One week in the IZ and adventures outside the IZ

Well it’s been just over a week since I have arrived here in the IZ and I am getting used to life here. Since there is not much to do in my hootch I have been utilizing some of the activities of the Morale Welfare and Recreation (MWR) section here in the IZ. Besides the internet café which are computers that we can use for 30 minutes a pop or longer if there is no one waiting, they have some movies and various exercise classes at the gyms.
The other day I went to a spinning class and spun my ass off, it had been years since I had been riding so long in the saddle and Tony our instructor kept us spinning non-stop for 60 minutes. It was a lot of fun and I definitely burned off some of that ice cream I ate the other day.

Yesterday I headed north with some of the folks on the project to take a look at the location and walk through some of the buildings, plus meet with some of the folks that are advising on the project. We rode in up armored SUVs and in a Wolverine which is a South African armored vehicle. I had never seen the wolverines before but had heard about them, they are excellent vehicles for surviving mines and that is why they are utilized here in Iraq.

http://www.sfu.ca/casr/bg-casspir.htm

The image above is what a wolverine looks like, the ones we had were equipped with machine guns on the top turrets. We headed north and the ride was somewhat longer than expected because of some traffic jams, which are never good because you become a stationary target. On one of the traffic jams we had to cross the median and head onto oncoming traffic to get through the mess and then back onto the right side of the median. Here in Iraq the rule of the road is when a convoy of military vehicles is approaching from the rear you move over to the right and let them through much like when a fire truck or ambulance approaches from the rear back in the states.

Our walk through of the facilities and grounds was uneventful but helped me get a clearer picture of the scope of the project and what awaits me in the next 12 months. While I was up there I meet with some of the guys who we will be replacing and also got a chance to pick up one of my duffle bags to bring back with me. Since all my bags except my ruck and A Bag went north where as I am here in the IZ.

I was glad to make it back since I had on the Deltoid protectors on which cover your shoulders and deltoids, they also include armor on the sides so that made the vest about 12 pounds heavier, plus although it gives you additional protection it takes away from some of your mobility in the upper body. I felt like a penguin at times when I had to climb in and out of the vehicle or grab some stuff and tried to move inside the vehicle; and it sort of reminded me of when I was a kid and mom would dress me up nice and warm when we went sledding to the point that I could barely move with all the layers of clothes on and all it took was one fall and you’d roll down the hill like a log!

I hurriedly turned back in the deltoid protection, finished work and was glad to get back to the hootch so I could get out of my by now sweaty and stinky clothes and take a nice shower and put on my leisurely attire which is the Army PT uniform and my 9M strapped to my leg and hit the internet café and read some mail and knock this out.

That’s all for now I get to sleep in tomorrow since it’s Sunday and we don’t have to be in until 1000 hrs.