CITY TRIP

My friend Shane lost his contract after getting sick, so we took a ride downtown before he few out.

We had lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe -Kuwait.

We drove down the coast and ended up at the Kuwait Towers.

This side of town is way different that where I live. There is so much construction going on.

MY RIDE HOME

I shot a video of driving from my work to where I live. It is kind of long, but in real time. Enjoy

FIRST OUTING

Today I finally moved into my apartment and got everything put away.

My assistant took me to the Avenues mall. It is the mother of all malls and has every store and restaurant you could ever need.

You do not want to buy anything, becuase everything is twice the price of the states. The food is priced well, and we went to the Cheese Cake factory, and I recived my welcome to kuwait meal.

I had fish and chips, which was pretty good.

I went to IKEA and purchase some hangers for 5$ and a pack of napkins. The prices are pretty much the same.


I work Sunday-friday, which is the Kuwait work week.

MY NEW APARTMENT

I signed for my new apartment today, which will be my home away from home for the next year. It overlooks the Persian Gulf. It has 3 bedrooms, kitchen and is on the 9th floor. The building has a few shops and a grocery store is not far away.

It may look messy, but it was not cleaned or the previous occupant did not leave and checkout properly. They are cleaning the apartment today.

It takes about 25 minutes to drive to work with no traffic.

Here are some pictures.

CRESENT MARINA

 We completed another day of in-processing. We finished at 5pm and decided to go to a place in the heart of the city called Crecent Marina. They have waterfront restaurants and a mall on the backside. We walked around the mall and I stopped at an Indian establishment for dinner.

We then walked through h the back alleys looking at the shops that sell the knock off watches etc.


We took a taxi there and back for about 9 dollars to go 12 miles.

IN PROCESSING

We have moved into our temporary villa, overlooking the sea. It is downtown in a highrise building. We arrived at night so I am unable to see anything, but the accommodations are nice. The beds are small, but we have a huge bathroom, pool (no water), sauna, squash and basketball courts. There is a gym and a starbucks is close by. I will take some pictures in the morning.

THE TRIP OVER

Well after a long flight from Indiana, I have arrived in Kuwait.

We departed at around 9pm on a charter flight provided by Atlas air. The plane was a 747-400, and I sat in the upper deck. The seats were nice and I had a center seat open, so a little more room to lay out.

We flew to Frankfurt Hahn airport, just outside of the city. It is an old German airbase.

They had a few gift shops and eateries. I had a Bratwurst with sauerkraut

We had a 2 hour layover while they catered and re-fueled for our final flight into Kuwait.

We landed around 7pm and then it took about 2 hours for the ride in Ali-Asalim airbase for our stay until we leave for our permanent lodging.

I had dinner at McDonalds. They have all the familiar places here.

I will be living in a Villa; downtown Kuwait.

Tonight we leave for a group home for 3 days of training.

I will post more when I get settled.

Take care everyone

Stephen

TRAINING

Today we went to the range to do rollover training. They strap you into a mock of a MRAP (Mine Resistant) vehicle and simulate what it would be if you rolled over. I was hanging upside down in my seat.

Then we went and fired a pistol, hooked up to a laser.

We depart for the airport around 3pm, and leave sometime friday night. I am not sure the exact route, but I assume we stop in Germany.

I will post again when I get a connection to the Internet.


The last picture is a group of guys I have been hanging with.

Left to Right

Paul (Boeing mechanic) Shane (VSAT) and Robert (ITT)

EQUIPMENT ISSUE

Today we went to clear medical. It went pretty well.

We also went and received our bullet proof vest and helmet. We also received or chemical defense equipment. Hopefully this stuff will remain in my bag.

We are expecting 3 inches of blowing snow, sometime tonight or early morning.

We have some more training thursday. I will post pictures.

CAMP ATTERBURY

I arrived at Camp Atterbury for a week long training and medical processing. It has gotten really cold and it is snowing north of us.

So far the week has gone well. We are scheduled to fly out friday night and arrive in Kuwait late saturday.

I will post more tonight on what I am doing here.