June 2 to June 15

Well, its been another few weeks in Djibouti. Its hard to believe, but I have already been here for a month and a half. The past few weeks brought both some good and bad news. First the good news. A few weeks ago they opened up a new Cantina on Camp. Its indoors, unlike the others, and it has air conditioning! I never thought air conditioning would be my primary reason for liking a drinking establishment, but then I have never been anywhere as hot as Djibouti. Its just another one of the ongoing improvements on Camp. Based on the work they are doing at Camp Lemonier, I can tell you that we are planning to stay in the Horn of Africa for the long term. I imagine that there are a number of other improvements in store before I leave.

Also, on a bright note, I have finally got some of my pictures up online. Origianally, I was going to use Flickr. However, I decided to switch to Photobucket. You can see my pictures by going to:

www.photobucket.com/mikeinhoa

Now the bad news. In the past few weeks, it has become clear that Ethiopia is destabalizing. A number news outlets, including CNN and the BBC, have recently published stories on their websites about the drought, which is now on the verge of turning into famine. Ethiopia was one of the first African countries I remember learning about when I was young because of the famine that ocurred in the 80’s. It saddens me to see such a great country confronting the same thing just a little over 20 years later. I was hoping to get back there in July, but I may not be back for awhile under the current conditions.

Also, this past week a shooting war broke out between Djibouti and its northern neighbor, Eritrea. Tensions have been mounting for the past few months over a piece of land both countries claim is theirs, but it came to a head this week. The fighting took place about two hours north of Djibouti City, and the Djiboutian military took a number of casualties. For a few days it looked like things were spiraling out of control. What did it mean for me? Well, the decision was made by the leadership here to suspend liberty and lock the base down. Things have cooled down, and liberty has been restored. In fact, I got outside the wire today to get lunch at the Kempinski Hotel. Here is hoping that tensions do not escalate any further.

May 27 - June 1

For the first time since I have gotten to Djibouti, I am starting to feel normal again. I am actually starting to develop a routine: work at 0800, lunch at 1130, back to work at 1230, dinner at 1730, back to work at 1830, back to the CLU to watch a DVD by 2100. I spent most the week going through contract files and trying to get my arms around the process here. The Translator contracts are going to prove to be my biggest challenge. I still have a lot to learn, but I am feeling a lot better now than I was a few weeks ago.

I have to say there are some real bright folks in my office. A Marine Captain came in at the same time I did, and he is real knowledgeable. It is nice to have someone to bounce ideas off of. One of the Air Force Captains is a riot. Every Sunday she brings an inappropriate movie to the office that we watch. This week it was American Psycho. On most nights, she, the XO the Marine Captain and I will hit the Cantina for a beer or two (in case you did not know, in Djibouti we are allowed to have three beers per day - a great way to cool down in the extreme Djiboutian heat).

The highlight of the week was an office field trip into Djibouti City for dinner. The Air Force Captain was a 1st Lieutenant until today, so we went out to celebrate her promotion.

PICTURE OF THE WEEK: Contracting Office trip out in Djibouti City.