In Iraq

I made it into Iraq late Tuesday morning, Nov 11. After flying from Hawaii to Anchorage, then to Leipzig, Germany, and onto Kuwait, I spent one night before catching a flight to Iraq. They somehow got five of us onto an early flight, so the rest of the band is arrived a day later than I did. We were up extremely early so would could ride to the airport, and then wait a few more hours for the plane to depart. They had us flying on C17's with all of our cargo as well.

Nothing much to tell you right now. It's brown outside and not too hot. The food is pretty good here. I've only eating in one DFAC (dining facility), and they say out of the three, it is the worst, so I should be eating very well while I am here. The barracks are fairly nice considering where we are. I'm sharing a room, but it should be big enough to where we aren't living right on top of each other.

The previous band left a lot of amenities for everyone to sort through. Some folks contacted the band ahead of time to make plans to purchase things like TVs and other things. There were a few things that were left for the room I am in, including a small TV (we get 8 or so channels on cable), lots of plastic drawers, and a ton of power converters. Power here is 220V, so most everything needs some sort converter or adapter in order for the electronics to work. Some of the devices at the PX are $180, so it's good to get a lot of hand-me-down items.