Skulking in the Night

We arrive in Kuwait after midnight and the same goes for pretty much everywhere we arrive. We stumble and fret dragging about 200 lbs of “luggage” each and carry-ons with a year’s worth of clothes, supplies that we just “had” to have and all the armor the Army sought fit to loan us, across sand and gravel paths.  We store most it in tents or cages in the open to bake in the sun for a few days as we await yet another transporter to take us to the Promised Land.  No one is particularly happy, expect possibly those former Army types amongst us that still do gown-up camping.  The standard rolling bags, suitable for getting to the Hilton in town are woefully inadequate, failing big time as their little wheels jam with sand and those that have them are suffering.  Even the stylish olive green duffle bags, suitable for tall, strong and young soldiers are weighing heavily on the civilians.  It’s a rather pitiful sight as bags flip, straps burst and gear slowly departs from their owner’s control and litters the ground in a trail.  Like what you see in the movies when the defeated army retreats across the desert.  Note to self: Shoot the guy who thought of this scheme.

There are many reasons why people do things at night that could easily be done in the day.  Especially in these parts:  Convenience, because maybe it’s cooler and less crowded (idealist), Security, because maybe we don’t want the bad guys to know we’re here (naïve), or maybe we don’t want to offend the locals with our presence.  Most of the group are clearly think it’s the latter reason.  We have skulked into town deep in the night, like the unwashed, transported by unmarked busses with curtains the drawn, arriving at our destinations before anyone is the wiser.   We get through the gates of our compounds and are now safe from the outside world.  Everyone helps unload gear from the storage trucks in long lines.  There is a sense of community here, not doubt from the mission, but more likely the shared sense of suck operating in a hot, dusty lace.  The good news is that we are free to wear gaudy garb, eat copious amounts of food, and play at our rec centers.  Its tailor made for us.