Hello family!  I have never posted to a blog before, so here is the first attempt- hopefully I won't mess it up!

As Deborah said, I made it safely to Kuwait.  The first few days have been a little busy as I turnover with the guy I am relieving.  He leaves on Sunday after his 6 months here.  

Kuwait is probably just like you imagine it- lots of open sand and not much else.  It hasn't been too hot so far, but I'm certain that will probably change as summer arrives.  It actually rained constantly for the first 24 hours I was here, but everyone says that was unusual. 

Yesterday we drove up to the Iraqi border.  Camp Virginia, where I am posted, is about a 30 minute drive south from there.  In between are firing and bombing ranges used by all of the coalition military forces. We were visiting some of our guys conducting convoy training with Sailors going on to Iraq or Afghanistan and decided to drive just a bit farther to see the crossing.  The sand on the Iraqi side looks just like the sand on this side.  

There are plenty of nomads that roam the desert too.  They herd camels and goats for the most part.  The camels wander out into the road all the time, so you have to be careful when driving.  The camel will look at the oncoming car and walk right into the road- almost as if he is daring the car to hit him.  It seems like a harsh life being a nomad, but I guess some of them are actually seem fairly modern, having generators and satellite TV set up for their tents.  The go from place to place, finding tiny plants growing in the sand for their herds to graze on.  But it must still be miserably hot and dusty.  The sand here is very fine- like talcum powder- so anytime the wind blows the dust goes everywhere.  You have to wear glasses all the time.  I forgot to bring mine with me yesterday and mine eyeballs are still sore!  I can only imagine what it is like when a real sandstorm comes along...