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I've been back in Kuwait for about a week now, getting into the swing of things again. Which is going to be interrupted in about 2 weeks when we leave for Egypt. We'll spend around 8 days there, then back for 2 weeks, then off to Kenya to visit Josh and Audra for Christmas. So things are hardly settling back to normal for quite some time. Anyway, the weather has turned lovely again, cool, breezy and sunny. It rained the other day very normally (not the dust rain that sometimes comes down) and we had a good thunderstorm last night.

My time in Djibouti has made me appreciate Kuwait much more and I'm pretty sure I don't need to go back there again if I can avoid it. I did get to see the outside for a bit on the last day I was there and it is profoundly poor and desperate. The people are very down and drugged out most of the time on khat (a plant they chew). There is no sense of industry or purpose...it is the most dirty, trashed place I have ever seen. The landscape is utterly dreary with rocky desert littered with plastic bags and trash in every direction. There are some older interesting looking buildings down town, but the entire economy of the place seems centered around feeding the debased appetites of the foreigners who frequent them most frequently. Admittedly it was probably a poor impression with little to go on, but such as it was, that was all I got.

Addis Ababa was a totally different place with greenery and bustle, people who seemed more hopeful and like they had a possible future. I know it's totally different in the lowlands where people are starving, but at least in Addis things seem to be going well over all. Even the very poor looked like they had something to do and weren't lying about drugged out all the time. Anyway, it was much more enjoyable and I really want to bring Kerri and Rowan back and spend a week or two exploring the country (Ethiopia).

Djibouti Call

Edit: Here are some photos.



These are of my living quarters in Djibouti, and the rest are from the day we spent in Addis Ababa on the way back to Kuwait.


Sorry for the bad pun...

I've been in Djibouti for the past week or so working on a project. Hopefully I'll be heading back home on the 15th if all goes well.

Camp Lemonier is interesting...more homey feeling than Arifjan. The weather is horrible though, very hot and humid all the time. Your clothes never feel dry, and crawling into bed each night under damp sheets is no fun. I'm living in a half of a connex which has been retrofitted into an apartment for 2 people. I say "apartment" but really it's just 2 beds, a locker, a small desk area, and some hooks on the wall. Shared bathrooms of course that are always soaked.

On the positive side...the food here is excellent, much much better than Arifjan. There are many Filipinos working in the food area, so when they make Adobo it's the real thing! And rice and egg for breakfast, woohoo!

Been working pretty much nonstop since I got here and today is the first day off I've had in a little over a week. 12 hour days. Should make some good money on the overtime. I'm about to head off base for the first time in a few minutes, so I can get some actual impressions of this place other than the base.

Well, that's it for now.

-edit: Unfortunately, no vehicle could be found, so I did not get to see off base...