I didn't bring nearly enough Carmex to Baghdad. This is a problem of epic proportions for an admitted junkie. My lips may fall off.
The main reason for this sentiment at this particular moment in time is that today I had my first helicopter ride. When it is hot outside, troops leave the sliding doors on both sides of the helicopter open. For the person in the front row of back seats, this causes a constant blast of hot air directly in your face.
I had been warned about this before leaving on my trip to Baquba (zoom out for some context) and advised not to sit in the two seats by the doors. On the way in I successfully avoided it, landing in a (closed) window seat in the back row. On the way back to Baghdad, I got unlucky -- last person to the chopper gets the tornado seat! I think the dust is permanently embedded in my face (this is after a shower and a copious amount of moisturizer), and my lips... oh man.
On a related note, wearing 30 pounds of body armor and a five-pound helmet when it's 130 degrees outside is not so pleasant. I felt like I was about to fall over all day long.
All that being said, though, the helicopter ride was pretty cool. Maybe when I'm less tired I will post photos taken from the sky. They mostly show desert, which is kind of a boring thing to photograph, but I had fun doing it. There's a whole lot of open desert here.
What do we think are the chances of Baghdad-produced lip balm satisfying a Carmex addict?
3 comments:
oh god, I can't wait to see those images -- you have no idea how much I love aerial photography.
In a pinch you can use olive oil or EVOO mized with a little face cream. They use olive oil to cook, right?
Dude. Helicopter. AWESOME! Enough of your whining about your lips. Get a candle, melt the wax a wee-bit and let it cool a sec, and viola!: Instant Carmex. Ye' old Cuba trick.
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