Monday, January 31, 2011
Technology
I am just so amazed by Technology. Yesterday I was able to Skype with Kirsten. She finally broke down and bought a little Netbook. She has a phone in her room so we get to talk to her quite often and now we can video conference. Sometimes you can even forget that she's in Iraq. She might as well be in Texas. It makes me think about how we used to communicate with our troops during previous wars (WWII, Vietnam, Korea, etc.) Getting a letter every two-three weeks, with no contact to home. Sadly, a lot of people reeceived letters from loved ones after they found out they had been killed in action. I am so thankful that we can easily talk and communicate and it's GREAT being able to see Kirsten LIVE on Skype. Tessa and Ellis were awake, so Kirsten got to say hi to them, also.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
First Solo Student (28 photos, 5 videos), by Sarah Ellis
I'd like to share my Snapfish photos with you. Once you have checked out my photos you can order prints and upload your own photos to share.
Click here to view photos
Solo Flight
Below is an e-mail from Kirsten regarding her first Iraqi solo student. And too quickly clarify the 2nd half of the e-mail below, in the Air Force after you solo for the first time, they young pilots have a tradition of throwing you in a pool. Sometimes they are nice enough to take your boots off before throwing you in. I need to find the videos I have of Kirsten getting dumped and post them. She said she would post some pictures and videos on Snapfish so when she does I'll post those.
So I had my first solo today. My student, Jasim, is a 29 year old former microbiologist who worked for the Ministry of Health before joining the Iraqi Air Force. I've flown with him on three other occasions and he's a pretty good pilot! He actually went to his commander and requested to solo with me. He wanted to be the first Iraqi male to be solo'd by the female American pilot. Needless to say he was super excited about his solo today. The way it worked is that we took off together into the pattern. He had to fly a pattern breakout (where he exists the patterns and reenters), a go around and a landing. So that's exactly what we did, after the full stop, we taxied off of the active runway, did a 180 on the taxiway and stoped prior to the runway. I gave him my wings, wished him luck and got out. He did tell me not to worry... at least 5 times before I made it out the door. It was cute. He then taxied out, took off and flew three patters. They are required to do go arounds and then one full stop. He taxied back and had about 20 of his friends waiting for him.
His friends grabbed him, and I do mean GRABBED him out of the airplane and drug him literally through the mud. They found a nice muddy puddle and dragged him back and forth threw it about 10 times before stuffing a large rock in his mouth and moving on. They drug him over to the tire and sat him in it. They then proceeded to dump three buckets of muddy water ontop of him and finally poured sand down his back. As gross as it was, it was hilarious and Im glad to have been a part of it.
Love you tons!!
Kirsten
So I had my first solo today. My student, Jasim, is a 29 year old former microbiologist who worked for the Ministry of Health before joining the Iraqi Air Force. I've flown with him on three other occasions and he's a pretty good pilot! He actually went to his commander and requested to solo with me. He wanted to be the first Iraqi male to be solo'd by the female American pilot. Needless to say he was super excited about his solo today. The way it worked is that we took off together into the pattern. He had to fly a pattern breakout (where he exists the patterns and reenters), a go around and a landing. So that's exactly what we did, after the full stop, we taxied off of the active runway, did a 180 on the taxiway and stoped prior to the runway. I gave him my wings, wished him luck and got out. He did tell me not to worry... at least 5 times before I made it out the door. It was cute. He then taxied out, took off and flew three patters. They are required to do go arounds and then one full stop. He taxied back and had about 20 of his friends waiting for him.
His friends grabbed him, and I do mean GRABBED him out of the airplane and drug him literally through the mud. They found a nice muddy puddle and dragged him back and forth threw it about 10 times before stuffing a large rock in his mouth and moving on. They drug him over to the tire and sat him in it. They then proceeded to dump three buckets of muddy water ontop of him and finally poured sand down his back. As gross as it was, it was hilarious and Im glad to have been a part of it.
Love you tons!!
