Atlanta

December 8, 2007

I got up at 420 this morning to make our 7am flight out of DC into Atlanta. We made it into Atlanta without incident, but I am exhausted since I didn’t get to sleep until 1am last night. There is so much on my mind that I’ve had a hard time getting to sleep since leaving home. It will catch up to me eventually. We’re waiting here at the airport for a connection to Columbus and then we’ll drive to Ft. Benning.

So yesterday we went to MPRI HQ and finally met some company people. I’ve been recruited since July and haven’t met a sole from MPRI until yesterday. That was strange since it was basically, “Hello, nice to meet you Jim. Now please sign here for your money.” You’d think that if someone was going to pay me this much money to do an important job that they’d want to meet and get to know me first. But, I guess war makes the pocket books loose and the need for people to do the job desperate. It’s very surreal actually to think that in 2 months I’ll make almost what I brought home from the DOC for all of 2007! GOD Bless America!

We also got some cultural training at HQ from a nice Muslim woman yesterday. Obviously, I haven’t been blind to the fact that I’ll be an Infidel in an Islamic country. But I hadn’t really thought about all the differences I am going to face. She used a good analogy; Apple vs. IBM. The two just don’t interface. So everything I know about social function can be kept in my bag and left there for the duration of my stay. I can’t say “hello”, but rather a customary Muslim greeting will be mandatory. I can’t shake a Muslim woman’s hand, much less approach one or even simply talk to one. I must wait for them to extend a hand to me or approach me first. Apparently Muslim women have been slaughtered in their front yards for “fraternizing” with American men. I have no intention of fraternizing, but I wouldn’t want someone to misinterpret anything…so I’ll steer clear of the darker skinned opposite sex altogether. In fact, I am going to assume that women just don’t exist for the next 12 months and if I happen to come across an Anglo one in that time I’ll just consider it a bonus…like I’m seeing ET at Area 51. A real treat it will be.

I am a bit homesick today for the first time. Maybe it’s the lack of sleep, or maybe it’s the realization setting in. I’m not sure. I look around the airport now and see men and women holding hands, families fighting the airport together, or a father and small son who were in the bathroom and it’s all kinda made me sad. The boy said, (for all in the bathroom to hear), “Daddy, it’s like there’s a daddy poop and a baby poop together in there…” I chuckle now as I write about it but at the time it made me sad. Plus, there are lots of soldiers down here in Atlanta and they make me think of the families they left behind. There are so many people saying goodbye and hello during this epic time in American history. I am a bit sad, but also very proud to be a part of it.

-Jim Franks