Sunday May 6th
(jump earlier)

Good day everyone! Sorry for not getting this out on Friday like I had been saying, a million apologies but this past week has been extremely busy and on next weeks blog you’ll find out why. So last Saturday we went to one of the castles near Landstuhl. It was just amazing, the history behind the castle the actual primitiveness and preservation was astounding, not to mention the views were incredible, must’ve been nice being a royal back then. Walking through the castle there were a few things I realized, people were really short back then and that we really have it good nowadays. I’m trying to set some goals for myself while I’m here. See as much as I possibly can in Europe and just enjoy myself because not to many people get the opportunity that I have and you can usually tell the people that haven’t gone out and seen the area because they hate it here. So I’m going to see it, and take pictures and tell you all about it every week! (well as much as I can) Enjoy the pictures! Your truly of course, with Troyna A view from the castle of the town of Landstuhl Another view of the town We saw this statue and the angle I took it at turned out to be pretty cool Staircases of DEATH! j/k, the stairs led absolutely nowhere The castle had a million flowers My jab at trying to be a professional photographer

Friday April 27th
(jump earlier later)

Weekly Conundrums. First off I'd like to apologize to anyone who's sent me an email and I haven't replied I've been pretty busy getting settled in. I finally have some time to sit down and just write down how the last 6 months have been for me and I'm gonna let you experience what I've gone through. From the highs to the lows and everything in between... ...Its October 31st 2006 and its the middle of the night and I'm lying on the hotel bed trying to sleep because I know tomorrow is the day, the day that I've been waiting for since I left high school. Maybe I'll finally get that chance to get out of this hell hole, away from family, friends and just start a new slate and start something new and exciting. After getting through all the bullshit that MEPS makes you go through and sitting at the airport getting on the plane and before you know it we're in San Antonio, TX and walk into a terminal where about 400 other people are sitting quiet, cross-legged, faced forward with a twinge of fear and regret on their faces. We get on the buses that take us to the base and its about 2 a.m. now most of us are tired and we get introduced to what our lives will be like for the 6 weeks by large, loud very intimidating looking gentleman who don't sound like they are happy to see us. The first night of basic training never really happened because we were in-processing and got about 45 seconds to put our heads down on the pillow to sleep. Let me tell you that I have a really high regard for people who work non-stop 40+ hours straight because after being up for 47 hours the world seems to just fly by and nothing makes sense and its probably the most blissful feeling you'll ever have but not when your being yelled at constantly. Our flight consisted of 56 males give or take a few at the end. We were unique in the sense that we had 2 instructors, we'll call them number one and number two. Number one was with us from the beginning and stayed with us until the end, number two on the other hand came in at the second week and left us during the last week. I still don't know to this day whether or not it was a good cop, bad cop ploy they had going but #1 definitely did their job as far as making me who I am today and making me want to somewhat aspire to be like them. The weekend of my graduation was probably the happiest and the worst times of my life. I had finally completed basic training, there would be no more getting yelled at constantly, lack of time to eat, feeling tired all the time. The worst because the people that mattered most to me weren't there to share it with me. I got over it though because I was with my brothers in arms and they were enough company to help me get through my last weekend at Lackland AFB. Do you see the difference? Technical training was getting accustomed to the military lifestyle and slowly incorporating ourselves back into society since we had been shunned out for about two months. To say the least it was college but with more restrictions and a curfew. The beginning was intimidating because we didn't know what we were allowed to do and who to talk to and if we should talk to other people. I probably had the toughest time in school due to the fact that what I was learning was completely foreign to me. The two main topics that were constantly discussed were mechanical topics and electrical topics, neither of which I had a clue about due to the fact that the average person doesn't really learn about how electricity really works, and how it is conducted and what had to spin and convert it and mechanically if something isn't working what do you look for starting from the control panel and everyday I felt like pulling my hair out. I constantly walked the line when it came to block tests but thanks to help from people I managed to pass and understand the basics. There were a few highlights of my tech school career that I'll share with you. First was finding out that my very first station would be Ramstein AB, Germany to know that I'd be traveling the world just like the ad on the internet told me about the Air Force I was doing back flips to say the least. Being able to talk to my commander and debate with him as to why lower ranking individuals like myself and others weren't allowed to be airman leaders because we weren't A1C's (Airman First Class) yet. At the last test seeing and knowing that I was going to graduate and seeing that I had gotten my highest score from all the tests (saved the best for last ) and the last dinner with the people from our class that I had enjoyed the company of the most. Muse definitely made things better for me at tech school Always trying to have fun Ever seen a Jew a Christian and a Muslim together? Well now you have. As I'm sitting here typing this I think of the few things that have really helped me through all of the lows that have come with and trust me there have been plenty. My faith in God is one thing that has helped me through, knowing that everytime I need to talk or just say something he's there listening or I hope he is made alot of situations better. My parents and family were a large part, as I said earlier that I had wanted to get away from family, friends and just the situation I was in, at the time it was a great idea but you really don't know how much family means until they aren't there for the hardest parts of your life and you realize how much you miss them and need them and love them. Lastly my own self will, to prove to everyone that I could do it, to show everyone that I wasn't the same, to change and better myself so I could find that one thing and that's a better life. Dad Mom On my way! Home Sweet Home A perfect picture to show how I'm feeling about life.