Kirsten
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Scary Student
e-mail from Kirsten on 1.22.11
Anyhow, I flew with the WORST student today. He was on ride 10 and flew worse than a kid on his first ride. It was 1.7 hours of sheer terror for my life. It was terrible. I came back to the SQ and ate nutella with a spoon (thanks to Jason and Kate) in order to calm down. It's kinda like taking a tequilla shot, but when you don't have tequilla as an option nutella makes a nice substitute.
Love you tons.
Kirsten
Anyhow, I flew with the WORST student today. He was on ride 10 and flew worse than a kid on his first ride. It was 1.7 hours of sheer terror for my life. It was terrible. I came back to the SQ and ate nutella with a spoon (thanks to Jason and Kate) in order to calm down. It's kinda like taking a tequilla shot, but when you don't have tequilla as an option nutella makes a nice substitute.
Love you tons.
Kirsten
Friday, January 21, 2011
Iraqi Fish BBQ
Here's an update from Kirsten. Below a link for some pictures on Snapfish from her Iraqi BBQ
I'd like to share my Snapfish photos with you. Once you have checked out my photos you can order prints and upload your own photos to share.
Click here to view photos
A long overdue update, I know. So first and foremost OBVIOUSLY I do not have a computer and this is why my sister has to update everyone for me. It literally broke the morning of my departure, which with my luck I couldn’t be surprised. Even less surprising is the fact I mailed it home on the 4th of January and it still hasn’t arrived at my parents house. So until the US postal service figures out where my computer is, delivers it to my mom so she can to take it to the Apple Store, they figure out the problem, fix it and she mails it back to me, we’ll have to settle with updates from my kick ass sister.
My trip over here was completely uneventful; it was just extremely long. It was 27 hours from the time I took off out of Atlanta until the time I landed at Al Udeid Qatar. It would be another 6 hours until I finally got the chance to lay down, in a bunk bed, in a tent with 30 other female soldiers. I spent about 16 hours at Al Udeid before catching a C130 to Baghdad, spent the night there and caught another C-130 to Kirkuk the next morning. I’ll spare you all the boring details and get straight to the good stuff.
My commander had a talk with me because he was unsure of how the Iraqi’s were going to receive me. He assured me that his door was always open if I needed to vent or if someone was out of line. The rest of the guys in my squadron are like older brothers and are protective. To be honest though, I don’t think they have anything to worry about. The first Iraqi I met at Kirkuk was Col Bassim who is the Flying Training Commander. He’s in charge of all of the flight training here at Kirkuk. He was very receptive and greeted me kindly. I spoke the little Arabic I knew to him and he seemed impressed. The next Iraqi I met was (and I’m not kidding) Sadam Hussein. He introduced himself as “the nice one.” He was much less interested in talking to me. Since then, I’ve found that the younger generation has (mostly) no issues with me, but the older generation is a different story. Although they are professional and courteous, at the same time they are very standoffish and uninterested in anything I have to say. I can tell that Col Bassim is trying hard to convince them, but in reality it hasn’t affected the job here whatsoever.
I flew my first student sortie with a kid named Ali Adnan. His English was pretty good, but it occurred to me quickly that teaching these kids would be nothing like teaching the kids back home. It’s hard to tell if they aren’t listening or if they do not understand. I have to come up with creative new ways of saying things in much simpler terms. The Iraqi culture teaches them that saying that you do not understand something that your teacher taught you is rude. It’s as if you’re telling that teacher that they aren’t good enough to make you understand. So if you ask an Iraqi “do you understand” they will say “yes, yes, yes.” We have a running joke here that he third “yes” negates the previous two. The language barrier makes the flying interesting. Something else to consider, when you fly with these students on the first few rides, is that many of them have never been in an airplane and most of them have never even driven a car. Saying that flying with them keeps you on your toes is a HUGE understatement.
