Easter Sunday

It's not even summer and the mosquitoes are out. I killed at least 7 from midnight to 4am last night and I still got ate up. It's crazy - they are brutal too - I have bites all over me. It seems that all the girls here are get eaten up, but the guys never do. Or, maybe they just don't talk about it as much. The bad thing is, the walls in my room are white, so you can imagine all the mosquitoe marks on the wall.

Besides the mosquitoes, I have to report that I have finally heard the "incoming" alarm. If you have seen the news at all, you know that we got blasted today. I heard the first of it this morning around 0615. It seemed like it was very close and it I have to say my heart started beating quickly, but the Villa really is the safest place to be. We heard later that the Embassy was the target and considering it is approx 2 miles from us, the blasts must have been amazingly loud at the Embassy.

I didn't really know what had happened when I got up though, and I had some meetings at the Embassy this morning, so I went to my meetings and then arranged to go to church with two of the other girls that work with me. We were sitting in the service about 10 minutes into it and we heard 3 large blasts and the incoming alarm. Everyone in the service ran out of the bldg and into the bunkers right outside. We were in there for about 15 minutes before we got the all clear sign. Needless to say I didn't stick around the Embassy after that.

People who have been here for a while say that they holidays are always the worst. They really target us on Holidays. I have to say, I didn't think anything about it.

So, now I can say that I didn't sleep through the mortars for once. If I could get rid of the mosquitoes, maybe I could!!

Oh, we played volleyball and had a cookout last Thurs. It was so much fun - we had about 30 people total. I hope that we can do that again soon, before it gets too hot. Right now the weather is about 90 during the day and mid 70's or more at night.

Same ole!

Well, I hate to say that it's starting to be the same ole thing, but I am getting into a rhythm. People call it your "battle rhythm". I have always been a night owl, so it works out good here as I still work with a lot of people back in DC, so I can work late and sleep in a bit longer in the morning. Usually I quite working around 930-1000pm, hang out a little while and get to sleep around 1230 or 1am. But I get to sleep in until around 0800, and that works perfect for me. The tough part comes in when I have to get up for meetings at 0800, but that doesn't happen often.


This trip I have been spending a lot of time working from the Villa. I like it when no one is around, but when alot of people are here, it is line of sight tasking on anything. Everyone thinks that I work for them and they feel free to task me - that's when I'm happy to work in the Embassy. I will be there most of the day tomorrow. Plus, it's nice to mix it up get out of the Villa, see and meet new people.


I have been going to the gym everyday which I'm starting to enjoy. This is week 3! I am incorporating weight lifting this week along with my cardio, so today the legs were a little sore. There is always someone willing to go workout, so that makes it fun. The gym we go to is really nice - it's kind of in a basement like setting and has little nooks and crannies of equipment. It's big and has a lot of choices for equipment and the best part is, it's never crowded - unlike the Embassy gym. I went there one time and it was sooo stinky and crowded - I'm very happy to have found this other gym and it's close to our Villa.


Well, that's about the extent of things for now, you can see it's definitely the same ole thing!!

Spring is here!

Well, it actually happened! I had a full day off for the first time since I arrived here on 10Feb. I can't even tell you what I did. I slept until 0900, that's the first thing. I have never had a problem passing the time though, so before I know it, it's already 8pm. Things have quieted down for the time being. All the bigwigs left and they took a lot of people with them, so the Villa is quiet and there are plenty of work stations so I have a place to work. The weather here is absolutely gorgeous. It is sunny in the high 70’s today. It’s my perfect weather, although I didn’t bring anything to wear at all for warm weather. I was planning on getting some summer clothes when I go back to DC in April, but I might need something before then if it stays like this.

Swimsuit weather comes a lot faster here than back home and I am not at all prepared for it.
I know you're going to really think I'm roughing it when you hear this, but we have a swimming pool at the Villa, actually each Villa has one, but only one is functional. They cleaned it out this past week and now I see there is water in it, brown water, but it's water. I think they still have alot to do before it's ready for use, but it looks inviting. Some of the girls and I were talking that we have first dibs on interviewing pool boys!!

We got a mailing address now if you want to send a note or package. It doesn’t take long for mail to get here at all.

Here is the address:

Elliott, Pam
TFBSO
APO, AE 09348

Have a great weekend!

