Sorry I have not posted in a while. The camp has internet but the download speed is really slow. Add 2000 people all fighting for the bandwidth and it can take several minutes for a page to load, if at all. What little bandwidth I had, I used to IM my ever luvin' wife, Jodi (Hi Honey!)
I left Friday evening from Stuttgart for a connection thru Paris and then off to Djibouti. The plane in Stuttgart was "kaput" according to the flight agent and another plane would have to be brought to the gate. This was Air France but it might have well as been US Air. Airlines suck no matter who runs them. We were delayed two hours but I still have plenty of time. I was scheduled for a 5 hour layover in Paris. The flight was short, only 55 min.
It is interesting to note that the boarding process does not involve the announcement of zones or rows. The announcement is made that it is time to board and everyone stands up and starts moving toward the gate. This seemed to work out fine and I didn't notice that it took any longer to board then when we board using one of those egg headed schemes used by US carriers that was created by some math PhD making $250,000 a year. I'm sure they can prove that their system shaves 3 seconds off the "everyone stand up and head towards the gate" method we used in Stuttgart. The Germans are very efficient so I am sure this is the best way. Sorry Brainiac.
And what's up with South West Airlines? That is the worst, most complex system of boarding in the world.
We landed in Paris just before dusk so I never really located the center of the city from the air. I can tell you that Paris is a big, sprawling city. The airport is one of the biggest and nicest that I have seen. Good job, Frenchie.
Because the airport is so big, I didn't have a chance to look around much. It was out the gate, thru the airport, cashed in on a no fee pee, grabbed a horribly overpriced sandwich (remember food is really expensive here and they really stick it to you in the airport no matter where you are), went thru security and off to the gate.
For this little adventure overseas, I got a blue, tourist passport, and a red, official US passport. The difference is that the red passport states that I am traveling on official US gov business. The upside is that the customs people don't ask me a dozen questions about where I am going or how long I will be in the country. I don't like alot of questions from nosey customs people so it really comes in handy. They simply look over my documents and wave me through.
The flight to Djibouti left at midnight which was fine with me. I could sleep as best I could as we would be landing at 0730. As soon as we took off, an honest to goodness meal was served and it wasn't too bad. Also included was a fine selection of beer and wine. All included in the price of the ticket.
We landed at our scheduled time and got off the plane on the tarmac and then into shuttle buses to the terminal. We had our tempertures checked by medical? people (probably didn't hear that swine flu was a little overrated) and then thru customs. The woman at customs wasn't very pleasant. Kind of covertly rude, which I didn't appreciate.
First thing I noticed was that everything was pretty chaotic and in disrepair. I had heard about the aggressive porters and I was in no mood for someone holding my bag hostage. Thankfully, I grabbed my bag and exited the baggage claim area with out causing an international incident, i.e. "Blood thirsty U.S. Marine assaults porter trying to earn a few dollars to move his family out of a house made of garbage" (I'm getting a little ahead of myself so keep reading, it will make sense in a minute). It is not that I refuse to tip. I am a very good tipper and appreciate good service. However, I don't like being taken advantage of and refuse to be preyed on.
The Staff Seregant who was supposed to pick me up was there as scheduled and he was transporting a couple of other Marines. Turns out that these guys were going to be there for 7 mos like I thought I was going to be. They had lots of gear as you can imagine.
The camp is actually right on the other side of the runway but we had to load up in the Land Cruiser (no HMMWVs here) and make a short drive on the surface streets. What I saw on that short drive can only be described as a 3rd world garbage dump. There were piles of trash everywhere. If it was not in piles, it was just blowing around and accumulating in the bushes and fence line. People were living in "houses" that were constructed out of whatever garbage was suitable for building a shelter. If you are not living in a house that you built out of garbage, consider yourself to be very fortunate.
Camp Lemonier, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/camp_lemenier , is a old French Foriegn Legion Post. If you read about it in the above link, you will find that the place was a real dump when we moved in. Up until recently, everyone lived in tents, slept on cots, walked to the shower, didn't have any internet (much less slow internet, boohoo), and ate "tray rations" or MRE's neither of which are very good especially when eaten every meal for 7 mos straight. So, I will say that the place has come a long way.
Here is where we are now: everyone lives in CLUville. CLU stands for Containerized Living Unit. It is basically a 25' or 40' shipping container that is build out with doors, windows and plumbing. I have a small "wet" CLU. The room measures 8'x9' and has a bed, window, sink, and a wall locker. It also has an all important functional air conditioner. I share a shower and toilet with the resident of the other side of the shipping container. It is currently vacant.
The flight to Djibouti left at midnight which was fine with me. I could sleep as best I could as we would be landing at 0730. As soon as we took off, an honest to goodness meal was served and it wasn't too bad. Also included was a fine selection of beer and wine. All included in the price of the ticket.
We landed at our scheduled time and got off the plane on the tarmac and then into shuttle buses to the terminal. We had our tempertures checked by medical? people (probably didn't hear that swine flu was a little overrated) and then thru customs. The woman at customs wasn't very pleasant. Kind of covertly rude, which I didn't appreciate.
First thing I noticed was that everything was pretty chaotic and in disrepair. I had heard about the aggressive porters and I was in no mood for someone holding my bag hostage. Thankfully, I grabbed my bag and exited the baggage claim area with out causing an international incident, i.e. "Blood thirsty U.S. Marine assaults porter trying to earn a few dollars to move his family out of a house made of garbage" (I'm getting a little ahead of myself so keep reading, it will make sense in a minute). It is not that I refuse to tip. I am a very good tipper and appreciate good service. However, I don't like being taken advantage of and refuse to be preyed on.