As a farewell to the contractors who were teaching the academic classes as well as the simulators and doing the flight scheduling, the Iraqi’s hosted a fish BBQ. I’ll spare you the details since most of you saw the snapfish photos. The Iraqi’s LOVE having their picture taken with you, so I felt like the paparazzi was all around me snapping pictures. I’d be in the middle of taking one picture when I’d hear a “Ma’am, I take picture with you? Yes?” One of them was a Maintenance guy who speaks very little English. I promised him that I would print out the picture and bring it to him. As I was leaving the flying squadron, he was waiting for me in the parking lot and asked me if I had printed the picture. Mind you that he doesn’t speak English and I obviously don’t speak Arabic, but somehow we managed to communicate that he was leaving on his mujas (vacation) the next day and that I would run and print the picture and be right back. I came back with the two pictures and he was extremely overjoyed. He managed to tell me that he plans on taking the picture back with him to Baghdad to show his wife and kids that there is an American female pilot that he works with. As weird as it may seem, he appeared to be proud to be able to show her.
The last thing I want to explain is my job over here in Iraq. Yes, I’m here to teach Iraqi pilot training, but that comes second to my job as an advisor. We are here to guide the Iraqi’s to producing 100% training and equipped Iraqi pilots. For example, their contract with the Americans ran out to teach their academic classes, their simulators, scheduling and so forth. So the contractors had to up and leave and not the Iraqi’s are forced to run the show on their own. We as advisors had to step in and guide them on how to do this on their own. One of our pilots is now teaching a maintenance captain how to maintain the simulator. He’s teaching the instructors how to run the simulator, how to run a profile, how to turn it on! We’ve finally managed to get them to teach their students the academic courses, but all of this is just in the beginning stages, and it’s just a very small example of what we are trying to accomplish over here. We have very limited time to do the job and the Iraqi’s don’t have the resources like we do in the US to accomplish things. They also have a lack of support from the Iraqi Air Force. Another example is that they do not have current charts of the area that they are flying in. In the US if you do not have a current chart, you do not fly, it’s that simple. Here they are unable to get charts for their students to fly with so they make do with what they have. It’s extremely frustrating from our stand point and very hard to understand how their leadership doesn’t see this as a problem. Anyhow, I just wanted to explain a little more about my job and how I’m an advisor first and an instructor pilot second.
I’m sorry this was so long winded, I’ll keep them MUCH shorter in the future and more frequent. Thanks Sarah for posting this for me!!!!!
I'd like to share my Snapfish photos with you. Once you have checked out my photos you can order prints and upload your own photos to share.
Click here to view photos
I'd like to share my Snapfish photos with you. Once you have checked out my photos you can order prints and upload your own photos to share.
Click here to view photos
A long overdue update, I know. So first and foremost OBVIOUSLY I do not have a computer and this is why my sister has to update everyone for me. It literally broke the morning of my departure, which with my luck I couldn’t be surprised. Even less surprising is the fact I mailed it home on the 4th of January and it still hasn’t arrived at my parents house. So until the US postal service figures out where my computer is, delivers it to my mom so she can to take it to the Apple Store, they figure out the problem, fix it and she mails it back to me, we’ll have to settle with updates from my kick ass sister.
My trip over here was completely uneventful; it was just extremely long. It was 27 hours from the time I took off out of Atlanta until the time I landed at Al Udeid Qatar. It would be another 6 hours until I finally got the chance to lay down, in a bunk bed, in a tent with 30 other female soldiers. I spent about 16 hours at Al Udeid before catching a C130 to Baghdad, spent the night there and caught another C-130 to Kirkuk the next morning. I’ll spare you all the boring details and get straight to the good stuff.
My commander had a talk with me because he was unsure of how the Iraqi’s were going to receive me. He assured me that his door was always open if I needed to vent or if someone was out of line. The rest of the guys in my squadron are like older brothers and are protective. To be honest though, I don’t think they have anything to worry about. The first Iraqi I met at Kirkuk was Col Bassim who is the Flying Training Commander. He’s in charge of all of the flight training here at Kirkuk. He was very receptive and greeted me kindly. I spoke the little Arabic I knew to him and he seemed impressed. The next Iraqi I met was (and I’m not kidding) Sadam Hussein. He introduced himself as “the nice one.” He was much less interested in talking to me. Since then, I’ve found that the younger generation has (mostly) no issues with me, but the older generation is a different story. Although they are professional and courteous, at the same time they are very standoffish and uninterested in anything I have to say. I can tell that Col Bassim is trying hard to convince them, but in reality it hasn’t affected the job here whatsoever.
