Arrival in the HOA

In my many, many long and arduous overseas journies, I have dealt with many airlines, including the US military (as detailed in my other blog . In that time, I have experienced a great number of experiences worthy of chronicling. However, my experience with Delta on the second leg of my flight here was the absolute worst experiece I have ever had, with any airline.
First of all, the flight was extremely packed. This is not at all unusual for both an overseas flight and a flight around the holidays (I left the Tuesday after Thanksgiving)however, the flight attendants seemed a little stressed out. This I understand. What I do not understand was their apparently neccesary propensity for rudeness.

Anyway, I digress. I arrived in Djibouti last night. Djibouti is a small country in the Horn of Africa as illustrated in this photo:

I haven't learned too much about Djibouti yet, other than that the airport is very, very small... like the size of your local Burger King. I was actually pretty impressed after seeing the airport that the pilot was able to land a full-size jet there.

So far, I have learned that my chances of seeing the normal "African" wildlife in Djibouti is slim, as it is not home to lions and zebras and elephants and whatnot. (that's Kenya and Tanzania). There are however, "many goats and camels" according to a soldier that I work with, and according to the web, Flamingos, Hyenas, Puff Adders, Whale Sharks and Anopheles Mosquitos (the bad ones that give you malaria). There was one of those on my leg in the bathroom last night. I killed him dead instantly.

What I have seen is lots of poverty. There are plenty of ramshackle homes, if you can call them that, in between the airport and the base. I would compare them to a rundown backyard shed or garage. There are homes that appear nicer on the outside, but around them are people sleeping on the streets. This is my first time in a genuinely third-world country. All I can say is, when Emmanuel from Iraq said that "Americans need to open their eyes" I have a slight understanding of what he meant now.

Thankfully, there are plenty of opportunities for me to volunteer. There are several orphanages that I would like to go to as well as a Cheetah refuge, and several other places. It has been suggested not to go to the villages themselves and hand out things to the children (crayons, stickers, etc) because this encourages begging. Instead, donations through the orphanages or through the base chaplain are suggested.

Any of the locals that I have met are very friendly. The women dress in brightly colored dresses, skirts, scarves and headcoverings, while the men dress conservatively. As soon as I have the capability I will post some photos.

There are some of my initial observations, I will post more about Camp Lemmonier tomorrow.