First Impressions

I have about two weeks of catching up to do, so here is the first
thing. When we finally arrived at Baghdad International Airport (BIAP),
it was hot, but that was mostly because we had to wear our armor (just
in case). The first thing that everyone noticed that made Iraq different
than Kuwait was trees. There weren't many of them, and a lot of them
were a bit scraggly. Most were a duller shade of green than is usual for
beck home, but they were the first plants we had seen that were more
than a foot tall since we left Fort Dix.
Baghdad sits in between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, so it has a
lot of water, relatively speaking. Other parts of Iraq are a lot like
Kuwait, and some parts could even be described as lush. I haven't had
the chance to go to the international zone (IZ) yet, but since it sits
right on the river, I am sure it is a lot greener than here. In better
days, before the land was over farmed and irrigation systems fell into
disrepair, Iraq could feed itself and still export quite a lot of food.
There is a lot of work to be done to get back to those days, but it is
progressing.
Still, there is not a lot of ground cover, and even here, dust is a
daily part of life. It gets everywhere, and nothing is so tightly sealed
that you wont eventually find dust in it. I have a couple of pictures to
show what a dust storm around here looks like. I will try to get them
posted soon.
More later.

...This Church Will Fill The Whole Earth.

Yesterday was my second Sunday in Iraq. Church is a little abbreviated
from the normall schedule. Partly this is because there are not many of
us who attend (25 last Sunday, 12 yesterday). I expected a lot more
given the population of the camp, but the activity rate is not very
high. Also, most of us work seven days a week and can't take off for
three hours in the middle of the day for Church. There really isn't
anything like a week end here, although the tempo of work does slow down
a bit from Friday through Sunday.
Anyway, at Church yesterday the Group Leader mentioned that a
representative from the Stake was here to conduct some business. There
is a formally organized Stake, called the Arabian Peninsula Stake,
which, I suppose has geigraphic authority over all of the Arabian Middle
East. In fact, the Group Leader told me that there are two organized
wards and 40+ Military Groups serving mostly western military and
government personnel and other ex-patriots in Iraq, Kuwait, and Qatar.
No missionary work is allowed among the native population, of course,
since that would raise legal and political issues with the host nations.
So, although the Church isn't formally recognized by any nation in the
Middle East and can only legally operate where western sovereignty
prevails, it is here, and I think that is a good thing.
Incidentally, missionaries have served in the Middle East before. It
has been a long time, but missionaries, at one time, preached in Persia
or Iran. I don't know when they were pulled out, but there are several
relatively large groups of Iranian members around the world, most of
whom emmigrated at the time of the revolution. One of them was briefly
in my home ward about a year ago. If anyone knows something about the
history of the Church in Iran, please leave a comment.

Test Post - Am I Back?

Sorry for being off line for so long. I am in Baghdad now, but internet
access is worse here than in Kuwait. If this posts successfully, I will
have a lot more to say about things. I am still alive. It isn't as hot
as I thought it would be, but I stay inside as much as possible. I hope
this works.

Inertia Is A Terrible Thing

A body at rest tends to remain at rest. It takes a monumental act of will to get it moving. Much better easier to have an external cause impel motion. A sedentary lifestyle saps both physical and mental energy and leaves you drained without ever expending any energy. I have thought about writing another post for three days now, but it always seemed like too much effort, and I could never think of anything to write. I can't wait to get to Baghdad.
Kuwaiti weather has improved somewhat over the last week. There hasn't been nearly as much dirt in the air, and the sky has actually been blue. The tradeoff has been high temperatures near 120 degrees. Remarkably, I seem to getting used to it. Baghdad will almost seem cool by comparison, as temperatures there average about ten degrees cooler.
I have apparently gotten used to the food as well. It started off great, in comparison to the food at Fort Dix, but, now it starting to get a little disappointing. The menu seems to be on a very short rotation, because meals all seem to be the same. I suppose that was inevitable. When a facility has to serve 4000 meals three times a day, there isn't a lot of room for variety.
Another aspect of inertia that has just manifested itself again is the complaints that started this post. Complaining is easy, and the traditional past time of soldiers and sailors from the beginning of time, but I have contributed too much to that tradition to the detriment of this blog.
So for a positive note to end this post, I will mention one good thing that I have noticed. We were told several times not to play with the wild life. Spiders and scorpions, some of which are among the most poisonous in the world, were in mind with these warnings. The only wild life that I have seen though is a tiny little bird that somehow ekes out a living in this desolate place. It isn't a very good living, because I have never seen a fat one, and other than the ones that hang out outside the dining facilities and fast food courts, I dont know what they could possibly be eating. They are living proof that God watches over even the least of his creatures, because without his care those little birds wouldn't live long at all.
My next post will be from Baghdad, probably, unless I can overcome inertia and write again before then.

Sunday In The Middle East

I finally made it to church today. There were about four dozen Elders and High Priests and five Sisters in attendance. Most were from a unit permanently assigned here. They filled all of the callings in the serviceman's group. A few were civilians and transients like me. Sacrament meeting and Sunday school were both squeezed into one hour so that other religious services could have their time in the chapel. I expected to see a few more people, given the number of soldiers at this camp, but some were probably in training like I was last week.
The chapel has one really good draw for folks who need a reason to attend. It has the best air conditioning of any building or tent that I have been in. After walking through 110+ heat to get there it felt chilly, and that is something you don't feel often here.

Starting To Move

Most of my group still have a week or more here in Kuwait, but a few are already starting to move out to their ultimate duty station.One of ours, left today for Afghanistan. He has really been a fun guy to have around. He is a die-hard NASCAR fan and can quote the lyrics of almost nay song of the last thirty years and the dialog of almost any movie of the last twenty. I probably wont see him again, because he was mobilized on different orders than my own and will be returning home in only a few months. For me, a week isn't much time at all, so I will be starting my repacking process to day. I found most of my packing mistakes now, so everything that I have an immediate need for is out of my bags now, and I can reassemble for bags in a better order. Also, since I will be wearing my armor for the trip into Baghdad, there is a lot of open space now.

By the way, I know what my address will be now. It wont be good for a couple of weeks until I arrive and am put on the mail list for my command. Until then they wont accept mail for me, but starting in July mail can be sent to me at:

LCDR James McElwee
MNC-I C9
APO AE 09342

Military mail is moved as space is available on whatever aircraft is heading in the right direction so expect up to two weeks for anything to arrive.

Kuwait Sucks, cont.

There was a wind storm yesterday that turned into a dust storm. It was miserable all around, especially for the three hours that we were out on a range to shoot. The wind was blowing so hard that I felt darned lucky to put every round on the paper and five of twenty in the silhouette. The sand really stung when it hit.
The wind must have picked up and blown away all of the easily moved dust, because today there was hardly any in the sky, even with a hard wind blowing. It turns out that all the dust that is usually in the air provides a lot of shade. Without the dust, it was ten degrees hotter today than yesterday. With the air conditioning going full blast, the temperature in our tent got up above 80 and it felt cool.
Fortunately, we have very little in the way of required activies left to do while we wait for our plane to Baghdad. No one goes outside except for necessities like meals and head calls. After running ourselves ragged with training for the last two months, we are more than making up for it now. For the last two days, I have had the best midafternoon naps ever. Still, it would be better to be in Baghdad doing something useful.