Roach Motel

I and a number of other soldiers were sent on an R&R pass to a lakeside hotel in N. Iraq. I can't give a lot of details about the location right now. I am not on pass; they take someone of my rank to administer punishment if anyone gets in trouble. So far, so good.

Although I am not on "pass", I'm still not doing much. We were suposed to be here for 3 days, but our transportation fell through and we're still here 7 days later. It's like the Roach Motel; soldiers check in, but they don't check out.

We can go on a boat trip around the lake, on a bus trip up a nearby hill to look at the mountains, and on a hike into the mountains. Everyone did that in the 1st 3 days. Now most everyone just wants to return. We've watched the movies we want to watch, and are now getting into the fringe movie area. I watched "Love Actually" and "Evolution", so you know I'm getting hard up.

Laundry is becomming an issue. The food is good, but there are only two meals, i.e., only two offerings. We have breakfast, and the other meal; lunch/dinner. Nice break, but work is stacking up and it's time to return. Some of the younger soldiers are bored the second they stop some activity, so they're going stir crazy.

I've read 3 or 4 books (they days just run together), and am now reading abook that doesn't really interest me, just to pass time. We are not allowed off the compound, and there is no town to go into, so we're limited in sightseeing.

Who knows when we'll go back? Not us.