Out of Iraq

I've been back for over 3 weeks, so it's past time I write about my trip. My first priority was to post my pictures from the trip and that took much longer than I expected. You can find them either on my Facebook page or at http://picasaweb.google.com/weissx4. I'm still working on the captions for them. So beyond posting the pictures, I'll just blame it on writer's block. Now that I've started, I'm finding a lot to say. This entry is all about getting down to South Africa. I'll write another two or three blog entries about my time in Africa.

I had a fantastic time on my trip, even better than I hoped. My luggage never got lost, every place I stayed was terrific, I didn't get mugged as I anticipated, none of the food made me sick (well, not for long), and every location was beautiful. I intentionally didn't worry about any money I spent while I on the trip. I figured it was a once-in-a-lifetime trip and not the time to be counting nickels and dimes (or South African rand even). After I got back home and checked my credit cards, I figured out I spent about $8,000. It was worth every dollar and I have no regrets about the cost.

When someone does a 1-year tour over here, the government pays for an airplane ticket anywhere in the world for the person's mid-tour leave. So the good news is the government pays for it. The bad news is you are dependent on the government to get you there. My travel to the continent took a little longer than I expected. The morning I was flying out of Iraq was very foggy. So I spent an extra 4 hours hanging around the passenger terminal, reading, and standing in Army formations. Apparently it's a natural instinct for Soldiers to fall into formation when standing in a group. Not quite so natural for an Airman, but I did my best impression of a Soldier. When we eventually did get to Kuwait, there was more standing around and formations. After some time, I got my commercial ticket and a cot in a large tent. The cot had a lovely green plastic cover, like you would have for a kid who wets his bed (no comment), but no linens. I was told a lieutenant colonel doesn't rate linens. Thankfully the BX was still open so I could buy a travel pillow and fleece blanket.

Other than shivering through the night, I didn't mind spending a day and a half in Kuwait. 1. I wasn't in Iraq. 2. I had time to make more of my travel arrangements (planning ahead is for wimps). 3. I didn't have a care in the world. It was a nice break from the usual frenetic pace of Iraq. The evening after I arrived in Kuwait, I took a 1-hour plus-long shuttle from the base to Kuwait City International Airport. So what did I do there? You got it, more waiting. My flight wasn't for another 5 hours and I couldn't even check my bags for another 2 hours. I went to Caribou Coffee, a place I frequent often back in the States, and enjoyed more time to relax.

From Kuwait I stopped in Dubai before making my way to Johannesburg. I was flying on Emirates Air and they are based in Dubai, that is why I stopped there. Dubai airport is huge! The bus ride from the airplane to the terminal was 20 minutes at least. During the ride, I saw the world's largest building that has been in the news lately, Burj Dubai. No surprise, it's big and it towered over the rest of the city. Inside the terminal was a multitude of stores and restaurants. The stores were the usual electronics, books, and clothes but there was even a grocery store. If you ever have the chance to fly Emirates Air, I recommend them. Every chair has its own entertainment center. I watched a couple of movies, including District 9 (it's set in Johannesburg, so I figured I had to watch it), during the flight down to Johannesburg. If you have money to burn, I recommend flying first class on Emirates. They have the newest chairs, the ones that lay completely flat and have a curtain you can put around yourself. My government-paid ticket wasn't nearly that nice but it did the trick, it got me to Africa.

During the next week (I promise I won't take another 3 weeks), I'll write about Johannesburg, Victoria Falls, Kenya, and Cape Town. If you have any questions or if there is something specific you want to know, please let me know in the comments.

Thanksgiving in Iraq

Let me say up front, I had a great Thanksgiving. If I can't be with my family for a holiday, the next best place is to be deployed with my Air Force family. This Thanksgiving was definitely better than my two Thanksgivings in Virginia. It's just not possible for it to be better than last year's Thanksgiving though. Last year I was with my mom, Terry, John, Henrik, and David for Thanksgiving, mom and Terry's wedding, and mom's birthday. Nothing could top that.

This is my third deployed Thanksgiving. I don't remember much about the last one in 2004. I fondly remember the one in France in 1994. My unit had a small corner of a French Air Force base. People in the unit set up tables and decorated the central room of the building where our offices were. There was quite a selection of food spread out over the tables. I filled up a plate and took it back to the office I shared with two enlisted Airmen. We had our fill of some very good food and great conversation. Yep, that was a good one too.

