Well, we finally found out whn we are head out of Iraq. Less then 20 days now. for some reason days 30 through 20 flew by and now time is starting to slow down again. Our replacements are starting to trickle in, its good to se new people, it means we are that much closer to getting out of here. I do have to say this deployment was “interesting”. If it wasnt for the people it would have been a lot worse.
Well, it’s 2:15pm Sunday afternoon and the Super Bowl starts in 12 hours. I’m not sure if the people around here are more excited about the prospect of getting a couple of real beers, or the oportunity to watch the game. Then there is problem that those famous Super Bowl comericials will not be aired on AFN. This is because AFN does not show commercials promoting items. As far as those refreshing beverages are concerned, there has been a lot of talk about them. First it was only people in Baghdad were going to get them, then everyone could but it was up to their commander’s discretion. After that was all figured out we still dont know where it will be served and there is only 12 hours till game time. Maybe it’s because the organization I work for doesn’t get all the information that is supposed to flow down, I’m not really sure. Some of us know for certain a couple of places that will be serving so we think we have a game plan for now. All I know is I need to take a nap right after work so I can stay up and watch the big game.
Pictures to follow…..
Deliciousness in a can
Big Screen
Well, with the shrinking of military bases due to the turn over to Iraq, I now have a new place to sleep. 3 months….3 beds. At least I only have to share the bathroom with 3 other people now rather then the 20 before. There is a down side however, the internet room, moral phones and ping pong table we used to enjoy are not at our new location. There is a gym though, to bad there is talk about taking all the equipment away. I sort of feel like i’m living in a trailer park, and in reality I am..trailers and sandbags. The food is getting pretty boring the same menu week after week; always looking for ways to mix foods to get out of that rut.
So I have started to bring a skill to Baghdad that I have not really used for the last 4 or 5 years. I have gotten involved in the scouting movement in Iraq. There are a couple of local councils in the area one of them is booming the other not so much. Because of the location that I am at I get to be involved in the “not so much council”. There are about 80 boys and girls that in the local area. We help advise the leaders within the council how a “typical” scouting program runs; give them programs to try, set up their infrastructure, things of that nature. The council has pinewood derby races, campouts, meetings; all with the aim to help instill good values on the people in the program. The only downsize right now is that ever since the new SOFA kicked in the Ministry of Education has been trying to distance their kids from us; mostly to try and sever our involvement. We are working on trying to get a hold of the district councils to see if we can get their help to open up the community more. Currently the council has a plot of land within the city that use to be a hunting ground. This is used for a meeting place occasionally to camp out and to experience outdoor activities. The whole area is now surrounded by a 10 foot concrete wall with only 2 ways to get in. While we were there we had some company. There are acouple of dogs that live in the area and hang out at one of the various security contractors. Well, they noticed we were there and one of them decided to be friendly.
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- Camping in Baghdad
Well, the holiday season has come and gone and with it nothing has really changed. The Christmas decorations are still somewhat up. You can see little trees on top of desks with stocking hung on knobs. New Years wasn’t really special, it was spent watching ping pong, lying in bed watching a movie just waiting for it to hit midnight just to say that you were up. And once it finally did you could open the door and here the locals firing their guns into the air in celebration of a new year. I guess they have something to celebrate; with the New Year they get their country back in whole, they are once again a sovereign nation. We are now only here because they allowed us to stay. Agreements and promises have been made to help ensure that the work that has been done over the last few years isn’t for naught. They have started to take over the checkpoints with a little oversight from us. The police are starting to get more visible, but you still can’t go down the street without seeing at least one assault rifle, whether it is ours or the people trying to hold their country together. Buildings that have been used to try and stabilize a country for five years are now hollow. People here are starting to realize they have rights and freedoms for the first time in decades. Ne roads are being built; wells are being dug at villages that have not seen water for years. Children are once again starting to go to school. Businesses are starting to pop up and employ people. And with this employment violence is dropping. People back home don’t fully realize the good that is going on over here. The news coverage is going to different areas of the world, areas that have more violence. So I guess no news is good news.
It’s getting to be that time of year. The Christmas trees are going up, stockings are being hanged, and presents are being put under the tree. The only difference this year is that the trees are all 2 feet tall and on top of desks, the stockings are being hung from desk doors, and the presents are all in APO boxes. The typical snow is missing, though temperatures in the morning are hovering around 40 degrees. Instead of spending time withloved ones and friends, time is spent sitting at the desk and with co-workers. I’m not really depressed about Christmas this year, I do however realize what I am missing and can’t wait to get back to. Haven’t had any flooding lately, so I guess that’s a good thing. The last minute shopping for Christmas gifts was done last week due to the time it takes to mail things this time of year. It’s really hard getting good gifts especially with the lack of Walmart’s, malls, and Home Depot’s of the world. So for the people I was able to get gifts to, I hope you like them.
