Ma'Salaama!

I'm always up for a new adventure, but I'm so tired of saying good-bye.Why is it that every adventure has to begin with a good-bye? I leave in two days and leave all the friends I've made behind. I will get to a new place on Monday and start all over again. I'm excited, but also a little sad. I'm just not ready to say good-bye... =(

Quote of the day

And so the 154 people who survived a modern Titanic have fallen into that strange category of luck — the kind that would not be necessary had not horrendous bad fortune preceded it.

Celebrating far from home

It's become the norm to celebrate my birthday in strange places, on the campaign trail, on various work-related trips, etc. But this is the first time I've celebrated my birthday in a foreign country. It was a rather interesting (but fun) day. =) It began with MCMAP training, then moved onto breakfast at the chow hall. I went back to my room and opened the package that a dear friend sent to me (she told me I could not open it until my birthday, so it has been sitting there for over a week - the suspense has been killing me!). Work began at 0830, as usual and the fun began. L thought it would be fun to decorate my work space with pictures of Orlando Bloom and Justin Timberlake. =P I got lots of e-cards and messages on Facebook from my family and friends back in the states (it's always nice to know you have not been forgotten!). L, K, and I went to the main-side chow hall for lunch so we could get ice cream (yummy!). The day continued with some shopping and a stop at the coffee shop for a mango smoothie. L told everyone we met or ran into that it was my birthday. I had Marines, guards, and random people wishing me a happy birthday (the guy at the chow hall responded by over-filling my bowl with ice cream =P). For the remainder of the day, people stopped in the office with well wishes. It was not like any birthday I've ever had before...It will definitely be a birthday that I will always remember. =)

On PFTs and Pride

Since I have been working with a bunch of Marines, I have done my best to assimilate and become part of the group. I don't chew, smoke, or swear, so I am at somewhat of a disadvantage. However, I do like physical activity and Marines are all about physical activity! =) They run just about every day (I join them about every other). They train in martial arts at 0530 on weekdays (I am there faithfully, kicking, punching, and ground-fighting with the best of them). And they have PFTs. Now, I have never had to do a PFT (physical fitness test) for anything in my life, but I figured I would give it a go (I mean, how bad could 100 crunches, a 70 second arm hang, and a 3 mile run be?!). The arm hang was first... I was down after 15 seconds (pitiful!). The crunches came next... 100, no problemo! Then the run... I have never come so close to throwing up after a run in all my life! It was all I could do to keep the pizza, salad, and stir-fry from lunch down (ok, so a HUGE lunch right before a PFT is not a brilliant idea... now I know. =P). After all of that, my total score was a 170 out of a possible 300. Now THAT is a major blow to the ego! =( I was only shooting for a 225... maybe that was my problem. I should have aimed higher. In any case, I will conquer that arm hang by the time I leave here! =P In the meantime, a dose of humility every once in a while can be a good thing.

It's a girl thing

One of the guys in my church once said that if girls do anything that doesn't make sense to him, he just chalks it up as "a girl thing." At the time I took offense to that, but I'm realizing it's somewhat true, and it works as a great answer!

I now work in an environment where I am surrounded by guys. L, the only other girl here my age, is my life saver! We pretty much stick together and have one another's back. When one of us needs to make a head call, the other is always there to accompany (it's quite a hike over there - we are picky and prefer to use the one with running water - imagine that!). If one of us need to go to one of the other trailers nearby, the other usually tags along. Coffee runs, laundry drop off, a visit to the PX, you name it, and we do it together. The guys just don't understand it at all and like to tease us. I always just say "it's a girl thing." This morning, I had 3 bags of laundry (we bring our laundry into the office twice a week), so I took all kinds of flak for that! It's not my fault that I like my clothes clean, I'm a girl! The best, though, was this morning when L. beeped the horn so the guard at the gate would give us the go ahead... it turns out, the guy had been in the little port-a-john next to the guard house. When we got to the gate, he was laughing and so were we. The guy in the car with us thought it was totally unfair that the guard was laughing and not cursing us under his breath for beeping the horn. He was like "if it had been a guy, he would have been all mad." Hey, sometimes it pays to be a girl. =P

Guten Tag!

I have NO idea why, but my whole blogger website here comes up in German! It is actually quite frustrating. I keep coming back to this page to post and think maybe if I try again later it will be in English. No such luck. It's been a few days now, so I guess I'm just gonna have to deal and make a few mistakes along the way (like accidentally deleting the pictures I tried to upload). The internet connection can be rather slow at times, so uploading stuff is a pain. I shouldn't complain though... I have internet access, and my very sweet coworker lets me use her computer all the time.