Qatar

Qatar = Heat.

First full day in Qatar in progress. Sitting in my room in the pilot dorm at Al Udeid Air Base. It's noon. I just walked in from outside, where I had a constant 120 degree breeze blowing in my face. I haven't felt a rush of hot air like that since I stood in the wake of a Chinook engine three days ago in Afghanistan.

I find myself wondering why people would live here. Then I remember - oil.

The laptop I brought with me is experiencing problems. The battery is dead, so I have to rely upon electricity, and the power cable apparently has a short in it somewhere. I have to wiggle it around to find a position in which it will work, and once it does, it could drop it's connection at any time. However, the WiFi signal is pretty good.

We have our one and only show here on base tonight at 20:00. We're allowed three REAL beers per day. I can't wait to wrap my lips around a REAL beer later tonight. At all the Afghanistan FOB's, we were only allowed alcohol-free beers, which are okay, but nothing like the real thing.

We actually got more than 5 hours of sleep last night - the first time that's happened in almost two weeks. They've kept us really busy, and that's okay. I can tell it's going to take a while to readjust upon returning home.

Our last stop in Afghanistan was a fantastic experience - Camp Phoenix, where all the Illinois troops are stationed. Unfortunately, most of the Effingham area troops had shipped out a mere hour before our arrival. We enjoyed hanging with the remaining Effinghammers, however, and everyone else there. They really treated us like kings, and we decided to stay the night there and give them more than one show.

I can't say enough about how much of a wonderful experience this whole thing has been. The soldiers have been so eager and appreciative about our presence, not knowing that we're only there because we appreciate what THEY do on a daily basis.

A Colonel at Camp Phoenix said that their camp is like a prison where all the prisoners carry weapons, and he was right. Their days are exactly the same every day. The food at the D-FAC's (Dining Facilities) is great, but I can see how it would get old after a while. Same food each day of the week. Same tasks every day. Same routine every day. It's like the movie "Groundhog Day".

We actually have time today to do a bit of laundry, for the VERY first time on the whole tour. Up until now, we've been just buying new underwear and socks at every PX we find ourselves at. I've ended up abandoning used undies and socks at every base we've been at. Not the perfect way to do things, but it works.

I'm looking forward to getting this last stop overwith, and getting home. I'm ready to see grass again. I'm tired of seeing Humvees and Chinooks, and look forward to being surrounded by Impala's and Celica's again. Most of all, I'm aching to see the wife and boys.

I hope to write more in the next two days, the LAST two days of the tour. we've been capturing thousands of pictures and small video clips, and I can't wait to be able to post them online somewhere where you can view them. The upload speed has been quite slow, so uploading videos is impractical.

Gotta go. Have a great day!

~mac

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