Week Five/Stuck

The majority of week five was spent being stuck. Our trip out to Husaybah was supposed to take about three hours. It ended up taking three days. It ended up being an unforeseen camping type experience. The purpose to the trip was to perform routine monthly maintenance on the equipment we support. This consists mainly of blowing out all the dirt and dust that equipment manages to collect from month to month. It is a long process, there is a lot of dirt and dust in Iraq. Once all the dirt is blown out, everything is plugged back in, powered up, and tested. When we plugged everything back in I plugged one thing in to the wrong place. My bad. It took us a while to realize what had happened, and by then the convoy we came out on had already headed back to AQ. The next convoy wasn't due for another three days.

Camp Gannon, the base in Husaybah, is tiny. It is about as far west and remote as you can get in Iraq. I was able to see into Syria if that tells you how far west. The facilities were the bare minimum. Food on most bases here is generally served in the traditional cafeteria setting. You have a main line with various entree choices and a short order line with fast food type dishes. This was not the case in CG. There were two choices: take it or leave it. My favorite meal was breakfast on the last day; ham and cheese omelet and chili? CG is where I had my first cold shower since being in country. Since I was covered in dirt and dust, I didn't mind at all.

On a church retreat I attended recently, I was introduced to the concept of a 'composting toilet'. It is an environmentally friendly toilet that uses bacteria in the place of plumbing to dispose of waste. It was quite fascinating, if you could get past the smell. Camp gannon also had its own environmentally friendly toilet called PETT( The Portable Environmental Toilet). I hoped that I would get by with out finding out how to use a PETT, but alas three days is a long time. The PETT system consist of a tent similar in size to a porta-potty, a toilet with a net where the bowl usually is, appropriate reading material, and a bagging system. There were also tubes buried in the ground for urinary usage. I am sure that that was way too many details for some, so I will leave it at that.

Most of our time in CG was spent entertaining ourselves by watching movies, reading, or playing video games. When is was time to go, I was not at all sad. We convoyed back to AQ and got on a flight back to Al Asad. The flight to AA was horrible. I forgot to get ear-plugs and we ended up going way out to another base an hour away before heading up to AA. At least I wasn't freezing at the same time thanks to my new neck scarf. Lesson learned; don't forget your ear-plugs.

I am back in Ramadi now, and am glad to be so. It almost feels like 'home'. My little safe haven. Eleven more months to go.

Week Four in the Mud

Closing in one one month in this enigmatic country. Time is moving very quickly. I feel like I was just having my going away party yesterday. I thought that time moved quickly only when you were busy. It seems to do the same when your sitting around twiddling your thumbs as well. Maybe the long naps have helped it do so.

This week is trip out west to do maintenance week. We have one site that is pretty far out there. We/I take turns doing monthly checks and services there with another tech. That means I will have five more of these lovely trips out west. A nice little way to count down the time I have left in country. It is one big adventure getting out there and back. If we are lucky, it will take at the shortest about a week to get out and back. This time the trip is full of excitement.

We started out with our flight scheduled for thursday. It started raining right around dinner time. The base instantly turned into a giant mud pie. We got to the flight line and checked in. There was no place to put our gear, so we left it out in the rain. We went to the passenger tent and found that everyone and there uncle was trying to fly out that night. We sat in the packed tent till 2am when they finally told us our flight was canceled.

The next day the mud was everywhere. I made the mistake of trying to walk to the shower in my flip flops. The mud about pulled them apart. Half way there I turned around went back and got my boots. It was a wonderful sight. Me with my towel and pajamas walking to the shower in mud covered boots. When I arrived at the shower the water wasn't working, so no shower for me. I slept in passed breakfast but probably would have passed on it given the long walk to the chow hall in the mud. I almost thought about just eating a really big lunch and passing up dinner to avoid the walk. I barely left the room all day. The mud had imprisoned me.

