WE MADE IT

We are here safe and sound in Kuwait! The pic above was the monitor at my seat when we were finally gettig close! It was a long 24 hours of traveling but the fun is just begining! I'm taking note throughout my traveling so I remember some of the little details. Some of these posts may be lengthy in content due to my unfamiliarity with this culutre and all the surroundings.

When we arrived were were greeted by 5 men; 1 was Andy who will be with us the entire tour, 2 are men who work for CSA (don't remember what that stands for) who help escort visitor, and two are active PSDs (Personal Security Detail). We convoyed in 4 vehicles from the airport to the base here in Kuwait; 2 vehicles carried us cheerleaders, 1 carried our luggage and 1 was strictly security following us. I feel pretty safe here!!

At this base we have our own single rooms with TVs and a single bed. The showers are community showers. I almost feel guilty because some of the military women are sleeping in a room with 100 women on bunk beds right next door to me. Andy said not too worry and that we will be sleeping in similar situations once we are in Iraq and to enjoy this tiny brick walled room while I have it!

The weather is awesome... like San Luis in the summer.

We start our appearances, which will be refered to as MWR events (Morale Welfare and Recreation Events). In a day or two we will take off into Iraq. I had mentioned before about our aircraft landings onto the other bases. We will be diving straight down... Andy said he did a tour last week and every landing was a dive landing and not gradual. I'm actually excited about this but heard it's pretty crazy. In a few days I may be able to blog and let you know.

It's 11:30 here now and I have to be up by 6:15am so I'm signing out for now.

Mom - Dad and Laurie... I have been trying to call out on a no charge calling system but it's not working. If it doesn't work tomorrow I will just get a calling card!

Heading out tomorrow

It's 11:15 the night before I take off for Iraq and I'm still not ready. Deciding what to pack wasn't too difficult since we have to be covered when we are not doing a signing or performance. We will be in jeans and long sleeve shirts the majority of the trip. The weather is mild right now, jeans and t-shirt weather.
Friends and family have been asking me all kinds of questions regarding our daily activities while we are over there. I actually don't know many details myself. They keep the schedule quiet until 10pm each night for security purposes. Below are some things I do know about the trip that I'm able to share:
-We will be traveling for almost 24 hours to get there.
-The flight from the US to Kuwait will take approximately 12.5 hours.
-When we arrive we will be given our body armour that we are responsible for throughout our trip. We will wear this armour while traveling from base to base and it weighs 30 lbs.
-Once we are there we will be traveling by black hawk and C-17.
-We will have phone access at each base and be able to call home via calling card.
-Some Internet access will be available but it depends on the base.
-Our sleeping arrangements will vary from base to base. It can be as nice as a single room with my own bathroom to as rough as one big room with 100 other women and an outdoor bathroom 100 yards away. We will not know these arrangements until we arrive at each base.
-The dining facilities are supposed to have really good food so we were told to be prepared to gain some weight. We are scheduled to eat four times a day!
-We will be staying on the American bases and will not be off base for appearances.
-There will be an escort with us at all times from Lone Wolf Entertainment and the Military
-We will be doing signings and taking pictures at each stop and occasionally dance depending on specific requests.

I will be keeping a daily journal and I will post my journal entries a day behind on here.

Say a prayer for us tomorrow and keep on eye on the blog for my first entry from Iraq! I will also do my best to post videos and pictures as well. Feel free to email me as I will be checking my email if I have the opportunity.

Time to attempt to get some sleep!

Meg

KHOU RUNS STORY ON OUR MILITARY TRIPS

The local news stations in Houston came to our last meeting before the Iraq trip and ran a short story on us. Some of the others girls are going to Japan and Hondurus so you may hear some information about those trips as well. The red head is Sonya and she discusses our Iraq trip. Unfortunately I was not at this practice due to a Rice Women's Basketball game (we won)... enjoy the news clip.
I will do one more post prior to taking off on Monday!
Thanks for following!

Practice Practice Practice

With only 1 week left until we depart Houston the 5 of us girls (Sonya, Larisa, Marisa, Ashley T and I) have been collaborating packing list, sending reminders, finding boots, asking questions, working out and of course preparing a few dances. We had practice last week and we could tell it had been a while since we had done some STRONG dancing. I definitely woke up with an extremely sore neck last Wednesday; I think I became immune to that feeling during the season! It's back to the grind tonight with our last meeting with Coach Alto prior to the trip and hopefully our last practice as well. We looked pretty sharp last week so we plan to knock the dances out tonight, and then we will review on our own until we arrive.
The more people I talk to about this trip the more excited I become. Coach Bailiff (Head Football Coach here at Rice) went to Afghanistan this summer and said it was one of the most rewarding experiences he has been through. I don't think it is something I will fully understand until I'm there, but I'm looking forward being able to 'give back' to the troops.
It is interesting how a simple signature on a picture and a 5 second pose for a snap shot can make someones day... I am just so honored to be able to do something like that for these soldiers who sacrifice so much for our country.
I will update again once or twice before I take off. These post will not be half as interesting as the future ones!!
Thanks for following!

Meg

My attempt at a blog entry

I'm working on setting up a blog for my family and friends to follow during my tour in Iraq with 4 other Houston Texans Cheerleaders. Since this is my first attempt at an entry and I have no idea what I'm doing so this might be a random entry with a pic and video as I play with my options. More to come about my trip preparation once I figure this blog stuff out!

Here goes nothin'...