As with all vacations, R&R was short lived. Sure, we snuck in under the radar to get a longer “zero” day than most, but 4+ days is still not enough fully recharge the batteries. I’d love to give all the gory detail of the “spectacular” time I had on my pass, but for the most part, we aren’t suppose to talk about the things we do on pass or where we went. And besides that, after I wrote down all the things I did this past week, the list looked pretty weak in terms of exciting events in a foreign country (unless karaoke and mall shopping are on your top ten favorite things to do on vacation). Of note, I lost a game of doubles ping-pong, but I think my ego was hurt more by the fact that my defeat was dished out by two girls than by the fact that I disgraced my heritage by losing at a sport I should excel at. I made up for it in the 9 hole put-put golf by putting a hurting on the 5 folks who dared to challenge me. There were no windmills or extreme water hazards to contend with, but there was a sand-trap or two (imagine that...an abundance of sand). The one fun thing we did was a boat ride to the middle of the Persian Gulf for a morning of water-sports. This included chugging out to a sandbar (that we could not swim to) near a ship wreck (that we were not allowed near) to ride jet skis (that we could not ride together or cross paths with on another) and take a ride on a ski boat (no skies, just the “superdog” inflatable boat tow). We were excited about spending time on the water, especially since our pass was taking place in a climate harsher than Iraq. After sweating our rear’s off on the slow journey out to the bay and seeing that cool turquoise sea beckoning us to take a plunge (no taking plunges from the upper deck of the boat), we soon discovered that there is a reason that there aren’t a plethora of resorts along the Persian Gulf. There just doesn’t seem to be a high demand for vacation spots on hot dirty water that stings your eyes and throat. Despite the burning salty ooze and the fact that the toilet from the boat dumped right into the water we were swimming in, it didn’t stop us from donning life vests (no swimming without life vests) to escape the heat. Besides, we had to do something to bide our time since they only brought two jet skis (only one worked at any given time) and one ski boat that could pull three folks on the “jumbodog” (no excessive bouncing on the jumbodog). When we weren’t waiting in line for a jet ski (we were informed that they were 700 horse power jet skis which kinda freaked me out until I found that the lack of translation skills mistook cubic inches for horse power) we lounged on the deck of the boat and ate kabobs. I took advantage of my waterproof camera and took a fare share of photos from the water level. Not sure any are really worth posting, but the novelty of taking pictures in the water was worth the purchase. Overall, it was the most relaxing part of the pass and it ended by lunchtime, too quick for us to get a full day’s worth of enjoyment out of it.
The Jumbo Dog
Besides the water sports adventure, we didn’t do much else. We lounged by the pool, we ate at Chili’s, we shopped at a mall or two, we watched football and some of us even drank a beer or three. Some even got spa treatments and massages that bordered on groping, but that didn’t stop them from making a second appointment. We did fierce battle with drunk "joes" and fended off "creepy winky guy" from assaulting members of our gang. I didn’t get as much sleep as I would have liked, but that wasn’t bad since the entire time was relatively relaxing. I don’t think it would have been as fun without the group I went with. It was nice to hang out with fellow IRR captains outside of the DFAC environment and commiserate about being deployed. They say that misery loves company and I think it would have been a miserable trip without the captains I went with.
The mafia returned to the IZ tired after a long day and a half of travel and we spent the better part of the day recouping. Never mind the fact that we should have at least went to work for part of the day, we made the choice (wise or not) to sleep in, do laundry, and readjust to being in a combat zone again. It was necessary pass-recovery time and I’m sticking with that story in case anyone wants to challenge me about it.
Yes, the IRR was here
Interesting quote from R&R:
“They don’t have cold water here. Every shower is f***ing hot! Even the toilets are supplied by nothing but hot water. I can’t even take a crap without my ass sweating!”
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