. I really don't know how I have the penchant for lugging around 70+ pounds of luggage and body armor and "roughing it" around Iraq. As a matter of fact, now that I think about it, I'm not sure there are many folks on either side of my family who would ever consider doing that. It must have been a fluke in the my gene sequence.
Oh. I had ketchup flavored potato chips from the DFAC. They are made in the UAE and they were pretty good.
Monday, January 21, 2008
"The Juicer"
Sorry. I did not take any pictures today. I thought I would, but we were walking back and forth from meeting to meeting then to the DFAC (dining facility) and I just never got the right time. It was beautiful in Baghdad today. The skies were bright blue. I think the temperature was in the 50s. The Al Faw Palace looked really beautiful on the lake. Once it turned dark the sky was covered in stars. I think I remember writing last February about my amazement at how beautiful the night skies were in Iraq. I think I still feel the same way.
As I mentioned, we spent most of our time indoors, but I was lucky to see some Blackhawks in the sky at one point during the day. I actually really like the sound of helicopters for some reason. I can hear them overhead right now as I am typing this on my cot. Even at work back in Atlanta my cube is by the window so I get to see the traffic-copters whoosh by over the interstate. I always look up at them. They are not nearly as cool as Blackhawks.
I did not end up really sleeping well last night. I tossed and turned and in the end got about 2 to 3 hours of sleep. The good thing is you don't feel jetlag as much because you're too tired to feel it. (That's the "cup is half full" interpretation.) The culprit to this crime of disruption is a large generator about 50 feet away from my tent and it sounds like someone is revving an 8 cylinder SUV too big to drive anywhere other than the mountains, and certainly not the city or suburbs. I thought after a while it would turn into white noise, but it never did. I would try to re-adjust to get comfortable, but I would just end up scrambling up my sleeping bag and when I would try to straighten it up I would just slip and slide in it. You know the kind of sleeping bag I'm talking about, the kind where the material is so slick that it kind of reminds you of the plastic bags they use at the grocery store. It's a great sleeping bag, and especially good if you stay still at night.
Tomorrow is my mother's birthday...it's also my good friend Melissa's birthday...and it's also my coworker and cohort over here on this trip, Chris', birthday. It's crazy how I know three people with the same birthday. Maybe it's part of a grand scheme for me to keep those memory cells vacant for something else or for remembering someone else's birth date. hmm. Anyway, I declared tomorrow a calorie free day so I can induldge from the dessert bar in honor of these three birthdays. Maybe I'll be wild and crazy and have three desserts. I'll survive, I'm sure it's been done before. To add to the cheer Chris said, "near beer for everyone and all other drinks are on me." They have cans of near beer or non-alcoholic beer in the DFACs here and, of course, no drinks, so Chris' offer was a generous one. I remember spending my birthday in Iraq last year...waking up on a cot with what I thought was appendicitis. It wasn't the greatest birthday by far, but I'll never forget it.
We worked inside a building today that is referred to as "the juicer" because it has a spiral staircase in the foyer to get to the second level. I suppose the spiral shape makes it look like an orange juicer to some people. This isn't just any old spiral staircase, either. The ceilings are very high ceilings covered in intricate cast plaster reliefs that are painted and then dotted with numerous sizes of chandeliers. The walls and floors are white marble slab. The actual stair treads are made out of about 7-foot long planks of inlaid wood. They are quite nice, but not as impressive after you read a sign at the bottom of the stairs that says "385 lbs maximum per tread." I found myself doing some quick math to ensure the stair would hold as we walked up. Like every man I've ever met, and much to my dismay, my coworker decided to stand on one and lightly jump up and down to "see how well it holds." I don't understand why guys need to challenge everything...."Oh yeah, let's see how thick the ice is on this frozen lake...let's see how much of this 32 oz steak I can eat...let's see how long I can wear my jeans before they look dirty to me." Back to the stairs....the stairs led to a circular balcony around the staircase. Apparently the building used to be a villa or small palace to one of Saddam's cronies. Now it has cubicles in every nook and crannie so it just functions as an office space. Needless to say, the cubicle panel walls don't match the ornate brass faucets on the porcelain sinks. What a clash of worlds.
One of the highlights for the day was on my way back to the tent this evening. I was given a tip that there may be some toilet trailers behind the 10-foot tall concrete t-walls near the tent. Sure enough, the tip was reliable and I found a trailer full of women's bathroom stalls. This means I get to go to the bathroom without having to use my flashlight and it's even in a heated trailer. WOO HOO. There are many simple pleasures around here...I'll take them when I can!
Other than that, there wasn't too much to report today. Maybe it's just that this is my third time here so stuff does not stand out as much as it initially did, or maybe it's just that I was tired. We'll see what tomorrow brings; hopefully it will be be birthday celebration dessert for breakfast lunch and dinner. I heard it's calorie free.
