Houston to Baghdad Are we crazy?

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I know you are probably wondering what happened to us. Did we fall into a black hole? Of course not, but there have been a lot of changes. And I do mean a lot. We are both in Iraq now. But that’s the last part of the story. Here is all that happened in between. Sunday saw us flying to Houston for our job processing. The company put us up in a very nice hotel, fed us 3 times a day and subjected us to medical exams and a multitude of informational briefings while they determined if we were KBR material.

Sunday arrived and it turned out to be a very long day. Up at 4AM and at the Medford airport by 5AM. Took off at 6AM. Had enough of a layover in Phoenix to get to the next gate and stop off along the way at a Burger King to get a breakfast sandwich. No breakfast on the 6AM flight. I still haven’t decided if that was a good or bad thing. I did feel sympathy for the flight attendant. It was a VERY small plane and only 1 flight attendant to serve us orange juice and coffee and deal with the good looking attorney in the front row who kept trying to flirt with her. Such a glamorous job.

We arrived on time in Houston with John there to pick us up. The only hassle was that one of Mike’s bags decided to go all the way to Orlando instead of stopping in Houston. The airline (America West) located the bag and delivered it to the hotel by Monday afternoon. Someone could have at least put an orange inside.

John, don’t read this paragraph because technically, you are our boss. Monday did not start out well. We had mistakenly trusted the hotel room clock radio to wake us up at 6:15. It went off but we didn’t hear it (seems that while trying to figure the dang thing out, the radio volume got turned down all the way) luckily I woke up at 6:45. We had to be at the processing center by 7:00. So we rushed around and got there by 7:20. Everyone was seated (all 500 of us) in the big room and they were starting roll call. Talk about timing, we just made it.

The other candidates (that’s what they call us) are ages from 18 to 60 something, 90% of them male (that sure made it easy during the restroom break, for once there was a line of guys outside the restroom and us girls just sailed on into ours, now they know what we have to deal with!) and from all over the US (and the world). There are alot of truck drivers, some plumbers, carpenters, quality technicians, logistics (like me) and other jobs with vague job descriptions just like Mike & I. Mostly blue collar people I think. But all very nice. It’s easy to strike up a conversation at meals and when you’re standing around waiting (we do a lot of that) because you all have KBR in common. Not to mention that over 50% are prior military.


During processing we met a woman from Sydney Australia. The company hires employees from all over the world and at any time you could see lots of different nationalities going through employment processing. I was behind her in one of the processing lines and noticed her accent (plus the fact that she told the clerk she was Australian clued me in). On a break we chatted her up and I think we’ve found a kindred soul. She is our age, just finishing her military service and likes to travel. Another good contact we have made is with one of the accountants who will be not far from our camp in Iraq. Always good to know a CPA. Over lunch we talked taxes and got some good advice. He is quite lost when it comes to preparing for a year in the desert, so we offered our help and will go shopping with him one day next week.

Tuesday was medical processing all day, which started at 5am. Mike commented how this is starting to feel more and more like the military every day. So, after a day of being poked, probed and poked again, then standing in a line and moving to another line, it finally came to an end. I’m happy to say that we both passed with flying colors. Thursday we signed our contracts, YEAH!!! We’re in!!

We ended up staying in Houston for 2 ½ weeks before we got our flight out.
We flew from Houston to London and Gatwick airport. Wow, the cigarette smoke in the terminal was incredible. We had a 3 hour layover, which was enough time to get a snack and have a very good pot of tea. We changed airlines from Continental to Emirates. What a difference! We all had a TV monitor with about 30 TV, movie channels and video games to play. The flight started with hot towels just like in first/business class. The meal was incredible. We were given a menu and the meal choices where lamb stew and some kind of chicken. We had smoked salmon appetizer, salad, etc. There were so many courses, it almost didn’t fit on the tray.

We arrived in Dubai UAE (United Arab Emirates) about midnight. The company people who met us at the airport did a great job. There were over 100 of us arriving all at once. They ensured we gathered our bags (remember that all of us are going to Iraq for a year so the majority of us maxed out our baggage allowance, that’s alot of luggage) and helped us through customs. They then got us through the airport, loaded us on buses, loaded our luggage in trucks and got us to the hotel by 2:30AM. We then had another briefing (will they never stop?) and reached our rooms by 4:30. The hotel was again incredible. We stayed there for 1 ½ days before we flew to Baghdad. We knew we were in a Muslim country when we saw a green arrow on the ceiling pointing the proper direction to Mecca. Muslims must face toward Mecca when they pray 5 times a day. And of course there was the 24 hour Mecca channel. All Mecca, all the time. In case you don’t know, the city of Mecca is to Muslims what Jerusalem is to Christians.

We flew to Baghdad on a Russian charter plane. Once we arrived in Baghdad and got through customs we all loaded into another bus and were taken to the military base where there is a transit center for KBR personnel; kind of like a motel (I’m being nice). Spent 1 night there then flew out to our main base on another charter. We stayed at that base about 5 to 7 days before they determined where we were needed the most. Our hopes of being assigned together came went up in smoke when we found ourselves heading in different directions. Me 30 minutes south and Mike 1 hour north. With all the moving around done, we’re now both learning our jobs and settling into our new homes.

This was enough for one email. You’ll have to wait for the next installment to find out what we are doing and how we are living. I know some of you are worried about us and some of you are envious and some of you think we are crazy. But know that we’re safe and in good quiet locations.

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