I flew my first student sortie with a kid named Ali Adnan. His English was pretty good, but it occurred to me quickly that teaching these kids would be nothing like teaching the kids back home. It’s hard to tell if they aren’t listening or if they do not understand. I have to come up with creative new ways of saying things in much simpler terms. The Iraqi culture teaches them that saying that you do not understand something that your teacher taught you is rude. It’s as if you’re telling that teacher that they aren’t good enough to make you understand. So if you ask an Iraqi “do you understand” they will say “yes, yes, yes.” We have a running joke here that he third “yes” negates the previous two. The language barrier makes the flying interesting. Something else to consider, when you fly with these students on the first few rides, is that many of them have never been in an airplane and most of them have never even driven a car. Saying that flying with them keeps you on your toes is a HUGE understatement.
As a farewell to the contractors who were teaching the academic classes as well as the simulators and doing the flight scheduling, the Iraqi’s hosted a fish BBQ. I’ll spare you the details since most of you saw the snapfish photos. The Iraqi’s LOVE having their picture taken with you, so I felt like the paparazzi was all around me snapping pictures. I’d be in the middle of taking one picture when I’d hear a “Ma’am, I take picture with you? Yes?” One of them was a Maintenance guy who speaks very little English. I promised him that I would print out the picture and bring it to him. As I was leaving the flying squadron, he was waiting for me in the parking lot and asked me if I had printed the picture. Mind you that he doesn’t speak English and I obviously don’t speak Arabic, but somehow we managed to communicate that he was leaving on his mujas (vacation) the next day and that I would run and print the picture and be right back. I came back with the two pictures and he was extremely overjoyed. He managed to tell me that he plans on taking the picture back with him to Baghdad to show his wife and kids that there is an American female pilot that he works with. As weird as it may seem, he appeared to be proud to be able to show her.
The last thing I want to explain is my job over here in Iraq. Yes, I’m here to teach Iraqi pilot training, but that comes second to my job as an advisor. We are here to guide the Iraqi’s to producing 100% training and equipped Iraqi pilots. For example, their contract with the Americans ran out to teach their academic classes, their simulators, scheduling and so forth. So the contractors had to up and leave and not the Iraqi’s are forced to run the show on their own. We as advisors had to step in and guide them on how to do this on their own. One of our pilots is now teaching a maintenance captain how to maintain the simulator. He’s teaching the instructors how to run the simulator, how to run a profile, how to turn it on! We’ve finally managed to get them to teach their students the academic courses, but all of this is just in the beginning stages, and it’s just a very small example of what we are trying to accomplish over here. We have very limited time to do the job and the Iraqi’s don’t have the resources like we do in the US to accomplish things. They also have a lack of support from the Iraqi Air Force. Another example is that they do not have current charts of the area that they are flying in. In the US if you do not have a current chart, you do not fly, it’s that simple. Here they are unable to get charts for their students to fly with so they make do with what they have. It’s extremely frustrating from our stand point and very hard to understand how their leadership doesn’t see this as a problem. Anyhow, I just wanted to explain a little more about my job and how I’m an advisor first and an instructor pilot second.
I’m sorry this was so long winded, I’ll keep them MUCH shorter in the future and more frequent. Thanks Sarah for posting this for me!!!!!
I'd like to share my Snapfish photos with you. Once you have checked out my photos you can order prints and upload your own photos to share.
Click here to view photos
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Finally.
