My Very Own Shipping Container (AKA Living Quarters)

Do you ever watch 18-wheel trucks drive down the highway and think, “That container on the back looks big enough to live in!”  Well, according to the housing office here at Camp Eggers, it’s big enough for three people to live in.  “Luckily,” due to my rank, I only have to share my shipping container with one other person.  Luckily is in quotes because in other less crowded camps around Afghanistan a Major would have their very own shipping container.  I should feel lucky however, since there are other camps where people live in tents, so it’s all relative.

Here is a picture of what my container building looks like.  I live on the second floor.

And here is the view from the top of those stairs.  This is the only real "common area" on Camp Eggers.

It's hard to picture that my building is made of shipping containers, so I took a picture of them adding a third floor to another housing unit.  Check it out:

Yep...there is someone's future room being lifted into place.

Actually, you will be pretty surprised when you see the final product.  It really isn't as bad as you think.  Here is what it look like when you enter my building:

I was really worried when I saw my room was next door to the bathroom because I thought it would be noisy, but I can't hear a thing from in there.  However, you can hear a pin drop in the hallway.

So, I told you I share my room with another person.  In the two-to-a-room situation, one person gets the front of the room and the other gets the back of the room.  Since the back of the room is quieter and more private, it is the most preferred location, so when someone moves out of the room, the one in front moves to the back.  When I first got my room, I shared with a woman in the Royal Air Force.  She got the back and I was in the front.  Here is what my setup looked like when you open the door to my room.  Actually, this picture was taken the day Ann moved out, so I'm about to move all my stuff to the back.  

Can you tell I like purple?

Here is a picture of my current set up in the back of the room.  My share of the room measures about 7 x 7 feet.

Another thing that I am actually lucky about is that the bathroom is inside our building.  Some people actually live in quarters that you have to go outside to use a bathroom!  There are two bathrooms on my floor with each having two sinks, three stalls, and three showers.  Although I'm a morning showerer

Right: Looking in the bathroom with stall on right. Left: Showers.

So...there it is....my home away from home.  Its not as bad as it could be, but its not the best situation either.  The room is pretty small, but I guess it's good practice for my upcoming life of living in a backpacking tent and maybe, eventually living on a sailboat.