June 6, 2008
Hello everyone!
I can't believe I am sitting in Kuwait typing a blog. It's so exciting to be here, and it's all so surreal. We left Philadelphia on June 1st and arrived in Kuwait late night of the 2nd. We pretty much lost a day due to the 7 hour time difference here in Kuwait. The next morning we woke up at 7:00 am and didn't get back until 11:00 pm at night. I don't think we were expecting such a long day, but we felt it around 2pm. The lack of sleep and the heat made us a little tired, but we were so happy to be on the bases visiting everyone that we managed to keep a happy face and wide eyes.
During our day we were able to visit two bases; Camp Patriot (KNB) and Camp Arafjan. The service men and woman were amazing. It was so heart warming to hear them tell us how much they appreciate us for what we were doing, when we are there to tell them the exact same thing. We took a lot of pictures, signed a lot of autographs. We also had our fair share of Eagles fans, and of course some local Philadelphians. We even received certificates and coins from some of the higher ranking officers. I think those things will be some of the most treasured items I take back home with me along with the experience.
It was about 120 degrees yesterday; luckilly most of our signings and visits were indoors where there was air conditioning and we were escorted around the bases in vehicles with air. It was until we started prepping for our outside performance that we felt the heat. Our show went great! We got a great response from the audience, and they were so welcoming and happy to see us. I've never in my life danced in such heat but we made it happen, and we lost our voices a bit at the end of the show. Will I do it again? Yes, and it was worth it.
I think I've drank more water here in the past day then I have in the past month back in Philly. This day was long and hot but I loved every minute of it. Just to see how happy we make the troops makes me feel like I'm doing the best thing in the world. They work so hard out here and it was nice to be able to see it first hand and show them my appreciation. I definitely passed out that night as soon as my head hit the pillow. I'm still a little messed up from the hour change, but we'll be well rested eventually.
Drink your water! Till next time.
*Laura
