The Normandy Ghurkas

Image courtesy of http://www.battlefield-site.co.uk/traditions.htm.

I was honored to be invited to a ceremonial dinner tonight. Bishnu, one of our loyal Ghurka's, asked me, along with a number of the other US personnel that live on this camp, to attend a special dinner tonight. The dinner was their way of honoring our outgoing general officer and welcoming the new. Each general was presented with a ceremonial Nepalese hat adorned with the Ghurka crest. These very capable and dedicated men are some of the finest soldiers in the world. Their bravery and ability is legendary. I was proud to have been invited and to attend their ceremony. The dinner consisted of a freshly butchered goat (slaughtered and barbecued directly under the window of my room) with Nepalese rice, vegetables, and rice and coconut pudding. It was delicious.

The Ghurka motto: Kaphar hunnu bhanda marnu ramro (Better to die than live a coward). One of the stories that I heard when I arrived here was this: A group of three Ghurkas went into town to buy a goat for a barbecue. They were accosted (sometimes people that work with the coalition forces are also targeted for violence) and all three were shot, one of them fatally. The other two, already shot and bleeding heavily, chased down the man that had killed their comrade, and killed him with their bare hands. They then ran across town to the embassy for protection. When asked why they killed the man, their reply was that it was what their honor required them to do.

Annie's Pink Rose

The plants here have got to be some of the fastest growing anywhere. One month ago, the rose bushes outside of my house looked like sticks stuck into the ground. This rose was just a tightly closed bud this morning and now look at it. Amazing.

Camels

I saw my first camel the other day. During our recent road trip, we were driving across a high valley when we came across a large group of nomads. The people were living in their tents that were pitched on the valley floor and had their animals tethered close by. Had we been in a more secure location, I would have liked to have stopped and taken a picture.

Everything was so green during the drive. Miles of fields that are growing made this part of the world seem considerably less 'brown.' The trip purpose of the trip was to reinvigorate us; it was a success.

Road Trip!

After a difficult past ten days or so, I am taking my team on a road trip today. In the hopes that some different sights and fresher air will cleanse our minds, we are going to attempt to recreate one of the "Vacation" movies. I'll try to get a photo of me looking at the Grand Canyon, Chevy Chase style.

Dust Storm

A pretty good storm came through the valley this afternoon and really kicked up a mess. Above are few photos showing the storm.

Virginia Tech

Why?

Tough Weekend for the Police

It has been a difficult weekend for policemen and security forces in Afghanistan. For three consecutive days, they have been targeted for attacks that were unfortunately successful.

Nothing funny to write about today.

Mighty Moose in Action

"Will someone please play with me?"

"Shhh... I'm hunting rabbits, er, socks."

"Almost there..."

"Got it!"

Moose, who has been a little sick lately, is up and back to his playful self again. There have been a number of questions asked about ol' Moose. Beyond being a dog of the four-legged variety, I don't know what kind of dog he is. He came to live with us after one of the U.S. mentors discovered him on an Afghan camp being abused. The mentor took possession of Moose and brought back to our camp. Afghans typically don't like dogs and that sentiment is shared. Anyone care to share why that is?

Meet Moose

This is the new camp dog, Moose. We are all having a good time watching him be a puppy and chase the other critters around the camp. He spent the night outside of my room and greeted me when I awoke.

Sunshine

The past two days have been extraordinarily busy and hectic. My role has changed slightly and I am enjoying the new challenges. My work days are a bit longer and the work a bit heavier. Yesterday I went up onto the roof of my house after finishing my run. It was a hot and unusually clear day. I sat atop a stack of sandbags and let the sunshine bake out all of the day's stress. I felt much renewed and ready to finish the night's tasks.

One of the friends that I have made here left for vacation today officially marking the beginning of the summer vacation cycle. There will be at least one person on leave for the next months to come. I hope that he is having safe travels and a wonderful time with his family and friends. See you when you return, Reggie.

Springtime Wanderings

No, it's not some sort of crazy game of "Put the candy on your head." If it's within arm's reach, the children tear the bag apart and the candy ends up in the dirt.

This little guy (the one whose head I am touching) was pretty cute until he punched the little girl in the pink (above photo) and stole her candy.

All photos courtesy of S.O./mslamotor16@gmail.com

Scott and I went for an excursion today into our alley and handed out some candy to the children. There seem to be more and more kids every time we do this. We also walked to a pharmacy (I use this term loosely) to buy some vitamins. The pharmacy is located directly outside out gate, so it wasn't much of a walk. We took one of our language assistants along to interpret for us. The pharmacy was an old, old store front with one small shelf and a display case. I would not be exaggerating to say that the shop was unclean. The old shopkeeper was very friendly and kind. Scott and I were digging through our wallets trying to find a small enough bill (the entire bottle of vitamins was USD$1) and the shopkeeper told us that if we didn't have the money that we could take the vitamins and pay him later. After paying and thanking the man, we walked back to the gate when we heard a vendor behind us selling obviously homemade candy. It looked like little dough balls coated with something white. We asked our language assistant and told us that it was very salty and that he didn't like it. We bought a couple of pieces and again learned that we should listen to our friends--salty indeed!

Happy Easter

Happy Easter wishes to you all on this blessed day. It was a wonderfully warm spring day in Kabul. It seems like every time I walk by the vegetation in my camp it has grown an inch higher and three new leaves. There was not anything that resembled a religious service to celebrate, but people were noticeably happier and cheerful.

My request to you readers: I welcome questions regarding this land, its future, the people, whatever comes to mind when you think about Afghanistan. Please email them to me using the link located under Profile in the left margin of this page.

Déjà Vu

I had a flashback to about 1978 today while I was running. I set my iPod to play random songs and about 15 minutes into my run an ELO song came on. I had vivid images of being in the old high school stadium, watching the cross country team come blasting across the south parking lot and onto the track for the final 300 meters, all to period music blaring from the PA system. I could see the runners (Jeff and Evan, in particular) as clearly as if they were standing in front of me.

Happy Birthday, Carp!

Back to Work

I hit the ground running after returning yesterday. It was nice to see familiar faces and be greeted back to camp.

The two weeks that I was away were apparent flying in yesterday. There was considerably more vegetation growing and the green fields were beautiful from the air. Even the little patch of what I had been told was lawn outside of my house is now green grass. There was also evidence of the flooding that occurred in central Afghanistan during this past week. From the air, I could see many low-lying areas still under water and many roads washed out.

Annie: I saw the moon again this morning for the first time since it was so bright a month ago.

Back in Kabul

An uneventful flight returned me to Kabul today. Hopefully a little sleep will help get the last of this bug out of my system.

Sleep Deprivation Study

This just in from the news you won't read anywhere else desk: take a person that hasn't had anything resembling a reasonable amount of sleep for days, transport him to the enormous Mall of the Emirates, and set him loose in the mammoth Carrefour department store (think Wal-Mart, only bigger) and what do you get? Not one, but two complete seasons of James Garner in "The Rockford Files" on DVD. 44 episodes! Nearly 40 hours! Oh, I can't wait to get back home to my DVD player and start watching. Now, if only I could find a Star Wars convention...

We leave in the morning for our return trip to Kabul. As strange as it may sound to some, it will be good to return home.

Tom Hanks in "Terminal"

I have been playing the part of Mr. Hanks these past days. We have been meeting new employees at the airport as they arrive in the region. The days and nights are long and we are all running out of energy, but the end is near. I will be returning to my normal duties in just a couple of days.

The more anticipated news: the anxiety-laden conclusion on "The Bold and the Beautiful" was broadcast today. The suspense...