A Long Flight & Sand Storm

Hello all,

I thought it was about time that I posted a new blog, it's been at least a month since I updated any new information, so here we go!

As most of you already know I have been in Kuwait, for almost a month now, and I will tell you it felt weird at first to be here. First lets talk about the flight over. I was really not looking forward to sitting on a plane for 14 hrs at a time, but to be honest with you it was not that bad. I made myself stay up all night so I would have to sleep for the biggest portion of the flight, that worked for the most part, of course they showed movies non-stop which helped pass time.  After the first 7 hours or so we landed in Germany for about an hour to refuel and then we were back at it for another 7 hours which of course you try to sleep even more.

We landed in Kuwait as the sun was starting to rise, and all that did was just remind us of and that this was really happening. Afterward they loaded us up on these nice buses and of course the driver is a Kuwaiti local and he is sporting the turban and man dress, I mean he was representing, again the reality was still sinking in. The buses had blue curtains over the windows which we were we told not to open, of course I could not help myself, I looked out the window the whole trip, and to be honest most folks did.

Of course we ended up at Camp Arifjan, my temporary home for the next few months. The following picture is of the tents we stayed in until we were moved into our living quarters.

 The next day was orientation and base tours, and this place is huge, I still have not been to even half of it.

I think that tank is the most photographed in history, everyone who passes this way takes this photo.

Life at Arifjan is not bad at all, everything you need or want can be found somewhere on post, I spend my time at work, from 730am -430pm, then an hour at the gym, and then chow and calling Lindsay. I start school on the 13th so that will pass time as well.



Someone asked about food here on post, well of course they have the DFAC (chow hall) and you have fast food places as well, although they are not quite as good as you might find in the states, so I usually don't eat there but maybe once a week. I do spend a lot of time at Starbucks, because they have free Internet, and yes I am still caffeine free since Jan the 8th, thank the Lord for Sprite.

 Starbucks

You see a lot unique things here on post like this van, can you tell what it is?

I had the chance to visit one of the other bases to perform my duties, and it's so weird to see the landscape. There are no trees along the highways like we are used to seeing in the states, it's just open space with miles of dessert and sand. Of course you see a lot of small cites with unique shaped buildings and the smell is different, keep in mind they don't have an EPA here so they have a great deal of air pollution, some days you can't even see the water tower on post due to the haze.

The other day, I was caught in a small scale sandstorm, and I did not have one of my dust masks handy. I quickly learned 2 things:

• 1st thing is run faster,
• 2nd is to keep your mouth closed.

 The second one is a tad more important then the 1st one, trust me it will change your attitude quickly when you have a mouth full of sand and grit.

Well that's about it for now, more to come later, I do want to thank everyone who has sent me packages and all the prayers and facebook messages I have received so far. I am so grateful to have such awesome family and friends, and of course all the JPS crew back home, and lets not forget my awesome wife, as she has been the best, and I'm blessed to have been married to her for 5 years.

Too be continued....