Letter 3

11/18

Just letting everyone know my current status. I'm hanging out at Camp Striker near the airport in Iraq waiting for a flight to my next destination. The camp is small but quiet. I haven't seen much of the country though, because there are walls surrounding everything, but I can see the tops of some palm trees off in the distance. This place isn't as sandy as Kuwait, however it did rain before we got here and the whole place is a muddy mess. The mud is a thick clay kind that your feet get stuck in. We had a few people lose flip-flops on the way to the showers. The food is good here. We had T-bone steak and lobster tails for lunch today. I think all of the good food got sent over here because when I was in Ft. Carson the food was horrible. We have a huge variety of fresh fruits and beverages, they even have energy drinks for free. There is also a Burger King here and they are putting in a Pizza Hut, just in case y ou want something different. The computers are sluggish and leave a lot to be desired, but it is free, so I can't complain too much. They have an AT&T phone center here, which seems to be fairly common throughout this area, only problem is that a 550 minute phone card used to call home is actually only 170 minutes. The price isn't too bad though, only $35. It is worth it to talk longer than ten minutes, which is how long you get with the free phones. Once I get settled down, I should have better access to phones and internet, at least I hope. I will have to send pictures later, we can't use our memory sticks on these computers. I heard that the Democrats are trying to get us out of here, I appreciate the thought, but I don't think it is going to work the way they want it to. There are a lot of things going on over here especially an election in December, so I don't think the 6 month timeline is reasonable, but if it wer e to happen, I wouldn't complain. Then I'll be home where I can be with Amy when she gives birth. Haven't thought of any names yet but we are not going to name him or her John or Chris, nice try though.
Take care,
Billy