I worked on Thanksgiving, but it was a slow day so I mainly worked on getting ready for my upcoming trip. At lunchtime, a group of over 20 people from work went to the DFAC together. The DFAC was all decked out. There were streamers all over the place and Thanksgiving-themed paper decorations everywhere. What was really impressive though were the decorations made from food. There was a life-size turkey made from potato chips. A 5-foot long alligator made from pineapples and a watermelon for the mouth. Bread baked into different shapes, 4-foot long sheetcakes, a gigantic cornucopia, and a huge eagle that I have no idea what it was made from. There were even more decorations, such as a Statue of Liberty and Taj Mahal (I guess for the Indians at the first Thanksgiving?), but you get the idea. Why don't I have a picture of all that? That's a story in itself.

I'm watching people run around at lunch taking pictures and wondering why I didn't bring my camera. I decided I would stop by the DFAC at dinner, whether I was hungry or not, with my camera to get pictures then. So after work, I went to my room and grabbed my camera. I decided to go to the BX to pick up a few things before going to the DFAC. I got all the way to the entrance of the BX before I realized I forgot my ID card. You need it to get into the BX or DFAC. I went back to my office, grabbed my ID card, and returned to the BX. When I got back to the BX, it was closed because there had been a fire inside. I stood around for about 15 minutes before giving up on it opening soon. I headed over to the DFAC to take pictures and grab something to eat. I went inside the DFAC, took out my camera, and...dead battery. UGH! Oh well, I had a second Thanksgiving meal (ham instead of turkey this time) and went back to my room to watch the Lions lose. The picture below is from a coworker who took a picture of the lunch group.

Hope everyone had a blessed Thanksgiving!

Into Africa

Those of us who are here for a year get a 2-week vacation. The Army has a similar policy. Usually it is taken at about the half-way, or 6-month, point. I hit 6 months last week. I'll take my leave just short of being here for 7 months. I like that because I'll have less than 5 months left after I return. The military provides us with a commercial airline ticket to anywhere we want to go. I'm sure my mom would prefer I come home to see her, but I decided to take a trip to Africa.

I'll fly out of here on 30 Nov and initially go to Kuwait. I'll wait there until the military can get me on a commercial flight to Johannesburg, South Africa. I plan on spending a few days there. I'll check out the city, including some museums. I'll also do a day safari in Kruger National Park. From there I'll fly up to Livingstone, Zambia. I chose there because it is the closest city to Victoria Falls. Unfortunately it is the dry season, so the falls won't be in their full glory. Oh well. I'll also check out some parks in that area. Nairobi, Kenya is the next stop after Livingstone. There are multiple museums in the city, national parks are nearby, and Mount Kenya isn't far away. I'll take a day trip to see Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania (I decided to pass on the 6-10 day trip for climbing the mountain). I'll leave Nairobi and go back to South Africa, Cape Town this time. I have wanted to go to Cape Town ever since I saw pictures from a visit by friends of mine. I love that the mountains are right next to the ocean. I'm going to experience both, Table Mountain and the beaches. I'll also go out to the Cape of Good Hope and go where I can see sharks and penguins. I'll spend some time relaxing before I have to return to Iraq.

Obviously I'm very excited about the trip. Not only am I looking forward to the experience, but I'm ready for a break from here. I'm also looking forward to wearing civilian clothes, not shaving, and having a beer. My mom is concerned about the crime rate in African cities. She said she'll be happy when my trip is over. I asked her, "So you'll be happy when I'm safe and sound in Iraq?" We had a good chuckle about that.

I promise to give you a recap of the trip and provide pictures when I get back.

My New Office

Shortly before I arrived at Balad, my office was finished being built and my predecessor moved into it. The building I am in has been there since this was an Iraqi base. It had a courtyard that was closed in to create additional offices including mine. Being a new office, it had nice clean white walls and a new tile floor. My furniture included a new modular desk with a matching vertical bookshelf, a comfortable mesh desk chair, and a large leather chair that was very comfortable. Once my 40+ inch flat panel TV was hung on the wall (it took 4 months to get someone to do it!), it was a great office to work in and watch football on Saturday and Sunday nights (after work hours, I promise I'm not wasting your tax dollars). Easily one of the best offices in the building.

I'm talking about it in the past tense because I recently was moved to another office. A few weeks ago the general told me he wanted my office for a waiting room for his visitors. He said he chose my office because it is the closest to his (which is true) and I shouldn't take it personally. However, this news came at the same time as a couple of other less than stellar comments about me, so it was hard not to take it personal. It took a couple of days to get over it. I was happier though when I found out there was another room in the headquarters building so I wouldn't have to find some place in another building. When it came time to make the move, it wasn't that big of deal to me.

