MALA KUUM SALAM~ Has it really been over two weeks since my last update? Thanks to Liz for her gentle reminder to get on the ball with another update. Well, I am back home at Camp Fallujah . I flew in late on June 1st. Chris flew to Ramadi/Blue Diamond a couple days after I left Al Asad. He will hopefully return home to Camp Fallujah sometime in July. A SECOND new guy just showed up last week - so I have been trying to train him amidst all the madness. We are excited because now we should have the coverage needed for us to go on R&R the end of July. When I returned to Camp Fallujah, I was sad to find out that one of my new friends had left to go to another base. It is always hard to say good bye when someone transfers - but it is even harder when you find out someone left while you were gone and you did not get to say good bye. It is not the first time that has happened to me since I have been out here, and I am sure it will not be the last. My new friend was actually my next door neighbor - he was an Iraqi. He worked for the Marines as an Interpreter. His name is Safe and he is a really neat guy. I had just started hanging out with him the week before I left. It was nice to talk to him and hear the opinions from someone who was from here. I learned a lot from my friend, Safe, despite the fact that we had only started our friendship just before I left. He is an awesome person and I hope that our paths cross again. I sure missed the baby geese while I was away. When I got back I was amazed at how much bigger they had grown in just two weeks! The other day I was on my way home (I actually left early! Only worked 12 ½ hours and left before it got dark!). I saw the geese off in the park and they all started wobbling towards me. I was thinking - uh, oh -I have no food for them. They came right up to me and I told them I had no food. I guess they are Arabic geese, because they did not understand what I said. They kept following me until I made it to the gate - I guess that they know the Ugandans are standing there at the gate to check Ids and since they have no id - they finally turned around. Either that - or they realized I had no food for them. J I have to say that I am happy to be "home" - of course I wish Chris were here with me, but if we are to be apart, I am at least grateful for the friendships that I have here. In my last update, I talked about wanting to go out to the CMOC….. Well, I found out that they have moved many of their operations to the FLT (Fallujah Liason Team) which is just west of Camp Fallujah. It is a safer place and closer to Camp Fallujah. It just so happens that we have BAT Systems at the FLT (I have been out there several times). Well, they have requested a site visit J I am really excited, because I managed to arrange the site visit on the same day that most of the kids are there! So next week, I will take a very short convoy to West Baharia to visit the FLT. I am really looking forward to getting away from Camp Fallujah for the day. I am especially looking forward to visiting with some children! I am going to go buy a bunch of candy from the PX to take to pass out. I got a bottle of bubbles in a care package and plan on taking it out there to play with the kids. I am really looking forward to it. This week, I saw my first scorpion since I arrived. Luckily - it was already dead. Everyone was surprised that it was the first scorpion that I had seen. The temperatures continue to increase. It is so strange to turn on the cold water and have it be so hot it is uncomfortable. One day this week, the maintenance people let themselves in my room to clean and service my A/C. They turned it off to do it and did not turn it back on - so my room was like an oven when I got home that night. I sat out side visiting with some of my friends in the "trailer park" for about 45 minutes to an hour while waiting for the A/C to cool it off enough to be tolerable. Some exciting news is that I now have`uncensored/`unfiltered internet access! That means I can access instant messenger and chat programs. I am really happy about that - so if you have chat programs - add me to your buddies list and feel free to message me any time! I will put my sign on names at the bottom of this update. And of course - the most exciting news….. I know it is ALL OVER the news back home…. Is that we got Zarqawi - "OORAH!" I have to admit that I was amazed at the stupidity of the reporters while I watched the news at chow the day after we got him. Does it really matter that the Military had enough respect to clean up the dead guy before they took photos of him? They are darned if they do and darned if they don't….. And are they serious when they ask if plastic surgery was done on him before the pictures were taken? Can they not just be happy that we caught the guy? JEEZ! Makes my eyes roll every time I watch the news… Anyway - My sign on names are: AOL Instant Messenger - LDSDinks1993 Yahoo Chat - ChBayBrat MSN Messenger - sandyherwig@iwon.com Gmail Chat - sandy.herwig Add me to your buddy list if you have instant messenger. Hope to see you online or hear from you soon. Love to all ~ Be Happy