I was gone for nearly a month, and a few things have changed while I was away. For starters, they apparently have decided to follow the American infrastructure model by paving the entire FOB. I exaggerate slightly, but they have laid down about half a basketball court worth of new concrete. In addition, they opened up a new MWR facility where the mess hall used to be and it’s pretty nice. They have a projector showing movies, several phones and internet connections. The movie area has some plush couches and you can play your own movies on a first come first served basis. This won’t replace movie night at the aid station (got HD?) but it’s nice the soldiers have this outlet now.
On other matters, I was quite relieved and surprised when I checked my weight this morning after over 3 weeks of complete disregard to my diet and exercise regimen. I actually am the same weight I was when I left which in some books would count as not making progress, but as bloated as I felt coming back off leave I was pretty happy. I still have a ways to go to reach my end deployment goal, but now that I’m back on Blessing I can get back on track.