Saturday, April 26, 2008

Life in Iraq

I should never complain about dust again because when I look at this picture Steve sent me of a dust storm in Iraq it makes me want to send him a can of pledge, Clorox wipes, a bandanna to cover his nose/mouth and lots of soap. I'm hoping his food wasn't extra crunchy, that wouldn't go over well with him.

These are sheep belonging to the commandant of the Iraqi AFA - a 1 star general. They roam freely part of the day. I guess having animals gives one stature. He also has pigeons and geese. They are smart men because having lots of animals is far less maintenance than lots of wives. These sheep were right outside Steve's POD (where he sleeps), they are good for keeping the weeds down and helping the soldiers go to sleep.
Steve loves to be a jokester. You know he likes you if you feels comfortable giving you a hard time. This is his new friend Tommy, who is an interpreter. His joke with this guy is that he requested I send him an Air Force Academy T-shirt so this guy wouldn't have to wear a Pacers shirt anymore. I mailed it off today.

MRAP, I don't know what it stands for, I'm sure one of you know more about this than I do. All I know is that Steve said it was designed to w/stand the IEDs at over $1M per vehicle. $1M, what happened to the Military discount?
That's all I have for now. He has been subbing this past week in the classroom and thinks that he'll be teaching permanently with this class of officers. He said they are a lot like Jr High kids with lots of energy, loud and if he looses control of the class it will take 5-10 minutes to gain control again. But he really likes the Iraqi's .
He has a pretty regular schedule
In bed by 10:30 or 11 and up at 6 - at work by 8:15 - teaching from 9-12:30 - eat from 12:30 - 1:30 - teach from 2 - 4:30 -- the rest of evening webcam, email, work out, eat, watch movies and read. He is playing on a softball team that will start to play twice a week. He really likes the U.S. guys who are over there with him. He calls a couple times a day and we get to webcam 1-2 times, depends on the day! I have to clean my computer screen daily because of all the little fingerprints and lip marks left by our 3 little kiddos. He looks and sounds great and is enjoying his job there. Only 5 1/2 more months to go.

6 comments:

Gene and Susie said...

Mine Resistant Ambush Protected - comforting? IF it works it's worth more than a million!! Papa loved talking to Steve on your birthday. Nani was jazzed. She said "How many grandpa's get to talk to their grandson's while they're in Iraq?" His surgery went well. Lots of ice!!!!!

Anderson Zoo Keepers said...

If he's driving around in an MRAP, you have a lot less to worry about - they put uparmored hummers to shame. There aren't a ton of them around yet as they are fairly newly minted. As with all things in war, we roll with the punches, so we're just now getting these out because we know how badly we need them. This whole IED thing isn't something we knew would be such trouble 4-5 years ago. Hindsight is a beautiful thing.

Good to hear things are going well for all of you.

The ZamFam said...

I love being able to see everything that's going on with him. Thanks for putting his updates on here! Love you!!!

Tobi said...

That sandstorm picture is so amazing! How do you get your husband to send you pictures? I had to beg, whine and plead to get any pictures out of my husband. Geez!

I love seeing all the pictures and hearing the updates. Keep it up.

The Dragonfly said...

Jodi can you email me? I have a question for you about a Cindy Crawford post pregnancy workout video that Audrey loaned you.
Thanks! Sam (emailsamanthalee@aol.com)

Anonymous said...

Hey Jodie! Remember me from the El Dorado ward? I tried to email you but maybe the address I have is old. Do you still have my email? Caryn