She devoured all my sweat love, took all I had and then she fed me dirt. - The Monkees, She

Greetings from Kuwait.

I arrived at 2212, in 104 degree heat, and a bladder that I thought would explode any minute.

I'll back up, but that was my first impression of Kuwait.
So, we got up at 0400 Sunday morning, packed up all our gear, got on buses and headed to fly out. The hanger was equipped pretty nice. It's a good thing because we were there all day. The USO was there to feed us, there were pool tables, tv's, etc...we weren't the only group that flew out that day. In fact, some Marines flew with us. (I'll get into that a little more...but MAN I'm not used to that much yelling!)

Finally all crammed on the hot airplane. They had to have people move to the back for takeoff because of our weight. That did not help me feel better. We had one stop in the US (the USO was again there to greet us in the middle of the night) and then one stop in Europe. We wished we could have stayed there longer. Then, it was on to Kuwait. Overall, the flight wasn't bad. Watched a few movies. Sat with the friends. Slept and ate a LOT.

The Marines part...every time we would get off and the plane would refuel, they would all start yelling and assigning who was going to stay on with the weapons while everyone got off. Poor little PFC's and LCPL's. Then, when we were in, they would all yell when the plane was ready and that everyone wasn't moving fast enough to get back. They wouldn't say anything to us Navy officers, but they would stand right next to us to yell it, so you know they meant to be saying it to us. When they wake me up from my beauty sleep on the plane by yelling about something....urg. It was just frustrating. Kinda glad I went to the Navy side.

Now, we landed and I pushed everyone out of the way to get to the bathroom on the plane. Who knew how long we'd sit there. They were all full so I sat and waited....then some Marine started yelling at me to get off the plane and go on the bus.....fine. Whatever. So, I get on the bus and there is NO bathroom. Oh shit, no. Thankfully, we just drove over to a staging area. And then I sat and looked at portapotties through the window for an hour and a half.

Eventually, they let us off and we sat around for a few hours while things got arranged. We got to the base early early in the AM. LONGGG day and night. We unpacked, found our tent and headed for chow. We got a few hours sleep after that, but there was a dust storm and I couldn't sleep because it felt like our tent was going to take off. Plus, my bed was moving from it too....but at least we have a bed now and not a cot.

We started orientation yesterday with powerpoint briefs. Whoopie. Today, we went to the hospital and started getting our assignments. I'll be on our inpatient ward. The hospital is SO nice. Cold, clean. I can't complain. I've seeen so many people from Bethesda here from the last det. It's been a nice reunion. Especially with one of my friends who extended here and I haven't seen in over a year! I'll be on PM's at first. 1500-2300, six days a week. I'll have Sunday off.

It'll be nice to get in a routine, but it won't be for a few weeks before I'm settled. We have a ton of stuff during turnover. We won't get a day off for a while. Plus, we're still living out in BFE in the tents. Yuck. Soon, we'll move over to our berthing building right next to the gym and hospital.

There's so much more I want to tell. Overall, this isn't bad. I have been questioning myself why I begged to come here. It's going to be fun once we settle in. It's good to finally feel like we're helping out with our soldiers and sailors.

We mostly support all the army here. It's interesting living with them. I'm also having to get used to saluting. I never wear my uniform outside in Bethesda, so my arm is def getting a workout. The army salutes even when they're not in uniform. That must suck.

Other name changes:
Army: Latrine
Navy: Head

Army: duffle bag
Navy: sea bag

Army: DFAC
Navy: Galley

We also have a lot of Brit's and Australian's here. I held the door for one guy and he said "cheers". It made me smile.

I also enjoy rocking out to the Arabic radio on the shuttle. Most of it has a pretty cool beat to that I wouldn't mind listening to even after I come home.

Food is good, but my appetite is SHOT. I'm in love with the sandwhich bar. They make a mean wrap.

The weather. Like Lubbock, but 1000x worse. Flat, dusty, HOT HOT HOT....You're mouth completely dries out in seconds. It's crazy. It's tolerable though as long as you can take breaks inside. I don't know how these guys do it. I'm glad I'll be in an air conditioned hospital.

Pictures will come much later when I can use my computer and not the army ones.

I'm sorry this was so long! Much more to tell.....

I miss you all. More than I thought....but we have a good team here. :)