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.