Just got off the phone with Eric, haven't heard from him since Wednesday, and it was great catching up. I've been pretty lonely and it was such a happy surprise.
I updated him on life in the "real world":
Celebrity gossip (vital information!)
The newest American Idol winner (Lee Dewyze--our favorite!!)
All of the news about our friends in Afghanistan
Flea market finds and cleaning projects
Almost stepping on a bee (my life is clearly hard)
Family updates and stories
He told me about the nightmare he's experiencing:
Spiders infesting his backpack
Not getting to sleep til 3am last night (averaging 5 hrs per night)
The horrible fact that it's been raining nonstop
How "long" his hair is now
His crazy tan lines reminiscent of the ones post-Iraq (hands and face only)
It sounds like EFMB is pretty miserable, not surprising. He passed the physical fitness testing but now they're just doing a lot of training (mostly land navigation). The training has only been made worse by the weather we've been having: making everything very very muddy and wet. During the day they had to shimmy (probably not the best military term) on their backs through mud under razor wire about a foot above the ground. During the night they had night land navigation...where after the first few minutes Eric's flashlight stop working. So, armed with a glow stick, Eric had to find 4 points in the thick, dark and rainy woods with a map and a compass. It's super hilly here, and even more extreme where Eric's at, so I guess it was really difficult. Eric said at one point he just had to sit down in the mud and slide down a hill because it was too steep and slippery to walk down. He then walked through a bunch of sticker bushes until they were so thick that he had to turn around: which meant crawling under them on his stomach using his rifle to break branches as he went. He said at the end of the night people were so exhausted that they were just laying in the mud sleeping.
Just a bundle of even more reasons why the Army wouldn't be a good fit for me. Eric seconded that in his call saying that he could just imagine me crying the whole time. I think I'd either die instantly of a panic attack or sob my whole way through everything. Realistically, I have a feeling the Army would've kicked me out before that day came. It just sounds like a complete nightmare. And there are about 20 women there doing the training with them. How?!??!?!??!
Aye aye aye, I feel bad for the guy and am super anxious to get him home.
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