Tired of Laying in Bed. Or, My Trip So Far (Part II)

My Trip So Far (Part II)

On Saturday morning, I reported to inprocessing at my squadron at 0730. We were given a briefing about general rules, were introduced to our First Seargent, and were given our alcohol ration cards. I’m legal now! After that, my coworker Kehinde drove me out to the BX so that I could get some items that I needed and then I went to grab some lunch at Subway. I know it isn’t the best sandwich you ever had, but it has a particular taste to it that I have come to know. I always get the veggie sub with cheese. We do not import our vegetables, but get them from the Qatari economy. OK, let me just say, Qatari lettuce does not taste like American lettuce, nor do their tomatoes taste like American tomatoes. Add that to all of the other usual ingredients that I usually get, and you’ve got one weird-ass tasting sandwich! It will take some getting used to, but it is the closest thing to my room and sometimes when you’ve worked that hard for so long, it is all you can do to stumble there. Don’t even get me started on walking to the bathrooms when I’m ready for bed - alls I want to know is...was Jerry Seinfeld right? IS there such a thing as “uromisotisis”? If so, I’ve got it, because I hold my pee for hours now!

After lunch on Saturday I went into work for a while just to get acquainted with the staff. Our current Readiness NCO, MSgt Brown, took me on a tour of the base. Wow, this place is huge. Obviously everything is beige to blend in with the beige sand and beige sky so it isn’t the most visually stimulating thing you’ve ever seen, but it’s cool how the most important buildings have slanted walls, to resist the force of a blast...and there are bunkers EVERYWHERE! I haven’t seen any camel spiders (they aren’t a problem here) but I have seen some incredibly handsome Aussie and British soldiers! Crikey! Gor blimey!

I then dropped off some laundry to the service here (you pretty much make a daily run to the laundry people since it takes about 3 days to get anything back) and got unpacked. Once all the going and doing was done, I settled under the "Bra" for some relaxation.

Basically, my little world is set up like this: In the middle of it all is the “Bra”, where you go to hang out, listen to music, check e-mail, smoke, and drink beer. It is about the size of a football field. That place is hoppin at all hours of the day (I know this because my window faces it and I get some lovely base thumping through my room all night, like right now). Each night they do something different there - the first night I was here there was a DJ spinning beats under there. The next night they had some sort of strongman competition. Last night, there was KARAOKE. Yeah, let me just say that 1) military people are tonedeaf and 2) tonedeaf people singing old Metallica songs do not exactly induce the most peaceful sleep. Tonight there is a band playing - they aren’t bad. Anyway, so the Bra is there. About 10 feet from the end of the bra is my office. About 50 feet from the side of the bra is the trailer home that houses my room (and about 19 others). Right across the sidewalk from my trailer home is the laundry, the BX, subway, pizza hut, burger king, dairy queen, dunkin’ donuts, a spa, three souvenir shops, and a couple of bathrooms. Right beside my trailer home is the base theater, where they are playing movies 24 hours a day and serving fresh popcorn. The wifi is under the Bra, but sometimes I can get it from my room if I am right by the window. Depends on the weather. Also within a block radius of my trailer home are a coffee shop, the pool, the library, the chapel, the gym, and the finance office (that’s where the money’s at!). So I’ve got a pretty nifty little setup.

The closest non-brand name eating facility is the DFAC, which is about the equivalent of 10 city blocks from my home base. I went yesterday for the first time, typical cafeteria-style eating and nothing too incredibly amazing. We also have something called a “grab-and-go” that is about a mile from here (on the “ops” side of base), where you can get sandwiches/salads, fruit, and candy...but you have to drive there. So far I have eaten a lot of PowerBars, oatmeal, and trail mix. Not sure how long it will take for me to cave in and start eating regular meals at the cafeteria place. I am sensing a re-do of my freshman year of college, where I actually lost 20 lbs because I wouldn’t eat the food. I missed Mama’s cookin’. Still do.

The squadron has several trucks that members can check out and go do their personal errands or use to travel to other squadrons. They are all weird little Qatari hoop-rides with weird names and are SO DIRTY. But they do the trick. We also use those if we want to go “downtown” to Doha. Members of the squadron can get trained/licensed to drive off-base and they usually make runs once a week or so. You can catch a ride and spend the day down there. I will probably do that in a couple of weeks, once I get settled and get some real rest.

Man, I cannot wait to rest.

One more thing - the weather here has been fabulous!!! Right now it is about 65 and breezy. It has been low 70s in the day, and today was REALLY windy! But it hasn't been nearly as hot as I expected. Granted, that will soon change, but it has been a great adjustment period for me. Also, it has rained here a lot in the past few days in the afternoons, just like the states. Just thought I'd share.