And you never thought you needed to know...

I locked myself out of my room tonight and ended up tearing the screen off and climbing half way in the window to reach the lock. The window was too small to climb all the way in so I had to balance on my fulcrum to reach the handle.

I'm really glad I found my fulcrum before I came here.

The mail guyz be hatein' yo!

We haven't had mail in three days. I guess that rain snow and shine doesn't include bunker drills and Afghan holidays.

I been waiting on deoderant for weeks.

ANZAC Day

Yesterday I went to ANZAC day. It's a memorial day for New Zealand and Australia to honor those who gave their lives and to take a time to be introspective of what they are doing and how they can be better. It is a really cool celebration. http://www.awm.gov.au/commemoration/anzac/anzac_tradition.htm#today

They have a ceremony which represents all their allies and it is held at sunrise. Traditionally, the night before, they have an all night party which goes right into the sunrise ceremony and end with a breakfast. They changed it slightly here by having a reception in the afternoon to follow the morning ceremony. It was held in the Australian Embassy which I can say was the most beautiful house I've ever seen. A marble staircase with an ornate, gold colored railing led up to the rooftop where the party was. There was a great view of the city. I'll attach a picture of a mosque you could see on a ridge in the distance.

Out here “general order #1” is no drinking at all. For this celebration, they somehow got a waver to that rule, which is a total miracle. The coffee at the breakfast was spiked one with tequila and one with rum, I didn’t have the courage to try either.

All the Aussies and kiwis living in Afghanistan came in, so there was a good crowd. I got asked out on a date by an Australian, and had to tell him I work till 11 at night, every night... it just isn't even an option.

I'm hungry.

I have to wait 15 minutes before we go to lunch. In 15 minutes I might lose all energy required to walk there.

I'm going to write Chipotles and tell them it would be a cool idea to put a store in Kabul. People here like rice, beans, vegtables, tortilla looking things. I think it would be a hit. I'm also writing starbucks, because my business alone would sustain them.

Driving through Kabul

Very few buildings are in tact completly, most look like the one above. The most nice buildings you see are either new governmnt ones, OR they are the quality of the worst buildings you would see in the US.
There are men and children everywhere, not many women. The women I do see all cover their heads, about half wear burcas. Men talk while holding hands so you see lots of men holding hangs and embracing. Also homosexuality is common because women are not supposed to enjoy sex, so men go to men. I keep hearing about "Gay Thursdays" where that is the big day for this. Friday is their holy day, so I guess it's like our Saturdy night hook-up culture. Honestly, I don't really understand it yet.

These are blurry because we were driving down the road.

Action in the PM

Not that kind of action!

I'm not surprised to hear that CNN and FOX news had covered this.

I'd lie if I said I wasn't scared. It was my first one. I was settled in about 10 minutes, mostly because my boss (who lives 2 doors down from me) was so calm. I'm not that worried about them for the future, it is just a reality in living here.

I asked one of the Sgts what he thought they were aiming at, cause basically they just shoot and hope, and he said, "You Ma'am." It was the perfect answer that got us all laughing.

PS: Jean, don't get a tattoo, unless it says "Tattoo"

LHOTP

I was thinking about Little House on The Prarie today, mostly because Jill never updates her blog and I realized, I think Mary was an unconvincing blind girl. I am not convinced at all. You never saw her run into things or people play good tricks on her AND she squinted in the sunlight. Why would you squint if you can't see?

But, the biggest reason she was an awful blind person, no sunglasses.

AF Call

I'll start out by saying most of you won't understand the significance of some of these things, but I'm going to tell you about it anyway.

Yesterday was an AF call, meaning all Airmen had to come meet so that my boss could give a speech. He started by encouraging them and reminding them why they are here and what a valuable role they play here. Then at the end he fielded questions and concurs and this is what he was told.

There is an overall feeling that the AF is hated. People feel like they are supposed to apologize to the Army for being AF. The tension between the services is thick. So, he encouraged them again, telling them all to "kill them with competence". I left there thinking, I haven't seen that animosity yet...

That evening I went head to head with an Army Col (one step down from a general) to defend an opinion on priority. He nearly had me cave, but I knew I was right and in a kind but confident way told him why I was right. I couldn't believe it but he flipped and suddenly within 10 minutes was on my side. Just then, a Marine Captain who was listening in asked me about the AF call, they were all very interested to know what the Airmen had told the boss. She called all the AF fat, insulted the uniform and in the next breath asked me, in front of 3 Majors and the Army Col, if I had heard about a negative feeling coming from the AF! I almost laughed, all I could say was, "From which side ma'am?"

