Life on JBB - Coffee

Here on JBB we have many coffee options. For starters, each of the four DFACs (Dining Facilities) has coffee machines and to-go cups. So you can get regular coffee there. They actually only have regular coffee - none of that "unleaded" stuff, as some here might call it. Actually, two of the DFACS have two coffee machines: the first is labeled "regular coffee", the second is labeled "strong coffee".

The DFAC closest to my room has the worst coffee of the four DFACs on JBB and their to-go cups don't work well either. They have those Styrofoam cups with those clear flat plastic lids that belong on cups of soda and always manage to drip. The DFAC nearest my work makes a pretty good coffee and they also have decent to-go cups too. The good cups are those paper cups with white plastic lids with the little hole for drinking. The DFAC I usually go to for lunch has good coffee but bad cups. I try to take a stash of the good cups with me to use in the morning when I make my morning coffee. I also try to grab a whole bunch of those tiny little cups of flavored creamer that they have. Those do not need refrigeration, so I can keep them in my room. I do not have a refrigerator, so I cannot take milk back to my CHU.

In my CHU I have a French Press to make coffee, and I also have a plastic thingy that makes a good drip coffee, like a coffee maker would. I have plenty of regular coffee maker coffee around. I use the French Press on Sundays when I have some time to clean it. I prefer French pressed coffee, but without a sink, cleaning the press is annoying and time consuming. Mostly I make instant coffee. Starbucks has good fine powdery instant coffee that I was sent (THANKS!). I am growing to like that (and also running out; hint hint). I have those tea-bag-like Folger's instant coffees which are OK too in a pinch.

There are also at least two stores that sell coffee here on JBB. First there is a Cinnabon store near the PX where you can buy a fairly decent cup of coffee and there is at least one and maybe more, Green Beans Coffee, one (I think) on the Air Force side of the FOB and the other on my side but inside an Air Force compound.

My office also has a few coffee machines, but for some reason I have never had coffee from them. Believe it or not, I'm trying to cut down.

Thanksgiving

Yesterday was Thanksgiving here as well.  As you can imagine the Army does celebrate it.  We alas did not really do too much it honor of the holiday.  I was out of work by 6 PM, which is 1-4 hours earlier than normal.  We noticed throughout the day that other Army units we needed to coordinate with were not picking up the phone or answering emails, leading us to believe that many units were celebrating Thanksgiving more than we were. 

 

I did get to participate in an Army Thanksgiving tradition where the officers (including yours truly) served food to the enlisted soldiers.  So I served corn, green beans, and turnip greens (whatever those are) for about 45 minutes. Typically enlisted soldiers serve the food, though the past few years the trend is to hire civilians to serve the food.  Most of the food service here is done by TCNs (Third Country Nationals); these are non-Americans, non-locals. So we relieved them of their serving duties for lunch.  It was much less stressful than my regular job.   

interesting post

Dad forwarded me this Interesting post.  The comments seem to generally reflect a very poor understanding of what goes on here. 

Torah Scrolls

I dot recall ever seeing a torah scroll on an army base or here in Iraq, so this is interesting.

Life in JBB - Part 2 - Dirt

It is hard to imagine JBB without thinking of the dirt.  It is not that things are dirty or messy, but everything here is covered with a fine layer of some kind of powdery dirt or dust or fine sand or something.  I am not quite sure what it is. It is not quite sand, it is much finer like talcum powder, and it is light brown or tan, I think.  It seems to be everywhere on everything.  It is in the air you breathe, the floors you walk on and the walls that surround all the buildings. It covers everything. The tactical vehicles all have a layer of this dust and the non-tactical vehicles always need washing. The dirt is similar in color to the tactical vehicles, so you when you look at them you only know it is dirty because if the vehicle has been parked too long, the windows are the same color as the rest of the vehicle. I am told that there is always a long wait at the car washing place.

