Well, we’re in Kuwait. It was a long flight with two stops, Iceland- which went rather quickly- and on to Germany. The latter place we were stuck there for something like 6 hours, much of it I spent curled up like a vagrant on some seating in the military portion of the terminal. I managed to doze off and recon the insides of my eyelids. The plane was less than crowded and I had a window and aisle seat all to myself. Try as I might up until this point, I could not seem to get any sleep. So Germany it was then, Leipzig to be precise. As we began initial descent, from altitude into Germany we were somewhere over France. I could identify Paris, Normandy and even London through their gleaming lights that stood out in the darkness. I can’t wait to return to France. I visited Paris on a trip in high school and hope to see more of the country.

Germany was cold and there was snow everywhere. They must have received nearly 10 inches of snow prior to our arrival. That was nearly all I saw of the country though. In time I will hope to go there as a tourist, but now I was merely passing through. Something managed to wake me from my slumber, I will have to call it hunger, simply just hunger. The time changes really jacked me up and now my stomach was paying the price. Apparently I slept through a free breakfast that was offered. I meandered about looking for some form of subsistence. There was a gift shop in the area, two actually, with everything from beer to jagermeister to absinthe and other things that I could not buy. But there were shot glasses and other tourist fare, to include the beloved party favorite, the glass boot. As tempting as it was I had no use for it where I was going and Jen bought me one a while back.  I did manage to find a sausage, more like a hot dog. It was terrible and bland, but it filled the void.

Then we embarked on our final voyage to Kuwait. This, I was told, was around six hours, but I wouldn’t know it because the nap in Germany served as a primer and I slept most of the flight. We landed late at night or was it the wee hours of the morning? I couldn’t tell you what day it was, but we got there. We were bussed to the central part of the desert by a contracted driver that wasn’t hesitant to jam the brake pedal in such a way as to test Newton’s laws of physics that “an object in motion tends to stay in motion.”  Every time he touched the brake it was forcefully, and most of the rest of the sleeping GIs on the bus would mumble and groan in their sleep. Not me, I was wide awake, this was new country, unseen by these eyes. I stared into the darkness of the night, well rested, but tired and disoriented from my travel. We arrived in the  desert night and were welcomed by briefings and such that it was nearly 0900 local time before we got to rack out. Luckily, I was ahead of the power curve thanks to the sleep on the plane, but I was still exhausted. 

The place is barren, and reminiscent of NTC — Fort Irwin California minus the mountains to look at. It’s flat, and the cloudless sky goes forever. Dust is everywhere and it doesn’t feel unlike I’ve landed on Mars. The infrastructure of the camp is pretty good, with many places to remind us displaced Americans of home. A Taco Bell, a Starbucks and various other establishments beckon you and try to fool you into a false sense that this is just another AT. I can only imagine what this place was back in ‘03 for the push. Surely none of this was there. The communications is a little rough right now.  I usually take some time to send up my blogs due to the fact that I like to reflect on them for a few days before I write. Internet connectivity in the middle of the desert usually consists of waiting in line for a spell, as does the phones. I’ve talked with my brother Steve, girlfriend Jen and my mom since I’ve been here,  it was nice to hear voices. I’ve never been much of a talker on the phone, but now things are changing I suppose. I don’t anticipate being here for long, but I don’t think we can leave soon enough. 

Until then I will sit back in my tent, stare at the ceiling enjoying my non-alcoholic beverages (yes they are available and authorized here… is it bad that I think they are delicious) and wait for movement. I’m Baghdad bound!