getting to iraq, part II

Once Steph and Brianna left Seattle I had only a few days to get my things together, plus find a way to pack all the "new" stuff we received into the same number of bags we came with. Not an easy task. We were up late each night till we left trying to get things pack and organized for our long trip oversea. As usual we had to get up extremely early to get to the airport 3 hours ahead of when our flight left. Here are a few photos of us trying to do things (anything) to pass the time. Three of the four PAs (of course I am not in it b/c I am taking the picture) are talking with the XO trying to figure out why we are waiting for so long. We also tried sleeping the time away, while Tim, our nurse, called his girl for the last time on his cell phone (if I remember correctly we had to team up and surgically remove Tim's cell phone from his head) and Doug plays on his computer.







Once we left Washington it was a long flight to Bangor, Maine for fuel (don't ask because I don't know where it is either). Then it was off to Germany and finally to Kuwait. I believe the entire process took somewhere around 20+ hours plus we lost the 10 hour time difference between Seattle and Kuwait. That really takes a toll on your body and sleep cycle. Once in Kuwait we were up at all hours because none of could sleep at night. This actually worked out well because I was up at 4am so I could call home and talk with Steph before she went to bed. My days in Kuwait were pretty messed up. I mostly stayed awake the entire night sleeping for only a couple of hours before getting up to talk with Steph, worked out and then I would go to morning chow. I then would go back to the tent and sleep till about 3 in the afternoon and then start my day. Yea, it was pretty jacked up! By the time I left I was starting to get into a normal sleep pattern (sleeping at night and awake during the day). This was important since once we arrived in Iraq we had to start working in the clinic. No time off for us to settle in.