I'll try to answer the questions as they come up.
The landing was fun.. as a contractor I flew commerically. We tried to come in a day before but as we approached Baghdad a sandstorm blew in and so after circling we flew back to Amman.
I'll be able to keep in touch, np. Should be online every day.
Living in a converted steel pre-fab. Definitely air conditioned. Small, but cool.
It is definitely warm, but will get much hotter. Right now it is still pretty dusty.
SoCal, it's funny you said that. As I was flying over wondering what the heck I was doing I thought of that and realized I'm on the right course.