Fridays and Friends

Our day off around here is Friday. Some weeks Friday doesn't come soon enough and other times, it arrives suddenly.  This Friday was one of the funnest times here thus far.  My general activities for Friday are like clockwork, this Friday had some pleasant changes.

I slept in a little bit, woke up with some big time pain in the shoulder in back-that bed has got to go.  I took motrin and plugged in the heating pad. I got my coffee and breakfast ready before I got on skype with Kevin. Got a chance to talk to Cecilia for a little while about school, her braces and how everything is going for her.  She was wearing my Battaan Death March sweatshirt, she says it makes her feel closer to me. Made me cry, I miss her so very much! Kevin and I had a good chat, but, it was getting late and he needed to get to bed.  He has been sick for the last two weeks with the worst cold he has ever had.  He is working the golf tourny this week, he is on the mountain bike all day, not really helping him to get better.  Then if I keep him up all night talking him, he is not going to get any better either.

So, I got off of the phone with him and put in a $2 movie to watch while I worked on the Kirigami design for this week.  It is a rose.  It covers 6 days of cut-outs. It is the first rose design I have done.

I also did this butterfly-my best yet.

I could hear everyone gabbing out in the hallway so I went out there to see what was going on and we got to talking about when we are going to play cards.  We decided on 2pm and Phase 10 would commence in the hallway. I went to lunch with Freddy and when I got back I worked on the picture I colored for the week.

Then the time came for the games to commence.  It was epic.  This was our card table area.  my seat, the one covered in my poncho is on one of my containers, it has my chem gear in it. Notice the puff of smoke in Chief's face, it is vapor-not really smoke though.

The best part was the uncontrollable laughter from Chief-he just came back from R & R.  While he was gone he picked up some of those e-cigarettes to help with the smell of smoke etc on his clothes.  However, we have determined there is something else in those things from all the giggling from Chief. 

The jokes-were out of control.  Hanks was picked on for the smelly farts she has all the time.  Freddy was picked on for being Mexican. Chief for the giggles and being Peruvian, plus his doughnut chair.

Martindale for his anger over a silly little card. Me for having the right cards in my hand and not playing them and getting caught with them.

Comments said:

Hanks needed to step over Freddy to get to her room-"she needs to cross the border"
Freddy for concern over the farts-"not sure which end to let pass, front or back"
Chief repeatedly asking, "I have a question. What is a set?"
Martindale, "I just need one damn card, come on, give me a card."
Cards I would love to steal from the deck for next time, "Skip and the 12 or 11 cards" Freddy kept dropping them on me.
Chief discarded too soon, "Premature discard"
The endless jokes on Hanks for her farts and eating, she is not fat-they just call her that, she is not gay either, but, the jokes that she is are endless.
Freddy calling the game, "Is this white people UNO?"

There were so many.  We were into our second game, I lost the first one-Chief won.  Chief agreed to play the second game to continue his winning streak of one game won.  The first 5 or 6 hands he kept saying, " I need to break for dinner, I need to go eat." But, he would still just sit there and giggle. 

Three separate times the Major came in.  The first, to see what we were doing-having fun, now go away. The second, to deliver my mail, a letter from Cecilia that got mis-routed.

The third, he found this football for the dog, Angel.

By the way, this is Angel.

This is her trying to get the dog food Hanks bought her

A thing to note-a guy came in earlier to tell us he was from a new unit that is in place and he was just going around meeting people.  His weapon sling was serving as a support for his gut...anyways, he said he was from the Unit written on the football.  They just got in, named a football and the Major stole it to give to us for the dog he has never seen? Odd-which made us laugh even more...check out the name brand of the ball.

We finally gave into the Chief and said we would go to dinner.  We giggling all through the meal.  We embarrassed Chief like kids embarrass their parents-it was funny.  Friday is steak night.

Then it was back to the game.  I was waiting for a message from Kevin if he was ready to call.  I had my computer in the hallway ready for him.  Martindale was waiting for his wife to call too.  I got the message from Kevin he was ready-ran to the toilet real fast and talked with him for a little while.  Talked to Will for a few minutes too.  It was great to talk to Kevin.  Although I was having a fun time, I wished he was playing cards with me too.

We finished up our game, Martindale won.  I got last place.  Stupid 12s and skips.

Then it was back to my room to do my weekly letters for the kids and cards.  I did a couple other special letters for Kevin and I sent back the dot game to Cecilia.  Here is what my weekly mailings look like.  I also send out stuff through the week to Kevin.

I watched a little bit of t.v. then went to reading some more of the book I got from Jana, "Wizard's First Rule" by Terry Goodkind.  It is pretty good so far, a new genre for me to try.  It makes me have some interesting dreams of swords and wizardry. 

I sent off my goodnight text to Kevin complete with Muah, muah, muah and it was off to sleep.

It was mostly a typical Friday, but, it was nice to spend it laughing and joking and building friendships.  We are going to include Niazy in the next game-we will have 4 countries represented.  Mexico, USA, Peru and Afghanistan-quite the international card game!  I look forward to more Fridays to come and make more memories, laughter and maybe, just maybe win a game of cards.

Moving on and letters

Today when I woke up, I had zero motivation.  I wanted to sleep a little longer and do something other then put on clothes and shoes to go take a shower.  But, nothing can change where I am and I have a job to do.  I made some coffee-starbucks packets from Kevin and some cinnamon toast-why trudge through the chow hall?  As I was walking up to my work office I heard a nice sound-the little birds that occupy the roofs around our building.  I thought I should get a picture of them, I really miss listening to the birds and I hear these little guys every day, I would hate it if I never took any pictures of them.  Then the new guy, Freddy walked up and scared them away...for a second though, it was nice.