The Staff Seregant who was supposed to pick me up was there as scheduled and he was transporting a couple of other Marines. Turns out that these guys were going to be there for 7 mos like I thought I was going to be. They had lots of gear as you can imagine.
The camp is actually right on the other side of the runway but we had to load up in the Land Cruiser (no HMMWVs here) and make a short drive on the surface streets. What I saw on that short drive can only be described as a 3rd world garbage dump. There were piles of trash everywhere. If it was not in piles, it was just blowing around and accumulating in the bushes and fence line. People were living in "houses" that were constructed out of whatever garbage was suitable for building a shelter. If you are not living in a house that you built out of garbage, consider yourself to be very fortunate.
Camp Lemonier, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/camp_lemenier , is a old French Foriegn Legion Post. If you read about it in the above link, you will find that the place was a real dump when we moved in. Up until recently, everyone lived in tents, slept on cots, walked to the shower, didn't have any internet (much less slow internet, boohoo), and ate "tray rations" or MRE's neither of which are very good especially when eaten every meal for 7 mos straight. So, I will say that the place has come a long way.
Here is where we are now: everyone lives in CLUville. CLU stands for Containerized Living Unit. It is basically a 25' or 40' shipping container that is build out with doors, windows and plumbing. I have a small "wet" CLU. The room measures 8'x9' and has a bed, window, sink, and a wall locker. It also has an all important functional air conditioner. I share a shower and toilet with the resident of the other side of the shipping container. It is currently vacant.
Some live in "dry" CLUs which means they have to leave their CLU to use the toilet or shower. Others have a shower in their room. It is all based on rank and availability. I rate a CLU double the size of mine with a private shower. No big deal since I will only be here a week. It has AC and it is not a tent (one of my tenants in life is: no matter how bad things are, they can ALWAYS be worse. Keep in mind that people outside the front gate are living in houses made of garbage. Don't think they have AC or internet either.)
I live in one like the top picture (I have a second deck CLU). The bottom picture is the CLUville expansion.
I had a couple of meals the day I arrived (Sat) at the chowhall (Army calls it a mess hall, and the Air Force probably calls it a dining facility). I was impressed with the selection of food and can see why many gain weight on deployment. Food is available almost 24 hours a day. It is certainly possible to eat healthy here but it is easy not to. There is lots of starch, fried foods, and high calorie sugar and high calorie fatty foods. Take as much as you want, come as often as you please. There is also plenty of coke, a hand dipped ice cream bar with all the fixins, lots of desserts, and items you can grab on your way out like candy bars, pop tarts and potato chips.
On the other hand, they also offer beef tenderloin roast, cornish game hens, baked trout, shrimp scampi, steaks on Sat, and lamb shanks. It is all surprisingly good. However, the meat is not the highest quality and often a little over cooked. Breakfast is standard fare with eggs and omeletes cooked to order. There is also a fresh salad bar for lunch and dinner. I try and have high protein, low fat meals with plenty of fresh veggies. Think I am losing a bit of weight actually.
I can see how it is easy to over eat, however. This is a very austere place with limited resources and recreation. It is not even the "hot" season yet and it is 100 degrees with a heat index of 112 degrees. Most are assigned here for 7-12 months. I was ready to leave after 7-12 hours. Eating a meal is really the only thing to look forward to.
I got an invitation to play Texas Holdem' poker with some of the guys I am peers with (we correspond every day as I assist them in the coordination of events with our higher command in Germany). We got together around 1930 (sun sets around 1830 as we are very close to the equater).
I live in one like the top picture (I have a second deck CLU). The bottom picture is the CLUville expansion.
I had a couple of meals the day I arrived (Sat) at the chowhall (Army calls it a mess hall, and the Air Force probably calls it a dining facility). I was impressed with the selection of food and can see why many gain weight on deployment. Food is available almost 24 hours a day. It is certainly possible to eat healthy here but it is easy not to. There is lots of starch, fried foods, and high calorie sugar and high calorie fatty foods. Take as much as you want, come as often as you please. There is also plenty of coke, a hand dipped ice cream bar with all the fixins, lots of desserts, and items you can grab on your way out like candy bars, pop tarts and potato chips.
On the other hand, they also offer beef tenderloin roast, cornish game hens, baked trout, shrimp scampi, steaks on Sat, and lamb shanks. It is all surprisingly good. However, the meat is not the highest quality and often a little over cooked. Breakfast is standard fare with eggs and omeletes cooked to order. There is also a fresh salad bar for lunch and dinner. I try and have high protein, low fat meals with plenty of fresh veggies. Think I am losing a bit of weight actually.
I can see how it is easy to over eat, however. This is a very austere place with limited resources and recreation. It is not even the "hot" season yet and it is 100 degrees with a heat index of 112 degrees. Most are assigned here for 7-12 months. I was ready to leave after 7-12 hours. Eating a meal is really the only thing to look forward to.
I got an invitation to play Texas Holdem' poker with some of the guys I am peers with (we correspond every day as I assist them in the coordination of events with our higher command in Germany). We got together around 1930 (sun sets around 1830 as we are very close to the equater).
So, there are I am. My first night in Africa sitting around playing cards, smoking cigars, and drinking some very cold beer. Somehow, that just felt right.
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