How hot is it? It's so that that...

My first time in Kuwait was when I stepped off the plan on July 31st, 1999 when I was here with my active duty unit for a rotation on Operation Southern Watch. I remember first getting off the plane, and when the heat wave blasted me I thought I'd probably be dead from heat stroke before I made it home the next year. I remember it was 100 degrees F at midnight and my thought was "It's no wonder people fight over here because I'd be angry all the time as well if I had to live in this area of the world." (*Explicative removed for common decency)

How to describe the weather here? Go turn on your oven and when it's reached the desired temperature, open the door. That rush of hot air is a permanent feeling here. If you aren't used to air that hot, it burns your face slightly, but you do get used to it. I personally use an aftershave lotion that has an SPF 20 so I don't end up looking as old and leathery as so many of the contractors over here do from the ever-present scorching sun.

Little has changed with this place over the last 12 years. I mean the facilities change somewhat as the camp needs change. But then again all infrastructure here is semi-permanent built out of temporary building materials. As if everything around here slowly dry rots in the desert heat.

The daylight cycle is strange here as well. It gets light around 0430hrs (4:30am) and dark by 2000hrs (8pm). The thing about this particular transient camp is that there's activity at all hours of the day and night. In fact there's more activity during the middle of the night than there is during the day. Since people are waiting on flights, if they aren't looking for some entertainment distraction they're usually sleeping in one of the hundreds of transient tents here. For good reason, the daytime summer heat is just bearable for a short while. During the mid day people are usually only outside to move between buildings or tents. After dark when the high temperatures recede, people come out to partake of the fast food under the awnings and make use of the metal picnic tables. (Who thought that metal seats outside in the desert were a smart decision anyhow?)

I prefer not to eat the fast food options here partly to save money and partly because I'm trying to improve my health over the next year. Eating in the DFAC (Dining Facility) is free and the healthier choice. Plus the quality and selection of DFACs in combat areas far exceeds anything that is provided stateside. (Contractors do provide some services that Service Members don't resent at 2-10x what we get paid) The food isn't top quality, but it's pretty good. Although having someone from the eastern hemisphere cooking western style food does come with it's drawbacks at times which I will address in a later post.

So I'm off to get my midnight breakfast (meals are served here four times a day) and get my fill before I'm off to bed. I could eat breakfast at any time of the days, so I don't really care that the scrambled eggs are runny, the bacon is thin and greasy, and the breakfast tacos are called breakfast wraps. I suppose it's all a cultural difference since the TCN workers haven't ever been to the U.S. to see what we eat and how it’s cooked. In fact, it's so hot here that I'm pretty sure they fry the DFAC eggs on the sidewalk. (ba dum pum & *cymbal crash*) Thank you I'll be here all year.

More to follow.