Today is the day that the Army guys were leaving.  Cansdale, Nilsen and White were heading back to KAF for their movement forward to go home.  They have all been in country for a year.  It is going to be weird not to have them around and hear their stories and b.s. about tv shows and movies.  They will have some folks replacing them eventually.  Cansdale of course wanted to say goodbye to Satar.  I knew it was going to be hard on Satar and for Cansdale.  Satar teared up and hugged Cansdale for a good amount of time.  He said that he hopes Cansdale comes back again and that he will miss him dearly. He was like a twin brother to Satar and when there would be a day that he didn't see Cansdale, he was sad.  He said he would be sad for a lot of days now.  Cansdale said after the good byes and we were on our way back to the office that he has never felt this way before, that he didn't want to leave, that he didn't want the deployment to end.  He wishes he could take this job and Satar and the whole operation to the States so he could have his family and this job at the same time. That is the effect this place can have. We are here to win the hearts and minds of Afghanistan, but, are they winning ours?

While we were out doing the goodbyes and whatnot I could hear some cheering and yelling going on.  Looked as though the camp's soldiers were in some sort of volleyball tournament.  I got a picture of them playing, from a distance.  Something to note about volleyball, they love playing so much that in the interpreter village (Camp Lyons), they emptied the sand bags around their tents to make a volleyball pit to play in.  Of course when the rains came-it washed out their tents-but, by golly they had a place to play volleyball.

For lunch today we all decided to eat together-with the exception of the Major and the civilians.  No idea where the Major was-he didn't even say goodbye to the guys.  Fail.  The last time we all ate as a group was Christmas.  It was nice to laugh and joke with each other and have a good time.  Lunch today was lasagna and pizza-two of the best things they make-so it was good to have a nice meal to send them off.  We got back to the embassy and got their gear all loaded up and snapped a couple of photos.  Niazy and Hydari were both pretty moved about them leaving.  They have spent the whole year with them.  It was sad to see everyone to go and how sad Niazy was for losing his brother too.  But, we all move on eventually.

On another note of moving on.  A civilian by the name of Mark came down from Kabul with a validation team about a month ago.  We found out today that only 4 days away from going back home to his family in Oklahoma, he had a massive heart attack and passed away.  He was close friends with some of the civilians we have working with us and it hit them pretty hard today.  I had a chance to get to know him while he was here and he was a really nice guy, he was 63. My prayers are with his family and friends.

Losing people you know, whether very well or not very much makes you appreciate what you have more every day.  I will never stop saying how grateful I am for all the friends and family I have.  More then ever Kevin and the kids.  I got some mail today from them and I was all sad about everyone leaving and hearing about Mark and I get the letters from them, that always make me smile.  I could tell that Cecilia has been on restriction from tv because I get some really good drawings from her.

Matthew's creativity in putting his valentines in the envelopes was classic.

I started a game with Cecilia-recommended by my best friend from grade school, Angie Lineberry-Simmons, through the mail.  The connect the dots game.  I draw ten lines in one color and write the date, then she draws ten lines in a color and writes the date-it is great. As you can see, she has one point.

I got several letters from Kevin too.  One which is in the red envelope is something I started us doing.  Not sure if you have heard about it or not, but, it is 1000 questions to ask your partner.  We know each other pretty well, but, it is just something to get to know each other better.  They vary from personality things, to material things.  I just sent out our next 10 questions-we are up to 30 questions now.  The deal is that he has to answer the questions and seal the envelope for the mail before he can read my answers to not be swayed by my answers or anything like that.  I just got his first 10 questions answers.  I love to get to know him this way and it keeps us connected.  I love him so very much and I love to learn about him.  This deployment, any deployment can easily derail a relationship-we are determined to not let that happen to us.  It takes work, time and commitment to keep a loving relationship together and if you feel the other person is worth it, like I do with Kevin-then you do what you need to do.  But, it doesn't feel like work to me, I enjoy this.

Hanks, Martindale and Romero (Sounds like a law firm) all work together in a vehicle maintenance area and are attached to the FSD also.  A couple weeks ago there was a puppy running around the FOB and the Sgt Major wanted to kill it-spread of germs etc.  So, given he is here 4 months and Hanks and Martindale are here for a year-they kidnapped the dog and have her in their vehicle yard.  Her name is Angel.  I have yet to see her, will do soon.  Hanks decided to order some dog food for her, against our advice.  We don't want Angel to get used to dog food since the people who replace us will only feed her food from the DFAC, but, it is just one bag of dog food.  I went with her to the mail room to pick it up.  It was a 85lb bag of dog food.  Amazon shipped it in a diapers.com box for whatever reason. Here's Hanks with it.

So, we thought it would be funny to put Chief's (Romero) mail in there and give it to him and ask if he got some adult diapers or something.  The look on his face is awesome.  Today was his first day back after coming back from his R & R leave.  I said, "Welcome Back Chief-did you miss us?".  He brought back that card game Phase 10.  We are going to build a table and play cards in our hall way area soon.  That should be fun.  I am going to teach them how to play Nut!!

Wasn't a bad day once it got going.  It was full of some ups and downs. But, it is one more day down to coming home to my life again.  As Kevin would put it, as he does on all my letters-today is Day 87 of the Kristin Hostage Crisis.  Getting closer, one day at a time.  Tomorrow is Friday-my day off....can sleep in.

Partnerships in this Mentorship journey

In the last couple of days I have really come to the proud realization that I am becoming a successful mentor in this job and building partnerships with so many people-with us all having the same goal-to get Afghanistan on their own two feet and get us out of here.  You may read that and think wow what happened?

To start with, Satar is the ANA Captain I mentor.  He has seen mentors come and go.  Prior to me was Maack-which they had a good working relationship, but, his focus was split by doing things to making the FOB Lindsey a better place-which isn't a bad thing. Then Cansdale an Army SSgt came along and he has spent the last 6 months with Satar.  There was others before Maack too.  So, I can only imagine what goes through his mind when a new mentor comes to town.  Then to have a female mentor, the first female mentor for the FSD ever.  I am an anomaly.  There was a lot of unknowns.

