Goodbye Europe... hello Middle East

On Friday, Joe and his wonderful wife took me to Ramstein so I could catch my flight! I was lucky and got out on the first day… I know some of my co-workers had to wait a couple days. Below are some thoughts that I jotted down as I sat there and waited for my plane to leave…

So, here I am sitting in a sea of camouflage. Everyone keeping to themselves, some are reading, some are starring endlessly at the televisions that are scattered randomly through out the terminal, while others are just sitting there allowing their eyes to wonder around the room. There are some lucky ones that are accompanied for the time being by family and it is as though there is an unspoken agreement that those few lucky ones remove themselves from the cluster that is alone. As time slowly passes, I can sense the level of anxiety steadily increasing. Outside, the sky is growing gray as the sun slowly falls behind the uninvited clouds. The terminal that was at one time illuminated by the bright sun rays has now fallen cool and dark. A little over 2 hours until take off… I am actually looking forward to the plane ride; I hope I can get some sleep!

(Below are some more thoughts I wrote down while on the plane and once I arrived at Ali Al Salem.)

So, I thought just the people that were at the terminal with me were going to Kuwait, but I was wrong. I walked up to my gate and as I walked into the waiting area I was greeted by at least 270 more troops that had flown over from the states. Again, there was a sense of awkwardness in the air and everyone kept to themselves. Eventually we all piled onto the DC-10 and off we went. The flight was roughly 5 hours and I slept a good bit of it. We arrived at Kuwait International around midnight Kuwait time (2 hours ahead of Italy and 8 hours ahead of the east coast).

Now, deplaning was different than the normal routine. Before we got off, we were briefed and then instructed to exit down the stairs of the plane and immediately boarded a bus. There was about 10 buses and approximately 30 people per bus. The bus was quiet and the curtains were drawn so no one could see in. Our baggage was put into big semis that followed us in convoy style to Ali Al Salem. The ride was about 2 hours and we finally arrived around 3:30. Again we were briefed and told to exit the bus. Once we were all off, formation was called… the Sergeant called out “all military to the right and all contractors to the left… well, guess who was all by herself to the left--- yup, me! It was pretty funny; a lot of people got a laugh out of it!

(Above: Just hanging out in my tent at Ali Al Salem! Surprisingly, it was

almost 5 in the morning and I was wide awake... but surrounded by people sleeping)

Once I was in-processed I was given billeting which consisted of calling dibs on a mattress in a tent that held 12 people. I think I finally got in my tent around 4:30 and had the hardest time falling asleep! After catching a few zzzz’s, I found my way to a phone and called my boss down here and told him arrived safely and to come get me! A few hours later… I was on my way to my new home… the wonderful Camp Buehring!

(Above: Tent city at Ali Al Salem... yup, that was

home for one night!)