Little things I find surprising

I arrived in Kuwait a few hours ago, and although I've only been gone for a week and half, my perspective has still changed.

It's evening here, and I just saw a helicopter fly over with it's lights ON! In Iraq most routine helicopter flights take place at night, and all helicopters totally blacked out at night to make it harder for insurgents to shoot at them.

I took a shower, and put on clean civilian clothes for the first time in 10 days (I've been living in a nomex flight suit). It felt good, but foreign. It's a little uncomfortable to not have ten pockets with every thing you could possibly need in easy reach. Where do I up my sat phone and my spare camera batteries?

There are no armed Ugandan guards in front of the PX or the chow hall here. This saves the multiple times daily debate I've been having with various Ugandan guards about where I am, or am not, authorized to enter without a military escort (chow hall: OK, Multi-National Forces West Headquarters: NOGO).