I have worked with Satar now for almost 3 months.  I enjoy working with him and seeing his mind work.  He is a smart, organized and interesting man.  His soldiers respect and fear him.  I am always trying to make sure the suggestions I make will be translated correctly and he will be receptive to them.  He gives me suggestions too. 

I needed to tell you that before going into how the last few days have unfolded. On Sunday and Monday we were working on spray painting 12 x 12 boxes on the containers then going back through and spraying identification numbers in a contrasting color on the boxes we sprayed on them.  Monday we were working on the ASP and of course Satar came out to join us, to help.  I had Rockman with me, an interpreter I don't normally have with me.  He wears traditional Afghan garb, no uniform like the others.  He lives in Kandahar village, so he can't have anything that makes him recognizable as an interpreter or he risks getting shot at.  More about that later.  So Satar was walking with us as we sprayed and he asked if we could spray the orange squares on the tan containers and I said we could do whatever he wanted to do, this is his ASP.  He said no, it is yours, you are the king of the ASP.  I said, no we are a team, we are partners in making this ASP better.  He said yes, you are like a brother to me, you are family and we will take care of it together.  He said sometimes you will do something I like, sometimes I don't like and I will do things you like and don't like-but, we are brothers and will talk it out.  I thought this was a huge step for our relationship.  He adores Cansdale and I was worried about Satar not accepting me because he had such a great relationship with Cansdale and I am a female-so I have been worried about it. Now, I am not so worried.

We continued to spray the containers and I took him to lunch.  We decided to call it a day after lunch, he had some paperwork to do, so that was fine with me. 

Which brings us to yesterday.  It was raining, not conducive to spray painting at all. Which was fine because we were going to be issuing out some weapons anyways.  While waiting for Satar to work on the paperwork for the weapons, I had a conversation with an ANA soldier who is learning to speak English better. He had spoke to me previously and I just thought he was kind of weird because he had come up to me and said he wanted to practice his English on me.  But, he was asking a lot of personal questions, so it was weird and not like they normally are.  Nonetheless, we had a new Army Unit come in and they are just getting set up.  So they had some weapons come in.  Some M9 handguns, M16 rifles and M249 machine guns.  This guy speaking to me was part of the ANA Unit associated with the Army folks I had been speaking to about their weapons coming in.  So he was talking to me about the US being in Afghanistan and what I thought of it.  On one hand, I want us to get out of here, on the other I can see what great ground we are covering to help Afghanistan stand on their own two feet to face their enemy.  Without us helping them to get to that point, the 30 years of war would just continue to carry on.  We aren't trying to make a mini-America-even though a lot of people think they can do that.  So I shared my thoughts with him about it.  He agrees that they wouldn't have been able to do this without our help and how great it has been for creating employment with the creation of the ANA, the money they make is so small-only 155 dollars a month-but, it is so much more then what they had before.  Although, if there are those tempted by greed and money, the Taliban will pay them around 250 dollars a month.  But, it goes against the Koran to be greedy and money hungry, so those that stay with the ANA are truly loyal to the right beliefs of the Koran and for the greater good of Afghanistan.  This ANA soldier chose to start learning English because for one it is easier to communicate and he wants to be a more valuable asset to the military.  He wants to be the best he can be as a soldier and to do the right thing. I thought that was pretty interesting and was mad at myself for thinking him strange.

Satar finished his paperwork and we went to go hand out the weapons.  I saw that my tire was low on my truck then saw it had a nail in it.  So I had to change out the tire. Bad timing of course, there is never a good time for a flat tire.  We were right in the middle of issuing out the weapons to the guys.  I told Satar that I needed to break away and get this tire changed.  He said he would do it.  I said no, you work on the weapons issue and I will take care of the tire.  I pulled my truck over to a cement area to have a stable ground to jack it up etc.  I no sooner got the jack out of the truck when I was surrounded by soldiers ready to change the tire for me.  Every time I went to do something, they pushed me away and said they would do it.  So, I let them. not without taking a picture of them of course.  Anything I try to do, especially with Satar's soldiers, they will come forward sort of push me away and will do it themselves-which is exactly what I want them to do.  They learn from me showing and will do it on their own, no matter the task.

We finished issuing out the weapons and had to go to the ASP to issue out the ammo to go with the weapons.  When we got out there, the wind had picked up and it was lightly raining. We needed to tend to a task though. We had some tarps that are covering some pallets of ammo outside and with the winds lately, we needed to pull them across over the ammo.  Satar was issuing out the ammo and I went to go fix the tarps.  Satar's soldier-I call him 50-50-he is a team player, helps lift things-you name it, so he is 50-50.  He has a lot of potential to become a NCO one day.  He is learning bits of English too. He calls me Kristi. He can count in English and read English numbers. So he comes to help move the tarps in place, along with Rock.  I let Rock wear my rain jacket earlier, he wasn't dressed for outside work again.  So we start to move the tarps-it was a mess. Some of the tarps had giant pools of water on them and we had to get the water out in order to get it to cover the stacks.  It was treacherous.  Rock was going to climb up on the stacks in his dress shoes!  I said no Rock I have it.  In the process of trying to get this done-the skies just opened up.  Absolutely soaked.  I felt bad because it was 50-50s only uniform.  I hope he was able to get it to dry.  I ended up sending Rock home, I didn't want him to get sick.  Well we got back to the truck and Satar was in it, dry as a bone.  He saw how wet we were and he felt so bad.  I reminded him of the discussion we had  earlier- that we are a team.  I said, I can't do the paperwork-he can, so while he did paperwork, we covered the ammo.  He said I work too hard. I told him he does too and we went to lunch.  We were done for the day.

