Thank You Rusty & Marn't Smith

I mentioned once before that we have tables inside of our building that are known as Freebie areas.  The table for my unit has a few standard items are always on it. Paperback hardback books are aligned on the back side of the table closest the wall. It is the simplest form of library, you take a book and read it then you bring it back and put it on the table again. If you have a book that you have read, you put it on the table for someone else.  The same holds true for magazines, which are piled at one end of the table. I must say, I had no idea that so much a variety of magazines even existed anymore. I have seen everything from basic sports magazines to Crocheting Monthly. The table sits out in the open, where everyone walks past at least once or twice a day.  It is kind of funny, when you catch a big muscular soldier trying to slip a book on a table unnoticed and when you walk past you notice it is the latest romance novel by Jude Devereaux.

Other things go on the table too. For example, when someone is leaving they will often put leftover cleaning supplies, uneaten packs of Ramen noodles, writing paper, and other things that they had left on hand that might be better utilized here been taken home. Occasionally, you will see things that people have gotten in care packages that they wish to share with everybody. Cookies, Kool-Aid mix, and other things that friends may have shipped to them that were excess.

The Chaplain will also put things on the table, usually puts small booklets about dealing with being alone or how to maintain long-distance relationships.  Occasionally, he will put out crosses -- not just your basic cross but Catholic, Protestant, Celtic, Orthodox, and Unitarian crosses. A  Chaplain in the military has a duty to all faiths not just his own -- -- which explains why on 1 May our Chaplain will be conducting a Fertility Rite for the local Wiccan Coven.  We live in an unusual world.

The First Sgt. will slip boxes onto the table that are full of things shipped by supportative members of the American public. If you've ever taken part in any donation program that said they were going to ship things to service members in the war zone they probably wound up on a table just like this. The boxes hold lots of different kinds of goodies. Sometimes Girl Scout cookies, toothbrushes, toothpaste, feminine hygiene products, skin lotion, and body wash to name just a few. Normally, I don't take any of these items preferring to leave them for the GIs who need them when they go forward or who can't get off base the way I can. What I normally do take from these boxes -- -- well I really just borrow them because I put them back -- -- are the letters that come from schoolkids.

I will usually grab one or two of these is that walk by and when I get back to my office I will sit and read them when I have an idle moment. It is really cool to see how much of a grasp of reality third-graders have.  Usually, all the letters start out the same and have a paragraph or two that was probably written by the teacher. The final paragraph of each letter tends to be a little bit different and probably authored by the child. I read a letter from one child who said he wished he had a dinosaur he could send us to help us get the bad guys so we could get home sooner. Another one talked about how he hoped that the snacks he sent would not make us feel too homesick since they were form the USA.  I also read one letter which was obviously written by military child, that asked that we tell his mom "Hello" when we saw her and that he missed her and wanted her to come home.  It is letters like that that get you.

Last Friday, there was a distribution of small bags that came in from Operation Shoebox. Everyone in the unit got one, to include us civilians. It was a small cloth bag that had things like bubblegum, assorted toiletries, the crossword puzzle page out of a local newspaper, and a small note from the person who would put the package together. One of the people in the office got a note from an eight-year-old that included a neat drawing of airplane. My bag came from Rusty and Marn't Smith.  I kept that note from them, and it went up on the wall of my cubicle. It is nice to have people like that remember and support you.  

When I was on active-duty, I was part of the Cold War era. Those of us who were veterans of that period, got no parade, no medals, no monument, and the American public basically ignored us even though we won the war.  I am so glad to see that the men in uniform today have the support of the American people and that they are not being ignored but are being noticed and remembered.

If you feel like doing something, but are not sure what to do Operation Shoebox does take donations in a variety of forms and you can get to their website by going here Operation Shoebox

6215

Flags in the Sand

Friday night, I went to see a movie at the theater on base. It was the new Three Stooges feature and having been a fan of the Stooges since I was a boy I was really looking forward to seeing this remake. I had seen several of the previews prior to leaving the US and the casting of the lead roles seemed to be spot on. 

If you've ever seen an old war movie or an episode of M*A*S*H you may have watched a scene where the soldiers go to see a movie in a tent In most of those old shows you had a large group of GIs sitting in a very small tent sitting on folding chairs or benches watching a movie shown by a projector that was using a sheet as a screen.  The air would appear to be thick with cigarette smoke and quite often the troops would complain about the number of times they had seen that particular movie. Things here are a bit different.

