The Weekend Update. . .and What You Don't See on TV

Every time I post a Weekend Update I find it entertaining because in this job there are no weekends and I have to check a calender to see if it indeed is a weekend. Nonetheless, I will keep putting them up because I know that for those reading this there is a weekend.

I went out yesterday for the first time. It was a strange experience to finally be outside the comforts of a secure base, riding in the humvee (I write this phonetically) and seeing the workings of a society of people that we are here to protect. So what don't you see from the media?

Let me tell you what I saw on this patrol that I have never seen in the news. I saw a mixed group of soldiers, young to old, white to black to latino, and national guard to active duty. What did they have in common? Each day this group goes out on patrols and each day they open their hearts to the people of this country. One soldier lives every day so that he can take as much food and water from our chow hall that can fit into his truck to give to children and their parents along the road. They know the people and the people know them. When they arrive the children come running from hundreds of yards away to smile and wave to the soldiers and the highlight of their week is when they get an orange or an apple or a bottled water from an American soldier. These same soldiers have been through the streets of Bagdhad and have lost men but they still give out to these people.

I am not a real political person and I don't want to go into that, I just think people should know of the good that is coming out of this place; a place that once had people starving under the hand of Saddam. Just remember that the media shows what they want to show.

It's always Monday,
Nick

More Than Words

Ok. I don't have a whole lot to say today so I thought I would put some pictures up to speak for themselves.

The first picture is (from left to right) Swanson, Weisenburger and I in Kuwait by our Brigade mural.
The second is a picture of the plane ride here to Iraq in the C-130.

A desert sunset.

Have a great weekend! Happy Birthday Bryan!

The Weekend Update

Hey Ya'll.

This past weekend I has the opportunity that most christians would regard as one of the best ways to celebrate Easter. I, along with fellow soldiers here at the base, attended service at the house of Abraham, the father of the Hebrews. Five chaplains made the event possible with a crowd of I would say over a hundred in attendance. The ruins along with the ziggurat of Ur (Ur of the Chaldees referenced in the bible) are some of the oldest remains in the world. This just shows one more positive thing that has come out of this tour.

I am slowly becoming accustomed to the base here. We have a lot of coalition forces here so we are not alone. The Italians, the Brits, and the Aussies have the largest forces here after the U.S.. The base is very simple with a mile walk or so to the chow hall but you can catch a shuttle if you are lucky. Yes, I am still in a tent living out of my bags. Other things of mention this past weekend: I witnessed my first real sandstorm that nearly knocked me on my rear and the temperature is easily hitting over 100 degrees during the day. Occasionally we experience brownouts and the A/C is cut in the afternoon. Guess how long it takes for our tent to be hot? About 2 min 30 sec. How long before it is nearly unbearable? About 6 min's. You would think the wind would help cool you off but you can equate the wind to oxygen fueling a fire, it just feels like a furnace.

I still haven't talked to to my family on the phone yet. It isn't that I don't want to but I have to find a phone a get a card and make sure that it is a decent time to call home. With an 11 hour difference to my Mom now that makes for awkward hours. The biggest problem is that everyone needs the phones at the same time and so the waiting time is long. I am going to make an effort to call tonight, FYI to you mom/dad.

I have pictures to post but I still am not able to get my computer on the internet; that is really frustrating for a "techie" like me. I promise I will get them up as soon as I can.

Have a great week everyone!
-Nick-

A note about the blog: You will notice that I don't talk about anything related to my mission here at that is for a few reasons namely for security, but also for the fact that this blog is meant to remain upbeat and give everyone a peek into how I am doing. Again, it is very difficult to not discuss my work but it is better to keep the discussion off of the war. That is the final decision.

Address updated

My new address has been put up on the right side of this page and follows:

Sgt Bope, Nicholas R
C Co. 134 BSB
Unit#60,000
APO AE 09331-0000

Finally Where I'm Supposed to Be

Yes ladies and gentlemen the day has finally come and gone. Yesterday, I flew in via a shaky military cargo plane to my final destination in Iraq. Although I am not in my final housing, at least I am in an air-conditioned tent for now. The base is just as expected with of course lots of sand and more sand.

Ask me, "So Nick, what was your first experience in Iraq?."

My answer would go something like this. . .