Today I had a pretty interesting conversation with a Sgt Major with the French-Canadian Army.  He got a hold of me yesterday to sit down and discuss the recent actions of Frenchy-the guy I wrote about previously.  He wanted to know what had happened, how to make it better etc. I told him all about what had happened and that we aren't chosen for this job based on our personality, we are chosen by the fact we are a person to fill in the job.  Frenchy's personality is not fit for this job.  I told him that given the nature of their job, within EOD that he needs to have patience, more so then other jobs-he is not playing with mattresses here, it is stuff that goes BOOM. He apologized for his actions and he will be dealt with.  He is also going to apologize to Satar for how Frenchy was to him also and he is going to introduce us to his replacement and to help resolve the problem. He commended me for bringing it to Frenchy's supervision to be dealt with and said I have the right personality for this job if I was able to get the C4 moved safely for Satar to understand it needed to be moved and take the steps to get it moved.  Without the right mentorship, they would have just left this stuff stay where it was.  So, positive outcome for a conversation I wasn't looking forward to.  It was cool to work with another country, another military and resolve even bigger problems then I normally face.

I have had contact with various civilians thus far too and one of them is a mentor for another branch of the ANA called Commandoes.  He is the mentor with their munitions.  We shared tactics today on how to get the ANA to take safety seriously.  I shared with him about bringing the family aspect into it, that is a heavy hitter.  We shared pictures of what we have seen and how to deal with it.  This is the kind of stuff that needs to be taught at the training. 

Yesterday, the new guy Freddy and I were trying to find what locks the keys he was given by Q went to.  We had a dog handler guy tell us he thought this building was ours and maybe the keys will go to that building.  In talking with him he asked about if we could get his dogs some smell time with ammo.  So the dogs can get used to smelling big stores of certain types of ammo, C4, 155 Rounds etc.  So I said yes, we could arrange that sometime-that would be pretty cool.

Moral of this blog-building relationships takes time, patience, understanding, ingenuity. In the last few days, I helped to better relationships with Canada and Afghanistan, then learned and taught some tactics to US forces. Opened up some opportunities to help train the K9 dogs too.  I am sure I will need the Canadians help with something down the line. I know every day the K9 dogs look out for me. I treat the ANA with a lot of respect and I care about them and their future-in doing so-they will look out for me.  Whether it is if I get wet or not putting a tarp on a stack of ammo, changing my tire-which another interpreter-Popal has offered to fix the tire for me, no matter what-you treat others as you wish to be treated and the possibilities are endless. I have been criticized over the years as a leader that I am too nice, too lenient at times, too friendly.  Well, as I see it-the way I am is making significant changes here and saving my ass.

So-be nice and others will be nice back!

The moments that make me smile, warmed my soul, or made me go huh?

In the airport on the way here, the person who checks passports and IDs in the Tucson airport, gave me a hug.  She just saw me say goodbye to Kevin and Cecilia.  Still can't type this without crying.
An old lady on the plane gave me a hug.

A retired First Sgt bought me lunch in Dallas.

When I saw a bus full of Afghanistans going to a job fair, in Baltimore-was on the shuttle to hotel. I know how much of a sacrifice they have made to try to get employment to feed thier families in Afghanistan.  At the moment, I just thought-you have got to be kidding me.

The showers in Manas with no shower curtains.

Taking a picture in Germany of my flat family in the snow.

Watching the people coming home and the celebration that was happening for them while in airport in Blatimore.

When I got here and remembered I labled the box that had the sheets in it-great idea!  Failed in writing it on the right box....they were of course in the last box-but, I unpacked that first night in this place I call home now.

The yummy lemon cake they have on occasion in the chow hall.

Learning the ANA language, we learned Dari at training, they speak Pashtu of course.  Discovering that the sound of laughter is universal.

That shaking a hand is more then a greeting, it is like a little hug for your hand.  Some are unwanted of course and some of them think that because I am tall I have hands of steel, um no, don't squeeze the crap out of it.

Being wished long life, health and the birth of many sons-by A LOT of people.  It is the nicest thing to say to a woman.

Hearing the ANA learn to count when I show them the American number.

Drinking chai and eating little pound cakes, eating and drinking another universal way to communicate.

Opening a new bottle of body wash and shampoo-that is progress.

Getting the good shower and it is hot so I can shave my legs.

Watching a $2 copy of a movie and it is a Good Copy and not taped in the theater with people coughing, babies crying and soda being slurped.

Buying my t.v. and dvd player-saved my life.  More on what I have watched later.

Seeing a rainbow. 

Hearing children's laughter as they chase down a dump truck with dirt in it.  The Navy guy hands out water bottles and candy to them.

Seeing the chow hall has the good creamer again.

Eating oranges from the ANA while we sit around and talk about why Americans have different last names and where do first names come from.

Teaching the interpreters better English.  Here are some epic fails:

"I'm going to punch you in the teets" instead of "nuts"
"I like my wedgtables." instead of vegetables.
"They go too far past the line" instead of he crossed the line.
"His neice is in the ANA" instead of nephew.
"Kristina" instead of Kristin-sigh, everyday on this one.

The biggest stuff that warms my heart every day-the support I have from everyone out there.

