Tag: TRAVEL

Our arrival in Egypt was anything but easy. Our plan was to put our vehicle on a ferry from Aqaba and land in the Sinai in the town of Neweba. We did not expect to encounter as many problems as we did. On the Aqaba side, the immigration officer giving us our exit stamps "somehow" missed stamping one of our passports, something we didn't know about until a minute before we were supposed to drive the vehicle onto the ship. Fortunately the dock manager was sympathetic and allowed us to go back to immigration to acquire the missing stamp. We got back to the boat literally as the ramp was being raised, and only after arguing with a random guard (in Arabic) who wasn't going to allow us to re-enter the dock without a lengthy vehicle inspection. "But we were just here 30 minutes ago and you looked through everything!" He finally gave up and waved us on, frustrated that we couldn't understand his excuse for wanting to search us again. We pulled the "white guy card" on that one. But... back to the story. We made it onto the ship in the nick of time and were pleased when the ship's crew bumped us up to first class. We are not sure whether or not it was because of our passports or because we were obvious foreigners, but it was a welcome bonus after the recent drama at the dock. The crossing of the Red Sea was very quick (about an hour and a half) but there was a problem when we reached Neweba. Because of rough seas there was only one dock the ship we were on could dock at, and there was another ship stuck at that dock due to some problems with its cargo. We waited offshore for over two hours. During that time, one of the financiers of the ferry company stopped by the table to offer his apologies and inform us that the ship had used so much fuel while waiting that they had lost all of their profits from this trip. We spent a little time after that wondering why we needed to know that information.

Now the real fun began... in customs. We had done everything we thought was necessary to successfully bring our vehicle into Egypt. We checked and double-checked with our shipping office in the embassy in Amman about what was required and did we have everything we needed. The answer we got was "yes, all you need are these papers and you are good to go." We are going to punch our buds in shipping. They didn't tell us that our vehicle had to be equipped with a fire extinguisher, and apparently the papers we were handed did not have the insurance we purchased included in them. Lesson learned on our part... read everything thoroughly. But, we were trusting and it bit us in the end. We were informed by the customs personnel (they are all police) that we would have to purchase a fire extinguisher before we would be allowed in. Of course, they have a stock of fire extinguishers ready to sell you. Next, we had to pay for insurance on the vehicle. We learned this after an exhaustive struggle to understand angry Egyptian dialect. So we paid a hefty sum for insurance on the vehicle. Next, we had to pay a "customs fee", yet another thing we had no clue was coming. Oh but wait, the hefty sum we paid earlier was actually the customs fee, even though it was clearly explained when we paid it that it was the insurance fee (we were all talking insurance at that time). So, another debate and an hour later and we still don't have insurance. By this point we've had no fewer than 10 people talk to us, some in uniform, some not. We handed our passports and ID cards over more than six or seven times. They must have made a thousand copies. About a dozen trips into random offices later and we still had gotten nowhere. Our minds were starting to go numb trying to understand what they wanted from us in order to leave. The answer was already there in our minds... they wanted to squeeze as much money out of the Americans as they could. After we had been there for about three hours waiting on God only knows what to happen, we managed to pay several more random fees (60 pounds for this, 100 pounds for that... 20 pounds for something else), have our stuff searched (are those sticks for stabbing people? no, they are for hiking), give a tip to the employee who changed our vehicle tags to temporary Egyptian tags (at he suggestion of the police), and we were free to leave. Oh wait... no, we had to stop at the gate for yet another search, yet another handing over of our documents, a few more questions, and now we could leave. We were dumbfounded at how completely inefficient the organization was. And we still don't know what the very large customs fee was for considering we were not importing anything but our personal belongings and would be leaving in two weeks. It was something we knew we had to experience at least once while traveling, and we are glad that part is over.

So, we made our way south along the Red Sea to the town of Dahab. A hippy little resort town with lots of Europeans running around. We didn't get here until 1am and we will be leaving shortly to find St. Catherine's Monastery and hike up Mt. Sinai, where we will camp for the night, enshallah.

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Well well well... lots to talk about on this one so excuse the length.

