One Month Down

I was looking at my calendar the other day and I could not believe I had already been here for over a month! Time sure does fly when you are busy.

So over the past month I have fallen into my own routine and have been quite busy. We technically work 6 days a week but I usually stop in on Sundays since I am up near the office anyway. Phone communication has been great. I have been able to talk with Nathan a couple of times a week and I usually call Mom and Dad once a week. I have received lots of care packages and sweet cards from many of you and they are all so appreciated. You guys rock!

Work is good. Something new every day. I won’t talk too much about work because I think most folks want to know what I have been up to outside of work. The folks I work with are great. In my shop (Public Works), there are several junior officers and we all get along very well. We also have a lot of civilian engineers and construction managers. Some of these guys have been coming back and forth to Djibouti for 3 years so they know some of the history of why we did things a certain way. Very useful.

Outside of work I have been keeping busy, too. I have been working out in the mornings before it gets too hot or the day’s “crisis” precludes me from going after work. Usually about once a week we will get a group together and go out in town for dinner. There are some great restaurants here in Djibouti. I credit it to the large French influence. So far I have been to 2 French places, an Ethiopian place, a pizzeria and a sushi restaurant. Do you know what they don’t have at Ethiopian restaurants? Silverware. The meats/beans/veggies are all in sauces and you scoop/pinch it with this crazy, spongy type of bread. The waitress could tell we obviously did not know what we were doing so she came over to show us. At first, we were like, “Hey, what’s she doing eating our food.” Oh no, she made a little “bundle” and went over to one of the other LTs and just shoved it in his mouth. We all had a good laugh. The food was actually really good. We also frequent the coffee shop inside the one nice hotel in town. The hotel is called the Kipinski and is gorgeous. Its marble driveway and lush grounds are such a stark contrast to what is just outside their property lines. There is a lot of poverty in the city. Everytime you park and get out of your car people will come up and ask for money. Very sad.

On camp there is also stuff to do. Camp Lemonnier is an old French Foreign Legion camp and when they had it they built a swimming pool. The camp still keeps the pool up and running and it is a nice reprieve from constantly sweating to just jump in for a short swim. However, as someone pointed out to me the other day, I am probably just swimming in other people’s sweat. Oh well. The camp also has movies you can borrow and a small movie theater where they show some of the newer films. There is wireless internet for folks to use but it is painfully slow and I am too lazy after I walk the ¼ mile from work down to my “house” to walk back up to a wireless hotspot.

Speaking of houses. I am number one on the waiting list for a “Wet CLU.” Imagine a shipping container or a box car. That is what we live in. CLU stands for containerized living unit. So a “Dry CLU” is 4 people living in one container; two per side with no water. The bathrooms and showers are a short walk outside. Typically, the junior enlisted folks live in these along with the senior enlisted and officers waiting for their Wet CLUs. A wet CLU has the same exterior dimensions but only 2 people live in the container; one per side with a bathroom dividing the container. It will be such a treat when I get my own CLU…can’t wait for moving day. I will be sure to take some pictures of my CLU all decorated once I move in.

Well that’s all for now, folks. I hope everyone has enjoyed their summers.

Love from Africa,
Liz