Happy Birthday to Katie!

Hi everybody! Since the last posting, I have worked, had 1 day a week off, and attended scouting again.

Now that I'm settled in at the chu ("home") and at work, I thought I'd share a typical work day with you. Each person has had to decide how to work PT (exercise) in to his/her day, and many have different work schedules than I, so this is my day:

The alarms go off and I'm off to the shower, through river rocks (about 50 yards) in PT uniform. Upon return to the chu and a change to ACU (camouflaged) uniform, grabbing my weapon (rifle), the bicycle and I walk up the dirt burm, over the bridge (big ditch w/ water), and pedal about 3/4 mile to work. On the way, at 2 locations, Ugandan guards raise a bar so I can pedal through. We greet each other in English usually.

At work I am either teaching a class on some satellite equipment (to bring telephone and internet to soldiers in the "boondocks") or studying and writing slides for a computer class I'll teach in March. There is a lot of material about the insides of a computer and a printer that I must be able to tell students (American soldiers, airmen, and marines) about. I bounce between some slides, 2 books, and Google to get what I need.

Lunch and dinner occur the same way, so I'll mention them once. The DFAC (Dining FACility) has a lot of choices for food. Some of it is very good and some is so different that I don't care for it. The fun of meals is to greet the guards in Swahili while they answer in Swahili or practice their English. "Jambo, jambo" I say ("hello") sometimes adding "Raffiki" ("friend"). Now I know how to say "How are you?" ("Habari?") and we all say "Mzuri" ("fine") or "Hakuma Matata" ("no worries")! Does that last one sound familiar, Lion King fans? It's for real. The other nice thing about meals is finding friends from my unit with whom I do not normally work and sitting with them.

After the afternoon work, mixed in with dinner somewhere, I am spending an hour in the gym 3 days a week. I gave up the yoga, except maybe on Fridays, because of the time schedule. At 8pm (2000hours), I attend the unit summary of how our mission went for the day and ride back to the chu. THIS time, as the guards raise the bars for me, they have learned the mottos of our higher unit, so they holler out, "Make it happen!" and "Hooah!" Exchanging this with 3 sets of Ugandans within about 100 yards is fun. They get a kick out of it as I do.

Some evenings I get to see Al and Tess (dog-handler, grandfather to some OPE students, and his wonderful side-kick German Shepherd). I'll mention that Tess is recovering exceptionally well from some unexpected surgery. Once recently, I was told that Tess wasn't real interested in her and Al's evening walk until she recognized my door and started acting a little happy. (She and I had thrown her frisbee in my "side yard" one day until it landed on the roof.) She proceeded to wash my face. It was great to see her feeling better! Oh, and it was nice to see Al too.

Other evenings I spend at work using the internet for phone calls home and movies; then to the chu for tv (not many channels, but ok); and stimulating conversation with my Air Force roommate (no sarcasm). We talk about math (her work), computers (my work), perfume and knitting (her hobbies), Max (my hobby - horseback riding), and/or our families and friends.

With some variation, most days the next step is listening to our personal entertainment devices and turning lights out for the night.

I hope this was somewhat entertaining for you to read; I'm off to the afternoon version of the equipment class. Soon, I'll describe an "off" day (shorter version) and the recent scouting event...boy did I get myself into an activity that was more than I thought to handle. Now, I'll see what pictures I can include and be off to work.

Well, today just turned a little "untypical". I will now exit the class I was helping with, study the class I'll give on computers, then teach an unexpected equipment class from 4pm to 10pm for the next 3 nights. As all the service members know, we must be flexible with our schedules. There was a mix-up with some soldiers who have to go through a lot of trouble and uncertain travel to get here. They need the class, so we decided to have a special one for them.

I also chose 2 pictures (above) that are of a grilled lunch we had here at the schoolhouse one day last week. That is not a picture of the normal DFAC! [I need to master those photos so they lie next to each other next time. :-) ]

Have a great day while I have a good evening (add 8 hours to EST)!

BTW: The birthday girl is on the left in the profile picture.

Notice: I had to take the photos of scouting off the web. I reread the policy and need to ask some questions before I can put any pictures of that activity back on. I can still tell you about them, and share pictures when I come home. I'm going to scouting again soon.

Birthday back in October! I'm Camel-Herding from afar (November)!

Daily Life is Looking Up!

Now that my legs have decided that they are going to have to maneuver among these "river rocks" whether they like it or not...and they have decided to get used to it, I am beginning to participate in some activities.

Tues., Thurs., and Fridays I plan to attend Yoga classes. Don't laugh...and DON'T expect to see any pictures! Friday was my first time and, thank goodness, Fridays are milder than what I've been told to expect on the other nights (different instructor). Yoga had been recommended months ago (for flexibility and balance). I definitely need improvement in both areas (just ask my horseback riding friends about my need for more balance)! Hopefully, this will lead into some jogging soon.

I'm riding my bike again...with a new and improved comfort seat! Now if I can just raise the handlebars so I am not "standing on my head" going down the road.

Wednesdays offer an informal Bible study group (I've not attended yet). Mondays offer a unit social at an area built up by our soldiers (the Rock Quarry) with bbq if I ever get there early enough. Occasionally there are bands playing on Thursdays, and movies at the palace on Fridays.

Honestly, I have movies on my computer from the Media server; Skype with which to call people at home; and so I stay at my computer some evenings or the chu in front of the tv (limited choices, but some are ok). My roommate and I get in some "deep" conversations...very interesting because we are not a lot alike in interests. (That's not sarcasm. They ARE interesting.)

Here's the best: I went to "Girl and Boy Scouts" yesterday. The scouts are host nation children and don't speak English. Thank goodness we take a few interpreters with us! The children played a game that I could figure out the main goal (similar to Red Rover, Red Rover, but not as physical). They had an opening ceremony and raised the Scout flag between the American and the Iraqi flag; then broke into groups to do different activities. I watched a relay race for a while, and some Karate also.

The setting was a "park" surrounded by the T-Wall protectors and separated into a sports field and an area for the other games. There is a swing, some tents and picnic tables, a big chalk board with chalk, and a buggy that would normally be pulled by a horse (camel?). I ended up "talking" with a young girl who was practicing her English letters. I asked her to tell me the ones in my name (uniform tag) and also tell me what her name was. An interpreter helped, then the girl (Hanen) showed me how to write her name in Arabic.

Afterward, my friend Al and I went with others to eat kebabs at a local outdoor "restaurant". It was like grilling out. Delicious!

I'm back at work today, but even that is getting busier, so more interesting. I'm learning a lot of computer information in order to teach it next month. This week I will help with two 3-day classes teaching the use of some communication equipment while I continue getting ready for the other class (called A+).

Please see the pictures I'll post. I hope you enjoy. I am very grateful to have living conditions that are so much better than some of our military members! I'm even more grateful that we are all doing a good job and finding ways to make the most of our experiences. Thanks for all your thoughts and support!

I'll try not to wait so long before "posting" to this blog again.