April Fool's Day...The Jokes On Me

I arrived in Iraq yesterday. What I couldn't add in my last post was I was suppose to fly out on Sunday morning. I packed most of my items the night before, got up at 0500 to shower, pack my sleeping bag and hygiene items and have breakfast. I should have known it wasn't going to be a good morning when the dining facility was out of cereal. So right off, my mood wasn't the greatest. I know some of you are thinking...cereal, but you have to understand, I have a little bit of the Rainman thing going on when it comes to breakfast. I even measure my Grapenuts.

Got back to the tent to wait for my ride. CPT Pietre pulls up and with a grin on his face says the flight is canceled due to weather. Right, nice joke buddy, after I packed all that stuff and dragged it to the other side of the tent. "No, I'm serious", he says with a grin on his face. It took him 2 more tries before he could convince me that he was telling the truth.

Dragged most of the stuff back to the cot that I hate and waited two days to try it again. Little did I know what I was in for at the new location.

Woke up yesterday morning and repeated the process only this time the dining facility had cereal. Good thing. Same driver but this time he's crabby so I'm giving him some grief. There are a few of us going but only Specialist (SPC) Heibel and I are staying for good. We arrive at the airfield and once the stuff is loaded on the aircraft, we receive a safety brief from the crew chief. I have always listened to safety briefings before but I noticed that I REALLY paid attention this time as the chief described what to do in different emergency scenarios.

We loaded the Black Hawk and waited. Along with my dog tags, I wear around my neck my cross and on that chain I have one pendant that says, Courage and another that says, Be Brave. As I was sitting there, I thought about what those words mean to me. I wasn't afraid to go into Iraq. Maybe I was just mentally tired already and just wanted to move on and this was another part of the journey. Get er done. For me, it's been hard leaving my family at home knowing they are moving on with their lives. My girl is growing up and I'm not a part of that, so this is where I need to have courage and be brave and trust that she will be just fine even if her mother isn't there to tuck her in or brush her hair or be there to comfort her.

Finally, we took off and I really got a chance to see the nothingness of this place. Miles, upon miles, upon miles of absolutely nothing except the occasional camel and tent. What do they see in this place?! Even though there was no line drawn in the sand, we knew when we had flown across the Kuwait/Iraq border when the gunner brought his weapon to the high ready position. Still nothing really to see other than power lines and a few more camels.

We landed and got picked up by a couple of the Soldiers who were on site already. After SPC Heibel and I got our rooms, we got a tour of the place. I'm not sure how long it had been raining but the roads and walkways were thick with clay/mud. The kind of stuff that sticks on your boots and multiplies with every step you take so by the time you get to your destination, you have a size 20 looking boot. What a pit! And the other really noticeable thing is all the concrete and HESCO barriers everywhere. I feel like a mouse in a maze without the treat. After spending the day touring and eating at the dining facilities, we were ready to call it a night. The one plus: I actually have a mattress so I slept the best I've slept since leaving Fort Lewis.

This morning, I got up at 0500 since we share the shower facilities with the men...no, not at the same time! Females use it from 0500-0600 and then again after 0800. I thought I would get a hot shower but that wasn't happening. No Starbucks, barely any Internet, they don't always have brewed coffee at the dining facility (usually it's instant coffee), no USO tent, no call center...this just can't be right. We shouldn't have to go backwards in the amenities. Where's an oasis when I need one? This is a bad joke. I think I should call it April Fool's Year. I do know, after a while, I'll mentally except my new surroundings and it really won't be that bad. I also know I shouldn't complain as others have had it WAY worse than me.

Well, at least the sun is shining today and the mud is drying up. :) Maybe, just maybe, I'll get a hot shower tomorrow!