1st Camel Spider I Saw in Iraq

Camel Spider

One night at about 2 AM I was spending some leisure time with friends after a long hard day. This bugger caught my eye as it scurried back and forth across a sidewalk in the dimly lit area. I grabbed a friends flashlight, zeroed in and popped him on the head with flat of my foot. I was wearing shoes of course! I didn't want to annihilate it and got him just good enough to make him stop moving, for ever! We decided to take the picture like this to show relevant size etc.

*UPDATE* -Another big "THANK YOU!" to Mrs. Greyhawk of Mudville Gazette -Dawn Patrol for linking!

Iraq Sunset Taji

Taji Iraq Sunset

Clouds are a rare site in central Iraq. As the weather gets cooler and the days shorter, breathtaking moments sometimes reveal themselves. This was the sunset today and worth taking a moment to remember there are beautiful things in the world even in the dirt pits of Iraq.

*UPDATE* -A big "THANK YOU!" to Mrs. Greyhawk of Mudville Gazette -Dawn Patrol for the linkage!

Christmas Shopping from Iraq

Last night I did some Christmas shopping. I must say that Newegg is my one stop shop for computers, cameras and electronics and they also ship to APO! I haven't a clue about what I am going to buy for family yet, but there were a few things that I bought for myself. That sounds bad, but when you are over here for a few years you don't spend the much time with people to know what it is they may need or like. I am not very good at shopping for others until I get some type of a creative streak or run across some unique items. I guess I need to do some more looking around. It's just a bit difficult to window shop in Iraq unless you settle for "Microsoft Windows" shopping... heh.

The most important gift to me is time spent with others. Being away from home for so long really teaches you to value the time that you spend with family and friends. Personally, the best gift to be given or received is time. I don't say that to be cheap. I am much more likely to spend money on someone else rather than on myself. To buy something for myself I evaluate it over time and really have to justify it to myself. When it comes to others, if its something they want (within some reason) their happiness is justification enough.

Now I just have to wait for some answers on requests for gift ideas from a few people. Then I can surf like mad trying to find something I would like to fill the wish with! Thank goodness for Newegg.com, Amazon.com, Oldnavy.com and Walmart.com and all the others not mentioned. On that note, thank goodness for American Express... LOL!

Iraq -Thanksgiving OIF III

OIF III Cake

Another beautiful work by soldiers in Iraq. I only wish these would have been made with real cake instead of on Styrofoam. They were making me HUNGRY!!!

Iraq - Happy Thanksgiving!

Iraq Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving, to family, friends and loved ones back home, from all of us in Iraq! I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season! I think todays Thanksgiving meal was one of the best I have had in theater! Today was a cheerful day for soldiers and contractors alike.

Internal Struggle

For almost the past two years I have worked here in Iraq. I believe that I will continue my work here for some time. Although, it does seem that this year I have begun to create my own new problems. Due to relationships outside of work & Iraq each time I take a vacation it becomes more and more difficult to return.

I have goals and plans. I have set certain goals, up to a year at a time and continue to meet them, but as time moves on these goals become increasingly difficult to attain. With each passing quarter of the year I find myself asking, "how much longer can I keep this up? How much longer can I work in a war zone, and how much longer can I live without the freedom that I am here supporting?"

Due to conditions in Iraq, we don't have the freedom that we all take for granted back home. It's not as if you can just go for a drive when you get stressed out or go out to dinner or to a movie for the weekend. You can't be with those that you love or want to be with, unless you are lucky enough to be married and have your wife working on the same base. It's difficult sometimes to work more than twice what the normal person in the states works every week. People probably don't realize that the work that we do here in just one year is more hours worked than people back home work in two.

Don't get me wrong, there are wonderful benefits to working over seas and it has been one of the greatest experiences of my life, but in this environment it begins to eat away at you over time. I think I would have to say that if it were not for the people that I work with it just may not be worth it sometimes. When it comes to working here, the people make all the difference. I still believe that I will be in Iraq for quite awhile longer, but with each passing day I eagerly look forward to my next vacation!

