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When we last left our hero he was
mired deep in work at his desk. 114 days at work in a row and
counting. Suddenly, on the horizon a glimmer of hope!
4 Day pass to Qatar for Rest &
Relaxation (R&R). Hoo-aahh!
But this is the Army; nothing is
going to be that easy.
First get permission to go. Figure
out how to convince the boss that you are not irreplaceable and
that for 4 or 5 days the Army will survive.
Next get from the International
"Green" Zone to the Airport. Don't get shot at. |
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Finally the typical hurry up and wait,
get to the "airport" at 0800, waiting in big pile of
dust and dirt, have a formation, roll call, and wait for plane
at 1100, which becomes 1200, which ends up being 1330. 5 1/2
hours waiting. But at least nobody shot at us. |
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Fly from Baghdad to "al Udeid" air base, Qatar, which
is about a 3 hour flight south of Baghdad, off the Arabian Sea
(kind of a thumb sticking out from Saudi Arabia).
Next, once again, be processed
like beef cattle at the slaughter house and move from one room
to the next and one briefing to the next, do this, don't do that,
watch out for this, look out for that. About 1900 or so finally
get to our rooms.
The rooms are shipping containers
that have been stacked up and converted to rooms inside a giant
warehouse. Sort of like a two tier prison. Not exactly a quiet,
private place, you should hear the folks climbing up and down
the metal decks from 0500 to 0800 every morning (oh, and I had
a roommate too) but at least nobody is shooting at us. |
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The base (Camp Al Sayliyah) is like most small military
bases with a pool... |
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...and gym, Post Exchange, email café,
pizza, subway and other things. |
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Normally we would have a few days
to visit the town, tour the region and the area but...it is never
that easy. We got "locked down" on the base due to
a published threat to Americans in Qatar. First time that has
happened and it would have to be when we were there. So, instead
of visits to the beach, sand dunes, and a desert oasis, we got
to watch TV and read books for two days. But, at least nobody
was shooting at us. |
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Finally on the third day word comes
down we can go off post after 1800 hours if we can find a local
"sponsor" to take us. Luckily we know someone here
and we head off. Takes 20 minutes to get off post and 40 minute
drive to downtown. We drive to the "Gold Souks" and
look at window after window of gold. Darn, I forgot my camera.
Area kind of like this one... |
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Back to the base and another day at
the pool and finally off post at 1800 for dinner and a trip to
the mall. Had dinner at an Iranian restaurant. Great food and
nice atmosphere. Non-alcohol drinks, humus, soup, and roast lamb
kabobs for $20. |
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Only 2 hours before we had to be back
on base so we went to see what a mall was like in Qatar. Wow!
Big, huge, nice. 4 floors, sparkling clean, Starbucks, Victoria's
Secrets, Harry Winston, Armani, Carrefour, and hundreds more
stores. Even a store that sold handicrafts from all over the
Middle East and best of all nobody shooting at us. |
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Of course there were dozens of women
in full veil, but also many not in veils. You can get a "normal"
dress, or an abaya, in any color you want (as long as it is black). |
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Back to the base, and up at 0300,
to be at the airport at 0600 am for flight home that left at?
........ 1300. Got to love the planning here.
Home (?) to Baghdad and back to
my little trailer. Nose back to the grindstone.
Overall a fun trip and ... Nobody
shooting at us (for 4 days).
On the home front, unlike the Red
Sox, not looking good for the home team.
I have received word they "can't
find" a replacement and I may be extended here for 30-90
days past the agreed date.
This of course fills me with joy.
So hope they "find" someone soon, otherwise expect
Iraq Update #1001, Christmas in Baghdad.
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