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Today we woke up and we had no clue what time it was. There are no clocks or anything like that around us ever! But we figured it out, got on the Black Hawks and flew to Camp Kalsu, Iraq!

When we arrived, they greeted us and told us some stuff about the camp. We learned that the camp is in the middle of what is called the "triangle of death" and they were a huge part in the capturing OF Saddam Hussein.

There was a memorial going on tonight for a few of the troops, and the morale was real low, so we were so happy we got to go and cheer the troops up!! We were just supposed to do a meet and greet, but we were having so much fun we decided to do a performance!

While we were eating, Bethany decided to put on a little vocal performance, and by the end of the number, she had Jennelle and Suzanne right behind as backup dancers! In return we had some troops singing for us!! After the performance we headed over to the Black Hawks to go to another camp where we got sidetracked and took "calendar shots" on top of the Abrahams tanks.

Then we got on the Black Hawks and flew over some of the city of Baghdad. It really opened our eyes because you could see where the city got bombed and how much had been destroyed.

Then we arrived at FOB Falcon!! There is literally a wall separating us from Baghdad. Early today, Falcon got bombed.....the troops were kind of quiet when we arrived. (They were down and in need of us!!) So we definitely did our thing!! They were such a good crowd and really appreciated us!!!!!!! We were really happy about the impact we made on the troops today!

We got a little Carl Thomas -- (emotional)! Well fans -- we'll get at you tomorrow!!

Love You!

Hayley and Bethany

Here are 3 messages from the troops that are from the NE Ohio Area:

1. FOB Falcon - Charles Overberger from Madison, Ohio - "Thanks for all the support and love."

2. FOB Falcon - Gregory Phelps from Ashtabula, Ohio - "The Cavalier Girls Rock and Go Cleveland!"

3. FOB Falcon - Richard Kobelt from Massillon, Ohio - "To my family ... Thanks for all the love and support ... I miss you!"

Cavalier Girls Coordinator/Choreographer Vandana Patel - September 19th, 2006

Hello All -

Sorry for the one-day delay ... Some of the small bases have very slooooow internet connections and it takes forever to send pictures or write.

Yesterday we were at Camp Bucca ... We absolutely loved it there! The dancers and I were treated fantastic. This particular base has the largest jail in the world. (But don't worry, the jail was on the other side of the base ... and nowhere near us.)

The special thing about this particular base is that they have not had any performers or entertainers in a little under three years ...So when we arrived there on Monday, they treated us like Queens ... You know we loved that! That particular base has two shifts: night and day. So, since we were only scheduled to do our performance/meet & greet for the day shift ... we decided as a team that we would do a second performance/meet & greet for the night shift at 1:30 in the morning! We definitely will miss that base and how much they appreciated our team!

Well, we just finished our performance/meet & greet at the Balad/Anaconda Base. This place is huge! It is a mini-city with a Burger King and Pizza Hut. (The dancers were very excited about that!)

Bethany and I have received all our luggage ... no worries there!

Ok ... enough about what I have to say. Suzanne and Rhema have blogs from Camp Bucca and Balad/Anaconda. And they will have plenty more to share!

I will send another blog on Thursday with tons of photos!

- Vandana

P.S.
Cavalier Girls: We miss you guys and can't wait to share the memories and pictures! Hope all is well ... and I hope you ladies are working hard, practicing your technique, eating right and most importantly ... missing us!

P.S.S.

Suzanne and Rhema combined their blog ...

Cavalier Girls Rhema and Suzanne - September 18th and 19th, 2006

Since we have had SO much that has gone on for the past two days……and no luxuries of the hotel …. we decided to write our blogs together, considering we’ve been stuck in a room together every single day.

Monday was our favorite day of the trip so far. (Still no sign of Bethany’s luggage, but Vandana did get hers.)

We got up early and headed out for the Kuwait City International Airport called APOD. As soon as we arrived, we met Chief Pace -- probably the coolest Chief ever -- who is going to be our permanent escort throughout the rest of our stay in Iraq. We were all super-excited and nervous to ride a Super Stallion, which is a military helicopter with two gunners on the sides and one in the rear. We got to look out where the gunners were positioned including the rear where the door was WIDE OPEN!!!

Luckily we got strapped in so we couldn’t fall out . . . but we all made it to our destination (Camp Bucca) in one form or another (some of us got a little sick). As soon as we landed we were immediately helped and escorted at all times by different soldiers from the base. They escorted us everywhere from the dining hall to the bathroom and they stood outside our rooms all night.

After we arrived we went to the dining facility where we had lunch and met the Alpha and Bravo teams that would be watching over us for the next day. We then had our run-through/sound check before finally getting a couple of hours of personal time before dinner and the show.

What did we do? We definitely found the beauty parlor and got some pedicures and massages!!!!

We were so excited to use a “real” dressing room for our performances that we skipped dinner and instead had it brought to us! That was HUGE! Considering we haven’t been able to use a blow dryer or a legitimate straightener for the past few days!! (I’m sure as you all could tell from the pics!) We were pumped.

After getting ready, we had our first show at about 8 p.m. (20:00 hours) and it went really well. But since there was a shift change at midnight, we decided it would be a good idea to have an additional show for those soldiers as well. So after eating and getting ready again, we put on an even better show at 1:30 a.m. for the other men and women. We got to hang out with a lot of them afterwards before going back to the room, writing in our journals and calling it a night. (Three hours later.)

Day 5: Tuesday

We woke to the sound of “Fisher” knocking on our door at 8:30 a.m. Grumpy, but excited, we made our way across the desert heat to the shower stalls. After showering, we packed and ate and left Camp Bucca around 10 a.m. for APOD in the military Black Hawks and Super Stallions. After about an hour layover, we loaded a C-130 and took off for Camp Anaconda. AKA Balad, Iraq.

We landed in Balad around 4:30 pm and dropped our stuff off in our rooms. To our surprise, this is the second-largest base in Iraq and known for its hotel-like accommodations to the MWR guests. We all had our own rooms that were connected on the inside through the bathrooms, each with mini-refrigerators, nice TVs and high-tech DVD players. (p.s. BETHANY FINALLY GOT HER LUGGAGE!)

After check-in, we took the mini-tour bus around to a few shopping facilities before arriving at the theater -- which we found out later used to be Saddam Hussein’s personal theater, holding only about 730 people.

Sound check came first, and then we had dinner catered for us with little tables set up backstage. A little time later, we got ready for our only performance for the night. The show was well-received by the soldiers. They were full of energy and screamed for us every five seconds. The house was almost full by the end of the show, and we had a great time!

Our meet and greet flew by and before we knew it we were singing happy birthday to “Colonel Lee” and headed to Pizza Hut for after show snacks! (p.s. we did get a veggie pizza too, John Henry). We got a little time to spend with the soldiers before heading to our rooms for the night. We have now been sitting in the reception area, writing our blogs, for over two hours and yes…we’re still here.

So on that note, we are really looking forward to Day 6. Never mind, it’s here. So we’re about to sleep and head off to two bases today and we have that feeling it's going be a GREAT day!!

God Bless!!! We miss and love you guys back home! Keep praying for our troops (and us). See ya soon!

Suz & Rhem

P.S. – We would like to give special thanks and shout out to our boys at Bucca …… Numbers 1, 2,3,4,5, 40, and all the other Alpha and Bravo team members!!!! Be safe and we miss you all!

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