Finally Here!!

I've been idle for a while, and I feel bad for that. The last post had me sitting in a hotel room in El Paso, and now I sit in a dark barrack in Kuwait! I did not have internet access during my last few days in Texas so I wasn't able to update this blog at all. Anyway, I'll give a quick run-down of my last ten days, and what a deployment looks like.

We left on Thursday, September 15. Since all troop movement is classified (for obvious security reasons), I would not have been able to tell you that I was leaving on that day. We knew about two weeks in advance that we were leaving on that day. We were told months ago that the unclassified date was September 10, but that date was more of a frame of reference, and the dates are fluid, usually by about a week or so.

We spent the morning of the 15 getting all of our bags in order (We have two duffels, a ruck sack, and a carry on. They are pretty heavy because they have all of our combat gear, uniforms, civilian clothes, computers, hygienic tools, etc), and getting our weapons out of the arms room. We got to Biggs Army Airfield, and stayed there for only about an hour. We had a briefing from the commanding officer of the unit which housed us--a ra ra ra speech--, and then we were off. It was around 1630 MST that we left. Our flight landed in Bangor, Maine for refueling and so that they flight crew could switch. In Bangor, there were greeters there who shook all of our hands, took pictures and posted them on a website, and offered us free food, internet, and a whole host of other things. It was midnight, rainy, and about sixty degrees. I LOVED IT!! It was a welcome change from the hot and dry air of Texas. I was also able to call Christina which was, as always, amazing. When we left the same greeters were there to wish us well, and we then made an eight-hour trip to Leipzig, Germany.

We stopped in Leipzig for much the same reasons we stopped in Maine. However, we were only in Maine for an hour and a half. We were in Leipzig for four hours. Also, we weren't able to leave the airport. There were awesome beer steins in the giftshop, and terrible Europop playing on the radio. Also, the weather was gorgeous. It was about noon there when we landed, and it was maybe 70 degrees Fahrenheit, and sunny. Beautiful. I was able to call Christina using a friend's international plan on his iPhone, and I was able to email her as well. By the time we left Leipzig, we had been traveling for sixteen hours, and we still had a five hour flight to Kuwait.

We landed in Kuwait at 2230 KST, which is 1530 EST which is 1330 MST. We had been traveling for twenty-one hours. We stayed in a holding area in Kuwait for about an hour, and then we made the bus trip from Kuwait International Airport to Camp Arifjan. The trip was about an hour and a half. We had Kuwaiti National Guard troops escort us (they were in front, behind, and to the side of our "convoy" of buses, and we weren't allowed to peek out the windows. There isn't much to see at midnight in the desert anyway.

We arrived at Camp Arifjan, unloaded our bags, got our billets, and were able to take the next two days off. Those days were spent acclimating to the time (the temperature here in mid-September is a lot like the temperature in SW Texas in July so we were fairly well acclimatized). We purchased items such as chairs, lamps, and other sundries so that we could live well, and took tours around the camp.

The camp is huge. It's also very ugly. Everything is the same color of tan, and it matches the landscape, which is a ugly combination of tan and gray. There are two GREAT gyms here, three Starbucks, two PXs, two movie theaters, and two MWRs--places where you can call home, rent movies--they have thousands--borrow books, play pool and ping pong, or hang out in a game room where they have Xboxes, PS3s, and a whole slew of games.

I have been able to Skype with Christina once, but I also purchased this thing called MagicJack. I plugged it into my computer, it took about five minutes to download, I chose a Michigan area code, and viola, I can call anyone in the United States on my phone!! I also have voicemail. It's like having a cell phone except that I can only use it on my computer. It was cheap, and it has been a blessing talking to Christina every day.

Anyway, that's the shotgun version of the last week. I posted pictures on facebook, and if any of you want me to post them here, please tell me. I will post more frequently here, hopefully, because the internet is kick ass...and we aren't slated to start working for a bit because, honestly, our higher headquarters has nothing for us right now. Go figure!