Everything continues to go very well here in Amman. About the only thing I can complain about is having a bed and a couple of couches that I think came from the Inquisition. But, I'm working on having that stuff fixed, enshallah. For now, my day-to-day activities consist of going to the embassy for anywhere between one and four hours, depending on what I am trying to accomplish, going for a run every other day to keep preparations up for the Dead To Red Ultra Marathon Relay next month, and spending time getting the last bits of business concluded with getting settled into a new place. When I have time, I head out to explore some area of the city I'm not yet familiar with. It sounds like a pretty easy life and in truth it really is. I feel a little guilty that I have it so good right now, but then I think about just how involved DLI was for a year and a half and that keeps the guilt to a minimum. The point for this year is not to be sitting in an office 24/7 looking at email and writing reports... its to get OUT of the office and LEARN. To help me do that, my bosses have arranged for me to be embedded with a Jordanian Army unit for about six months. So, the casual business hours will soon end and I will begin making day-long trips (and overnighters) to hang out with the troops... something I am really looking forward to doing considering I have not been around Soldiers doing real Army things in a very long time.

As far as travel goes, it seems that I will be making my first regional travel happen very soon. After the race next month, the other ICT'ers and I will be traveling to Egypt for a few weeks. I've already talked to Tom, who is now in Cairo with his family, and we are looking forward to hanging out again. The trip should be very memorable, both culturally and professionally. We will be seeing a lot of the country and learning a lot from the Embassy folks, and I look forward to sharing some of that story here.

To those of you who have made comments on this blog and sent emails, I just want to say thank you for taking an interest and posing your questions. I hope everyone reading will follow your example and ask questions if they have any. And to those of you who I've spoken to who are already out there serving, again thank you for what you do and be safe out there.

Here's a pic of my favorite street-side fare... chicken shawarma! Think of it as the Arabic equivalent of a hot dog...