Kevin-he has been beyond amazing.  Truly amazing.  He writes me a letter every day.  I love getting them, they may be about the news, about Cecilia, Matthew, William-anything. I love that he puts at the top, Day 70 of Kristin's Hostage Crisis.  He keeps me sane.  He sends me a package at least once a week. It makes him feel better about being able to support me.  He can't make this place go away or hug me when I just can't take it anymore and don't know how I will make it.  When the office I work in is destroying my confidence with the degrading, demoralizing, unprofessional behavior with no recognition of my rank and abilities....I digressed.  Inside each box varies on what I get.  He keeps me supplied with soup and things like that.  Sometimes I will give him a list. Because of him I have a real plate, bowl, small plate, fork, knife, spoon, coffee cups. I have a hot water kettle so I can have a cup of tea, PJ tips that he sent me, sent me Starbucks coffee singles too. Sends me flavored creamers, little tasty snacks.  Best part he sends me is the little things to make it better here.  Little robot bugs-named Mickey and Minnie of course, Moon Dough, the Butterfly in a jar-its operated by batteries, not a real butterfly of course. When he sent me Seinfeld-the entire series! He sends me magazines and silly little things that are so romantic and endearing.  I get pictures from the kids too.  He is always thinking about me which makes me so happy and in love.  So many guys could say, what you are going to Afghanistan-see you later.  He didn't and he offered to take care of Cecilia too.  Which he is doing awesome with her. On the Honor Roll twice! She just got braces on, he went through 5 cavity visits, 3 teeth pullings and has endured watching the Bachelor with her.  He has been truly amazing.  He has put up with my million and one ways to keep things fun, the cosmo quizes I send him. The articles from the magazines I cut out and send him with little comments.  Without him, I wouldn't have this computer, I paid him for it, he ordered it, had it sent to him and sent it to me.  Next is a camera-mine died naturally last week also.  I wouldn't know how this whole thing here would be going without his love and support and everything he is doing at home.

The packages and letters from everyone else.

Cookies I got from my mom when I first got here-they were awesome.
Cub Scout troop that sent everyone their own individual boxes.
Jana who sent me movies, two books, some snacks and a candle.  Plus letters.
My neighbors, Barry and Carol, sent me a box of snacks.
Penny who sent me a box of things everyone needs when deployed-lotions, chapstick, drink mixes-it was great.
Kathy-Kevin's sister who has sent me two boxes of the exact right things.  She sent me a plant, who is named Ruby-that is doing awesome.  It is almost 8 inches tall now.  Everyone talks about it.  I just got a wind sock-will probably stay in my room though someone might steal it. She has sent me cards that are very uplifiting too.  Her support means a lot to me.
The box Will and Theresa sent full of magazines, sorry Kevin, more articles to go through and the yummy girl scout cookies and pictures, it was awesome.
Kevin's parents who send me cards and pictures of the kids, so sweet of them to think of me.

I am just so touched by the support from everyone.  The card I got from Tiffany came on a day I was really low, was so nice of her to send it.  Got pictures of my nephew Jeremy for the first time, was so nice! The text messages on Christmas from everyone, albeit I couldn't reply-was so nice.  I got a card from George Wirth and his girlfriend who used to work for me, I teared up when I got it-just so nice.

What warms my heart also is how excited the mail room guy is to give me mail and to have mail to send off.  He knows me by name and knows that the pink envelopes are from Kevin and the blue ones are from Cecilia.  I share with him from time to time the pictures she draws.  When the cub scouts sent the boxes, Q was being an ass so I gave his box to the mail room guy.  He teared up and said it was the nicest and most thoughtful thing anyone has done for him. It was so sweet.

To give you an idea of how many cards and letters I have received....120 letters, not counting the packages. 69 of which are from Kevin, 37 from Cecilia and the rest are from other people.  So very blessed.  Some people have said to me wow that seems excesive, I just think they are jealous because they aren't as supported and loved.  But, you have to give to recieve.  I try to email, write do whatever I can to give back.  The kids get 3 letters a week, sometimes more. Kevin gets more a week then that, though we talk to each other almost every day with Magic Jack. We text each other on our Blackberrys-it is free between them-so that has been so nice.  The internet isn't always reliable here.  It can get pretty confusing though with the 11 1/2 hour time difference here, but, we are getting pretty good at it.

There are more moments, those are the big ones.  Still trying to catch you all up....later I will cover what has kept me entertained....

The things you just can't believe

So far since I have been here, there have been things that have happened that I just couldn't make up.  In no particular order....

1. An ANA Captain kept a shipment of ammo for 5 months out of spite.  Pure spite.  In this shipment were EOD assets that the terrorists in this country would love to use against us.  C4, Det Cord, Blasting Caps-a lot of it.  It took 5 months for the Unit who requested it to realize they never got it.  When the Unit came to us and asked where this is at, we wondered too.  A huge investigation was underway to figure it out.  In the process of the investigation it was suspected to be in 5 different places.  It was even suspected to be in a weapons cache-which was the scariest.  Paperwork for this had been forged, it was just plain BAD.  Then one day, this Captain who speaks very good English and could be mistaken as American came forward and said he had it.  What?  Are you for real?  Our guy, Satar started to tell us the story that he had come forward because he knew there was an investigation going on.  He had intercepted the shipment because he had received a shipment of straight tracer ammo and he wanted ball ammo and because he didn't get what he wanted, he kept everything and told nobody about it.  So he said he would be at the FSD office in the morning with the assets.  Yeah, I would believe that when I saw it.  Next day, 1000 came and went.  The Major came over and asked where he was, to be precise, it was 1020 at that time.  Satar said, he will be here and if he doesn't come, he would go into Khandahar city and bring him back by the ear.  The Major was not satisfied with that answer and said he would go and just start looking in containers at random.  We said, that won't work, this guy is the only one with the keys and knows where it is at.  It makes no sense whatsoever to just start opening containers!  But, who am I?  I have been in for 18 years, clearly I am an idiot.  So Satar and I continued what we were doing, sorting out some weapons for a new unit.  Next thing I know, the Major pulls up-I am going to get the assets right now, the guy is behind the ANA Dining Facility.  Really? So we all piled in the truck to race after him.  Wild goose chase.  We get there, there is no guy, there are containers and the Major thinking he is going to strong arm his way in.  Fail.  So, Satar said a few choice words about the Major and we went back to the FSD office.  Guess who was there?  The guy with the assets.  We go to the truck, look in the back and see most of the assets, but, not all of them.  We tell him it is not safe here with all these people who could be at risk if the C4 has become unstable at all, we need to go to the ASP (Ammunition Storage Point) to pull it all out of the truck to inventory it.  He was fine with that.  He is still pissed about Kabul sending him the wrong ammo and was continuing to bitch about it.  We told him we don't care, all we care about is the ammo in front of us.  I make a call to my Chief up in Kabul to let him know the situation, we have visual on some of it, not all of it and we are going to the ASP for verification and safety reasons.  No problem.  We get out to the ASP and all of it is there, except the 480 sticks of C4!  Great.  But, the Capt says, it may be in another one of his depot locations, it is an hour away, so it will take a little while.  What choice do we have but to see if he will bring it back or not.  He brought back the rest and it was all there, seals were intact etc.  We were all having some chai, which is tea-I drink a lot of it here.  We offered him a cup and he said, no time for chai, he needs to get that C4.  I knew at that point-he would be bringing it back.  Afghans always have time for chai. I called the Chief and explained the situation and that I would let him know if there was any changes.  No problem. So we go to lunch.  I stopped off at the office to check email etc.  I see an email that the Major sent saying that ALL of the assets had been found.  Really?  He didn't even bother to come to the ASP to look.  I went to lunch.  When I got back I told the Major that all the assets have not been found, that the C4 was still missing, the most critical asset in the whole mess.  So, he had to send a new email that it hadn't been found.  I at this time...knew that the guy was on his way with the C4-but, well I kept that part to myself.  Let the Major look like an ass, I don't care.  We meet up with the guy and head to the ASP and it is all there. I called the Chief and let him know-all is good, he did say-wow your Major doesn't know anything does he?  Ha-ha.....So we shook hands with ANA Captain, drank some chai and he went on his way.  We got pictures of it all, pictures with holding the C4-all of it and we have been exonerated of the investigation-everyone thought we had it in our possession the whole time.  Then, I called the Major and let him know it had been found. I should add of course, the Major took credit for finding it, inventorying it-everything.  Although he is in not of the validation pictures....idiot.