As I mentioned, we spent most of our time indoors, but I was lucky to see some Blackhawks in the sky at one point during the day. I actually really like the sound of helicopters for some reason. I can hear them overhead right now as I am typing this on my cot. Even at work back in Atlanta my cube is by the window so I get to see the traffic-copters whoosh by over the interstate. I always look up at them. They are not nearly as cool as Blackhawks.
I did not end up really sleeping well last night. I tossed and turned and in the end got about 2 to 3 hours of sleep. The good thing is you don't feel jetlag as much because you're too tired to feel it. (That's the "cup is half full" interpretation.) The culprit to this crime of disruption is a large generator about 50 feet away from my tent and it sounds like someone is revving an 8 cylinder SUV too big to drive anywhere other than the mountains, and certainly not the city or suburbs. I thought after a while it would turn into white noise, but it never did. I would try to re-adjust to get comfortable, but I would just end up scrambling up my sleeping bag and when I would try to straighten it up I would just slip and slide in it. You know the kind of sleeping bag I'm talking about, the kind where the material is so slick that it kind of reminds you of the plastic bags they use at the grocery store. It's a great sleeping bag, and especially good if you stay still at night.
Tomorrow is my mother's birthday...it's also my good friend Melissa's birthday...and it's also my coworker and cohort over here on this trip, Chris', birthday. It's crazy how I know three people with the same birthday. Maybe it's part of a grand scheme for me to keep those memory cells vacant for something else or for remembering someone else's birth date. hmm. Anyway, I declared tomorrow a calorie free day so I can induldge from the dessert bar in honor of these three birthdays. Maybe I'll be wild and crazy and have three desserts. I'll survive, I'm sure it's been done before. To add to the cheer Chris said, "near beer for everyone and all other drinks are on me." They have cans of near beer or non-alcoholic beer in the DFACs here and, of course, no drinks, so Chris' offer was a generous one. I remember spending my birthday in Iraq last year...waking up on a cot with what I thought was appendicitis. It wasn't the greatest birthday by far, but I'll never forget it.
We worked inside a building today that is referred to as "the juicer" because it has a spiral staircase in the foyer to get to the second level. I suppose the spiral shape makes it look like an orange juicer to some people. This isn't just any old spiral staircase, either. The ceilings are very high ceilings covered in intricate cast plaster reliefs that are painted and then dotted with numerous sizes of chandeliers. The walls and floors are white marble slab. The actual stair treads are made out of about 7-foot long planks of inlaid wood. They are quite nice, but not as impressive after you read a sign at the bottom of the stairs that says "385 lbs maximum per tread." I found myself doing some quick math to ensure the stair would hold as we walked up. Like every man I've ever met, and much to my dismay, my coworker decided to stand on one and lightly jump up and down to "see how well it holds." I don't understand why guys need to challenge everything...."Oh yeah, let's see how thick the ice is on this frozen lake...let's see how much of this 32 oz steak I can eat...let's see how long I can wear my jeans before they look dirty to me." Back to the stairs....the stairs led to a circular balcony around the staircase. Apparently the building used to be a villa or small palace to one of Saddam's cronies. Now it has cubicles in every nook and crannie so it just functions as an office space. Needless to say, the cubicle panel walls don't match the ornate brass faucets on the porcelain sinks. What a clash of worlds.
One of the highlights for the day was on my way back to the tent this evening. I was given a tip that there may be some toilet trailers behind the 10-foot tall concrete t-walls near the tent. Sure enough, the tip was reliable and I found a trailer full of women's bathroom stalls. This means I get to go to the bathroom without having to use my flashlight and it's even in a heated trailer. WOO HOO. There are many simple pleasures around here...I'll take them when I can!
Other than that, there wasn't too much to report today. Maybe it's just that this is my third time here so stuff does not stand out as much as it initially did, or maybe it's just that I was tired. We'll see what tomorrow brings; hopefully it will be be birthday celebration dessert for breakfast lunch and dinner. I heard it's calorie free.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
I wonder what Iraq will be like in 2008
Well, here I am back in Baghdad almost exactly one year after the first time I was here. My first night here I remember hearing alarms in the middle of the night. Let’s hope tonight isn’t a repeat of that. I’m in a 12-person tent like last year...not the same tent as last year, but pretty much. It’s in the same tent city. The plywood floor tent contains the expected dusty mattresses on top of the cots. I can hear the loud roaring of the generator sitting right next to the tent. It’s not that bad. At least we have heating and air conditioning units inside. We have electricity. We have mattresses on the cots...cots are not that comfortable to sleep on without the mattress. There is wireless connectivity. Think about that one...there is a wireless box hanging from a zip tie at the top of the ceiling of the tent and you are reading this because I wrote it from my cot in my tent. Technology is crazy and apparently cheaper than porcelain thrones...read more below.