The theater on Arifjan is located inside a building that also houses the recreation center.   Movies are shown in a large multi-purpose auditorium. One of the nice things about it is that there are movie theater style seats, but every other row has been removed to make getting in and out quick and efficient -- probably for security reasons. The screen is not a real screen, but movies are shown on the back wall of the building that has been painted white.  The films are changed every couple of nights and some nights they even show a double feature.

Movies on a military base start differently than those shown anywhere else. They start with the playing of the National Anthem. I will guarantee you that when the Star-Spangled Banner started playing that night everyone in the theater came to attention when it started and did not speak or move until the last note was sounded when they sat back down. It is an awesome feeling to realize you're sitting in a room full of people that are just as patriotic as yourself.

Instead of previews, we were treated to a safety film. I really think I would rather have seen previews but I wasn't given the choice.  But I do know how to put out a grease fire now.

The movie itself was great, after a while I could completely ignore the fact that there was an electrical outlet in the middle of the wall that served as a screen. People laughed, applauded, and generally enjoyed the film. It wasn't that the movie was that great, although I would give it 8 out of 10, it was the fact that it was something different and something from home. Those couple of hours we were no longer sitting in Kuwait, we were all in her hometown theaters watching the film.

 

When the film ended, everyone filed out quietly and went back to whatever duty it was that they had to accomplish at that point in time. For me, I jumped in my car and headed back to my apartment.

The next day, one of my brigade's battalions was heading home. In that same theater, I attended an awards ceremony and medals were presented to those soldiers who had done a great job in the war zone and supporting those that were in the war zone. That particular ceremony started with a single female soldier singing the Star-Spangled Banner. She did so without music and it was obvious she was fighting back tears by the end of the song.

There a lot of things to think about here on a day-to-day basis -- what I do  -- the beneficiaries of my labors. I'm closer now to the Warfighters I support than at any other time since becoming a government civilian.  Patriotism is always right under the surface. Sometimes you feel it more than others -- -- but one of the things about being here that is surprising is that you can feel it while doing something as simple as going to a movie or attend an award ceremony.

As far as the movie goes:  If you're a Three Stooges fan -- -- go see it. They have managed to fit almost every gag that the Stooges ever did into one movie. If you squint your eyes a little bit, you will swear that you're watching the original Curly and not actor Will Sasso. His performance alone was worth the price of admission.

By the way,  I did figure out how to tie my sehmaugh!  Bring on the dust!

6189

Sand Day! (Like a Snow Day but Without the Fun)

When I was a kid I really enjoyed snow days. There was nothing like waking up and finding out that school was canceled. For some reason, even though you'd be rising at the same time there was a new motivation to jump out of bed, get dressed, and run outside. Hours would be spent sledding, building snowmen, and of course helping with the neighborhood snowball fight. Even as an adult I enjoyed snow days. On days where work might not have been canceled, if school was canceled I might give in to the temptation to take the day off and spend it sledding and being outside until chilled to the bone when I would head back inside in search of hot chocolate. There is absolutely no chance of any natural snow here, but this week I experienced my first Sand Day.

My alarm went off on Tuesday morning as usual, but when I open my eyes I noticed something a bit different. My apartment has windows on all sides and I leave the ones in the living room open all the time.  With the days getting longer, I am used to waking up and things already starting to get brighter; but what I was not prepared for on Tuesday was the fact that everything was a bright sandy Orange.  I did not have much time to contemplate this oddity because my phone started ringing almost immediately. When I answered I found out that I was going to experience a Sand Day since the roads were condition red.

I've mentioned before about the fact that the ground underfoot here is not actually sand would very fine dirt.  In March and April, Kuwait experiences ground-level winds that causes a condition called rising dust.  If the winds last long enough the dust can raise in the air several stories where it is caught by the natural trade winds which move it forward. From a distance this almost looks like a wall as it moves along. There's a great scene in the Mummy movie where the sand appears to be moving across the desert like a tidal wave. It is really something to see, however being trapped by one is not so much fun.

