#61 - Reception, day five... ugh

I have a few minutes to write before we have to get ready for another formation. Just trying to finish some laundry now...

Yesterday was the dreaded shakedown. This was the second time we've had to dump all of our belongings onto the floor to be inspected by the Drill Sergeants. Of course, we were all jammed into an impossibly small space to do so, piled up onto the next person with no room to keep your gear separate. Somehow I ended up missing some uniform items (likely picked up by the people next to me during the shakedown), and will now have to purchase replacements. What a pain. Luckily I was able to keep 95% of the stuff I brought with me from home. I'm hoping they don't take anything else away from me when we ship downrange to basic training.

There is considerably more downtime in Reception than we will have in basic. We just finished doing laundry. I washed my clothes with some of the women that I've become buddies with. The cliques are already beginning to form. In my group are all the oldest women, and most of the mature and quiet younger girls. The loud, obnoxious variety reside on the other side of the bay. These other girls are always the slowest to come downstairs for formation, the ones who are always making noise when everyone is trying to sleep, and are often quite combative in disposition. I hope that my platoon is basic is comprised of the people I am already with, though anything can happen. There are three platoons of males, and one of females, so it's likely we'll end up with a roughly 75% male, 25% female mix.

So far the food has been pretty decent in the DFAC (dining facility) here in Reception. I am always the first one to finish eating, because I am training myself to eat at the speed that will be expected of me when we ship downrange to BCT. Many of the others are still leisurely picking at their food, spending time walking around the chow hall searching for specific condiments, and gabbing. The DFAC here is a lot more laid back than the DFACs at basic. These other folks are going to be in for a big shock very soon.

I'm feeling a little better today than the last few days, at least emotionally. I think actually getting something close to a full night's sleep was very helpful. Of course I'm hoping that I will not have fire guard duty again this evening.

Today I was able to use the payphone for less than 5 minutes to call my husband. We've only had the opportunity to use the phone once or twice in Reception, and the time goes very quickly. Unfortunately we do not know what our mailing addresses will be yet in basic training. Being cut off from communication with our loved ones and the outside world is difficult. I expect that we'll all have a boost in morale once we are finally able to receive mail on a regular basis.

Yesterday morning we received shots for TD, IPV, MGC, MMR, HEP B, PPD, and a Flumist syringe up the nostrils. The effect of said shots when existing the human body produces some interesting effects... enough said!