Sunday, June 6, 2010

Top 10 things I WILL miss about Africa

1. Doing a job that I love where it has direct impact.
2. The sun, yes, I could do with the weather being a little less like hell, but it is really nice knowing that the forecast for the most part is sunny with a chance of sun.
3. Being able to walk to work in 30 seconds flat!! Of all the things I love to do, spending hours in traffic is NOT one of them, especially when I have to spend a bazillion dollars filling up my truck.
4. The simplicity of my routine. No outside interruptions, few distractions, and rarely any surprises. It might be a little monotonous, but its simple and thats always good for me.
5. The animals. Just last night while walking the fitness trail I saw a romantic moment between camels, yup, camel love fest right in the middle of my walk, followed by a herd of about 200 rowdy little goats. I mean come on, how often do you see random camel sex while doing your walk in the US?
6. Free Coffee!!!!! The only thing better than the awesomeness that IS coffee, is access to FREE coffee 22 hours a day (no coffee from 0200-0400 cause the sandwich shop is closed). I LOVE COFFEE!!! Plain black coffee, completely unmessed with. I could never get into complicated sugary cream filled carmel coated catastrophes from SBUX and the like. Sorry complicated coffee drinkers!!!!
7. The dinning facility. Yes, it will be nice to beable to pick what I am going to have for dinner, but I will NEVER complain about a meal that I dont have to cook :-)
8. Made to order EGGS, working the night shift has its advantages, like having made to order eggs twice a day!!! Eggs scrambled with all of the veggies please!!!! YUMM YUMMM, having that at midnight and 6am everyday is AWESOME!!! Maybe I can take one of the egg cooks home with me.... hmmmmmmmm
9. My friends. I have made some great friends here, and I will miss them an absolute TON!!! Omar and Jules made this deployment bearable for me. We had so many good times and I will miss them.
10. Cult-fit DJ, its many members past and current, and the countless hours I spent at our awesome gym getting my ass kicked by the barbell, the rower, the gym rope, the climbing rope, the pull-up bar and everything else. I will miss you B, Giant Guy, LG, Greg, and Coach Schef. Thanks for the support, the good times, and changing my life.

The fact is that deployments are hard. Your life doesnt stop for the 9 months that you are away and not living in it. Many things change. I changed, my circumstances changed, my home changed, and I am sure several other things that I dont realize yet. I have lost alot during this deployment least of which is the time that I will never get back. But this is what we do. This is what we love, and this is who we are. I am as always endlessly grateful for the opportunity to serve my amazing country in anyway, but especially grateful to be apart of something that is challenging, rewarding, and humbling, there is no other life for me.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

That was a great list! I love it. My husband has talked about similar things from his deployment.

Thank you for serving. I don't know how often you hear it, but it is appreciated. I know deployments are tough, but it's people like you who keep people like me safe. Thank you for all you do for your country. :)

Bobby Allan said...

And we are so grateful for the selflessness (is that a word?) of those of you who serve our country.

Big hugs to you!

Bobby Allan said...

P.S.
Your pictures are so pretty!