Egyptian Sunset

Egyptian Sunset

This was the evening that concluded the desert safari. It was a peaceful way to end the enjoyable ride across the dessert and set the mood for some interesting evening entertainment before the long ride back.

Sphinx Ruins

Hangin Out

Fun with Camels

Drink up!

This guy had quite the talent for accepting a water bottle, drinking it down and spitting the bottle out on the ground. Luckily, this was the only camel spitting that occurred.

Safari Camels

One day we took a "Moto-Safari" across the desert. 4-Wheelin' in Egypt was a good time. The evening stop for dinner had camel riding and a little tour of how people in the Egyptian desert live and survive.

More from Egypt

Sphinx & Khafre's Pyramid

Visiting the Sphinx was fun. There were fewer peddlers and enough time to walk around and visit the ruins casually.

Pyramid Perils

Khufu Pyramid

The pyramids are quite a site, but this was the most annoying part of my trip. The locals here were like flies to honey! We basically spent our time running around this pyramid and away from the peddlers, it was extremely annoying! I only wanted to take in the sheer magnitude and amazement of these wondrous structures. Again this tour was extremely rushed.

The first peddler that approached us piled on souvenirs and continued to state they were gifts only to then demand money and that we were happy. As we ran from other peddlers, now having all the cheap souvenirs we could possibly need, the next instances came from the Tourist Police themselves. These guys will offer to take your picture, with your camera, and then ask for payment and they are expecting 20-50 Egyptian pounds/4-10 USD just to click a button that they offered to do.

My last straw came when a young boy with a camel insisted that we take a picture with him and his camel. We only wanted to be left alone at this point, but it seemed the only way out was to appease the boy by taking a picture. Of course money was again expected and to top it off another guy walks up and states that it is his camel and we must pay him also. At this point I had enough, I threw some Egyptian pounds at them and took off. The young boy caught up to me on the camel and said, "Are you no happy sir? You must be happy or it is bad luck for us!" to this I stated, "I'll be happy when you go away!"

Don't take me wrong, I am not the type of person that gets upset easily at all, I actually tend to be very passive. This constant badgering on My Vacation from none other than Iraq tipped me over the edge on tolerance. I have my photos and my memories to reflect on, but it certainly had its unpleasant moments.

Egyptian Museum

Egyptian Museum

The Egyptian museum was quite an interesting place! This place is cram packed with artifacts and sarcophagi, tablets and statues. Unfortunately, no pictures are allowed inside. I guess they want to keep people coming so they keep paying. The downside was the fact that the tour was so rushed. There was a little time at the end to go exploring for yourself, but for the most part if I ever visit again I would buy a ticket and explore for hours on my own. Maybe buy a little pamphlet/book guide and skip the guided tour all together.

Back in Action

Vacation is over and things will be getting back to normal. I attempted to post from Dubai, but was unable to update from the hotel's network. Here I am back in the Dust bowl of Iraq after the ancient ruins of Egypt, the rainy weather of Dublin, Ireland and the Humidity of Houston. I only had 4 days at home and slept in my own bed for 1 whole night. I normally wouldn't make a trip all the way back to the states for only 4 days, but my cousin was getting married, so that was the purpose of my trip. It was nice to be home though, and I hope to have more time on my next trip in '06. Pictures from Egypt to follow...

Travel Update

Well, I survived my trip to Egypt during Ramadan and managed to have a pretty wonderful time. I will write more on my opinions of Egypt and what has come of the once great pyramids and tombs of ancient Egypt in the coming days. I have tons of pictures of which I will post a few. I made a stop in Dublin, Ireland as well and will have to share some tales of Halloween in the land of the Leprechans. More to come in a few days, once I have a rest back in Texas, if at all possible...