End of the first Sunday

Hello again,

I am feeling ever so much better since yesterday. I was able to sleep from 20:00 to 06:10. Only really woke up once to go to the head (but it was a brisk walk and that is not fun at 01:20). So far this feels like camp. Or rather a reeaally fucked up version of camp. Reasons why:
I am currently sharing a room with another NGA body (like camp);
The shower and toilet are located away from the room, so one has to walk (like camp);
We line up for chow that at current is not that good (like camp);
People monitor your outside activities and ensure not too much tomfoolery happens (like camp);
I have "counselors" who kind of dictate the daily activites (like camp);
Only, I am working, in a palace (one of three palaces around the airport) built by a heinous dictator and am surrounded by hundreds of armed US servicepeople (not like camp)...

I will not be able to post any pictures here (the blog) while here, but there are some releasable pictures that I can probably transfer and email. Some of the views and things are really, quite striking if not beautiful. I work in the Perfume Palace (don't know where the name comes from) and, well have you ever seen the movie Last Holiday (or last vacation i forget) with Queen Latifah? There's a scene where she asks the hotel clerk if she had ever just looked at the cieling and if it had ever made her want to cry? Yeah, well its kind of like that... and the crazy thing is the 3rd floor ceiling is more amazing. Near the palace built to celebrate the "Victory over Iran" and augmented to celebrate the "Victory over America" (Saddam wasn't big on the truth) there is a structure that was built for children (I guess Saddam's) that I can only reference to the "caverns" on Tom Sawyers Island in Disneyland, but this might be bigger. And then there is an even bigger palace north of the "Victory" and Perfume palaces. I haven't been there, but I can only speculate it is rediculous.

Seem to be getting along with my co-workers, and I think I will pick up the tempo pretty easily. I will probably have bigger challenges getting acclimated to the military culture and lifestyle. Figuring out how to get to the big px up north, where to get mail, best times to drop off the laundry. Oh yeah, they do the laundry. Four months of no having to cook, shop, laundery, buy... I'm gonna be spoiled. Hydration is a really big deal over here, so there are bottles of water avaliable for free everywhere. I mean everywhere. I have not been this hydrated for a long time. And I will probably have a problem when I have to "buy" my first bottle stateside.

The security is really good here, as in I feel utterly safe. In fact I only heard gunfire for the first time tonight, and I was told it was most likely at a test/firing range. If I get a trip to the "International Zone" I might feel edgey again, but not now.

Okay, gotta go to bed. Eyes drooping...

Be well,
Kiss those you care about.

I