First of all lets talk about the Dead To Red Ultra Marathon Relay. What an experience THAT turned out to be. To begin, everyone on the team was so stoked about finally getting to the race that I don't think anyone got a good night's sleep the night prior. We all showed up with smiles on our faces at the starting point. It was great to finally lay eyes on the Dead Sea... looked more like a big lake across which you could see the West Bank. It was kind of cool to think "over there is where all the news has been about all these years". I couldn't really see much in the way of civilization on that side, but I knew it was there. The weather was PERFECT for a distance run, could not have asked for better. There were 26 teams of 10 competing in this year's race, which meant there was at least 52 vans, trucks, and at least one very annoying tour bus scampering throughout the night to get to the next hand-off point without running over a runner. We started out with our planned 2-km legs but quickly decided after one full iteration that we needed to cull that down to only 1-km legs. Therefore, whereas there originally was going to be time to sleep in between legs if you needed to, now there wasn't really enough time. All for the better... the one time I did try to grab a quick nap (sometime around 3am) my body went into repair mode and when I got out for my next leg I logged the slowest time in history. No more napping after that... just stay up and keep the legs warm between legs. I still don't know where we placed, but it was somewhere in the top half I believe, with a final time of 19 hours 31 minutes. It was a great time, and an interesting way to see the western edge of Jordan. Oh... and lets not forget all the bafoonery along the way... BBQ Pork Rib gel packet anyone?

Me in front of the very southern part of the Dead Sea just before the race kicked off. Smiling here... not so much at the finish!

If you are going to spend 20 hours running 242 km with a bunch of lunatics, might I suggest Aqaba as the finish line?

On to training with the Jordanians. It has been quite the eye-opening experience. I can't really get into great detail here, but suffice to say that I've learned a lot in two weeks with them. There is so much to take into consideration when working as a new advisor to another culture. You are getting as much if not more advise than you are receiving, actually. I'm finding it challenging to strike a balance between being myself and adapting to another way of thinking. For example, we Americans have a very type-A take-charge attitude towards a lot of things. That doesn't always win the hearts and minds of Arabs. Sometimes it takes a little strategy to finesse your will into the picture. I'm not very good at this at the moment. My impulse is to try to be a good example of an American officer, to set a good example of how WE behave. But that isn't always what is needed. Sometimes you have to go against your instinct and join the chaos in order to better understand it. I still have a hard time letting go of the old standards. I'll continue to work on this.

The commander I work for is turning into a good friend already. He and I share casual conversation as much as we do business talk. I asked him to describe Jordan's relationship with its neighbors and the rest of the world, and I thought I'd share his comment with you. "If you want to survive, you have to be a friend to the lion and to the mouse... the lion will eat you and the mouse will ruin all your things." An old Arab saying, but it really sums up the political landscape that Jordan is in. He also said I needed to find a "long-haired dictionary" to help me with my Arabic. I almost fell out of my chair. Didn't see that one coming.

Now to Egypt... this will be the first regional travel I've conducted since arriving in Jordan, and I have to say I'm really excited. I will be traveling with one of the other FAO's and his wife and we have quite the trip planned. Two days in Aqaba kicks it off, then we take the ferry to Egypt, cross the Sinai Peninsula, and then on to Cairo, Alexandria, and a Nile river cruise to catch all the tombs and valleys of kings and such. I can't wait to lay eyes on one of the oldest civilizations on the planet. Of course, we will be spending some time at the embassy in Cairo to get a little education on the country and our role there as well. Plus... I get to see my old buddy Tom from DLI who is there doing ICT with his family. Should be a great trip. I'll be gone for about three weeks, so there might be a long delay before my next entry depending on what the internet situation is as we hop around.

As always... be sure to check out the videos on my YouTube page: UncleTravelingWayne. I should have a couple more up there shortly.

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The year is 2003, and I take a deep breath as I wait in line with my robed and capped counterparts for the sound of my name.  "Crystal Rose Guerrero,” I heard the announcer say, so with a tug on my honor cord to straighten it, I stepped onto the stage, searching the crowd for a familiar face that I knew I wouldn't find as I walked across.  I grabbed my Bachelor's Degree (from who-knows-who now) shook hands, and glanced at the crowd to see mom, grandma and little sis, I give a half-hearted smile. Something is missing.  Awaiting me at the end of the stage, were two of my favorite professors who knew what a tough day this would be for me, smiling broadly, arms open for big hugs and congratulations.