From one of my windows I can normally see, between the buildings in front of mine, a barge that sits on the Persian Gulf. I'm not sure what the barge is there to do but it hasn't moved in the entire time that I've been living here. On Tuesday, I could not see the barge -- -- or the Gulf -- -- or the building in front of mine. It was just that bad. However, because the sand had an orange tint to it all of outdoors has an eerie glow. I realized I was trapped inside. 

That was when it occurred to me that the only food I had in the apartment was some Triscuits, Diet Coke, some butter, and several packages of Pizza Hut ketchup. Not a balanced meal but a smorgasbord when pressed to become survival rations.

When the dust rises this badly, most people men wear a shemagh which is the full head wrap you may have seen in the movies that only leaves the eyes exposed. Go out during a dust storm and that whole look suddenly makes a lot of sense. I have not been here long enough to learn how to tie a shemagh yet so I use the more Americanized version known as a surgical mask. I back this up with a pair of sunglasses to protect my eyes and a hat to minimize glare. In the end, I look a little more like the Invisible Man instead of Lawrence of Arabia.  

 

By sunset, the roads were clear again and a little evening rain was supposed to clear the rest of the dust out of here. The treat you get here when rain occurs is that during the first 10 minutes or so there is mud falling out of the sky as opposed to water. The raindrops on their way down clean the dirt out of the air and bring it all down in a mixture that leaves everything dirty but the filthy air gets clear.

In the end I didn't build a sandman -- -- I didn't build a sand  fort -- -- I didn't participate in a sand ball fight and I didn't make any sand angels; but I did survive my first Sand Day.

The pictures I've included are not only mine but some are from the Kuwaiti weather site which apparently holds a photo contest every time there is a major dust storm. I wish I lived a little higher up in my building so I could capture some of the images that the other photographers have.  I also included pix from the base, but I am not sure who took it.

Until next week...

6149

No Flying Monkeys...Yet

Over here, people transition in and out very quickly.  In the month that I've been here I've gone to five going away lunches and welcomed three new people on board. It is a constantly changing landscape of people and personalities. In some ways it is actually better that way because there is constant stream of people with new ideas and energy looking at problems that tend to be the same day after day. Quite often, people compare working here to the movie Groundhog Day   because most of the time it is the same thing day after day.

People combat that feeling of sameness by personalizing where they can, and show a sense of humor when they can. I've said before that I work in what used to be a large warehouse. Inside that warehouse things are divided into cubicles and few walled offices. As a result, as you walk through the building you can actually see the workspace of most people. They are all decorated  differently and the personality of the occupant shows.

Almost all desks have at least one family picture -- -- parents, wives, kids, grandkids. About 60% of the booths have a photo of a motorcycle, either one they are preparing to buy when they depart or one that they left back home. Almost all desks have at least one stuffed animal on them. Some of the stuffed animals were sent from anonymous folks in the states while others are gifts from loved ones. A lot of desks have religious symbols as an outward sign of faith that the occupant has. Some have cartoons that are tacked to the walls -- -- most of which relate to life in the war zone.  It is having a continual sense of humor that helps most people get through the days.

At various places throughout the building are what is known as Freebie Tables, I will discuss those at length later. The other day I was walking by one of the tables and I noticed a small stuffed scarecrow on it. A short while later, I walked past the table again and noticed that someone had placed a sticky note on the scarecrow that said "Have you seen a Cowardly Lion or Tinman? I am so lost".  That gave me a smile. My smile got bigger a few hours later when I noticed that someone had placed a stuffed lion next to the scarecrow and crossed off the reference to Cowardly Lion on the Post-it note.

The following day, as I walked past the table on my way in the building, I laughed out loud when I saw that overnight someone had constructed a Tinman out of a Mountain Dew can and paperclips. The sticky note was missing as the three had been reunited at this point. On my way out of the building that night I saw that the trio had disappeared. In their place was a final sticky note: "Tell Dorothy we went on without her.  We will catch up with her in Emerald City.  Off to see the Wizard!" 

It is bright spots like this that make every day interesting and more bearable. Although, I have yet to see a Yellow Brick Road around here -- -- I hope the three of them found their way okay.

