It is freggin hot. My skin is on fire. It is at least 110 with humidity as bad as Norfolk. Sunscreen was the first thing to be lathered on this morning. Only on the face and arms though because of having to be covered for the cultural region here. Jet lag is killing me, athlough not as much as I thought it would. We are 8 hrs ahead of eastern time. So flying via "military/ commercial" aircraft wasn't so bad. The airports in Rota, Spain and Sigonella, Italy weren't exactly Heathrow in London, but it was nice enough to get by. Sahara, The Incredibles, Hitch, and Madagascar were the motivating movies shown. All in all it was about 18 hrs until I stepped into the "Sandbox" (the pilot welcomed us to Bahrain with this term). I found another new ensign just commissioned from the Naval Academy that is going to be on my ship as well as another sailor. There are 6 of us, each with our own room, living in a 4 star hotel in downtown Bahrain for a little bit until the ship pulls in. Piece of advice: don't get scrambled eggs in the middle east... they are VERY weird! We have to muster with the Transient Personnel Unit today twice, and then only call tomorrow, to see about ship updates, etc. Nice little internet cafe on base and were thinking of hitting up the penthouse open air pool on our hotel later on if the UV-index permits. haha. We're basically either on the NSA (Naval Support Activity Base) or at the hotel because of the threatcon level and the recent Egyptian attacks. Ship should be here any day now.. so stay tuned..