Almost 2 weeks

You may have noticed I am now posting some photos - I just figured out how to use the feature after all this time. This is one of me and my friends that I came here with from DC. We are in the Palace at Camp Victory and everyone gets thier picture taken in this chair.

I can't believe I've only been here almost 2 weeks, it seems much longer. I have my Friday morning briefing tomorrow and for the second week in a row we have been able to get the info in on time, so that is helping me out alot. We have had two groups of two investors in this week, so it has been busy. It's an interesting process we have going - we are essentially hosting potential investors into the country and taking them to different areas that they are interested in investing in - also setting up meetings with Ministers of Iraq to explore opportunities. Some people are actually going to invest here - which is amazing.

There is not much else going on right now. Did I mention that I don't even have to do my laundry? I just take my clothes to the laundermat and they do it for me and have it ready the next day. That is a great bonus. No cooking, no cleaning and no laundry!! But funny enough, I'm not on vacation. :-)

Weekend

Well, it's the first day of the three day weekend for those of you Federal employees back home. Usually I would be enjoying a four day weekend and possibly be visiting some of you reading this blog, but this week I didn't even realize it was a holiday until I saw something in the Star and Stripes paper - which is the local paper on military bases overseas. So, enjoy and be thankful for our past Presidents!

Last night there must have been some huge wind storm because it was very dusty and I couldn't sleep. So much dust was coming into the room it was unbelievable. It started to wear off as the day went along today, but I am thinking this is a warning of things to come this summer. I have heard it's even worse over at Camp Victory.

Had a good first week back actually and the briefing yesterday went very well. General Petraeus is happy with what we are doing, so that makes it much better when we brief him. Thursday night we had a number of Generals and Ministers in the Villa eating dinner. It was a big success from what I hear. Of course I didn't attend, my biggest contribution for the team was to help with the dishes afterwards.

Today was a slow day and it was nice just to work the regular 10 hours. We went to an Industry Trade Show that was being put on in the Al Rasheed Hotel - which is the famous hotel that was bombed during the Gulf War. It is on the verge of the red zone, they call it the orange zone, but it's technically still in the green zone. You might think going to a trade show is no big deal, but this was incredible as many of the State Owned Enterprises that we are working with were in attendance. It was a hugely successful event and there were over 200 businesses represented.

Tonight we actually had a chance to just hang out. We got a pool table and a foosball table here in the Villa now. It is supposed to be for when the Ministers and VIP's visit, but when no one is here - like right now- we can play. This Army Sgt - Kallee and I are the reigning champs so far in foosball. It's nice to have a little something to do that doesn't involve a computer or tv.

Hopefully tomorrow will be another slow day and I will be fully recovered to start all over again on Monday.

Happy Valentine's Day

Made it here on Sunday -no problem whatsoever. It is a 12 hour flight on the way over and the connection in Kuwait goes very smooth. I have observed that many people get stuck in Kuwait, but so far I have had good luck with it.

Things are going really well so far. I think I am able to get into more of a rhythm this time having passed the learning curve. I am now able to focus on the work more than where things are and who does what. The transportation issue seems to be a bit of a problem still, trying to find a ride to get to the Palace or to do errands. Sometimes I just work from the Villa – it’s got everything you need in the way of office space, but there can be a lot of interruptions as well.

I haven’t been to the big DFAC yet. I have been eating at the little one by the Villa or the deli in the Palace. It’s been working out much better as there are fewer temptations at the smaller facilities.

The weather here is the big news. Since I’ve been back, it’s been in the 70’s. Sunny, yet not too hot. Very nice actually – except for I don’t have a lot of summer clothes here. Might have to see how the online shopping works sooner than expected.

Well, as you can see, nothing too exciting to report. Hope everyone is well!!

Home Sweet Home

I am so happy to be back to DC. What an incredible experience down in GA. We got to shoot the 9mm one of the days. I have qualified before as an expert once and a sharpshooter another time in the Navy Reserves. This time we only got to shoot 10 rounds and we had to wait ALL day to do it, no lie! It was horrible - but on the bright side, I shot 9 out of the 10 targets. I have to say, I am sooo happy I never joined the Army. I know that it's good for some people, but it's not for me - it's grueling. If you ever meet someone in the Army, let them know much you appreciate all that they do - they have it tough, believe me and very little appreciation.

I will be in DC this week, working from the Pentagon and Crystal City. Heading back to Iraq next Sat and will be there for a couple months.