Bog of Eternal Stench

Before I get into the story that warrants the title of this post, I have to post up some off topic pictures... I went ice skating for the first time!

I fell down only twice!

I had a good time:)

But I've got a real exciting story, better than ice skating! Yesterday we went through the Gas Chamber.

It was so surreal, I got basic training flashbacks. As I filed in with everyone I was surprised at how clear the air looked. You would think that because it's filled with tear gas it would look smoky, but it doesn't. There is only a small burner on the floor that looks like a hookah, emitting CS. We're all standing in a circle and you can start to smell it. Your skin starts tingling and the guys running the thing are standing in the middle talking, telling you to do jumping jacks etc... All you can think the whole time is,

"It's ok, I'll just breathe a little bit... no, I'll take more breaths but keep them short... no, I need to take a deep breath but I'll hold it in as long as I can... no..."

ALL you can think of is HOW to breathe. Then they made us break the seal by pulling the mask partly off our face, and then made us clear it. Thats when your lungs start to sting. That's when you start to drool. At this point you have to swallow the saliva because you can't spit it in your mask and even your spit tastes like the gas. After that is the big finale: taking the mask completely off. We held them above our heads and waited for everyone in the circle to recite their last name and last four of their social. Your lungs, your eyes, your nose are all dripping with snot, tears and drool and you somehow blurt out your name in between coughs and your lungs are on FIRE. Then the door opens and everyone runs out the door. I was coughing and heaving and spitting and burping. Yuck!

My friend took a bunch of videos of everyone coming out of the chamber. I'm defiantly going to get a hold of some them and post them. Some people shoved open the door and collapsed on the ground, making awful noises. It's pretty funny to see each other looking so crazy.

That is one of the things I like about the Army. Even though mostly it sucks, it's cool to say I did stuff like this.