Turn and burn

well, I am in kuwait now. the keyboard i am on does not have a shift key so i am not going to be using capital letters.

we left fort hood on january 8th at 2234. to back up a little bit, we all gathered in a gym on base where families came to spend time with us before we left. we were on 'lock down'. we were no longer allowed to go anywhere. we had to check in on the manifest, check our carry on size, and hang out for about 3 hours. at the end of that time, col holcomb made a speech and gave us 1 minute to say our good-byes before forming up to leave. once we were in a formation, we were called to attention and began to file out the door of the gym to waiting buses. it was a very emotional time for those with families saying goodbye. the hardest part is watching little kids cry as their parent lined up to leave.

once on the buses, they drove us to the airfield where we sat in the terminal for a few hours. there is a pattern in the military, you have to leave right now so that you can sit somewhere for umpteen number of hours... hurry up and wait as we always say. our flight time changed forward and backward multiple times as we sat there. as we were waiting, i had to get my smallpox vaccine. i'm not looking forward to the next 4 weeks of taking care of it, but it's not an unpleasant experience. it's just supposed to look gross in about a week when it starts to blister and weep.

when it came time to load, we left through the terminal doors and walked straight along the airstrip to the plane. it was a big plane. it reminded me of ants approaching a watermelon at a picnic. we flew on an md-11 and i sat with two friends across the middle 4 seats. they told us we were doing what was known as a 'turn and burn'. we land only long enough to refuel and do maintenance. we actually took off from fort hood at 2234. we flew to bangor, maine and then leipzig, germany before finally landing in kuwait city, kuwait. total time from takeoff in texas to landing in kuwait was 18 hours 3 minutes. then we got on charter buses and drove for 2 hours from the airport to camp beuhring where we are now located for the next 7 to 10 days. the weather is gorgeous 50-60's during peak day, but it's flat and sandy. there is nothing to be seen for forever, except an occasional pallate of water. they're everywhere.

today is an adjustment day. we got our gear, we got our tents, we picked our cots, and we got oriented to the area. we started our day here at 0630, just in time to salute the flag. so what are we supposed to do after 24 hours of travel at 0630 in the morning? well, we started with breakfast, then a briefing, then we were released by 0830 for the rest of the day. my battle, kristina, and i went exploring. we went to the uso for the first time [this is my 3rd time already tody and it's only 1620] and then we went to the bx where i bought an hp netbook for 350 dollars. my other laptop crashed the night before we left... perfect timing... then, we showered. we are allowed 15 gallons per person per day. we're supposed to take green showers here where you turn the water on only when you need to rinse. as i was changing my clothes for the first time in almost two days, i looked at my legs, and i didn't even recognize them. they were so swollen i had lines from my boots and lines from my socks. i did take a short nap from around 1200 to 1400 and it was wonderful. i always sleep wonderfully in the field. i can't wait to eat dinner at 1700 and crash for the rest of the night until 0600 tomorrow morning.

well, i'm on a time limit. i must give the computer up for someone else.

oh, there is a starbucks here. that's pretty amusing. it's actually a real starbucks. comfy chairs, wi fi, and everything.