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Sooooo- im back now in the desert and it is def hotter then when i left it. my time away from this ordeal was refreshing and badly needed.

When i got to Kuwait i was told to change into civilain clothes and that was strange to be in pants again. I flew out of kuwait airport and took pics so my dad could see the difference of that back in 1992 when he fought his way into that same city. the flights i took had less and less military personnel until it was just me in alone in Amsterdam.

The next day my buddy flew in and it was on. we rented bikes and rode all over that city seeing the van gough museum, Rembrandt, and just reveling in the fact that i wasnt in iraq. the canals were amazing and we took a river tour all round the town with all the beautiful architecture all over the city. in iraq i have been hitting the gym and dieting pretty hard, but there i ate and ate and ate until i couldn't eat anymore... then i had dessert! the food was awesome. of course i felt naked without my 9mm pistol that i ALWAYS have on me here, but prob that i didnt have it.

It was kinda weird being around so many civilians and especially the chicks... but dont worry i was able to talk to many beautiful babies:) I tried my best not to talk shop, and in fact my cover story was that i was an English teacher from monterey CA. not far from the truth but you cant be too careful of bad guys. but when i was comfortable i told my story to those who were interested. One night i met a chick from Afghanistan and after a while i told her what i really did. we talked for hours about the situation in the middle east. she admitted that her family moved to the Netherlands bc the Taliban threatened her family when she was young. she had only heard bad things about the US in her country but after a heartfelt talk about my frustrations and intents with the war she started to understand what we were trying to do here. I shared some of my near misses and stories of corruption, murder, and death.... but that might have been a bit too much bc her friend that was with her started crying (bc she had a boyfriend coming here next month). well i tried to console her but then the Afghan chick started crying.... well after seeing that my job was done (by ruining their night) i quickly said that i was lying and that i really was janitor in Detroit and i didn't know anything... its sick but i kinda thought it was funny. chicks are so emotional.

Then it was off to the mini cruise from amsterdam to new castle, England. the cruise was awesome and the ocean view and breeze felt good on the soul. new castle was a trip and i couldn't stop mocking the English accent. i ate my weight in fish and chips. I knew nothing about new castle, but we were on a quest to find the "castle" part of new castle. it took some doing and after asking a bunch of the locals (which nobody knew of a castle) but we found it and stormed the gate and ran to the top and claimed the castle ours. (but prob the worst day to forget a camera).

my buddy was running low on $$ and so we took the mini cruise back to amsterdam with a plan to go to Spain. on the way back though i met a couple of girls who worked on the ship and after a while they invited me to the VIP lounge and they showered my with questions of the war and my experience. then the captain of the ship came in and kicked me out.... hater!

bc of low fundage my buddy didnt want to go Barcelona- fag. so we stayed in the dam and prob was a good decision bc it was queens day weekend. the streets were flooded with so many festivals and people from everywhere. it was the time that queen came to stay in her palace in amsterdam and tradition was that the people are to come out on the streets and celebrate. there was traditional music, reggae, jazz, and all sorts of out door concerts. was soooo incredible. but all too soon i found myself on a plane ride back to kuwait and eventually the dust storm hell hole of mosul iraq.

was def an experience to remember and so was the welcome home i got... more to follow