I have been back to Baghdad since my last post and spent some time there. We get to know all of the posts around us because we will eventually spend as much time in them as we will in our own. When I am "home" I spend my time in my room on the internet or watching movies, but on the road we sleep in tents on cots so we are more likely to go out to the rec rooms and shops that they have set up for the soldiers. Last night I watched "Iron Man" on a big screen TV sitting on a really soft leather chair in a rec center. We are awake at night, so we had the place to ourselves early in the morning when everyone else on post was asleep. It was fun.
Winter has started here in Iraq. It is near freezing every night and will stay this way for a few months. People are surprised to learn that Iraq is at a similar latitude as Texas, and other than being incredibly dry has the same seasons as Texas. It gets as cold here as it does there. It warms up to comfortable temperature during the day, but I am asleep and only feel the cold of the night. As a gunner I get to feel it while driving down the road. All my years riding motorcycles in the cold has helped prepare me for what it's like up in that turret. The army provides some pretty nice clothing though to help keep me warm. It's funny though. You know who the gunners are because they are the ones with multiple layers of clothing on and thick gloves. The drivers and truck commanders get to sit in heated cabs so they just wear their ordinary uniform with a jacket that they can take off before getting into the truck. In the summer they will be the ones in the air conditioning while the gunners get to sweat up in the hatch with all their gear on!
I am getting lots of Christmas cards from everyone. It is nice to get them all, even the ones from distant relatives on Julie's side of the family that I don't know to well. It is nice to know that people are thinking about me. I'm glad that I could come do something so important in my life and for the support that I am getting from everyone. It's funny, I served a mission in the jungles of South America and now I am serving my country in the deserts of the Middle East. Two totally different battles in two totally different environments. What an amazing life I have had!
1 comment:
Okay, count me as another one that is geographically impaired. Who knew that Iraq would be similar to Texas in latitude or any other way? It is consistent with my descriptions of"home" though - hot, flat and dry. Whenever we have new missionaries over for dinner, I usually ask them what they did wrong in the pre-existence to be sent to Texas on their missions. But apparently I was valiant in that selfsame pre-existence and wrangled a gig in Europe. It exposed this lowly Texas boy to lots of culture, even if the work itself was difficult. But I digress. I did have a missionary companion and I think half of his clothing was provided by the US Army. He was EXACTLY like the greenie in "The Best Two Years". In fact, I've thought it would be a hoot at a ward activity to bring pictures of companions that most closely resembled that greenie. Unfortunately, at some point, that person was all of us. I guess my point here is, steal all the gloves you can so you will have warm stuff to ride the bike in later!
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