2.  Frenchy the idiot and the C4.  Frenchy is a French-Canadian soldier in the Canadian Army.  He is more French and doesn't really deserve to be called a Canadian.  So, in calling him Frenchy-I mean zero disrespect, this guy is an ass.  Frenchy is part of the Unit who requested the EOD assets mentioned above.  He is the one who brought it to our attention it was missing in the first place and we started the ball rolling in where was it.  He said he needed it quite badly and was adamant about finding it and since it had been determined as missing, he even put in a new request.  Now, if you are this eager about getting it it would lead a person to assume that you have a safe and secure place to store it.  We do not have a safe and secure place to store it.  We had to put a guard on it and worry about it the whole time. So, when the assets came in, I called Frenchy and said it is here, when do you want to come get it.  He said right now-great.  I said though, you need an ANA soldier with you who can sign for the assets, it can't be Coalition force to Coalition Force, it needs to be ANA to ANA to take care of this.  He said no problem.  There was a problem though.  They guy wouldn't sign for it.  Frenchy wouldn't agree to where they were going to store it.  They were going to put it in a container 25 ft away from their sleeping quarters.  Having that stuff in a container that close was a suicide mission.  I agreed with Frenchy how dangerous that is.  But, the deal was-on KAF there is a place to store it where it is safe and secure and that is what had been done in the past.  But, Frenchy and his ANA guy that he mentors don't see eye to eye.  Not a shock really since French previously punched one of the ANA for disagreeing with them....So, Frenchy and his ANA guy come to the FSD to sign the paperwork and it is discovered at this time the problem with thier lack of trust relationship.  His ANA didn't trust him to take it to KAF and store it and the ANA Capt is not allowed in the ASP at KAF, so he wouldn't let him take it.  The only way he would sign is if he could store it where he wanted to.  Frenchy disagreed.  We tried talking to the Unit's commander and he said the only way he would sign the paperwork is if it would be in the container next to them.  We told Frenchy, maybe you should have him sign the paperwork, put it in the container next to them and readdress the moving to KAF in a couple days when your tempers are not so high and the issue has calmed down some.  Try to build some trust with him and let him have this decision, then re approach.  So-we got to that point and they came into the office ready to sign the paperwork.  Then this happened....first about your interpreter.  Your interpreter should have a good enough sense to know when and when not to translate stuff.  Especially when you can tell a person is venting and that what they are saying could potentially hurt the other person.  There is some thinking that is needed.  What can destroy your interpreter relationship-when your interpreter doesn't trust you or like you....back to what happened.  Frenchy says, "I don't agree with this, I think it is stupid and he is an idiot to do this"...translated over, "ANA says, so you think I am a baby?"....translated. "I think you are an idiot and don't trust my 23 years of experience"....translated..."Well F U I am not signing the paperwork and I am done talking to you, I am done". translated....Frenchy says, "I am Fing done with you to I should just speak French all the time you are a f-ing idiot, I am going back to KAF and not coming back!"....The ANA guy said something, not really sure what it was, but it involved a snap, a karate chop in the air, some spit and a really angry face.  Back to square one. We got stuck with the stuff.  Two days later Frenchy called me and complained that how the stuff is stored and that it needs to be stored correctly.  Hello, it was stored temporarily because you were coming to get it. (We have no room in our containers for it, we have stuff stored outside!  No way was I going to store C4 outside-are you nuts?) Then you got into a huge argument and we got stuck with it.  I told him if he can't resolve his differences and get the stuff off our hands then I have no choice then to put it back on a truck to Kabul.  So, figure this out.  I will not be the mentor to his guys, that does no good.  He needs to grow up and figure it out.  He said he would be gone until the 20th and he would address it when he got back.  Fail. I don't want Satar's guys at risk that long.  We will resolve it.  So we did.  Satar spoke to the Commander of the Unit, explained he had an option for them if they were willing to take it. There is an old Aircraft shelter that is being used as an office, use it to store the AMMO and use a container for their office area.  The Commander agreed and last Tuesday they came and got the AMMO and it is stored safely and securely.  The only one with the key is none other then the ANA Capt Frenchy thought was an idiot....Amazing when things are dealt with as adults.  Frenchy doesn't know yet...can't wait to tell him we fixed his ANA problem that he failed to do as their mentor.  I have also since spoke to his boss and recommended that he be reassigned in another section that doesn't involve mentor ship, more of a partnership as a worker instead.  He will never be able to regain the trust with what he has done to dissolve what he has done.

