DAY 124 : 29 MAY 08

Well where do I begin. Yesterday I went and signed up for today’s trip as mentioned. I then went to the pool for most of the afternoon which was really nice. It has been a while since I have gone swimming and it was nice to just wade around in the pool and relax. I then left and went back, got a shower and returned to the Chili’s they have on base here. I went with this Army guy I meet from Mississippi and this fruity sailor tagged along. So there I am having dinner with a 41 year old soldier from Mississippi who is an E 5, quite low ranking for that age but this guy has been deployed 3 times since 2003. He’s got 2 purple hearts and had to learn to walk again after being blown up in Afghanistan. Or at least that’s what he tells me. Then we got this fruity sailor with us who is quite annoying but a nice guy so it’s not that bad. Well let me tell you dinner with a Mississippi soldier and a fruity sailor made for great dialogue. Then we have the Philippino waiter come over and take our order. Almost all of the people who work on base here are from the Philippines. Not sure how that works but none the less there it is. Anyway they do not have the large majority of what Chili’s offers state side because well we are in Qatar. Anyway I get the mushroom Swiss burger and the bottomless chips. The other guys order and overall we have a good dinner. Unfortunately I ate too much and ended up drinking only 1.5 beers later on. Its ok though as I made small profit by buying my buddy the third one. Anyway this Mississippi guy goes to drink with us and boy is he a hoot. He later runs into a soldier he came to Qatar with and persuades him to buy another one for him. All the time he is talking about woman and very foul things. Normally I do not go for this type of conversation but the guy was hilarious and I have not laughed like this in a while so I sat quietly and enjoy the show. The Chinese kid who is from California via China is in the Army and kind of weird. He buys 2 beers for a couple of guys and then freaks out on me as we walk back to our lodging. I was hoping he would do the same tonight as I would like to enjoy more than 3 but whatever. I get the feeling this guy is an informant for the Chinese military but I am probably just being paranoid. Anyway I am going to eat early and then have my 3 quick. So today I wake up at about 4 knowing that the Pens game started at 3 am. Well I tell myself let it go because every time I watch they lose the game. So I sleep til 6:30, wake up and go to the meeting point for our trip today. Sure enough when I get there I see the highlights of our 3 – 2 victory on sports center. As Borat would say this is a great success! Well I go on this trip to the beach. What a day. We drive out 50 minutes to the desert and in these big Toyota SUVs and go crazy. They drive nuts through the sand dunes scaring the crap out of me but boy was it fun. We then get to the Persian Gulf and the water is clear for about 50 feet then becomes a deep blue. I went in but there were a ton of jelly fish so my time in the water was cut short. We played a little Volleyball; I took a nap, and then ate some local food. Its not much different than the local food I had in Afghanistan a few months back. Anyway I also rode a camel. I have pictures of most of this put cannot post them until I get back to Bagram. Anyway this Camel had to be at least 20 years old and on its last leg. It had hardly any hair, few teeth, terrible breath, and yakked like some sort of animal out of Star Wars. I felt I was violating it by riding it as it was such a chore for the thing to get up and then back down. The guy who owned it lived in the desert about 10 kilometers from our beach area. I was only 10 kilometers from the Saudi Arabia border which is where this guy lives. The ride back was much smoother as I slept most of the way. These Qatarians made you feel like they were going to drive you to a local hotel and kidnap you for video and Allah purposes if you get my drift. O well it was a fun day in the desert and a time I will never forget. Tomorrow I was hoping to go on the Doha city tour but there is none so I am going to the real nice mall tomorrow night. I got one more day after that to try to squeeze the city trip in so we shall see. I am going to go eat now but promise to pictures and more thoughts on those pictures once I get back to Bagram.