After spending some time in AZ enjoying the scenery and people, I headed to Washington D.C. for 5 days of orientation. D.C. is one of my favorite cities. I love it. It reminds me of the fun I used to have there during the summer. It did not disappoint this time. I think the part I enjoyed this time the most was the food. Within a 2 minute walk from my hotel, I had choices for food from all over the world. I had Indian, Lebanese, Thai, and Sushi to name a few. It was wonderful. I also had a really good time getting to know some of my fellow Fellows. It was a lot of fun.
I spent about 4 hours in Page doing laundry and repacking my suitcase before heading to Belize. The plan was to spend 10 days there with Kyle, then he would fly back to Arizona and I would go to Peru for a week of vacation with my Mom. From there, I would go on to Kansas City for around a week, go back to Page for a couple of days to again do laundry and repack before leaving for Laos. Sounds crazy right? Well, this was just the plan. In the upcoming posts, I will tell you all about the reality. Stay tuned. M.
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Leaving Iraq
It seemed like the end of our time in Iraq would never come, and then all of a sudden we were packing our bags. Yikes. It is amazing how much stuff I managed to accumulate given the short amount of time and limited amount of space I had. I celebrated my birthday the day before we left Camp Taji. We had a BBQ and it was great. I left on Sunday evening and it took a week to make it all the way back to Arizona. A week. We spent a few days in Baghdad, a couple days in Kuwait, a few hours at Ft. Benning, and then I made it. Here are a few things I remember being note-worthy about the trip.
Location, location, location. The food in the D-Fac in Baghdad was immensely better than the food in our D-Fac at Taji. Embarrassingly better. Is it a matter of location and shipping or a matter of who is living in the area and using the facilities? Probably a combo of both. Doesn't matter. It was great-even the ice cream was better. I seriously doubt they ever run out of lettuce there.
In Kuwait, we had to go through Customs before heading to the airport. I remember this from when I traveled in May. I remember it because after going through the line, written above the door is, "THIS WAY TO FREEDOM." It struck me at the time as funny, because we turned around and went out the other door to get on a bus. I didn't understand why someone would go to the trouble to painting that on the wall, if we weren't going that way. I figured it out when we flew home. We took what is called "The Freedom Flight" from a base in Kuwait to Georgia-the state. This time, after going through customs, I walked under the words, through the doors, to an enclosed area...we were in lockdown. Couldn't leave the enclosed area for a few hours. What kind of freedom is that? Just kidding. It wasn't so bad. Everyone was happy to be going home.
We landed at the Atlanta airport, got in formation to make sure we didn't lose anyone between the plane and the building we had just walked into, and boarded buses for the ride to Ft. Benning. I hope I never forget how amazed I was by the greenery of Georgia. It is a beautiful state I have had the pleasure of visiting several times, but this time, it was the most beautiful. It was early morning and the sun was coming up. The sky was incredibly beautiful with great clouds and most of all, everything was so lush and green. Later my friend John and I were talking about how beautiful it was and he commented on the clouds as well. I think it is because everything was so gray or tan in Iraq. There weren't many blue sky days.
After turning in my gear, I took a bus back to the Atlanta airport, got to see my friend Maggie for a bit and flew to Arizona. It was great to be home. Love, M.
Location, location, location. The food in the D-Fac in Baghdad was immensely better than the food in our D-Fac at Taji. Embarrassingly better. Is it a matter of location and shipping or a matter of who is living in the area and using the facilities? Probably a combo of both. Doesn't matter. It was great-even the ice cream was better. I seriously doubt they ever run out of lettuce there.
In Kuwait, we had to go through Customs before heading to the airport. I remember this from when I traveled in May. I remember it because after going through the line, written above the door is, "THIS WAY TO FREEDOM." It struck me at the time as funny, because we turned around and went out the other door to get on a bus. I didn't understand why someone would go to the trouble to painting that on the wall, if we weren't going that way. I figured it out when we flew home. We took what is called "The Freedom Flight" from a base in Kuwait to Georgia-the state. This time, after going through customs, I walked under the words, through the doors, to an enclosed area...we were in lockdown. Couldn't leave the enclosed area for a few hours. What kind of freedom is that? Just kidding. It wasn't so bad. Everyone was happy to be going home.
We landed at the Atlanta airport, got in formation to make sure we didn't lose anyone between the plane and the building we had just walked into, and boarded buses for the ride to Ft. Benning. I hope I never forget how amazed I was by the greenery of Georgia. It is a beautiful state I have had the pleasure of visiting several times, but this time, it was the most beautiful. It was early morning and the sun was coming up. The sky was incredibly beautiful with great clouds and most of all, everything was so lush and green. Later my friend John and I were talking about how beautiful it was and he commented on the clouds as well. I think it is because everything was so gray or tan in Iraq. There weren't many blue sky days.
After turning in my gear, I took a bus back to the Atlanta airport, got to see my friend Maggie for a bit and flew to Arizona. It was great to be home. Love, M.
Monday, September 12, 2011
Mea Culpa
It may be that nobody is reading this anymore. I don't blame you after the long break. I am so sorry to have kept you waiting. I just checked and realize that I am one week shy of a two month hiatus. It was unintentional, I assure you. I have been busy. You will see. I have tons to write about.
First things first, I have a job. I am going to be an English Language Fellow. For those of you who are not familiar with the program, it is similar to the Peace Corps in that it is a program through the Department of State and the idea is that teachers are sent to somewhat austere environments to teach. It is not as long of a commitment, and I get paid. The first week of October, I will be moving to Vientiane, Laos for 10 months. I am unbelievably excited. I have wanted to be a Fellow since I met one during my training for the Peace Corps in Georgia. I will work at the National University teaching English. My project description is very broad and at orientation, we were told to be flexible because it might not be 100% accurate. As far as the specifics of my job, I will keep you posted.
In other news, I have been unbelievably fortunate enough to do some great traveling while waiting for my departure for Laos. I have a couple of down days and plan on filling you all in completely. It has been a lot of fun and I have some great pictures. Lots of Love, M.
First things first, I have a job. I am going to be an English Language Fellow. For those of you who are not familiar with the program, it is similar to the Peace Corps in that it is a program through the Department of State and the idea is that teachers are sent to somewhat austere environments to teach. It is not as long of a commitment, and I get paid. The first week of October, I will be moving to Vientiane, Laos for 10 months. I am unbelievably excited. I have wanted to be a Fellow since I met one during my training for the Peace Corps in Georgia. I will work at the National University teaching English. My project description is very broad and at orientation, we were told to be flexible because it might not be 100% accurate. As far as the specifics of my job, I will keep you posted.
In other news, I have been unbelievably fortunate enough to do some great traveling while waiting for my departure for Laos. I have a couple of down days and plan on filling you all in completely. It has been a lot of fun and I have some great pictures. Lots of Love, M.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)