Home, Sweet Home

24 hours on the ground.

My tour of the training facility was in the dark last night, so I had no idea of what I was looking at most of the time. It was nice to take a little stroll after lunch today to look at my temporary home. It consists of a hodge-podge of buildings that are leftover from pre-Soviet times and Soviet-era buildings. The international community is cordial and there is considerable interaction with both military and civilian personnel from many other countries. My flight in yesterday followed a UN plane that I later saw being unloaded on an airstrip near Kabul.

Today we had some security briefings, were issued our weapons (the airlines frown upon us traveling with firearms), and the remainder of our tactical gear. Our little living quarters are getting a little tight with the extra gear.

I am anxious for my body to acclimate to the elevation; Kabul is about 5,800 feet. I have had a pretty good headache since arriving, but that might also be because of the three nights in a row with less than two hours of sleep. The snoring at night from this group of men sounds like a pen full of rabid dogs. My, oh my.