in two days it will be 20 years that i have been in the Army, all of it has been in the reserves except for schooling and mobilizations. i am currently on my second mobilization. the first was about 15 months (one year in iraq, three months training to go) and this one is for one year here in dc. the military has provided me with some great opportunities, mostly the chance to travel. i have been to , kentucky, texas, colorado, washington (state), and dc here in the states. i have also had the chance to travel to turkey, south korea (twice), romania, and of course iraq. the great thing about it is that these were to places that i normally would probably not visit. during these trips, i had the opportunity to experience the country and culture, not just the military side. i met my first wife in turkey........damn, this was supposed to be a happy blog...lol. i have four wonderful young men from that union so it definitely wasn't that bad. no she was not turkish; she was in the military as well and she is the reason that i moved to new york from california. tourkey was actually quite beautiful with lots of history. the people were friendly as well. it was quite humerous to go out on the town as our females were told not to wear make up and to be reserved in attire. well, when we went to town, the turkish women were all made up and dressed very modern! they must have thought that american women were very plain! they had amazing outdoor markets where the fruits and vegetables were so colorful. we were told not to eat them of course as we were told that they use human waste as fertilizer....eeeewwwweeee. south korea was amazing. the are so technologically advanced...i was amazed! even though i was being paid, i actually lost money my first trip there as we were staying in the Grand Hyatt in Seoul ( i was the aid for a General). me and the sergeant major were living it up in the club every night while the general slept....pmsl. once you were out of town, the countryside was quite rugged! very beautiful. my trip to romania was very quick. quite difficult to travel there with the military as there has to be a "country clearance" request and such. i traveled there to deliver the Flag to the mother of the soldier who was killed (who i mentioned in my previous blog). yes, the military actually goes to those lengths! we were warned before we went of the packs of dogs...yes, i said packs of dogs that roam the city! we flew into bucharest and there were dogs running the streets. we then traveled to a town on the black sea. it was one of those trips where you realize how good you really have it! once you were out of the city the standard of living dropped tremendously. i'm talking horse drawn carts, propane for cooking and heat (they have to get the propane with the carts) and corn stalks leaned against the "houses" to provide insulation! such wonderful people though!!!!! i do not mean to offend any romanians, but......we were told by our naval attache that romanian women are the most beautiful in the world!!!!!!, that is until they reach thirty! i'll be damned if he wasn't right! they were gorgeous, but i did not see one older woman who was attractive....lol. iraq i have already covered...if it wasn't for the oil there is NO REASON to live in that part of the world! i did learn that iraq is the second most mentioned part of the world in the bible...israel is the first. i take it A LOT has changed since the bible was written as it is supposedly where eden was.........not for me...lol. i must apologize, i have rambled to no end. thanxs for reading...see ya soon.... |