Kirsten FINALLY got my package. It took two weeks plus. But Lindsay's got there before mine and she sent it AFTER me. She really enjoyed the two GIANT boxes of Nerds I included. I also sent her my Nintendo DS, so if anyone has any games they want to send I'm sure she would appreciate that. And puzzles. I sent her several puzzles and one of those puzzle mats that you can roll-up while working on one and you don't mess up anything. She said she has already started one in the Squadron so that they can share.
I bet she did NOT share those Nerds, though. I probably wouldn't either.
I bet she did NOT share those Nerds, though. I probably wouldn't either.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Updates
Kirsten e-mailed this to us on 1.11.11
So, I finished my MQT (Mission Qualification Training) today and I fly my first student ride tomorrow. Kind of exciting, but at the same time I'm super apprehensive since I'm now instructing a foreign student, in a foreign country, in an aircraft that I have maybe a total of 15 hours in and a total of 5 hours flying in the local area. So yea, that's "exciting." I'll let you know how it went tomorrow night. Love and miss you all,
Kirsten
Tessa can't wait for you to get your computer fixed so that we can iChat/Skype. Here are some fun pics we took tonight.
So, I finished my MQT (Mission Qualification Training) today and I fly my first student ride tomorrow. Kind of exciting, but at the same time I'm super apprehensive since I'm now instructing a foreign student, in a foreign country, in an aircraft that I have maybe a total of 15 hours in and a total of 5 hours flying in the local area. So yea, that's "exciting." I'll let you know how it went tomorrow night. Love and miss you all,
Kirsten
Tessa can't wait for you to get your computer fixed so that we can iChat/Skype. Here are some fun pics we took tonight.
Snow Play 2011
Hi Kirsten,
Thanks for sharing the pictures of your fish fry! Looked like fun. The fish looked real meaty. How were they? I wanted to share a couple of pictures from our fun in the snow yesterday. Couldn't get to work with all the snow and now ice today. Miss you and pray for your success and safe return. I'll be walking to Stammtisch tonight - guess where????
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Songs that Inspire
I told Kirsten to remember the words of Rodney Atkins (it's a country song)
If you're going through hell
Keep on going, don't slow down
If you're scared, don't show it
You might get out
Before the devil even knows you're there.
This was her response:
Personally Im partial to the White Snake "Here I go again on my own" song. (this was our theme song in High School - we had to listen to it before every softball game)
Here's what she said when I asked if it was difficult as she had imagined:
It's actually not hard at all. I like feeling operational. Like I'm making a difference. And I think for the first time I'm making a difference as a pilot in the Air Force AND as a woman. Even if don't fly with a single Iraqi woman, just having the men see a female pilot, maybe I'll change the mind or convince ONE male that women can be considered equal in many ways, and that he'll grow up and teach his children that. He can say "I learned how to fly from a female instructor pilot" and maybe his little girls will be able to dream about flying one day as well. And maybe that same Iraqi student turns out to be one of the leaders in the Iraqi Air Force and because of what we've done here, building a realtionship with the Iraqi's he'll teach his young soldiers that the American's are a friendly force, that he had a great experience flying with them in pilot training. And who knows, maybe he will be that Iraqi general who takes the big step and allows women in the Air force. Maybe it wont' happen in our generation, maybe it won't in the next, but I think because of what we're doing here, that it will have a profound effect in the long run. So to answer your question, no it's not hard at all. (give me 4 months of flying 2 times a day every day for 6 days a week and maybe I'll be singing a different tune.)
Love you!
Kirsten
If you're going through hell
Keep on going, don't slow down
If you're scared, don't show it
You might get out
Before the devil even knows you're there.