3.  The 101 uses of a forklift.  They use the forklift in so many ways that I have to shake my head sometimes and if I can, get a picture.  They moved vehicles on the forks, over a long distance.  They pick up 40 ft containers, sometimes full of stuff that lifts the back wheels up. They tow vehicles, they dig holes, they use it as a jack. They don't set anything down gently, they drop it. They don't do anything slowly, it is always in a hurry. They will get off of the forklift with a load on it in mid-air. They leave the forks up in mid air, at take your head off height normally. They drag containers, drag vehicles, drag other forklifts. They ride on the forks, ride on anywhere on the forklift really.  They never close the door, it just swings around aimlessly. If they are carrying a broken trailer for example and a thing slams back and hits the window and shatters it, well heck, get out, brush the glass off and and keep going-don't worry about fixing the thing that hit the window in the first place....you know the scary part, the people who do drive them-they are the best they have.....

4.  Unpacked 81MM rounds are fun to just let roll around....never.  Unpacked anything, well it seems okay to them.  They ran over a can of 40MM grenades.  I am working on getting some guys to blow it up for us, before they blow themselves up.  I got them to pick the can up safely and move it to a container, but when they got to the container, they just dropped the can. I ran. It was okay.  I had to revisit the notion of if you die what will your family do?  We were moving a pallet of Russian Grenades that had "fallen" over.  I think the pallet got dropped.  Anyways, we were straightening it up so we could store it safely. I am moving the boxes every so gingerly.  They come to help and were slamming them around.  Hello-Russian grenades that had a sticker on them saying they hadn't been inventoried since 1972!!!!  This was the first time I used them dieing theory.  They handled them like cartons of eggs, with eyes as big as saucers.  We had to fix 2 containers full of 155 Rounds-if you have seen the movie, the Hurt Locker, all those IEDs he was de-arming, they use a 155 Round.  They weigh 100 pounds each and are full of White Phosphorous-very dangerous.  They were in a container laying on their side-bad.  We moved over 300 of them.  I could barely raise my arm to brush my teeth.  One of the guys was in there trying to help and he had on his sandals.  I smacked his feet away and said boots.  He tried again, again, boots. I finally had to drag him out of the container and tell him no, boots.  He figured it out eventually.  It is a battle everyday for them to understand safety.

There are more instances, these are some that stand out as the big ones.  I am sure there will be countless more.  Just trying to catch up for the last couple of months.

Where things are at

Hello everyone. I have been contemplating doing this blog, one specific to my journey here in Afghanistan. I have been here for over 70 days and just got a new computer, so I think it is time to dialog what is going on.  I will add pictures soon and beef it up.  Feel free to share the link with who you want to.  I could only have 10 emails to automatically update to.

I arrived here on 4 December 2010. I left my family behind and it devastated me. I left them on 30 ovember. It took me a long time with a lot of long hours of flying to get here-most of which a lot of you know about, so I am not going to revisit it all. Today is 17 Feb 2011.

I can share with you more of how my arrival here went and what it is like now. I was lucky enough to have some good people here who were looking out for my well being. One of them not being the Major. He wanted to have me sleep on a cot in the office until the guy I replaced, Maack left. Keep in mind, the office is an office, with windows, no blinds. Various heaters, no security, no privacy and for me to stay there until Maack left? Maack moved to the transient tents and let me have his room. It was the very decent thing to do.

I had emailed a lot back and forth with Maack about what the job was etc, a couple million questions really-which I am so thankful he answered. I also was told, it would be best for you to send your boxes here so you don't have to mess with them in all the traveling it took to get here. Being the person I am, I didn't want to have to want or need for anything here-so I packed up 7 action packer boxes with my belongings to get me through the year. I have all my hygiene needs-soaps etc. Medicine for just about anything. Two sets of sheets, comforters, blankets, memory foam, pillows-you name it, I packed everything. Plus of course all my clothes I would need-uniforms, PT uniforms, cold weather, wet weather, warm weather. Everything. I also packed stuff to keep in touch with everyone. Stationary, cards, thank you cards. I have cards for the kids, cards for Kevin. Special Holiday cards-birthdays, Anniversary etc. I tried to remember it all. I also have stickers, tattoos, word search books-all that kind of stuff for the kids. I have a crafty kit of markers, construction paper, stick on characters, flowers and other assortment of things to make them pictures. I included ways to help count down the days, weeks, months. I have a box of pictures called Mandalas that are all circular based. I color one each Thursday to count down the weeks. I will be coloring #12 tomorrow. They are all dated and I have a memory attached to each one. Some were more intricate to color and cut out-depending on how tough the week was. The snowflake for 24 December took 2 hours to cut out for example. I also have a date calendar, that each day you cut out a design-like cutting out snowflakes. It is called Kirigami. I look forward to doing them every night. They are starting to get really hard now and they take a good 20 or 30 minutes to do, depending on how hard the cuts are. I have the Mandalas taped up on my window and the Kirigami's on my ceiling. Each month it changes to a new color, so my ceiling will be a rainbow of colors. So much better then the grey walls that surround me. The kids color me pictures or write random things and send them to me-those are covering the walls too. I have one area of the wall that is covered with my life. It is my life in pictures. I have over a hundred pictures taped up, it is great and when I am having a horrible day, I just sit there and look at them, mostly cry when I do, but, I look at them and tell myself I will soon be back to it all again. They are taped right beside my bed and I say goodnight to it all each night and recall a memory to put me to sleep at night.

