11 September 2007

It means austerity

I’ve begun to appreciate the sense of asceticism this place requires. I’ve never thought of America as decadent – at least not in a bad way – but the, if you will, Spartan lifestyle has some appeal. This is not to say that I am living like a monk – I have my computer, DVDs, AC, when I wrote this I had my own room – but compared to the life I’ve been accustomed to, this place is a major change.

Part of it is the level of free time. This refers much to Baqubah than Taji, Baghdad or Kuwait, as I haven’t been to busy outside of Baqubah, but while we were still doing combat ops, we’d be out for several days at a time, O’d be walking with about 100 lbs of gear in 115 F heating, eating crappy, or at least unappetizing food. The dearth/lack of internet, TV, phones, distractions makes you think more, has made me write more. Like camping or rehab, my time here has allowed me to appreciate what I had in the States, and realize that I didn’t need it quite as much as I thought I did. The combination of near constant GI pathology and mediocre food, along with natural exercise has made me lose weight – which I now need to work to keep off, hence the gym.

I've said privately that I wish I was set to be here longer. I was conducting combat operations for only two and a half months. About long enough to really get the hang of it and then stop. I kind of hoped for Iraq to be my forty days, or fifteen months, in the desert. I will not be complaining too hard, obviously, but A huge reason I wanted to come over here was to learn about myself. I've done that, but not to the degree I had hoped.

Much more on all this later.

posted by Interested Soldier @ 07:46