This was her response:
Personally Im partial to the White Snake "Here I go again on my own" song. (this was our theme song in High School - we had to listen to it before every softball game)
Here's what she said when I asked if it was difficult as she had imagined:
It's actually not hard at all. I like feeling operational. Like I'm making a difference. And I think for the first time I'm making a difference as a pilot in the Air Force AND as a woman. Even if don't fly with a single Iraqi woman, just having the men see a female pilot, maybe I'll change the mind or convince ONE male that women can be considered equal in many ways, and that he'll grow up and teach his children that. He can say "I learned how to fly from a female instructor pilot" and maybe his little girls will be able to dream about flying one day as well. And maybe that same Iraqi student turns out to be one of the leaders in the Iraqi Air Force and because of what we've done here, building a realtionship with the Iraqi's he'll teach his young soldiers that the American's are a friendly force, that he had a great experience flying with them in pilot training. And who knows, maybe he will be that Iraqi general who takes the big step and allows women in the Air force. Maybe it wont' happen in our generation, maybe it won't in the next, but I think because of what we're doing here, that it will have a profound effect in the long run. So to answer your question, no it's not hard at all. (give me 4 months of flying 2 times a day every day for 6 days a week and maybe I'll be singing a different tune.)
Love you!
Kirsten
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Happy Birthday....two days late!
Kiri, Fred and I want to send you belated birthday hugs and kisses and wish you as good a tour as possible. I still find it so unbelievable that you're there, but I know you will be the shining example to all with your grace, good humor, and smarts. You'll have those pilots so smitten they won't know what to do!
I'm not sure still what I'm giving up for your 179 days. I loved Andrea's decision. It will benefit not only her, but her whole family. I wish I could say I'll give up carbs, but that just ain't happenin' nor wine for that matter. I wish I could say I'll lose 179 pounds, but then I wouldn't be here anymore. I would love to say I'll be sweet and non-bitchy for 179 days, but that is just not human....
So I decided, since our love of dog rescue is one of our tightest connections, I will give $179 to a dog rescue group. Maybe it will help save another Atticus, Finch, Simon, Trixie, Cosi, Cleo, Sassafras or Dixie. I will sign off with a great big slobbery lick, SLURP!
Mom #2
I'm not sure still what I'm giving up for your 179 days. I loved Andrea's decision. It will benefit not only her, but her whole family. I wish I could say I'll give up carbs, but that just ain't happenin' nor wine for that matter. I wish I could say I'll lose 179 pounds, but then I wouldn't be here anymore. I would love to say I'll be sweet and non-bitchy for 179 days, but that is just not human....
So I decided, since our love of dog rescue is one of our tightest connections, I will give $179 to a dog rescue group. Maybe it will help save another Atticus, Finch, Simon, Trixie, Cosi, Cleo, Sassafras or Dixie. I will sign off with a great big slobbery lick, SLURP!
Mom #2
It's all about me -- well, not really...
First and foremost, I want to thank Kirsten and her fellow soldiers for the sacrifices they make for our country each and every day. In our hearts, we are all very appreciative. And if we make light of the situation, know that making jokes is only to help us cope with how much we worry about you.
When I heard about the mini-sacrifices that family and friends were going to make each day in honor of Kirsten's deployment, I was immediately hooked and wanted to participate. My biggest struggle was deciding what to do. Marion gave up margaritas, Randy is doing an increasing number of push-ups each day.... What will it be for me?
I toyed with the idea of not saying bad words, but then I realized that would be too damn easy. I mean, I'm a mom, I'm pretty good at that anyway, just need to be better around adults.
Next I thought about giving up my wine, but then after a few particular moments over the winter holidays, I realized that might turn into child abuse charges, so I passed that over.
I finally realized that a major gift that our freedoms award us, is to have such a grand lifestyle, that we clutter it up running a thousand different directions trying to do too many things, many of which aren't that important anyway.
So, I have decided to "honor" Kirsten (and her fellow soldiers) by taking 30 minutes each day to slow down and really appreciate the day that has been given to me. So far, I have appreciated quiet time to:
1) play games with my children - uninterrupted and relaxed, not rushing to finish to get back to what I was doing
2) sit and read a book for pleasure during the middle of the day - instead of 3 pages as I collapse in bed at the end of the day
3) I've (re)started doing Pilates
4) reconnected with an out-of-town friend that I don't talk to often enough
5) spend time writing on my book
Thanks Kirsten - and Happy Belated Birthday!
