one step closer

last night my friends threw me a going away party and i am always grateful for the awesome people i get to share life with.

this last week i have been going through training that has been focused on learning the iraqi culture and a bit of the language. all throughout it has been clear that the current situation in the country is less than ideal (as you may notice from watching the news). but despite the situation i plan to work hard to convey what good is really happening in iraq.

the party though was the perfect way to end the week and i was surprised at the number of people who made it out. one major surprise was that my friend kurt flew in from wisconsin for the weekend to send me off. i am truly lucky to have such good friends.

getting ready...

i have officially started the countdown to my departure. to think; in two weeks i will call baghdad home for three months. i have spent months trying to make this moment happen and now it is here. i am truly excited.

last week i had the opportunity to meet with a couple members of the go team (global outreach) and they gave me some great information about my journey and what to expect. it was really kind of funny, i am not hesitant about the work and all i wanted to talk about is what i need to bring and wear while in iraq. this is significant evidence that i am an american; i am more worried about my cargo pants than getting stories! thankfully my team gave me some much needed perspective and i am itching to get to work.

at the team's recommendation i also picked up a digital camcorder. as you can imagine there are a number of things that happen in iraq that simply never get covered my the main stream media (msm - get used to these three letters!) this being the case i am now prepared for some video backup for my still photos. the video quality is certainly not broadcast but for dumping some video on my computer and posting it on youtube.com this little guy will be perfect. i just have to trust all of my friends back home to spread the word and links to videos when something worthwhile is posted.

security training starts wednesday and then the going away party is friday, then i go away...