Walking back to my seat from the stage, I again scan the crowd as if he'd magically appear.  Nope, no dad.  Dad is in Iraq.  At this point, my eyes well up, as I think of my dad's words to me upon our last conversation, "I won't be there physically, but I'll be thinking of you. I am so proud of you."

Now, I should point out that at this point my dad was no longer technically a Soldier; he had retired as a Master Sgt. after 24 years of service.  Still, he was working as a contractor for the Army and when asked to go for a year, did not consider it a question.  I recall our conversation prior to his leaving, with my reasoning at the time being "just quit, you don't HAVE to go anymore, dad."  To which he replied, "It’s not a matter of have-to, it's my duty to go."  Once a Soldier, always a Soldier.  As I sat there in the auditorium, I couldn't decide who was more proud-he of me, or I of him.

It wasn't until his retirement ceremony that I learned that my dad graduated with honors from just about every Army School he'd attended to include Air Assault.  All I knew was "daddy is a Soldier, he's gone for periods of time, and I miss him, and he comes home."  I knew he went to PT at 0530 every morning, after being up late-nights helping me with homework, and that he made it home to take my sister to daycare, and make sure I ate breakfast, before going to work.  I knew that dad that was at just about every parent-teacher conference and game and even chaperoned some of our school trips in Germany.  I knew that he was very supportive as my mom was working long, hard hours to excel in her career (which I also admire her for) and that he made sure all of our medical and dental appointments were tracked.  What I didn't know was what that took in conjunction with both being a model Soldier, and taking care of his Soldiers.

Overall, I'd like to think I was a pretty good kid, but I recall times where I probably added a lot to his already heavy rucksack.  I am grateful for him, for the life he and my mother provided, for his wanting to provide a better life for his family and acting upon it through the Army.  I look back upon all the places I've seen, lived and experienced, Germany, Belgium, Holland, Spain, Italy, Greece, Korea (and the list goes on...)--all this from a little rock in the pacific my parents grew up on-Guam.  I know that none of this, and nothing I have accomplished in life thus far, would have been possible without the Army, without my dad's dedication to not only living the Army Values, but raising his kids by them.

Most people go their whole lives searching for a hero; they derive them from television, from books, from history.  I found my hero the day I was born, right in my own home...My dad, a U.S. Army Soldier.  How many people can say that?

 

(This was my first blog, hope you enjoyed...more to come...ARMY (BRAT) STRONG!)
 

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Well I've gone from having very little to do to having quite a lot to do, but I'm not complaining. I have begun embedding with a Jordanian unit some distance from Amman and that has been an adventure unto itself. I am unfortunately not able to provide a lot of observations right now but later I will tell you what I can about the things I'm seeing. For now, suffice to say that they are quite different from us in a number of ways. They want to be much better, but change is slow because their ways are deeply rooted in old customs and their systems are not what ours are back home. Since I am living with them several days out of the week, this is a great opportunity for me to listen to their stories, practice my language skills, and hopefully make a positive impression for the U.S.

I've also been gearing up for the Dead to Red Ultra Marathon Relay, which kicks off at the Dead Sea this evening. We will be relaying for 24 hours (less, hopefully) until we finish in Aqaba on the Red Sea, 242 km (153 miles) away. Should be a great time but with all the other business I'm feeling drained already. I'm sure we'll do fine and I hope to grab some good pics and video for you.

After I return from staying with the Jordanians next week, its time to pack for my first regional travel trip to Egypt. We are planning on spending about two and a half weeks there and seeing as much as possible. I can't give the trip details here, but you'll surely read about them when I return!

More later... time to get the last minute errands done!

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My parents have been attending the Olympics (Summer and Winter) since 1976. I’ve been fortunate to accompany them 3 times now. This was my husband’s first Olympic experience. Now he’s ready for London and Russia and Rio!!

Vancouver is doing a particularly impressive job! The people are amazing! The public transportation is faultless! The streets are clean enough to eat off of! And the scenery is breathtaking! Kudos to Canada!!

Storybook Whistler Village…GREAT place to hang out, meet super folks from other countries, meet and greet some athletes… No, my mittens don’t match my outfit…but they are the hottest commodity in Vancouver right now. The shops cannot keep them in stock. One girl bought 40 pairs for friends looking for them. My mother bought 10 pairs for grandchildren, gifts, etc. And you just can’t help but love the Canadians – so I sported them, too!