When I heard about the mini-sacrifices that family and friends were going to make each day in honor of Kirsten's deployment, I was immediately hooked and wanted to participate. My biggest struggle was deciding what to do. Marion gave up margaritas, Randy is doing an increasing number of push-ups each day.... What will it be for me?
I toyed with the idea of not saying bad words, but then I realized that would be too damn easy. I mean, I'm a mom, I'm pretty good at that anyway, just need to be better around adults.
Next I thought about giving up my wine, but then after a few particular moments over the winter holidays, I realized that might turn into child abuse charges, so I passed that over.
I finally realized that a major gift that our freedoms award us, is to have such a grand lifestyle, that we clutter it up running a thousand different directions trying to do too many things, many of which aren't that important anyway.
So, I have decided to "honor" Kirsten (and her fellow soldiers) by taking 30 minutes each day to slow down and really appreciate the day that has been given to me. So far, I have appreciated quiet time to:
1) play games with my children - uninterrupted and relaxed, not rushing to finish to get back to what I was doing
2) sit and read a book for pleasure during the middle of the day - instead of 3 pages as I collapse in bed at the end of the day
3) I've (re)started doing Pilates
4) reconnected with an out-of-town friend that I don't talk to often enough
5) spend time writing on my book
Thanks Kirsten - and Happy Belated Birthday!
Monday, January 3, 2011
Computer
Kirsten is doing well. We got to talk to her today and wish her Happy Birthday. She is able to receive e-mails to her hotmail account (kirsten_ellis@hotmail.com) on her work computers, but she is currently experiencing computer difficulties. She will have limited access to facebook, blogs, etc. for a couple of weeks. She will probably be able to borrow some elses personal computer to check a couple of things out.
We miss you, Happy Birthday!
We miss you, Happy Birthday!
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Safe Arrival
12.31.10
Hey..
I'm currently in Baghdad, spent the night here and leaving this morning for Kirkuk on another C-130. The flight here was uneventful and I haven't really slept well since leaving Atlanta, but mostky because when you sleep in tents you hear everything. That and rude tent mates turn on lights at all hours of the night for no reason at all. It rained hard all night last night which also isn't easy to sleep through in a tent. I'm looking forward to getting up to Kirkuk and getting settled in. I'll let you know more when I get there. Gotta roll, love you all.
Kirsten
Kirsten was able to call us yesterday and inform us that she has safely arrived in Kirkuk. She said that her entire Unit was there to greet her off the plane and were very welcoming (probably because she is one of the few/only female instructors). They helped her carry her stuff to her "pod". She said the pods are really small trailers that are divided in the middle with a shared bathroom. She said it was rainy and she had already celebrated New Years playing Halo. They are eight hours ahead of us (Eastern time zone). They are giving her a few days to settle in, and then the real work begins. She met the Iraqi commander and spoke a little Arabic to him.
Anyway, she is doing well and eager to start her mission. Will update as soon as I hear more.
Sarah
Hey..
I'm currently in Baghdad, spent the night here and leaving this morning for Kirkuk on another C-130. The flight here was uneventful and I haven't really slept well since leaving Atlanta, but mostky because when you sleep in tents you hear everything. That and rude tent mates turn on lights at all hours of the night for no reason at all. It rained hard all night last night which also isn't easy to sleep through in a tent. I'm looking forward to getting up to Kirkuk and getting settled in. I'll let you know more when I get there. Gotta roll, love you all.
Kirsten
Kirsten was able to call us yesterday and inform us that she has safely arrived in Kirkuk. She said that her entire Unit was there to greet her off the plane and were very welcoming (probably because she is one of the few/only female instructors). They helped her carry her stuff to her "pod". She said the pods are really small trailers that are divided in the middle with a shared bathroom. She said it was rainy and she had already celebrated New Years playing Halo. They are eight hours ahead of us (Eastern time zone). They are giving her a few days to settle in, and then the real work begins. She met the Iraqi commander and spoke a little Arabic to him.
Anyway, she is doing well and eager to start her mission. Will update as soon as I hear more.
Sarah
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