These altered warning signs that appeared in the building. They are used when the floor has just been mopped to warn people that the floor is wet and slippery.  You probably see them all the time.  What makes these unique, are the add-ons that were pasted to them. These were here long before I arrived, so I know that someone having a really foul day may have happened to walk down a hallway where these were being used and maybe it gave them a much-needed smile or just a slight diversion for a few minutes.

By the way, adding to the uniqueness of these is the fact that the humorists are usually anonymous.

Happy Easter!






5854

Ya Can't Eat Sand

It is said that an Army travels on its stomach. For those civilians who work with the Army, we get the fringe benefit of that as well. I said before that we work in 11 hour day shift, six days a week. Because of that and because of the time to commute to and from work and the time spent going through security to get on base, it is just easier to eat a lot of meals at the military dining facility.

When I was in the Air Force to recall chow halls, before that they were mess halls but now they are called dining facilities or DFACs.  The food really hasn't changed, only the name has gotten classier.

Camp Arifjan has at least two DFACs and they basically mirror each other but on different days. For example, one facility will have Chili Mac on Tuesday and the other one will have it on Friday.  There are differences though in the way the food is prepared and served. For example, only one DFAC uses real china and silverware and one DFAC makes cornbread Southern style while the other makes it Northern style (with sugar).  Anyway, I've never had a bad meal at either facility although there've been items that I just couldn't eat.

One day, I got a chicken patty that broke two knives and a fork before I gave up trying to eat it. I began to get worried about what it might do inside me if it was breaking knives.  I'm not sure why the push on fish.  Baked, fried, poached, -- you name it and it has been on the menu but I've never been a big fish fan.  On those days I opt for chili or a hamburger. That is one thing that is always available is a short order line that has hot dogs and burgers as well as a sandwich line where you can get peanut butter and jelly if you really want it.

 

Once a week at each DFAC they have what they call a surf and turf night. This is where you can actually get a nice steak and some shrimp or a very small lobster tail (or maybe it is a really big crawdad tail). 

On base it is actually possible to get pork as part of your meal. So with breakfast you can order bacon and be reasonably sure it came from a pig. Likewise, with the pork chops or ham that might be served.  When I want to prepare a meal myself I can go shopping at the BX. The exchange on base sells most essentials that are needed, like the exchanges in the US.  Additionally, they sell frozen meats and dairy items which can be very costly off base. So it comes in handy. 

Off base, food takes on a different dimension.

Kuwait, being a Muslim country, does not serve pork products in any of the local restaurants. What they do serve, for restaurants that cater to expatriates, is something called beef bacon. It is thicker than regular pork bacon, the flavor is much stronger, and it is also very chewy. I think the only thing I can compare it to may be greasy beef jerky. When I was first served it I questioned what part of the cow bacon came from. It is not something I would seek out, but occasionally when I want a bacon cheeseburger it is tolerable.

 

There are a lot of fast food places available here. The variety is kind of surprising. Chili's, TGI Friday's, Pizza Hut, McDonald's, Burger King, and of course things like Cinnabon and Krispy Kreme are also here. The menu differs little from the states, partially because of the pork thing but also because of the way things have to be fixed to avoid using any pork products in preparation or serving.  Also, all of those nasty Trans fats -- -- the stuff that made food taste very good -- -- that they took out of food in the United States are still in the food here. So, McDonald's fries taste like they used to in the good old days as does Kentucky Fried Chicken.

Thanks to a Kuwaiti contractor who works for me, I have also sampled quite a few Arabic dishes like kebabs and mixed grill.  Saad is actually an American citizen but he was born and raised in Kuwait and takes pride in showing off his country to those of us who are not familiar with it. The fact that he speaks and reads Arabic also helps us avoid ordering something too bizarre off the menu.  Although he is pushing all of us to try Camel's milk -- I have not been here long enough.

I have not really cooked since I've been here. I've fixed a few sandwiches for myself and also a bowl of soup or two but I have not made a full meal. I am still waiting on the stuff I shipped from the US and in with it are the ingredients I need to make both chili and spaghetti.  I also included a lot of spices and add-ons that you cannot get here. 