I might be cold…who am I kidding – I am always cold!?! But I love my mittens :)

Dave, me, Mom. We’re here at the luge to see American Erin Hamlin. She is from Remsen, NY, near my hometown and my parents are friends with hers. The Hamlin family is really fun to hang out with. They are camped out here with us and the Sweeney fans and a lot of other fun people. The Utica Club Brewery is near our hometowns and sent their good wishes as well as some Utica Club beer to Vancouver! How’s that for Hometown support!!

Here we’re at the ski jump portion of the Nordic Combined. American Johnny Spillane delivered a spectacular performance and earned the Silver! We really enjoyed his race.

Dave and Dad. Apolo Ohno was the highlight of this evening of Short Track Speed Skating.

Vancouver is a gorgeous city. Here we walked downtown and through Stanley Park.

I’m really happy now because I’m toasty warm in the sun. The wine helps, too :)

Our lodging arrangements were also very interesting. We had our event tickets and our airline tickets a LONG time ago (my mother starts working on event tickets years before the events.) We had a really hard time finding lodging, though. My father even wanted to consider cancelling the trip. So I got creative (and brave!?!) and arranged a Home Exchange with someone in Vancouver. My husband was nervous and reluctant but was a great sport and went along with it. We were soooo fortunate to trade for a great apartment in North Vancouver! It couldn’t have been nicer or in a better location. And our exchange family enjoyed our place and couldn’t have taken better care of it. Thank you SJ!!

We obviously had a fabulous experience. Can’t wait to do it again!!

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Everything continues to go very well here in Amman. About the only thing I can complain about is having a bed and a couple of couches that I think came from the Inquisition. But, I'm working on having that stuff fixed, enshallah. For now, my day-to-day activities consist of going to the embassy for anywhere between one and four hours, depending on what I am trying to accomplish, going for a run every other day to keep preparations up for the Dead To Red Ultra Marathon Relay next month, and spending time getting the last bits of business concluded with getting settled into a new place. When I have time, I head out to explore some area of the city I'm not yet familiar with. It sounds like a pretty easy life and in truth it really is. I feel a little guilty that I have it so good right now, but then I think about just how involved DLI was for a year and a half and that keeps the guilt to a minimum. The point for this year is not to be sitting in an office 24/7 looking at email and writing reports... its to get OUT of the office and LEARN. To help me do that, my bosses have arranged for me to be embedded with a Jordanian Army unit for about six months. So, the casual business hours will soon end and I will begin making day-long trips (and overnighters) to hang out with the troops... something I am really looking forward to doing considering I have not been around Soldiers doing real Army things in a very long time.

As far as travel goes, it seems that I will be making my first regional travel happen very soon. After the race next month, the other ICT'ers and I will be traveling to Egypt for a few weeks. I've already talked to Tom, who is now in Cairo with his family, and we are looking forward to hanging out again. The trip should be very memorable, both culturally and professionally. We will be seeing a lot of the country and learning a lot from the Embassy folks, and I look forward to sharing some of that story here.

To those of you who have made comments on this blog and sent emails, I just want to say thank you for taking an interest and posing your questions. I hope everyone reading will follow your example and ask questions if they have any. And to those of you who I've spoken to who are already out there serving, again thank you for what you do and be safe out there.

Here's a pic of my favorite street-side fare... chicken shawarma! Think of it as the Arabic equivalent of a hot dog...
 

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Well, I thought my days would be pretty uneventful for the next few months, but of course, I was wrong. I am headed out to Washington, D.C. for the Reserve Officer Association National Conference. I am so excited! At first I wasn't but any change of scenery is fun and there are a few people living out there I am excited to see.

My official last day of work as an Department of the Army Civilian is tomorrow, but my command has no public affairs officer until April, so I'm going to work in military capacity until the first week of March, and then I'm not really sure after that. Hopefully I can stay here until the new PAO comes in so I can get them all set up, but we'll see. Money is tight these days, even for Army Reserve units.

Anyway, I'll be blogging about the things we learn at the conference. I love that the Army (reserve or active duty) always focuses on being a great leader. Not so for the civilian world. They simply acknowledge someone for their natural leadership abilities, but it is rare to see a company really develop their leaders the way the military does. This conference is just another learning tool for officers and hopefully we will take away some good things from it.

