Countdown to Home Leave
It's the end of July already, which makes it hard to believe that I have been here for almost a year. If you are ever in need of time to go fast - join the Iraq program. Things have been busy work-wise lately. Earlier this month I was acting Head of Office for two offices, helped plan a training, and am now supposed to be developing a position description and workplan for a new position I will be taking on out here.
Depending on the group of people around, little ways have been found to break up the monotony of the routine here - whether that's making the daily concoction of fresh juice (think watermelon, honey melon, banana, and peach blended), playing whist games after lunch, badminton in the evenings, or watching the German news every night at 9PM.
Unfortunately, all my partners in recreational activities have now left for R&R or home leave, leaving me feeling rather unsure what to do with my time. Sure, I could be working, but I'm so ready for home leave myself that being overly productive right now just isn't happening.
One piece of good news that I hope bodes well for me in the very near future is that the Suli airport now seems to be OPEN! Which means that instead of driving three hours to Erbil to catch a flight out of there, I would only have to go about 15 minutes down the road. Given the day-long journey that getting out of Iraq usually entails - I can say I am beyond thrilled at cutting a few hours out of the trip. But - I won't get my hopes up until someone actually flies out on it. Air travel in these parts has seemed to improve a bit with the addition of thrice-weekly Iraqi Airways flights from Erbil to Amman (still via Baghdad unfortunately). Although Iraqi seems to be more reliable than Air-Serv with regard to making scheduled flights, I can't say they are without problems. We had a contigent of 7 flying out a week ago and instead of going from Erbil to Baghdad to Amman, some Ministry official in Baghdad decided he wanted to go to Basrah, therefore making the whole plane load of passengers accompany him on the way to Basrah before finally heading to Amman.
At this point I'd fly through Baghdad, Basrah, Dubai, Kuwait City AND Amman if it meant I was headed home. Did I mention I'm ready for vacation?
Depending on the group of people around, little ways have been found to break up the monotony of the routine here - whether that's making the daily concoction of fresh juice (think watermelon, honey melon, banana, and peach blended), playing whist games after lunch, badminton in the evenings, or watching the German news every night at 9PM.
Unfortunately, all my partners in recreational activities have now left for R&R or home leave, leaving me feeling rather unsure what to do with my time. Sure, I could be working, but I'm so ready for home leave myself that being overly productive right now just isn't happening.
One piece of good news that I hope bodes well for me in the very near future is that the Suli airport now seems to be OPEN! Which means that instead of driving three hours to Erbil to catch a flight out of there, I would only have to go about 15 minutes down the road. Given the day-long journey that getting out of Iraq usually entails - I can say I am beyond thrilled at cutting a few hours out of the trip. But - I won't get my hopes up until someone actually flies out on it. Air travel in these parts has seemed to improve a bit with the addition of thrice-weekly Iraqi Airways flights from Erbil to Amman (still via Baghdad unfortunately). Although Iraqi seems to be more reliable than Air-Serv with regard to making scheduled flights, I can't say they are without problems. We had a contigent of 7 flying out a week ago and instead of going from Erbil to Baghdad to Amman, some Ministry official in Baghdad decided he wanted to go to Basrah, therefore making the whole plane load of passengers accompany him on the way to Basrah before finally heading to Amman.
At this point I'd fly through Baghdad, Basrah, Dubai, Kuwait City AND Amman if it meant I was headed home. Did I mention I'm ready for vacation?
posted by SBM @ 10:18 PM
1 comments
1 Comments:
Alright Moulton I sent you an email on August 4th regarding your R & R in late October or November.
Write me back if you're serious about rendezvous-ing, I have to notify the finance folks at PC 90 days before my COS if I plan on heading home directly or takin' the money and runnin'...
Now's your chance to see slavs up close and personal. Ah-yeah.
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