We finally flew out friday night. Our first stop was Al Asad. This base is huge. It made you feel like you were back in the states. They have paved roads and a PX with everything you could possibly think of. They even have a bus system that will take you any where you need to go. It was nice. Best of all, there was no mud any where. It sprinkled a little bit, but didn't have the muddy out come. Instead I was able to see a rainbow paired with a gorgeous sunset. It was beautiful.

After AA was AQ or Al Qaim. AQ is a neat little base. It is kind of a mix of Ramadi and AA. Not as big as AA but with paved roads. AQ is an old railway station. It gives the place a different sort of atmosphere. There is a nice view of the surrounding desert as well. We are sitting here awaiting our ride to our final destination, Husbayah. Once we are done with our maintenance there, we start the journey all over in reverse. I pray this time without the mud.

Week Three

The hero finally makes it to his destination. Lovely Ramadi, home of the character Saheed from 'Lost'. Now my new home for the next year. The journey here has been pleasant. I got to fly out to Fallujah and hang out with Marines for a couple days. That was a big change from being in Baghdad. It was so much more laid back. In Baghdad the two bosses desks were situated in such a way that the could watch every thing you did. You were still able to get things done, but you felt constrained and preasured while you worked. Fallujah was a world different. They didn't have Salsa night, but I was still able to get my Chai.

After playing with the Marines for a couple days I flew to Ramadi. I was lucky enough to be able to catch all my flights in one day. Travel arrangements here are less that reliable. Upon arrival in Ramadi they kicked me off the chopper and there was no one there to tell me where to go. So, I headed to the closest lit building. Luckily it is where I needed to go. I finally made it to my 'hooch' around 3am where I was able to sleep very comfortably on my, could you geuss it, bunkbed.

The set up in Ramadi is very nice. A lot nicer than I expected. We are pretty much secluded from everyone else but close enough where they can come get us if we are needed. Our shop/living area is just the right size to be able to do our work comfortably and have enough room to live. The base is pretty ugly. It has the appearance of a dusty old western town plopped in the middle of world war II europe. Lots of sandbags strewn around old concrete buildings surounded by dirt packed roads. I hear that when it rains here the mud comes up to your ankles if not higher. Fun in the sun baby.

I look forward to establishing myself in this new location. One of the first people I ran into upon arriving was a marine I served with twice in Afghanistan. He is a really good guy and I look forward to working with him. I knew I would run into someone I knew eventually. It is an incredibly small world. The only thing I have to worry about now is not turning into a hermit. I have to stretch my introverted self a little bit and make some friends. This has been an interesting adventure so far and I look forward to what may come.

Week Two in the Sandbox

Week 2

It has been two weeks since I arrived in Iraq. I am still stuck in Baghdad. Is that a good or a bad thing? Not too sure yet. The extra week here provided me another chance to go Salsa dancing, which was a good thing. I started getting side pains from dancing too much. Suffice it to say that I had a good time. The area here is really nice. The work environment can get a little mundane and political, but other than that it wouldn’t be the worst place to be stuck.


This is where I live. There are six sets of bunk beds two of which are occupied at the time. With the troop build up coming, that will not be the case for long. We are in one of the about 70 buildings that made up one of Saddam’s presidential retreat centers or something like that. It is a really beautiful area. The architecture on some of the buildings is amazing.


Above is the view from my front porch. I have heard that there are huge fish that swim in the lake. I haven’t seen any yet, but I am sure they are there. I wouldn’t recommend going swimming.

This is me giving the classic double guns pose. Notice the big pouch dangling from my neck. That is what is affectionately referred to as a ‘Man Purse’. If you look closely you will see that my comforter is covered with sponge bob characters. This was a purposeful choice on my part.

I went on my first helicopter ride this week. I really liked flying over the city and felt drawn to it in a strange way. I wish I could have the opportunity to go out into the city and experience the culture up close in personal. I know that it isn’t safe, but still I feel drawn. Flying over Baghdad reminded me of my trip to Guadalajara. Probably seeing the kids play soccer/football in the streets. It was easy to identify the very poor neighborhoods. I imagine that large cities in most of the developing world look very similar. One more reminder of how good we have it in the states.

Will our hero ever make it to his final destination? Stay tuned to find out.