Subdivided We Stand Meets Marathon Man: The (not so) Cold Kuwaiti Rain

Bob says:

Got another letter from my friend Joe Matis, currently stationed in Kuwait. I've also finally gotten around to creating a typepad "category" to house all of Joe's letters -- so if you want to view them all, scroll down to the end of this post. See where it says "posted by Bob Braughler on November 2 in 'Greetings From Kuwait'"? Simply click "Greetings From Kuwait" to see all of Joe's letters.

29 October 2006

Welcome again to an update on what’s going on in my little world. I’ll be somewhat short, as I’m attaching a newsletter that the folks in my Det (detachment) put together for publication to family and friends. (Note from Bob -- there's a lovely shot of CDR Matis on page 4 of the newsletter. And again on page 6. And page 9.) They did an incredible job on it (they’ve already received kudos all the way up the chain of command) and have provided a great description of our shared journey, including lots of information and photos of what we’ve been through to this point. Hopefully you’ll take some time to check it out. (I’ve actually got mixed feelings on sending it as it saves me having to write much this time, but in the end it will make my paltry updates look like sheer amateur work, which no doubt they are!) So, just a couple of things…

Yesterday, another first for us in Kuwait…it rained. Complete with thunder and lightning. For a whole 5 minutes! I was sitting in my office and heard a noise that sounded like thunder (of course I was very relieved to look out my window and see rain, thereby confirming that the noise was thunder, and not incoming rounds!) Apparently, rain in Kuwait prompts the same reaction as the first snowfall of the season back home…everyone quickly runs to the nearest window or door and stares at it like they’ve never seen it before (you can include me.) And then it provides a good topic of conversation for the next 24 hours…”Did you see the rain?” “Yes, I saw it too.” “We got wet.” “So did we.”…and other stimulating nuggets such as that. Just another example of how being out in the middle of the desert gives you a whole new perspective on the little things.

After the rain, we had a decent sandstorm blow through and I had the personal luck to experience it first hand while being out and about. The upside of walking through natures version of a sandblaster is that after the involuntary dermabrasion treatment, my skin now has a healthy pink glow (if you could see it under all the dust!) While I’m mentioning dust, it is ever present here. Everything gets coated with it; it’s the real fine talc-like stuff that gets everywhere. My first sensory perception (upon arriving and stepping off the plane) here was the taste of it in my mouth.

One last thing. I usually don’t talk about these things, but with what I feel are critical general elections in the US coming up quickly, I want to point out a website I saw recently called IAVA (Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America) at www.iava.org. On this site they have report cards for how every member in Congress has voted on Veterans-related issues. Something that really bothers me is that, when it comes to elected officials, many times the public develops opinions solely based on politicians’ words without bothering to learn and understand the actual facts. This site is a place to see who merely talks the talk and who really walks the walk regarding “supporting the troops.” (Another note from Bob -- the link Joe provides takes you to the main page of the IAVA Web site. Here's a link directly to their congressional scorecard.)

Take care. Thanks for all your support.

Love, Joe