Sometimes I wonder if they realize we are on the same team. There is a lot to overcome purely from the joint perspective, but I think placing my boss here was part of Gods strategic plan. We are going to kill the attitude with competence.

Today is Easter. Hoorah!

Camp Eggers held a standing room only Easter Service today that I attended with the boss. I am so blessed that he is a believer because I think our faith will be a major factor in keeping our morale up. There are about 52 weeks in a year and our first Sunday was Easter Sunday. I think a nice way to start is with the message that Christ has defeated death.

I was told that there were a lot more people than normal but it was nice to see so many people there. Our chaplan is a Navy Protestant woman minister. She gave a really good enthusiastic message, which I wasn't expecting from a protestant. The most unique part of the service was the response to her opening line, "Today is Easter!" followed by a congregation in unison, "Hoorah!"

We saw her later at lunch with her staff, who I talked to. I was told that this was the team who spoke to a General in charge of Judicial affairs and religious matters in Afghanisan, when Abdul Rahman was on trial for converting to Christianity. He was fascinated that the US military can function with the freedom of religion. It was two days after their meeting that they released Rahman.

Just 1 Reason why I believe in why I'm here...

Col Thompson is currently here and sent us this link about what is being done for Afghanistan.

Here we go..

It took me almost a week to get half way around the world. We took a 2 day pit stop in Al Udeid, where there is nothing but dirt and hot. Hot is a noun, I’m serious, if you don’t believe me go anywhere near Saudi Arabia.

I’ve been in Kabul two days now. I carry a 9mil on my leg everywhere unless I'm in my office. It is strange, I have no inclination to use it but it is there.

Today I went with the security team for the boss, "PSD" personnel security detail, to another part of Kabul where there is another base. Afghans drive insane, they have only had cars here about 5 years. There are no street lights, road signs for direction or naming purpose, and no government control to make sure people are following the rules because, there are no rules. I've been to Naples and that was orderly and calm compared to here. Men, who I assume are military officials stand around with M-16s on the streets and just stare at everyone. They sometimes point cars in directions but they aren’t listened to. While going through Kabul, we got hit by a little car going about 30. It got crunched up but hit our back wheel, and we had no damage at all. We don't stop in those situations without support because that would be too dangerous. We were safe in our car because it is armored.

This place looks just like I would imagine a poverty stricken country to look. We see a lot of donkeys pulling carriages of fruit, kids with sticks full of "goods", condemned looking buildings that are the stores, but I see absolutely nothing of values out here at all. I think the only people who have money out here are the Taliban and the drug lords.

Less than half the women I see are in burcas. But all women walk behind the men they are with, if they are outside at all. 90% of the people I see here are men and children. We are near a school so there are loads of children. Every time I see the kids I get a little happy about it.

This is already a lot more hard than I thought it was going to be. I’m low right now missing home, missing anything familiar. Everything bad I feel right now will get better with time. I am excited about being here though, I know this is going to be a great adventure. I have already done many things I never have, like ride in the cockpit of a C-17 for an entire flight. (We flew over a herd of camels, it was surreal.)

I’m going to stop now, because this is too long. I have more things to say and I don’t know how to say them.

dou and heif days (that's 2.5)

Things are beginning to wind down. My list of things to do is smaller than it has ever been although it is the most significant it has ever been. I'm actually getting nervous and just have this awful feeling something wrong is going to happen like, we don't actually get a seat on the over booked flight out of the country. YIKES!

Someone thieved some of my deployment things. They grabbed a CD case that had every single DVD I own! They also took my desert boots, my rank, and lots of new shirts I needed for Afghanistan. I'm not sure what else I lost. There is no way it is just out of sight, if you've seen the apt I live in you'd understand. I have a feeling I know just how it happened. Worst part isn't that it will cost me lots of $ to replace these things but that they stole my home videos.

My life at home is hectic, I have a million things to buy and do before leaving.

I decided to get the anthrax shots, although I wasn't going to until today. Those crazy doctors will talk you into anything. Lets hope I don't fall down during this one. I've seen the guy who does it, and he looks SCARY! He gave the General a shot today and just sauntered across the room holding the needle like a cigarette, he even gestured while talking with it!

I hate needles, and have forgotten my original point.