At least once a week I treat myself by eating off base from that something called 6Alabat.  They are a delivery service who will bring you food from a dozen different restaurants and you can order it all online with an English menu. Since I've been here a month I've used it about four times. The first time I ordered just a hamburger -- when the guy delivered it he gave me several packs a ketchup to go with a hamburger and fries. The next thing ordered was a steak sandwich, likewise I was given ketchup. When I ordered fried chicken I was still given packets of ketchup, but I've actually seen someone eat it that way so I kind of let it go. Then I ordered a pizza, from Pizza Hut, and it came with -- -- you guessed it -- -- ketchup. Not only did they give me catch up it was actually Pizza Hut Ketchup.  I have no idea why anyone would ever put ketchup on pizza.

Due to the nature of my job, I will not be discussing or talking about it that much. I work for a transportation unit whose job it is to move things in and out of the theater that the Army needs moved in and out. I am the director of IT for that unit and it is our mission to provide support wherever it is needed to include satellite communications and other gadgets that are a lot of fun to play with.  I am proud of what I am doing and I know the mission essentiality of it.  So please forgive me if I have to omit the details of what fills my day.

Gentlemen, Start Your Engines -- Then Duck!

In case you haven't been paying attention, or even if you have, you will notice that this is the third missive I have written. If you check out the calendar will find out that I've also just completed my third week here. So, this means you will receive 49 more of these e-mails filled with my comments on life in Kuwait. This week I'll be talking about getting around and driving.

I have driven in downtown Paris around the Arc de Triumphe, in downtown LA at rush hour, I have driven in Washington DC in the middle of the National Christmas tree lighting ceremony, cruised the Auto Strada in Italy, looped the Nuremberg Ring in Germany and challenged the Tail of the Dragon on my Valkyrie. None of that prepared me for what I was about to experience by driving in Kuwait. At first, it does look like mass chaos but after observing poor little bit I realized what was going on was a lot of macho one-upsmanship on the road.

A few things I have noticed:  Turn signals are not only optional, they often mean the opposite and therefore usually ignored by others.  The speed limit is enforced not by cops but by randomly placed speed bumps when you least expect them.  The meanest, fiercest, most aggressive creature on the road here is a woman wearing a burqua.  They can be vicious and you just know that under that veil they are sticking their tongue out at you.

It is not unusual to be cruising down a two-lane road and have someone behind you honk for you to move over to the right so they can add a lane to the two-lane road. You can be cruising down the highway at 20 km above the speed limit and look in your rearview mirror to see lights flashing for you to move over so someone in a Ferrari can pass you.  I have also been sitting in the center lane and had the car behind me pull into the left lane just to pass me so they could be one car length ahead. As long as things are moving, they actually seem to work. However, when there is a traffic jam or a traffic circle to deal with that is when things get really wild.

 

For some reason Kuwait has chosen to make whoever is in the innermost of the traffic circle the possessor of it right away. This means you can be cruising around the outer part of a traffic circle and suddenly have to brake because the person who is at the center of the traffic circle has decided that it's time for him to exit. So without looking or signaling, they will suddenly make a right-hand turn in front of you.  The traffic circles themselves are unmarked so they tend to develop the number of lanes that are needed at any given time. There is one in front of the refinery which normally has two lanes but I've seen it go to as many as five depending on how much traffic is trying to get through there. 

Once while stuck at an extremely long light, the car behind me wanted to get a jump on the green and actually pulled up on the sidewalk in order to get around me as soon as the light changed. I let him do it without an argument -- -- I wasn't going to play that way.  Also, during prayer times the right lane will sometimes turn into a parking lot as people exit their vehicles to dash over to the mosque. I have no problem with that. The problem starts when all of them get out of the mosque after prayers and try to take off at the same time from this ad hoc parking lot while the road is thick with people trying to cross to get back to their vehicles. I have now figured out ways to get around the mosques at that time of day.

 

Roads are kind of invented when you need them. I was once given directions that included the statement “takes the dirt road through the dirt lot”. When I got there, there was a huge vacant lot that indeed had a car trail going through it from one side to the other. I did a little of this myself when I was trying to get out of my current apartment to the coastal road. There is an apartment building under construction across the street and I noticed that there was a small service road that went beside the building that was about a car's width.  So I took it. Since that time everyone in the neighborhood started using it and now we have created a new informal road at least until they finish construction and that road becomes the entryway to the building.

