Back...to the Desert

That's right. I'm officially back in Kuwait now. The Air Ambulance det is pretty much the same as when I left it last. Because I was already out here once I don't have to do all of the area flights again in order to be on the alert so I'll be starting to fly the alert early next week. I would be on it sooner, but I'm trying to squeeze it so that I'm on the ODO watch tomorow night so that I can see the football games. One of the advantages to being the guy who writes the flight schedule every day, I guess.

Anyway, this time the government travel folks were generous enough to ensure that we spent some quality time in exotic locations on the way out here. I got to spend a joyous 12 hours in Nagoya, Japan. The good news about that particular stop-over is that we were able to leave the airport and see a little bit of the town. Of course, the fact that I could write every Japanese word I know on the back of a postage stamp definitely limited my ability to see a whole lot. We basically stayed within about a 100 yard radius of the train station for fear of getting so turned around that we wouldn't be able to make it back.

After our time in Nagoya we hopped on our follow up flight to Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The flight was an overnighter where I spent 13+ hours cursing my inability to fall asleep on airplanes and perusing Emirate Airlines movie selection.

Aside - American air lines (not the company, just American carriers in general) can't hold a candle to the foreign air lines I've been able to fly since I got out to Guam. If you want good food, friendly service, and comfortable seats I highly recomend the foreign guys.

Anyway, I watched "3:10 to Yuma" shortly after take-off. It wasn't a bad movie as far as Westerns where very bad guys and reluctant good guys spend 90 minutes shooting at each other are concerned. I'm not entirely sure what the plot was, but I think it had something to do with water and trains. Or maybe it was horses and milk...In all fairness, I was watching the airline-edited version (which had some of the best dubbing I've seen) so for all I know they cut out the scene where the plot was explained. Anyway, it was very well made and the acting was quite good.

When we reached Dubai, we were ecstatic (sp?) to find that we would be enjoying another 8 hours in that fine city before we took off for Kuwait City. We were somewhat less thrilled to learn that we wouldn't be allowed to leave the airport because they only allowed that for people with greater than 8 hours of layover. Luckily, after wandering aimlessly through the terminal for about an hour we found an Irish Pub in the middle of the airport and were able to pass the next 7 hours there. It was quite the authentic Irish pub, except for the fact that it was decorated for some reason like a fishermen's wharf and the three beers they had on tap -- not for me, but the other pilot I was with was getting his last rounds in since Kuwait allows no alcohol -- were Dutch, Australian, and German.

After that, it was pretty smooth sailing to Kuwait. One thing I am greatful for is that we arrived in Kuwait at 4:30 in the afternoon which is infinitely better than getting here at 4:30 AM like last time.

Anyway, now for the desert. The hot, sandy wasteland that I left (see my previous posts referencing various things melting to various other things) is now a cold, wet, sandy wasteland. The temperatures that we used to see in Celsius are now available to us in Farenheit. I. E., instead of being 45 degrees C (about 113 F) in the afternoon, it now peaks at about 45 F. And it rains. I think I prefered it when it was hot. At least the heaters in our rooms work well.

Well, kids, that's about all that I have for now. I've gotta get back to writing the schedule, or at least pretending to.