8/10> It is definitely cooler inside the ship. I am lucky b/c my room is one of> the cooler ones since it is on the inside without a wall directly on the> outside of the ship. I have 2 other roommates that are older girls. I have> a mutual friend from college with one of them. Everyone has been pretty> helpful. There are a lot of prior enlisted officers. That means they are> older with more experience but have the same rank as me. So, it has been a> little interesting trying to make friends or find a nitch. Don't really> have time to do much at sea besides stand watch, eat, sleep, and study> things to qualify, and shower. When we get into port next I think in> Africa we'll be able to get off the ship. That should be in about a month.> I have time to adjust. I am relieving the combat systems officer who is> leaving in October. He basically runs all the "intelligence" stuff on the> ship and runs the area where the big computer screens are that show all> the ships and airplanes in the area. It is a lot to learn so it is good> that there is time to turn over with him. He is also in charge of MWR> which is Morale Welfare Recreation. He plans all the "fun events" for the> ship. Any tours while in port, various parties back in Norfolk, etc. The> next massive thing coming up is hopefully a "holiday party" when we are> hopefully stopping at a tropical island on our way back to Norfolk in the> beginning of December! That should be a lot of fun!! There are a lot of> other female officers. It is not weird at all. There are obviously more> female enlisted personnel. I think someone said we have upper 20s of> officers. I'd say about a good 10 are female. Some are only temporary duty> here until their ship finishes getting built though. I think they stay> until we get back to Norfolk. That is good because they are really nice.> Since we are underway I spend day and night on the ship. This span it will> be about a month before we stop in Africa. We were just in Bahrain. I was> there 2 days with a few other people waiting to get to the hsip and then> the ship was here for about 6 days. So it was agood stop. It is a good> thing though because they hadn't stopped but for like 2 days in 2 months.> They enjoyed the time there. I haven't really come across anything I have> forgotten (fingers crossed). If I do, hopefully it will be in the ship's> store or I can borrow someones. The ship has a "store" it is open everyday> during certain hours. IT sells snackfood, uniform parts, dvds, some> watches, personal hygiene stuff, etc. The food is ok. It was horrible in> port. The chicken patties were very hard, etc. We had flank steak and> shrimp scampi last night. Now that was a good dinner. So it fluctuates.> There for a hwil I thought I was going to be emaciated when I came home.> Definitely have to drink a lot of water. Like I said I am in a "stateroom"> with 2 other girls. We have bunk beds. I am on the top bunk. We each have> an entire wall unit floor to ceiling that includes a chest of drawers, and> a closet type thing, also a fold out desk and chair. We have a tv and a> refrigerator in our room. We have a sink and a mirror and cabinet. Not to> bad living quarters. It is actually the same room that I was on my summer> training ship last summer since I was on the same type of ship. We did not> have to wear a veil outside the ship. There was a dress code though. We> had to wear no tank tops, pants, and only skirts longer than knee length.> No shorts. Not to much really. The natives definitely wore their native> dress though a lot of the places so it was a little awkward to be the only> people in the crowd not dressed like that. Especially when we went ot the> mall there. We came out of seeing wedding crashers and said to each other> it was time to go because it was getting to be a little sketchy for us to> be there. We were supposed to avoid large crowds. And I certainly don't> fit in with blond hair and being tall. We have VERY slow internet here. I> can't download my pictures. I haven't taken any digitally yet. I have some> on a disposable from Bahrain. I want to take some more of the ships we are> boarding here in the Persian gulf area because they are really cool> looking. It is almost like being in a movie because we lower a small boat> from our ship that drives over to this small fishing vessel after we have> called it on the radio form our ship telling them that in accordance with> national law we are conducting boarding operations, etc. So then a team of> people go onto these boats, armed and have a questionnaire to fill out and> give them, etc. the process varies time ot time. We have people that take> pictures of the boardings and document all the little vessles we board. We> are working with a coalition of other nations too in this area. It is> funny b/c the captain is playing a game to see who can board the most> dhows (small fishing vessels) during the exercise. One of my tasks is to> keep track of all the boardings and other numbers affiliated with them.