One More Sleep!

It's Sunday and last day of orientation. Tomorrow the real stuff starts.

We had another day of shooting, talking in front of the camera, and having our work being analyzed by our instructors. Pretty fun and sometimes difficult too!
We are all very excited to get out there tomorrow. We are four teams of a girl and a boy each. My partner is this cool guy named Chris, who coincidentally lives in Parkdale, Toronto. I would be happy working with anyone in the group, and I am sure Chris and I will have a blast together.

At first we will play the role of local Afghan media, and we should be embedded with the Canadians troops for four days next week, as Canadian media. We will all have the chance to do both: independent or embedded media.

If you don't know what embedded means, here is an explanation FROM WIKIPEDIA:

Embedded journalism refers to news reporters being attached to military units involved in armed conflicts. While the term could be applied to many historical interactions between journalists and military personnel, it first came to be used in the media coverage of the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The United States military responded to pressure from the country's news media who were disappointed by the level of access granted during the 1991 Gulf War and in the 2001 U.S. invasion of Afghanistan.

At the start of the war in March 2003, as many as 775 reporters and photographers were traveling as embedded journalists. These reporters signed contracts with the military that limited what they were allowed to report on.

The base was still pretty empty today. But here are some pictures of my day, walking around here in Fort Irwin's US National Training Centre.

A Joshua Tree

FROM WIKIPEDIA:

The name Joshua tree was given by a group of Mormon settlers who crossed the Mojave Desert in the mid-19th century. The tree's unique shape reminded them of a Biblical story in which Joshua reaches his hands up to the sky in prayer.  Ranchers and miners who were contemporary with the Mormon immigrants also took advantage of the Joshua tree, using the trunks and branches as fencing and for fuel for ore-processing steam engines. It is also called Izote de desierto. It was first formally described in the botanical literature as Yucca brevifolia by George Engelmann in 1871 as part of the Geological Exploration of the Fortieth Parallel.

The desert mountains remind us of the mountains of Afghanistan.

It took a while, but the sun came out and we were greeted by a beautiful blue sky with few clouds.

Our cute colleague Jill getting all prepared to be embbeded with the troops during the exercise.

Our instructor's helmet.

Col Juneau talking about the exercise during an interview for Radio Canada International.

A lonely soldier reading a book early in the morning.

A hot dog stand embraces the patriotic spirit.