life in Balad

Hello friends. I know it's been a while. It's been a combination of things.
 
I no longer do personal email on the work computer, which means my access isn't as handy. I haven't figured out how to get the internet in my room YET, but I know it's possible.
 
And I've been spending a lot of time at the hospital. I wanted to get my 50 hours in so I'd get my own badge. This means I no longer have to sign in and out and leave my ID card at the door. Woo hoo! Got it!
 
These photos are of me in the driver's seas of an MRAP (Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle) and of Whit, another hospital volunteer, standing in front of one. Some civilians who were working on it, I think, brought if over to the hospital to give some nurses a ride. We just happened to be there when they brought the nurses back. I'm pretty sure the MRAP was developed during and specifically for this war.

All is well here. I'm still enjoying volunteering more than anything. There have been a couple of busy days and a bunch of slow ones.
 
There was a mass casualty the other night. I was sleeping so heard about it later. A car bomb went off in a nearby town, so they brought somewhere between 9-13 people to our hospital. Most were Iraqi civilians, but a couple were Americans (not sure if military or civilian).
 
A couple of people have emailed to ask if I'm scared here or if anything ever happens here. We do get mortared regularly (sometimes every day, sometimes once every few days). This place IS nicknamed Mortaritaville, after all. But the Iraqis have old weapons. Their aim is off. They often shoot duds. When things do make it inside the wire, they don't make it very far.
 
None of the places I frequent (my housing area, office, hospital or chow halls) are likely to get hit (too far inside the wire). I can't hear the warnings when they go off during the day because I'm usually asleep (and the AC is loud), and I can't hear them if they go off at night because of the AC in the office.
 
Donna (co-worker) was at the PX one night when there was a warning, and they wouldn't let anybody leave the building for a while. That's about the closest we've come to anything.
 
Whit (the guy in the photo) is actually in the Navy, and he's attached to the Army ADA (Air Defense Artillery) unit that runs the C-RAMs. Those are the machines located on the wire that track and shoot down incoming.
 
Okay, enough excitement for one day. I'm in the hospital internet cafe. It's time to take my uniforms to the pressing shop (which is not close to the laundry, darn it), then eat, then sleep.