working on a tan

You know you're far from home when you look around to find that a herd of camels are about to surround you. When I first arrived here I thought it was only geographic stereotype that camels roamed around everywhere, but the other day I learned that the things are as plentiful around here as cows are back home. We were at the range, making sure our rifles actually shoot where we aim them, when we spotted more than a hundred camels off in the distance. Throughout the day they slowly drifted closer and closer. By the time we packed up to leave some were practically seated beside me in the truck. I've seen a few of them at the zoo, but when you actually see that many of them in the wild they look like some kind of creatures from a Star Wars movie. I have no idea how they survive either. As far as I could tell there was nothing out there but hundreds of miles of flat sand. They darn things must eat sand because I certainly didn't see a single sprout of vegetation. Interestingly, we were told that a single camel will run you the equivalent of more than $20,000 in U.S. cash. That must be why the herdsmen didn't look all that excited that so many of us crowded around to gawk at them.

In other news, we are all still bored out of our ever-lovin’ minds. In fact, after I’m done posting all I have planned for the day is to spend a few good solid hours throwing rocks at a garbage can. After that I might take a nap and then play a rousing game of solitaire. Not that we can really complain that much. I’d rather be bored for a few more weeks then be out dodging bullets all day. I have a feeling that between missions we are going to have plenty of down time on this deployment. You will all have to help me think of a few more useless skills to develop and occupy my time while I’m here. So far I plan on learning to speak perfect King’s English and maybe learn to wield a good pair of nunchucks. Let me know if anyone has any other suggestions.