"Well I was loaded unto the back of a military cargo plan with all of my battle gear along with the rest of my company and our pallets of duffle bags. We were interlocked, packed in like sardines, with the temperature that day in the mid 90's. I put on my headphones for the flight and closed my eyes. . . . . . . I woke up because something wet has hit me in the face. 'What the hell?. . . Sgt Stee did you sneeze on me?' And then it hit me. This was not snot but projectile pink vomit from someone after we had dropped hundreds of feet in an instant. I wiped off my face and thanked the man upstairs that I was not sitting next to the individual, that person was Yang, the small asian man in our company. After I assesed the situation of myself, I wasn't too bad, I looked to see if I could help Yang. It was futile. His lap was covered as was his pistol and rifle. Thankfully we had only fifteen minutes or so left and I kept myself from vomiting also. I actually tried to get the 2nd LT next to me to puke also by describing the color and consistency of the vomitus. Needless to say the LT didn't puke and we landed safely at the base. We were now nine hours difference in time from home."

I hope everyone has a great weekend and a wonderful Easter with their families.

From Iraq Happy Easter,
Nick

Just Sitting Around

Since my past post I have been partaking in a little bit of R&R. This would include waking up just in time for breakfast, playing monopoly and solitaire on my computer until lunch, working out at the gym until dinner and then watching movies until I feel like taking a shower and going to bed. You might think this is not so bad, but after a few days you begin to have that feeling like you need to work.

I have packed my bags up again as we anticipate leaving again sometime soon. Hopefully we will get there without a hitchup and when we arrive we will be placed in temp housing again with another line of tents. We probably won't be settled into our "permanent" shacks for another month because we have to wait for room.

I have made a few attempts to call people back home, but alas to no avail has anyone picked up their phone. Maybe I will try again here before I go to bed, it is 10:21 pm right now but only afternoon back home. Anyways, I will be out of touch again for a little bit while I make another transition to my new home. Have a great week and if I don't get to say it have a great Easter too.

Nick

P.S.- I will put pictures up as soon as I can connect my computer or have some that I can upload unto these computers. As for now just use you imagination (ie: sand, me, tent, sand, camels, sand, and sand)

Did I mention the sand and the camels?

Ok.

So I know I already mentioned camels but I guess I didn't fully realize that they are all around us. We have been gone for the past three days on a training mission so I got some good time out in the "field". We came close to actually hitting a camel but it turned back at the last second; they can really move!

The sand. It wasn't so bad at first but now it is just annoying. When the wind picks up, which it invariably does every day, you just can't keep it out of your eyes, your mouth, your ears, your nose, and of course your weapon. I wasn't able to take a shower for the past three days so you can imagine the sand that I washed of myself last night.

More about the living conditions. We are living in tents with power and air conditioning which is actually quite nice, they even have cots to sleep on. We are still using port-a-john's for latrines ( a side note: every morning you get to read some funny new comment written on the walls inside) and showers are available if water is available. Like I mentioned before the saving grace is the food. They have activities here but you have to have an open schedule to get to them.

I have been jockeying to get internet at the base that we are headed to. I am sure they have internet available at some random building with long lines like here but it would be nice to have it in our rooms. Unfurtunately, we have to get satellite service which is really expensive and now always dependable. If we get enough people to share the cost should go down at least.

This is all I have for now. I am trying to fill my spare time today so that maybe time will go a little quicker. Everyone have a great weekend!

Nick

Weekend Update 24APR2006 (first overseas)

Hello readers,

It has been quite a long time since a weekend update so I thought I would title this one so.

I have been actually quite busy since my last post. A group of about fifteen of us who anticipate being on the same mission together for the next year have been going to some extra classes to get us prepped for the mission. I wish I could explain the training but unfortuntely we are not allowed to talk about it as with most things that are my "life" for the rest of this deployment. It is awfully hard to have a chat with someone at home when you can't tell them where or what you are doing!

But there are other things that we can talk about....like puppies (ok, that one was for you nic).

I had to wait for an hour to get on this computer so I am going to get my worth out of it. This is me typing. This is me typing. . . seriously though.

Tron and I were able to drive around a little bit the other day to do a little "defensive driving' which was quite fun because you are in the desert and you can drive for miles without a road or hitting anything save maybe a camel. We actually saw a dead camel the other day which was sad yet entertaining because it added another verse to Sean and I's "rap video" that we are making out of pure boredom on the bus rides. Have you ever seen a camel up close, they are huge!

What else...?....It has just started to get hot here with the highs reaching into the 90's now but that isn't too bad. When it hit's 100 I think I will crap my pants, or maybe sweat to death. That is another awesome thing that I forgot to mention, they have free H2O!!! Everywhere! All we can drink is approved bottled water so it is everywhere you go; boy aren't they good to me.

To answer a few questions.

1. I know my new address for where I will be located.
2. I am not going to give the address until I am physically at the location because things are always changing and I won't get mail unless I am there.
3. No, I am not melting even though I have the fourth fairest skin tone in the company.
4. I am not in need of anything at this time, nor do I plan on needing anything but news from back home.

That is all for now. If you have any questions or want me to answer anything just leave a comment!

-SGT Bope-