Djibouti - Day 6 - Smells Like I've Been Here Before

Last night I got to sleep relatively easily. When I woke up this morning to my newly-purchased wristwatch alarm at 6:30am, I realized I had nowhere to be today so I rolled back over. I opened my eyes again, and this time the wristwatch read 8:30am. Cool, I thought, as I rolled over a second time. When I finally woke up, the little timepiece on my arm informed me that it was 10:30am! I hopped out of bed, got dressed and headed off to the office to put the finishing touches on the classroom computers. Between reviewing the lab exercises and checking in with home, today was quite relaxing.

We're told by people much smarter at such things than you or me that the sense of smell imprints some of the strongest memories on people. And over the past few days, many familiar smells have been flying up my nose to remind me that I am on a military base in the middle of a desert. There are many things that I have smelled before, and continue to smell. Each has its own distinct story:

Duty-Free Perfume: You wouldn't normally associate this with a military base, but every time I take an overseas trip I go through duty-free shopping at the airports. If I'm really bored I'll walk into the perfume store and ask the sales clerk to identify the perfume I'm smelling. This, of course, is an impossible request designed to amuse me as the poor sales clerk has spent the last 4 hours spraying samples from every bottle on the counter. There's just no way to capture that perfect blend of 20 aromas in a single bottle - you just have to buy all 20 bottles. Come to think of it, maybe that's the idea. But then wherever I get to overseas, I'm never far from someone who purchased at least one of those bottles and has made sure to indiscreetly let everyone else know that he/she has done so. Right now I'm sitting outside at a picnic table between a latrine and an MWR building, and I can smell one of those perfumes right now. Speaking of...

Latrines: These little stinkers provide a critical function to Force Protection. First, they provide a place to sit and rest and, well, other stuff you might need to do sitting down. Next, they're air conditioned (see yesterday's note about walking across base). But latrines have a set of smells all to themselves. The "Port-a-potty" style of plumbing-free latrines has that pungent smell which is a combination of the blue disinfecting solution along with the "yellow" and "brown" smells blended in. Then there are the "connex" latrines that have running water and electricity for air conditioning. These ones smell most like cleaning solutions: A touch of pine accented with the mothball cakes in the "standing" receptacles.

Rubbish Burn: A way of life in many desert countries is burning trash. Around here, this happens at night. There is an acrid smell of burning wood, plastic, electronics and anything else no longer wanted. To be fair, the US Military is big on collecting the plastic from the water and Gatorade bottles; it could be much worse. But last night not only did we get a strong whiff of the smoke, but the blowback put the base under a pretty heavy haze. Someone walking outside with me last night said that it was "unusually heavy" for what passes as normal around here. I'm not sure what got into my lungs, but I'm glad the air conditioners in the tent filter most of it out.

Sewage: Certain places on base have a smell of raw sewage. It is not pleasant, but it is obvious as you pass those spots. Too bad one of those spots is smack in the middle of the base; you can't walk from one end to the other without passing that spot.

Diesel Engines: Whether it is large vehicles, electrical generators or refrigeration units, diesel is used to power a lot of things on a military base.

Old Spice High Endurance: The deodorant stick of choice sold at all the military exchanges. And yes, I have a stick from my time in Korea. The boys are jealous, as they have become big Terry Crews fans over the past few months. See here for the reasons why.

Barbeque: Once a week is Steak Night. Yes, they do take care of our servicemen and servicewomen out here. The best steak I've had on a base? Afghanistan, hands down. Remember the Barbeque DFAC in Bagram? I do, and it's looking really good right now. Along with that are the...

Deep Fryers: What confuses me is how the military food services cook all kinds of food, place nutrition labels at all the serving stations and still feel the need to put public service posters all over the walls telling the warriors to fill up on good food. Wouldn't it be just as easy to eliminate the deep fryers and all the food they produce? What about eliminating the desserts? Soda pop? The ice cream station? (OK, we'll keep the ice cream station for the heat.)

So now you know why I always savor the smell of fresh-cut grass, the air after a rain, my wife's cooking or even her signature perfume, Dewberry. It means I'm not on a military base out in the middle of the desert.

It means I'm home.