The bathrooms are in a different location, though. I went and checked out the shower trailer and it looked pretty nice. It actually looked kind of new, which I figured from the gleaming stainless steel sinks and the bright white shower curtains on the stalls. The rules of engagement (3-5 minute military showers to conserve water) still apply. The toilets...well, that situation is also the same as last year. We have port-a-potties or port-a-johns or port-a-lets. Whatever nomenclature you prefer, that’s what we have sitting in a row right in front of the shower trailers. I decided I couldn’t avoid it so I went ahead and tried it out. It was just like I remember: open the plastic door, close the latch, fumble through the pitch black to turn on the flashlight, don’t dare touch anything with bare skin, complete, exit, then pump the hand sanitizer dispenser a good 3 pumps to completely kill anything that may have come in contact with your hands.
I have just one roommate in the tent. This is her first time here and she is a bit surprised at how much she will have to “rough it” while here. I kind of felt bad because I get to leave in a few days and she will be here for at least a few weeks. I’ve been giving her advice and pointers all evening. This kind of environment encourages you to share all your lessons learned, your recommendations and tips to make it easier to get through. For instance, I made sure to tell her not to shower without flip flops; to use a blow dryer instead of letting hair air dry to avoid dusty, crunchy hair; to wear boots instead of sneakers, to wear your clothes as much as you can without washing so you don't have to wait for the 3-day laundry turnaround, etc. Now that I read that last bit back about the clothes wearing I realize I must turn into a different being over here because I would never do that back home. Strange, I know, but some of you reading know what I mean.
We went to midnight chow and sampled the variety of foods they serve at that hour of the night. They don’t have the full hot line or the stir fry, but they did have hamburgers, ravioli, mac and cheese, collards, along with the full salad bar, breakfast foods, and dessert bar. It's actually a really weird combination of food. This is clearly evidenced by the chocolate pudding sitting about 1 inch away from the nacho cheese sauce in the salad bar. It’s so easy to gain weight here: it’s all you can eat for 4 meal periods per day. For some reason, the fact that you’re in Iraq somehow makes it almost like you deserve to have dessert every day...even for more than one meal...simple pleasures and comforts of home, I guess.
We’ll see what tomorrow brings. I know it brings only 4.75 hours of sleep if I fall asleep in the next 2 minutes. Hopefully tomorrow will also bring a large double latte from the Green Bean here. (For those of you who are not familiar...the Green Bean can provide sanity and happiness over here. In it's liquid form, sanity and happiness are called lattes, I think.)
The bathrooms are in a different location, though. I went and checked out the shower trailer and it looked pretty nice. It actually looked kind of new, which I figured from the gleaming stainless steel sinks and the bright white shower curtains on the stalls. The rules of engagement (3-5 minute military showers to conserve water) still apply. The toilets...well, that situation is also the same as last year. We have port-a-potties or port-a-johns or port-a-lets. Whatever nomenclature you prefer, that’s what we have sitting in a row right in front of the shower trailers. I decided I couldn’t avoid it so I went ahead and tried it out. It was just like I remember: open the plastic door, close the latch, fumble through the pitch black to turn on the flashlight, don’t dare touch anything with bare skin, complete, exit, then pump the hand sanitizer dispenser a good 3 pumps to completely kill anything that may have come in contact with your hands.
I have just one roommate in the tent. This is her first time here and she is a bit surprised at how much she will have to “rough it” while here. I kind of felt bad because I get to leave in a few days and she will be here for at least a few weeks. I’ve been giving her advice and pointers all evening. This kind of environment encourages you to share all your lessons learned, your recommendations and tips to make it easier to get through. For instance, I made sure to tell her not to shower without flip flops; to use a blow dryer instead of letting hair air dry to avoid dusty, crunchy hair; to wear boots instead of sneakers, to wear your clothes as much as you can without washing so you don't have to wait for the 3-day laundry turnaround, etc. Now that I read that last bit back about the clothes wearing I realize I must turn into a different being over here because I would never do that back home. Strange, I know, but some of you reading know what I mean.
We went to midnight chow and sampled the variety of foods they serve at that hour of the night. They don’t have the full hot line or the stir fry, but they did have hamburgers, ravioli, mac and cheese, collards, along with the full salad bar, breakfast foods, and dessert bar. It's actually a really weird combination of food. This is clearly evidenced by the chocolate pudding sitting about 1 inch away from the nacho cheese sauce in the salad bar. It’s so easy to gain weight here: it’s all you can eat for 4 meal periods per day. For some reason, the fact that you’re in Iraq somehow makes it almost like you deserve to have dessert every day...even for more than one meal...simple pleasures and comforts of home, I guess.
We’ll see what tomorrow brings. I know it brings only 4.75 hours of sleep if I fall asleep in the next 2 minutes. Hopefully tomorrow will also bring a large double latte from the Green Bean here. (For those of you who are not familiar...the Green Bean can provide sanity and happiness over here. In it's liquid form, sanity and happiness are called lattes, I think.)
Friday, November 9, 2007
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. 
Thursday, August 23, 2007
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).
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).
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
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. 
Monday, July 23, 2007
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.
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.
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.
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!
Friday, June 22, 2007
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
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.
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