My new office isn't as nice as my old one, to put it nicely. Considering Iraq's history, I could imagine it being used as a place to beat up people Saddam didn't like. It has a prison shower motif to it due to the dingy yellow tile on the floor and walls. The only thing missing is a drain in the middle of the floor. I still don't mind the move because I was given a large wooden desk that I really like and I don't look around the room anyways. When I'm in there, I'm focused on my computer screens. What did bother me was the constant stream of people coming by my first day in the office to offer their condolences for me getting shafted. I appreciated the concern, but I had heard it enough by the seventh person. I did laugh when someone asked me if I knew where my stapler is (Office Space reference). The pity party died off after a couple of days and it's no longer a big deal.

I only bring this up because of the latest development. We had a heavy thunderstorm Friday night. When I got to my office, I could tell the ceiling in my office leaked. Where did it leak? Right above my desk where I have all of my electronics--two computers, two phones, and two monitors. Thankfully nothing was damaged. There is a duct right above my desk that obviously wasn't sealed very well. I could put my desk on the other side of the room, but then I would be looking right into the ladies' bathroom. Um, no. Instead I put in a request to get the duct sealed. Hopefully they take care of it soon (at least faster than they installed the TV in my old office; speaking of the old office, I don't think it has been used once in the 2 weeks it has been a waiting room). The forecast called for another thunderstorm last night, but thankfully it missed us. In the meantime, I'll break out the umbrella and trash bags to cover everything. Still beats the heck out of being in a tent in the middle of the desert.

If You Can't Laugh at Yourself...

I don't usually do CrossFit on Saturday but decided to last weekend since I missed a couple of days during the week. The class starts at 0545. I wanted to be sure I didn't oversleep (it's been a problem for me). I woke up at 31 past the hour. I got up and got dressed. After I left my room, I checked my watch. The time was 0046. I thought crap, I'm late. It took a few steps for my brain to start working and realize not only wasn't I late, I was 5 hours early. I chuckled at myself (it was definitely a moment worth a chuckle) and went back to bed. I did manage to wake up at the right time and made it to class on time.

Last Sunday I joined other people from my office for a softball tournament to kick off the government's annual charity drive. I love playing softball, but I'm beginning to think it doesn't like me. In the first game we played, I hit a fly ball into the outfield. It should have been an easy out, but it bounced off the outfielder's glove. I was between first and second when I saw that happen, so I turned on the old-man jets. They burned out pretty fast. I felt a twinge in my left hamstring as I got to second base. We were behind at the time, so I had to decide if I should push it or pull up. I pushed it. Somehow I scored on the play, putting us ahead. We ended up losing by two runs but it was exciting for a little while. In the second game, I was playing shortstop. There was a guy on first when a grounder was hit to me. I bobbled it a little bit but then grabbed it with the intent to step on second and make a throw to first to try for the double play. When I looked up after bobbling it, the guy coming from first was on top of me and I couldn't avoid him. He ran into me full speed. I went flying. I was rolling around on the ground, saying words I won't repeat here, and desperately trying to breathe. It was a few minutes before I could catch my breath. Someone asked me how I was doing. I said I've had better days. I then asked the guy who ran into me if he played linebacker. He said no, strong safety. I was told later the guy was at least 6'2" and 220lbs. All that matters though is I got the out. We later lost that game in extra innings by 1 run. We were eliminated from the tournament and I hurt like heck, but we had a lot of fun.

This morning I ran in the Army 6.8 Miler. The race is actually 10 miles long. I was supposed to meet my racing partner, Andria, at 0345 and the race started at 0445. I woke up at 0500 (told you I've had a problem with that). As soon as I woke up, I knew I was late. I rolled out of bed, got dressed, and put my contacts in. I didn't know the race course, but I knew it went by my housing area. I found the course and followed it back toward the start. After walking for about a mile, I saw Andria. She was pissed! She asked where I had been and what my excuse was. As I said, she was pissed. I ran with her. She was moving really fast (probably because she was pissed) and I wondered if I could keep up with her. As we ran and talked, she eventually forgave me. We did really well, better than either of us expected. We hoped to run under 9-minute miles (I should say I hoped and Andria agreed to run slower so I could keep up with her). She finished in under 1:17, which is about 7:40-minute miles. I was happy to keep up that pace and still felt strong at the end. She got an Army Ten Miler shirt when we finished. I looked around but didn't see any Army 6.8 Miler shirts.

So wherever I end up in life, at least I'll have myself to laugh at.