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Delivered-To: john.podesta@gmail.com Received: by 10.140.49.99 with SMTP id p90csp232961qga; Wed, 19 Mar 2014 00:20:15 -0700 (PDT) X-Received: by 10.180.210.171 with SMTP id mv11mr17650959wic.44.1395213614549; Wed, 19 Mar 2014 00:20:14 -0700 (PDT) Return-Path: <gpodesta@gmail.com> Received: from mail-wi0-x22a.google.com (mail-wi0-x22a.google.com [2a00:1450:400c:c05::22a]) by mx.google.com with ESMTPS id fk8si9320514wib.80.2014.03.19.00.20.13 for <multiple recipients> (version=TLSv1 cipher=ECDHE-RSA-RC4-SHA bits=128/128); Wed, 19 Mar 2014 00:20:14 -0700 (PDT) Received-SPF: pass (google.com: domain of gpodesta@gmail.com designates 2a00:1450:400c:c05::22a as permitted sender) client-ip=2a00:1450:400c:c05::22a; Authentication-Results: mx.google.com; spf=pass (google.com: domain of gpodesta@gmail.com designates 2a00:1450:400c:c05::22a as permitted sender) smtp.mail=gpodesta@gmail.com; dkim=pass header.i=@gmail.com; dmarc=pass (p=NONE dis=NONE) header.from=gmail.com Received: by mail-wi0-x22a.google.com with SMTP id bs8so3537141wib.5 for <multiple recipients>; Wed, 19 Mar 2014 00:20:13 -0700 (PDT) DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=gmail.com; s=20120113; h=subject:references:from:content-type:in-reply-to:message-id:date:to :content-transfer-encoding:mime-version; bh=PmImWVBgc2UvNmEasXlIff/yinKF9SosP2vzK6HAGwA=; b=zL9ReyLI8LAWk7rqzQStTwNlNdWZbccV4vfLcWjySvN13knzT5hZqD7vL/rvwuEtGE aPXkGgzdHBAyVWgeBrEUORneeKpZI+OEUWOCXJ4q4dUhRqroseo2rxm92kPn4kJbqTjT 0JlAfXQdj+lUCAVVA6jSE/PxI0ZZUqX68B6vhwlOB3ZBzktTsrbk7zjV1U7pUqVnxNpX zm7xLlBcXmMtSUj8gJIUruC9vYM/qfAqyDAkXilcjpkQmA6xVGESIOSoAx5/fOLGCN5i VnmuHZrA0hCyj4424WKU5FjXzK183Zs2Hhperv4pyIzCopzQMvp0yoIbNB13uDshbDZ6 piCQ== X-Received: by 10.194.189.80 with SMTP id gg16mr57904wjc.84.1395213613057; Wed, 19 Mar 2014 00:20:13 -0700 (PDT) Return-Path: <gpodesta@gmail.com> Received: from [172.20.145.96] ([89.211.58.141]) by mx.google.com with ESMTPSA id h9sm53509075wjz.16.2014.03.19.00.20.12 for <multiple recipients> (version=TLSv1 cipher=ECDHE-RSA-RC4-SHA bits=128/128); Wed, 19 Mar 2014 00:20:12 -0700 (PDT) Subject: Re: Good Morning from Qatar References: <9E819923-D7B4-422C-8C86-399549D26673@gmail.com> From: Gabe Podesta <gpodesta@gmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii X-Mailer: iPad Mail (11B554a) In-Reply-To: <9E819923-D7B4-422C-8C86-399549D26673@gmail.com> Message-Id: <57D72398-FDD6-4F8C-81DA-D4DEE1E86F11@gmail.com> Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2014 10:20:12 +0300 To: Mae Podesta <mpodesta@gmail.com>, Megan Rouse <megan.rouse@yahoo.com>, John Podesta <john.podesta@gmail.com>, Mary Podesta <podesta.mary@gmail.com> Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Mime-Version: 1.0 (1.0) I'm on my way. I'm sitting in the terminal ready to board a flight to head i= n country. After being told to expect to wait a couple days here I learned l= ate last night that I'd be leaving sooner than I expected. Funny thing is t= hat I spent the day complaining about the fact that this place didn't feel v= ery "expeditionary." But as soon as I found out that I would soon be headin= g to a place that is, in fact, expeditionary, I got a sinking feeling in my g= ut. The nerves passed, however, and I got a restful night of sleep last night. A= fter a frigid first night I snuck around our tent and increased all the ther= mostats on the AC units. I set them way higher than I thought necessary on t= he assumption that someone would lower it again to a nice middle ground. Bu= t no, none of my 25 tentmates bothered to get out of bed and as a result I s= lept like a baby and they're all complaining about how muggy the tent was. I was up early to get to the terminal to check in and then wait. And wait. = And wait. I expect to be sitting here for anywhere from 5 to 7 hours befor= e I leave. Thankfully I have plenty of wifi and american outlets for all my= devices. Because where I'm headed is expeditionary, I may be silent again for a littl= e while. If so, I'll update as soon as possible but it may take me a couple= days. =20 Love you all lots and miss you very much. Sent from my iPad > On Mar 18, 2014, at 10:07 AM, Gabe Podesta <gpodesta@gmail.com> wrote: >=20 > Good Morning! I made it to Al Udeid AB, Qatar. This place is, in a word,= insane. >=20 > Travel was relatively smooth but long. We left Norfolk and stopped. And s= topped. And stopped. After crossing the Atlantic we would fly for just 1-3= hours before stopping again to load/unload troops. I didn't sleep much but= instead made lots of progress in my dense book, The Social and Political Hi= story of Afghanistan. I now feel a little more informed about where I'm goi= ng but also much less optimistic about our prospects for turning around cent= uries of political and military turmoil in a country that hasn't seen a peac= eful transition of power in 100+ years. >=20 > A number of my friends from my Texas training were on the flight and it wa= s nice to see some familiar faces. I learned yesterday that a Colonel and L= ieutenant Colonel I trained with will be the Senior Contracting Officer--Afg= hanistan and the Deputy Senior Contracting Officer--Afghanistan. In my naive= ty of all things contracting I hadn't realized when I was in Texas that they= 're kind of a big deal. I figured it out when we landed here and were greet= ed by a welcome party to personally escort us to the "transient" part of cam= p. No one would have given two figs had I arrived alone so I'm glad to be tr= aveling with those two! >=20 > Again, the camp is insane. I'm writing from a large open tent in the cent= er of camp. Ringing the outside is a bar, a FoxSports bar, a gym, a media c= enter, and a morale tent. Wifi is readily available in the center of camp (= but slow). There is a Dunkin' Donuts, a Baskin Robbins, a Subway, a Pizza H= ut, and a DQ (conveniently located at the pool). The Dining Hall is open 24= /7 and is much larger and serves more options than any I ever saw while tour= ing college campuses. Civilian clothes are the norm here; I have none and s= tick out as "transient" like a sore thumb. =20 >=20 > I should be here for at least another day or two. I'm not scheduled to fl= y out today and will only learn this evening if I am scheduled to fly tomorr= ow. While I know that this will prove much, much nicer than what I can expe= ct to find in Kabul, I nonetheless am ready to move on and get to my permane= nt temporary home. Because I technically made it to the Area Of Responsibil= ity yesterday, may 210 day counter has started (just 209 to go...). =20 >=20 > Love and miss you all. Gabe >=20 > Sent from my iPad