Merry Christmas! I woke up later than usual this morning. I took advantage of the rare time off to get some pictures. Late morning I walked over to the bazaar to see what the locals were selling. There were mostly sunglasses, rugs, scarves, and pirated DVDs. The assortment of souvenirs reminded me of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Anyone want another camel stand?
There is a group of us who go to lunch together every day. Today was no exception. The food here isn’t great but I was able to get some turkey. The decorations in the DFAC and the myriad of soldiers wearing Santa hats helped set a holiday tone.
I was going to take advantage of the afternoon to be productive but decided to read instead. That didn’t last long as I quickly dozed off (must have been the turkey). I woke up just in time to get over to meet up for a ride over to dinner. We went to a different DFAC and this one had some neat food sculptures. An alligator made or bread, a frosted “log” that said Merry Christmas.
It was a quiet and relaxing day; one of only four days in a year not considered work days. The best way to end the day was with a call back home. I loved hearing how excited the kids were as they told me about their Christmas and the wonderful gifts they had received. The pleasant call was quickly shattered by the sound of the base alarm going off. I dropped to the ground, said I would call right back and hung up the phone. I then proceeded to the nearest bunker which is conveniently located right outside my door. The procedure for accountability is outstanding. If there can be a positive aspect to the attack it is that I had an opportunity to get to know the others in our bunker. After the all clear, I went back to my room to call. I was not able to get through so I went to take a shower. By the time I was ready for bed I was able to get through. This was the first attack and a reminder that this is serious, even if you have on a Santa hat.
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