The air conditioner filters are constantly amassing a layer of the fine stuff and really do need to be shaken out from time to time.  It is on the floors of all the rooms that don't get mopped regularly because it is on all the boots.  I am always sweeping my room and I really ought to get around to investing in a mop. Basically, the stuff is everywhere.  It is not disgusting in any way and it doesn't feel dirty, but this stuff is ubiquitous. Many of the roads are paved, but nonetheless in parking lots and when you have to drive off the road you see vehicles kicking up these huge dusty plumes.

We have been pretty lucky so far not to have major dust storms which gets the stuff into everything, though we have seen some minor ones. The little dust storms we have seen look like any foggy day in the states, but the fog is a brownish color. Everyone in JBB knows what that dust tastes like. This is the kind of dust that you don't just smell, it gets in to your mouth and nose and everything. It is not gritty like the sand on the beach, it is just part of the atmosphere here.

I should add that it wasn't until I got to Iraq that I understood the Talmudic passage: "When the Rabbis would leave from the study sessions of Rav Huna and shake off their clothing, the dust would rise and cover the sun, and those in the West Palestine) would say 'they arose from the study session of Rav Huna the Babylonian'." (Ket 106a) It makes perfect sense once you've seen the Babylonian dust.

Jewish Chaplain

Here is an article about the Jewish chaplain currently on JBB. I met him recently at "movie night", an event he held where about half a dozen soldiers and airmen attended.  In case you are interested we saw "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas".  It was nice. 

Life in JBB - Part 1 - There was a young soldier who lived in a CHU. . .

Due to numerous requests for details about life in Balad, today begins the first of a series of posts wherein I shall describe in great detail my life here in JBB.

 

I can start by telling you that I live in a CHU, not a sneeze-like cavern, or a modified shoe, but a Containerized Housing Unit.  Like everything in the Army it is given an acronym instead of a name - CHU.  Like its name, it is pretty small; it is very roughly a cube, or some government approximation: I'd guess about 13' x 13' x 10'.  I have one "ghost roommate".  He is also a LT in my unit, fairly considerate, and not around much.  So it is not that bad a place to live. 

 

My CHU, by the way is in a pod.  There are about 60 CHUs to a pod.  The pod is in an "H".  There are seven Hs, I think. Each "H" has a bunch of pods.  There is no I Pod, I assume that was deliberate.  They go up to about S Pod.  So for example someone may live in H-5, N pod, CHU 30.  (I have no idea who this is.)

There are CHUs that are bigger, but I got a small one.  It is pretty spartan with a touch of dingy.  The CHU came with a bed, a small wall locker, a garbage can, a table lamp, and a night table for each of us.  There is also a fire extinguisher and an air conditioner that more or less works and they say also doubles as a heater for when the weather cools down.  We'll see.  The walls are made of fairly ugly paneling and they are very thin, so you can generally hear everything that goes on in the attached rooms, though I am not sure anyone would really want to.  Attached to my room, on both sides, there are young privates who have the oddest schedule and constantly have people coming in and out.  They wake up at 4 AM every morning.  So I wake up at 4 AM every morning.  But they are gone by about 430, so I can usually get back to sleep easily. 

 

The wall lockers are pretty small too.  They are beige industrial metal and fit all they stuff that I have now, but most of my stuff has yet to arrive.  It is scheduled to get here soon.  So once that gets here I will have nowhere to hold everything.  Frankly I am not sure where I will put the huge foot locker itself.  I'll figure it out.  There are broken blinds on my window that face T-Walls, so there is nothing much to look at.  (I will talk about T-walls later.)  The floor is generally covered with dust (I'll talk about that later too.)  I sweep a lot.  I have to invest in a mop or something too.

 

I want to start putting some homey touches in the room.  I got a refrigerator magnet in the mail with a picture of the Manhattan bridge.  (THANKS D!)  On my wall locker it looks like a tiny window facing outside to Brooklyn.  It's a start.  I was also given a small television from someone who just left Iraq for Kuwait and will not likely return.  I have not tested it out yet.  But I think all the rooms come wired for cable.  So the room is actually starting to have that college dorm room feel. 

 

The picture you see was taken on a pretty messy day before I straightened out.  I usually live a bit neater than that.