After that I am headed to the national archives to dig up the history of the 79th Infantry Division. The 79th Sustainment Support Command is adopting their lineage and reading about them has been fun. Can't wait to see what I dig up!

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Well... it seems I have gone from having too little to talk about in school to having too much to talk about after it. I will do my best to condense all that has gone on since my last post into something easily digestible.

For starters, the flight to Amman was a breeze... literally. According to the in-flight screens we had a 220 mph tail wind for a good bit of the flight (thanks, Jet Stream...) so we ended up getting in about an hour and a half early. I was picked up at the airport by an FAO, Kyle, who is six months ahead of me in ICT training. Off we went to get something to eat at a great restaurant called the Blue Fig, and then to the hotel. Hotel was great, lots of great service and amenities. If you ever go to Amman, please check out the Intercontinental Hotel.

First tour of the embassy was great... so many folks doing so many different things on behalf of our government. I'm still not sure what half the acronyms I've heard mean, but that is part of the purpose for me being here, to learn them. I will be hitting a lot of appointments for briefings and such with various sections as time progresses.

Sleep. Oh my good Lord, this is the worst jet lag I've ever experienced. I actually slept from noon to 5pm one day and then from 6pm to midnight the next. I'm all out of whack and I need to get my sleep cycle straightened out before I have some sort of out of body experience in the middle of the day. I'm sure the exercise plan will help. More on that in a minute.

Took a tour of one of the big shopping districts in Amman yesterday, sponsored by the Community Liaison Office (CLO) in the embassy... great time. Met some other folks who had just gotten here and expanded my social circle a little bit.

Went to Jerash today. Okay, for those of you who don't know, Jerash is the most well-preserved Roman provincial capital in the world. This place was simply amazing in both scale and quality. We were all blown away at how much of it is still standing. Basically, it is an entire Roman city. Three hours of walking and we we still did not get to see it all. This place had a Roman circus (for the chariot races), two amphitheaters, several LARGE temples, and literally hundreds of other buildings, streets, columns, etc.

I've signed up for the "Dead to Red" ultra marathon relay. 220+ kilometers from the Dead Sea to the Red Sea in March. Each team of 10 divides it how they see fit. I think we are going to take turns running 4 or so miles at a time. In the end, each of us should run a half marathon. That should do the trick in getting my lazy bones back into shape after DLI and vacation left their marks.

There's much, much more to talk about, but it would take a looooong time to get to it all. Suffice to say that so far, so good. I'm very impressed with what I see here and I am very excited about the year to come.

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Air travel. Those two words are often associated with hassle and aggravation. Regardless of whether someone is the most seasoned business traveler or simply a once in a lifetime flyer, few people are eager to tackle the strain of flight delays, lines, checked bag fees and overpriced food.

I have done quite a bit of flying over the past six years and have to admit that I was not eager to begin my air travel to San Antonio today. However, I sheepishly confess that my flying experience today was arguably the best I have ever had. It is possible that I was oblivious to everything around me due to excitement for this week’s upcoming activities. Perhaps I was also savoring a few quiet hours to recover from the recent passing of the hectic holiday season. Regardless of the reason, I am happy to be at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in the heart of San Antonio.

This five-star hotel is rather impressive - there are gigantic posters advertising the 2010 Army All American Bowl plastered all over the interior and exterior.

I have navigated through the procedures for in-processing and check-in to my hotel room. As I look around at these incredible accommodations I am somewhat confused that I am here for an Army function. After speaking with some of the other Soldiers attending this event, we all think staying in a hotel is a little weird, but it is definitely a welcomed change of venue from sleeping bags in mud during field training. Today was labeled as a travel day. Tomorrow is really the start of this experience - I will meet the All American athletes and I am looking forward to meeting the other Soldiers in attendance as well.

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It has been some time since my last post.  I stay pretty busy as an Outreach Officer. 

I have received quite a few questions about what an Outreach Officer does.  The Outreach Team has evolved into the U.S. Military Academy's major minority recruitment effort. As an Outreach Officer at the United States Military Academy, I do a lot of traveling.  I am assigned to the Southeast Region of the United States (Maryland to Florida).  Six minority "Outreach Officers," like myself, travel around the country speaking to minority students and civic organizations about this program. First, we educate minority college-bound students by explaining the opportunities that a USMA education offers. Secondly, we assist West Point applicants through our arduous admissions process.

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