Being someone who likes to listen to the radio when I drive, I’ve found you have one choice if you want to hear English spoken; the Super Station which I assume is run by a British expatriate. The radio station plays a vast combination of music to try and satisfy its audience. I've heard country, hip-hop, a rap cover performed by someone with a thick Arabic accent in English, European techno, electronica which included vocals by someone who sounded like Pavarotti, salsa, and Henry Mancini. That is all I can attest to because that is what they played on my Thursday morning drive from Mangaf to Arifjan.  It is not only variety but variety right now.

Nighttime is one of the scariest times to drive here. I mentioned ego as part of the reason why driving here is dangerous, at night it becomes more of a game of daring as a lot of people cruise around with no lights on at all.  It will shake you up to be cruising along the highway and then suddenly look in your rear mirror and realize there is a car 10 feet behind you traveling at 120 kmh or so with no lights on at all. I try to stay out of dimly lit areas at night to avoid this happening to me.

A majority of the population moves around on buses; so you have to contend with these moving in and out of traffic as well. I will probably never travel by public transportation here but they look very well kept and modern. Also, due to the income levels being at the high end of the spectrum I have seen cars here that I've only seen in magazines.  The Lamborghini Contach and Diablo, several Ferrari models I have never seen before, Porsche Carrera's, and some of the finest in German automotive technology. It is so wild to pull up on one of these and see the guy driving it wearing a headdress.

Fear not for me since I invoke my full satori when I drive.  I see this all as being very similar to riding a bike when you watch out for the road, yourself, and everyone else around you.

Because of the dust you will see people start their car and then climb out of it and turn on their air-conditioner while standing outside the car. This is to blow the dust out of the vents before they get in. Each apartment building has something called a Haris (at first I thought this was the person's name but it is a general term used for a handyman) who in addition to fixing things for you will wash your car and a daily basis for about a buck a day. Because there is no rain, Ollie is really doing is rinsing the dust off the car with a hose.

I will relate one story not from this trip but from one of my trips into Kuwait previously. I was cruising down a strip of road known as the Dead Sheep Highway. I have no idea how the road got his name, when I came upon a pickup truck that was loaded with people in the back. There were several kids, Mom and what seemed to be grandma all sitting in the back of a pickup hunkered down to keep out of the wind. As I passed the vehicle, because he was going slow, I glanced over at the driver and saw Abdul driving intently holding onto the steering wheel tightly with both hands staring out the windshield then I noticed that sitting next to him in the cab of the truck was a goat. I guess the goat was too valuable to put in the back of the truck.

Right now, on Sundays I go out and do a bit of exploring to get familiar with my surroundings. I have found a place to shop for groceries, a place to get odds and ends, and several decent restaurants in my neighborhood. It's kind of difficult to do this with only one day off a week but I am managing to discover new things every time I go out. Also, since summer is coming on his sexy staying lighter later and after work sometimes I will do some quick look around when I see something interesting.

Whether You Like It Or Not There Will Be Weather

I get asked a lot about the weather here. Right now it is not hot, but it is coming soon. Most of the days are between 70° and 80° and it goes down to around 60 at night. Soon, the additional top-end around 130° and the nights will be around 100.   For the past several days we’ve been dealing with dust storms.

  

Until they get here most people think that Kuwait is a big sandbox.  It really isn’t. It may be sand colored but what covers the ground is actually a very fine dirt.  Because of the arid climate there is no moisture in the air so the dirt has the consistency of talcum power.  When you walk across it it makes little clouds every time you put your foot down. So when the wind starts to pick up and race along the surface of the ground  it throws all that dust into the air. The result is something that looks kind of like brown fog. Usually people put on breathing masks if they have to go out in it. And it makes driving and other outside activity more dangerous because of the lack of visibility.

Yesterday, they had to shut down entrance and exit to the base for a few hours because we were in the middle of a dust storm.  Of course, because the land is fairly flat you can see these things coming for miles before they get to you which makes them kind of predictable.    The wind gusts today have been up to 50 km  so there is a lot of dust in the air right now.

Today was my day off, we work 11 hours a day six days a week, and I was going to go out to the base to do some shopping and explore the facilities there for recreation, etc. But the dust was so bad that I could not see clearly 30 feet in front of me. So instead, I did some shopping around town and watched some TV.

I guess, given the choice between dust and heat I will take the dust at least for a while.

Hope the weather is better where you are…