Good things about this place

I've decided that I like Baghdad better, mainly b/c of the job though. I loved what I did there, and was able to feel like I was making a direct difference. Maybe I'll be able to say that I like this place better by the time I leave. We'll see. However, this place definitely has some perks over Baghdaddy...
-I get to work with people from many countries. I love hearing about their cultures, experiences, their norms. It's nice to know that American's aren't perfect (duh) and see how other countries do things.
-It's a slower pace here. While it's making time go by slower in some ways, it's good b/c I am realizing that sometimes I need to slow down. No point in working myself to death over here when there's no need. Hopefully I can take the "enjoy every minute" aspect I'm learning here back home.
- The gym classes here are amazing! I've been to spinning and yoga, and wow are the instructors hard and good! The classes are free for us here, but I pay $3 a class back on base in the States. I'd pay a lot more if these instructors were in the states. I'm realizing that the yoga instructor I had in the states was a panzy:)
-The food here is amazing. I have been so impressed by the dining facility or D-FAC as they call it. It's "European Style" meaning that they have hot hard boiled eggs, tomatoes, cucumbers, runny scrambled eggs, and extreme levels of perfected coffee. I must say, I got for the cereal bar most of the time. However, I gave in and have started to eat the hot hard boiled eggs to get protein, and they're actually not bad at all! It was a weird concept at first (yes I've seen it when I've been to Europe before, just always avoided it), but now I really like it! the only bad part is they're hard to peel hot.
-Mail gets here in 6 days, and it's a small post office, so the guys there are really helpful and already know who I am - kind hard to forget the last name lol!
-I get to go off base and interact with the locals. It's a little scary to me, as there are IEDs etc around here, but hey, I have to trust God. He knows when it's my time to go, and all I can do is be prepared! I put on my literal breastplate of honor, helmet of salvation, boots of peace, belt of truth, shield of faith (ok maybe not a literal shield), and sword (or weapon) of the Spirit, and off I go! For those of you not familiar with all of that, what I was referring to are spiritual armor that is talked about the Bible in Ephesians 6:10-18. http://www.christcenteredmall.com/teachings/armor/index.htm
-People aren't "catty" here. If they think something, they find a way to say it. You don't have to guess what other people are thinking. They're helping us all improve the way that we do processes, and that's a good thing. No point in doing something one way b/c "that's the way it's always been done."