(03SEPT2008)Sleep can be hard to come by in theater.
The walls of my little room are not very thick, so between helicopters flying overhead, jets taking off not far away, soldiers loading/unloading their vehicles, people walking by, people talking, car wheels in the gravel, and the wind whipping itself against the walls, it can be hard to get to sleep or to stay asleep.
Add to that the furious squawking of irate birds just after
sunrise. I’ve been awakened twice now to the beating of wings against the walls, door, and A/C unit of my little room. I jumped up the first time to see birds all atwitter, a cat slinking around obviously having caused the ruckus.
It was a little weird seeing a cat here. In the 7 months I spent in Iraq, I never once saw a cat and only once saw a dog that wasn’t an MWD. I walked into a unit’s barracks looking for someone and they had a pet dog, entirely against regulation, in their living area. I pet him and asked for the CPT I was looking for.
I woke early on purpose a couple of days ago to watch the first NFL game of the season. Given the time difference, the game was in progress when I awoke at 0445, and so was the call to prayer. My housing is right next to the base perimeter fence, and there is an Afghani village just on the other side. I’d slept through this call to prayer a few times, apparently, but being awake already it was hard to get back to sleep. At times chanting and other times simply speaking, the voice is amplified through a loudspeaker and is enough to leave me staring at the ceiling until it ends.
I awake the next morning at 0445 again because I forgot to change the alarm on my watch, again hear the prayer service, and again lie in darkness waiting for it to finish.
MWD = Military Working Dog
CPT = Captain
sunrise. I’ve been awakened twice now to the beating of wings against the walls, door, and A/C unit of my little room. I jumped up the first time to see birds all atwitter, a cat slinking around obviously having caused the ruckus.
MWD = Military Working Dog
