Boots on ground

The last week in Virginia was nice and relaxing.  Able to live life at my own pace, I stayed up late and slept in most days.  One day I went to Busch Gardens with Steve and Mike and rode every roller coaster there.  They had a few news ones since I was there last with Peggy and they were lots of fun.  I also got a few runs in and bowled a few games.  My last game was my best and I bowled a 153, which is not great but good enough to be fun.  I'd like to try bowling with Peggy and the kids when I get back.

Two days ago it was time to begin the trek to Djibouti.  We loaded up on buses at 1400 and went to the airport to wait six hours for our flight to depart, with nothing to do but hangout in the small Air Mobility Command terminal.  The first flight was to Rota, Spain, and we took around seven hours to get there arriving the next morning.  We stayed on the ground for two hours in another small little terminal.  We were told they had wifi and I guess that's technically true, but it didn't have near the capacity required to support all the passengers off a 767 looking to check in with the rest of the world.  After loading back up our next stop was Sigonella, Italy, where again the wifi didn't work well.  Our next leg took us to Bahrain.  People were offloading at each stop along the way and after this stop the plan was less than half full.  The last leg brought us into Djibouti at 0400, so it was right at a 24 hour journey.

Right away, even that early in the morning the heat is palpable.  We had some quick indoc briefs and then met with our sponsors who showed us around.  My sponsor changed and my job position has changed and it may still change again before things are settled.

I'm in a CLU or containerized living unit and it will be home for the next four months or so.  I have a roommate and there's a communal shower nearby that we use.  Eventually I'll move into the West End CLUs where I'll have one all to myself and it will include a private bathroom.

Now that I have boots on the ground (BOG) my counter will start counting down the 330 days that I'll be here before heading back to the States.

Well, even though I've caught some naps here and there, it's getting late and I'm hoping to pass out and wake up and be on schedule for the new time zone.  I'll try to upload pictures tomorrow.