Well, it was an interesting day yesterday. We get to work and the dark clouds started to roll in. This is when I figured I probably should have brought my Gortex with me. Around 1:00 is when things started to get interesting. The thunder and lightning started followed by a light sprinkle. Fifteen minutes later the rain was driving down at an angle due to the wind. I was outside videotaping underneath an overhand when I started to get pelted with hail…yes hail in Baghdad. We have a little courtyard in our building surrounded on all sides by walls. Well, this courtyard turned into a swimming pool; and was about an inch shy of flooding the entryway of the building. Our internet and phones went down due to the rain and some other things so we decided to go work out back at our FOB. Since I was already soaked for being in the rain I volunteered to go get the car. I stepped out into the road and ended up being knee deep in water. I get to the car and my feet and making that squishing sound in my boots. We pulled out of our building that’s when the fun drive home started. Some spots where we drove through, the water came up to the muffler. When we got home we enter our building and noticed the floors had been mopped up. We opened our door up and there it was….our room was flooded. We went to our mayor cell, which takes care of the lodging, and told them about it. While they were getting things together we found a squeegee and a mop and started to work on the room. After we got all the wet stuff out of the room we set to getting the water out of the room. About 2 hours later, we were done getting the water out and it was time to start putting out things back in. Since my clean clothes were still in the bag on the floor, they too got wet, so I had to wash them again. After they were done in the dryer I went to go pick them up and yes, it started to rain again. So know there are sandbags outside our room and everything is off the floor for the most part just in case it floods again. Pictures of the rain and hail, along with a video of driving will be posted once I get them off my camera.
Well, since I’ve been out here I’ve seen a lot of things. And one of them being the improvements that we have done since we have been here. I’ve seen what looks like an amusement park, the area of town I am in functions like any other town. With the exception of the really bad drivers and the dialpetated neighborhoods…I dont think I will ever complain about Utah drivers again. But with all this the locals do seem like they just want to live their lives. There are some big changes in the work right now for the better, that have been long in the making, but we’ll see what happens with the new administration. My first couple of days here me sponsor took some of us around and show us all the local monuments and sights. 
Well, it’s about time I updated this thing, ahh……..where do I start. Ok..so we stayed a little bit in Germany and then hoped back on the plane to head to Kuwait. The leg was realatively uneventful, except for the fact that I didn’t really sleep this leg or the previous one. We landed in Kuwait and then had to go wait to travel to our check in location. Once we did our time started….we think….at leaset it did for all that extra pay. This is when our trip got rough. We spent a week in country; which some people think “jeez, you had it easy” but they forget that we were not stationed there. There is only so much you can do and we did it all in two days. Back in the states when we went through our training the people said “once you get to Kuwait people will be there and hold your hand and you should not have anything to worry about”. Well, people were there but in no way shape or form did they hold my hand. They checked us in, and that’s pretty much the last we saw of them. There instructions were to stay around the area and we will find you once we get you a flight. 6 days later, we got fed up and went to find people working there that could help us. Long story short…we ended up being told that it was our turn to go to the airport. We got picked up at our tent and 20 hours later we finally lift off on our way to my final destination. We get there and I can’t get a hold of anyone from our office, so 2 and a half hours of sleep later I wake up and start to try and get a hold of somebody. The good news is once I did get a hold of them everything sort of fell into place. Before I knew it we were in a convoy heading to my new living space for my time in country. It’s comortable as a temporary place can be I guess. I’m trying to learn my new job. It’s just like stateside only on a much larger picture. One big difference is, back home I have a $100,000 warrant, here….and UNLIMITED one. So…I guess you can say I’m kind of a big deal. Not really. Well that’s enough typing for now. If you would like to see some pics get a hold of my mom or Sarah.
So the trip was pretty uneventful til I got to BWI and I was sitting in the E terminal waiting for my plane to Germany. Well, a plane lands and out come all these big guys…the Baltimore Ravens football team had just landed on their way back from the game they played that morning. We got some good lucks and a go kill ‘em, but the most surprising was the team chaplin asked to pray for us. So that was my exciting time in Baltimore. 6 and half hours later we land at Ramstein AB, the last time I was in Germany the Great Wall was still here. Pictures of the trip will follow.
