=Carlota

Hey there again !

I am really sorry for the abundance of journals lately. Usually, I am dead against writing more than one per week, but as I have a bit of free time at the moment because of my neck injury...^^'

1) Right, let's start with the bad piece of news.
My mother told me yesterday that Patapouf, my beloved male pet ferret, passed away last Tuesday of a stomach cancer. She did not tell me that before given I was "busy" enough with my neck.

Apparently, the poor animal had it for a while, and the two vets I saw since I adopted Patapouf in August did not see anything. He had lost a lot of weight the last two months, and had never been very dynamic like Chu... Anyway, he did not suffer and he had a great (yet short...) life with my family and I. He will me greatly missed.

It is the last time I get a pet from a petshop which seems unable to take care of its animals. The vet told me he was seeing such kind of disease among ferrets at the moment, probably because they don't receive the proper kind of food as babies.
No need to say I am going to go back to that petshop and tell them what i think of their methods. At best. At worst, as I am going to be a Military Engineer Officer, I think I may simply blow up the place with all the sellers in it (after having taken out all the animals of course... ).

2) Now, the (relatively) good news. ^^

As I was suffering martyrdom the last few days because of my neck, the Army sent me home for a week to see a REAL doctor, because, honestly, the ones in the army suck hard. XD As one of my chiefs said :" A military doc is both a bad doc and a bad soldier..." (BTW, it is amazing how many sayings the chief has, like:
- "Your gun is like your pair of balls, guys! it must on the man! *looking at me sideways* Well, you see what I mean, Missy...",
- "Fear doesn't make danger go away!",
- "Take your fingers out of your arsehole, damnit!"...ect
I think I am going to compile them... ) .
With that, all is said !

So I saw my doc today, who burst out laughing when he saw the way I have been "cured" by the military doctors...*insert Chief's saying here*
He gave me a good minerva (or whatever it is called in English. You know, the thing which goes around your neck for your head to rest on it...) and it already does a lot. I also have to gulp down an awful lot of drugs, but at least, I almost feel no more pain ! ^^

I also talked to my chiefs about my formation, because with my stupid neck, there are many things I can't do anymore, like shooting, running around with 20 kilos on my back and 10 around my neck, shooting, learning how to walk the military way, get into the trucks... Well, actually there is nothing I can do ! XD
But I told the Chief I wanted to stay anyway (it is their fault if I got hurt, so I decided to saty just for being a pain in the ass... ) and he said they will do everythiong necessary to make me receive my formation despite my current state. Isn't that cool ? ^^ (well, we will see if they keep their word, because the Army is not reknown for its humanism and basically, if you are broken, you are useless for them...)

3) Now, a bit more about my life in the army.

I am in the 13th Company, 2nd Section. My chiefs are Command Sergeant Major Eve and Staff Sergeant Chouffinou of "Chouffinette" (these are obviously NOT their real names, but nicknames we use when they are not around... ).
They are very good instructors, but can be real pain in the neck (ahahahaa ! joke !! ) when they want to, especially Chouffinette... ^^'

As I mentionned before, the training is like hell. My days start at 5am and end up around midnight, and we run around all day, learn how to fight, get yelled at without any time to rest and sometimes to eat... :S

Nevertheless, there is a good atmosphere in my section. Despite the pressure, the guys do their best to control their stress, make jokes and try to help those who need it (like the guys who have their feet covered in blisters). There are obvioulsy a couple of dickheads, but they are a tiny minority, so no one care about them.

So far, I have learnt plenty of things, like using the different weapons, hiding in the forest, urban fighting, commanding a "trinome", the laws of war and the ethic of the soldier. In the coming month, we are going to work more on those basis and learn how to command a troup and finally a section (that is to say about 30 men).
I am a huge fan of urban fighting, which is very physically and psychologically demanding (especially when the chiefs keep sending you grenades... ^^' but so darn interesting and very close to what I will be doing in the Military Engineering.)

But enough talking ! I have so many deviations to watch and journals to read...

Cheers,

Carlota.