So.... what is it like

To be in a war zone? Well I know I have talked a little bit about this but you will have to induge me if you are going to keep reading. For the most part my day to day routine isn't to much different from what I would normally do. There are some little things that we take for granted at home that we don't have here.

If you want drinking water it is going to come out of a bottle. We have running water but it's not entirely safe to drink. We shower with that water and shave with it. Our bathrooms and showers are usually a short walk away no plumbing in your room except for a fewer of the nicer places.

We work more hours but it's not really that big of a deal since there isn't that much to do. The best thing to do is to keep busy.

The worst thing about being here is the what ifs. You try not to dwell on it but you can't help but think about it. The what ifs are alwalys in the back of your mind which is good because it helps you react when the time comes to react but you also find yourself reacting sometimes we you don't need to. I will just give one example but there are many.

There is a speed bump about 75 Meters or yards away from where I sleep. And when an empty semi truck goes over it just right there is this sound that is similar to a boom. The reaction isn't to go run to a bunker but it is more like if someone scared you. It's often reffered to as an exagerrated startle response. It can be more prenounced in some people than others, you may have heard about people dropping to the ground when they hear a car backfire or something like that but it can be something that is internal as well. I have found that I jump just a tad but I catch myself before I go into the full fight or flight mode. My heart ends up beating faster and the adreniline starts to kick in. It usually seems like this happens right before I go to sleep as I am pondering all of the what ifs before I go to bed.

It's just one of the little things that we deal with every day and don't much talk about. Every once in awhile there will be something that happens that gets us all and we end up laughing at each other.

So on a lighter note in a war zone something that we have to deal with is our mail shows up about once every 2 weeks. Imagine if all of the mail in town wasn't delivered for two weeks and then the mailmen and women were allowed to deliver it in a day or two. Another thing is the PX which is more like a very small walmart very small. Ours has 4 isles and each isle is about 25 feet long. Imagine if that place got stocked once a month. You can imagine that some things are very hard to find and the popular stuff goes quick.

Enough of that, not much else is going on today. We have another dust storm. The swiffer duster Aunt dawn sent me is getting a work out. Micca is sending me on of the Flylady's feather dusters too. If I'm not careful I end up being a full fledged flyguy lol.

Just thought of something I think I will do an acronym of the day. I'm sure I won't run out. Todays acronym is PIC Provencial Iraqi Control. This is somthing that we are working towards with the Iraqis. It is basically giving over certain areas of the country to Iraq and telling them they are now responsible for the security and welfare of the occupants. This is what is going on in Basra. Obviously it is going a little rough but that is to be expected. The insurgents want to cause as much problems as possible as to destabilize the government and turn the Iraqi people against thier government. The Iraqis actually have done quite well in Basra and continue to do better.

Well anyways I'm done teaching for the day.

Later for now

Brent