The sand is the finest I’ve ever seen. It’s light reddish brown in color and easily kicked up into swirling clouds. It’s sent flying by the wind which can blow up without warning and just as quickly diminish; vehicles leave a cloud behind them as they pass by on the gravel roads. It irritates the eyes, coats the skin and get into every corner and crack.
The flags of the countries representing the permanent forces at the camp fly near the command center. The British flag flew at half staff all day.
There is very little vegetation here. The B Company HQ area has a small plot with some dust covered bushes, stiff grasses and even some flowers. I saw a long row of potted plants of some sort lined up on the porch railing of one building I passed on my way to lunch. The most common wildlife is sparrows chirping and flitting all around the buildings. I saw a small lizard scurrying toward the protection of a tent corner. I also saw a small camel spider last night moving with surprising speed across the company assembly area. I was told they can get eight or ten inches across and have a wicked bite. The largest wild animal I’ve seen was a lone pigeon that flew above the barracks area during the hottest part of the day.
The dining facility (DFAC) is not easy to spot at first. During mealtimes, however, the groups of soldiers all heading to the same place make it easy to find. There is a wide variety of food available but it’s the same selections with little variation. All of the workers are “Third Country Nationals” or TCN’s, most appear to be from India.
This is a very noisy place. Generators of all sizes provide all the electricity and they can be heard all over the camp like white noise. There are air conditioners rumbling in every building. There are vehicles on the roads. Most of the outdoor lighting runs on generators so even during the relatively quieter nighttime hours there’s the drone of motors. The noise is ever present. Quiet, like privacy, is hard to find.
I’ve been here for just under a week and already the days are beginning to blend one into the other as I’ve adjusted my own routine to that of the camp and the soldiers with whom I’m embedded. One day passes much like the one before and the one to follow will most likely be the same. One soldier put it to me this way, “It’s like Monday everyday for us…doing the same old same old every day. Nothing ever changes. It gets pretty boring yet they tell us we’re doing our job.”
