Of Course ......

Well, as expected, my paternity leave chit was denied. I will not be able to be there for the birth of my first child. Not really much more to say here, other than why do people still wonder why I want to get out of the military?

BACKDATED - English Discussion Group

Here are some pics of when I did some volunteer work for the English Discussion Group. This service is where military people go to the local "schools" and run a discussion group, where we take three suggestions of what they would like to talk about, and the they pick which one they would like to talk about. Then we run the discussion, mostly letting them talk, because the overall point is for them to practice their English.

Of course, they wanted to talk about dating/marrying women/men of a different religion/culture. It is very interesting how they put their religion before most other things, and the discussion had some very interesting points. Overall, it went very well. Towards the end, they wanted to know our opinions (especially whether love or religion comes first), and surprisingly all three of us a different opinions.

This pic is of the classroom from the students point of view. As you can see, I was surprised to see was was considered a classroom, as I was expecting something more Western.

Here are some shots of the students from our point of view.

And here's one of me with them (when I was 25 pounds heavier).Hope you like these, and I promise to post more, especially now that EXW is done. Thanks for your patience.

Hooray!

Well, as of last Friday afternoon, I am officially knowledgeable in all areas of setting up a camp and running it. What am I speaking of, I'm EXW qualified baby!

My new Naval name is ET2(SW/EXW)Price, Zachary I. It's my way of showing people that I have those quals, and it's kinda a big deal!

Also, just a side note, a marine brought me a circuit card from his 61" HDTV and asked if I could repair his broken connector. Even with a 3rd world 2M station and inadequate tools, I was able to fabricate a new connector, solder it to the circuit card, reinstall it & wouldn't you know, picture perfect tv! It feels good to be able to repair stuff like that.

One last update, I have submitted the peperwork to request authorization to receive 10 days of paternity leave so that I can fly to Alaska for Caleb's arrival. My chain of command really appear to be behind me all the way on this, but I don't want to get my hopes up just to have them shot down. So instead, I ask that you all say a prayer or two so that it gets approved and I can witness what I believe to be something truly amazing!

That's all for now, oh, yeah, now that EXW is come, I am preparing the pictures for your viewing enjoyment. Standby to standby.

EXW

This is just a heads up to let everyone know that I am on the tail-end of getting my EXW (Expeditionary Warfare) pin. Because of this, I am devoting the majority of my time to studying for the final oral board, and will be post-poning picture posting amongst other things.

Most of you keep lovingly reminding me that I need to post more photos, and I will get on that as soon as I am done. I have spent the better part of seven weeks completing all the pre-req's, online courses, and test and now it has come down to a final oral board.

I will keep you posted on the progress, as my board is this Friday. Wish me luck, and pray that I pass!

Pics to come, I promise!!!!

I'm Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!

Sorry for the delayed post, I returned to the fiery-inferno named Djibouti last week, however I have been under-the-weather since coming back. Yesterday, I felt extremely weak, so I went to medical and found a heart-rate of 154 just standing, to which I replied, "I think I'm going to pass out now."

Not to worry though, because after three liters of IV, I am feeling much better, so I will promptly get back to posting some more pics.

My Kenya trip was awesome! I got to see several cities, most with gorgeous coastal views. I definitely saw the tribal side of Africa, and how people live and what they do day-to-day. It's hard to imagine, let-alone see with your own eyes, how some people around the world live. Poor is an understatement, but if you think about it, these people aren't exposed to what we consider everyday life, so to them, ignorance is bliss.

None-the-less, it was an eye-opening experience, and I enjoyed it immensely. Pics to come!

New Site Section

Hey everyone, I am enjoying Kenya immensely, and boy do I have some stories to tell. But, in the mean-time, I have created a new window on the right side of my blog that shows a list of all the places that I have visited so far, just in case you guys want to check them out.

More to come, I promise.......

Fun Times!!!

Well, I am headed off to Kenya for a 5 city work trip. I will get to see some nice scenery, the temperature is between the 70's & 80's (a HUGE break from Djibouti), and there should be a 5-star stay for a few nights too :-)

I will also get to be a foreign dignitary, which means interacting with some very high-up foreign leaders, which should be pretty sweet.

I will definitely be taking some pics, so standby to standby. I don't know if I will have internet access, so if you don't hear from me for a little over a week, don't fret, I will be back online.

Later!