On another wall I have cards that I have gotten from friends and family. I have two post cards too. One for the Tucson Marathon for 2011 and one for the Ostrich Farm-both are from Kevin. I also have the rave runs out of Runners World taped up. They are great places to run that Runners World has in their magazines every issue. I look at them and pretend I am running there. I can't run here. One lap around the FOB is about 600 meters. I may get desperate.

On another wall I have my Arizona calendar that I mark down the days with. It is such a huge gratification to flip the calendar to a new month. I couldn't wait to just start marking days in January, to start the calendar at all. I have my El Tour De Tucson race number to remind me I will ride again and remind me what I overcame in that ride-this will be nothing compared to that. It was also my last event I did. I have little sticky notes from Kevin on the wall too. A lot of them have just notes about the things he sent me, some say other stuff, like "you are the apple of my eye" on the apple shaped sticky notes. They are colorful and they make me smile.

My room is a RLB, a relocatable building. It is a metal can. It about 20 feet long by about 10 feet wide. I haven't officially measured it, it is approximate. I did write a letter to Kevin and did a diagram of it. I stepped it out with my feet, so this is my approximate measurement. I have the room to myself, which is great about being on a FOB (Forward Operating Base)-it is way smaller then a normal base and has 90% less then a regular base too. Kind of like a small town compared to the city. I like small towns, so it works fine for me. My door locks and I do have a window. It has a metal prison blind as I call it, which I only just figured out yesterday how to raise it up-to let in full sunlight. It blocks out all sunlight though and it can be pretty dark in here. I get tired though of the overhead light from the fluorescent bulbs. I have a couple lamps that I turn on for a change time to time. I of course brought the lamps with me-prepared for anything, and light bulbs too.

The building my room is in, we call it the embassy-although some people don't like it to be called that, well it is the embassy. It is the nicest and biggest living accommodations on the FOB. We have 8 RLBs on the bottom with 8 stacked on top of them. We have stairs that Maack and his guys built to go upstairs, then they built another landing above the RLBs that serves as a lookout and helps with the rain water to flow off of the cans. It is pretty cool.

Everyone who lives in the embassy-with the exception of upstairs, we all work together. Upstairs there are some higher ranking people who just live there for whatever reason. They guy above me has been gone on R&R leave (Rest and Recovery) so I haven't had to hear him for awhile-it has been nice. Sounds like he throws all his belongings on the floor and he is maybe 400 lbs the way he stomps around. I have no idea who the guy is, chances are he outranks me, so I am not going to say anything to him. We are losing some of our neighbors though. Three Army guys are leaving and their replacements aren't living here. Not a fan of strangers moving in. Q, he is Air Force-he is leaving, his replacement is here though and he is moving in his room. The Major wanted to move in there-thank god that didn't happen. He can stay upstairs and annoy the people up there.

The bathrooms. There is the good shower and the bad shower. The good shower is a single stall in a room that the door locks and the heater works so you don't get pneumonia when you step out. The bad one is rusty, the heat isn't strong enough to reach to the shower part, there are 3 stalls-but only enough hot water for 1 and a half shower. Since I have been here, I have had more then 20 cold showers, countless lukewarm and very few hot showers. Now, they are doing construction to replace the old showers, so now us ladies have to share the single stall shower. That is like 10 women sharing one shower. Haven't had a hot shower in a week. I would rather skip taking a shower then shower cold again. I am hoping tomorrow the bad showers are done.

The food. When I first got here, the food was awesome. Then Jackie the dining facility (DFAC) manager left and it went downhill-fast. There were several times I walked in there-looked at what they had and walked out and skipped eating. It was getting pretty bad. I stopped going to the gym because I wasn't eating enough to sustain working out and would probably pass out and get hurt. I asked if Kevin would start sending me soup and those Healthy Choice pasta or rice things where you add the water and microwave them. Those have saved my life. I can go to the gym again because at least I have something in my stomach. He also sent me tortillas and bagel thins. Breakfast used to be the best meal I ate, but, it has gone to crap too. They used to have fresh fruit, cantaloupe, honeydew etc. But, now they have canned fruit-which defeats the purpose of eating fruit for your health when it is drenched in syrup. I was eating a hard boiled egg too, but, then those were getting overcooked and tasted weird. Which then left a bagel-I like the blueberry ones-but, now they are either not there or the ones they do have are stale. Then it is left to cereal. Which I wouldn't mind too much, but, the milk is this weird long life milk. Long life and milk don't go together. Milk shouldn't have a year long shelf life. It tastes so weird, but, what other choice do I have? I will have high cholesterol if I have cooked eggs and bacon everyday. For lunch, I usually eat soup, salad and a sandwich. Even canned cream of mushroom soup that they serve in a giant pot. I usually eat salad, but, now they are down to two choices of dressing-ceasar-gross or blue cheese-grosser!! Nothing is sacred. I sometimes will eat off of the main line if they have mexican fair-then I can make a taco salad. The mozzarella sticks are good too. For dinner, they seem to like to serve fish a lot and some other type of mystery meat-there is always mystery meat. Spaghetti it hit or miss-noodles have been dreadful lately. I eat a lot of vegetables. I have lost weight simply from not eating well at all. Now I have meals from Kevin so it is better. I eat a lot of toasted bagels with turkey and cheese on them. The DFAC is our only dining choice. Nothing, zero, zilch else. We can go to KAF, which used to be easy to go to. KAF is Khandahar Air Field, it is only about 5 minute drive to the gate, but, it takes an hour or more to get on the base. KAF has everything, it is the big city living. It is a million people over there-too many. I don't go there unless I have to. It is such a pain in the but and for what-a better meal or a good cup of coffee? Maybe once a week. I went one day last week and it was the first time in 3 weeks.

Dynamics of living on a FOB. First this ratio, there are now about 600 people here. Of those 600, maybe 50 are female. That is a huge MAYBE. So, anywhere I go I am a giant slab of meat walking. I am not a model, I am not drop dead gorgeous, I am not 21, I don't have a rock star body. I am a female and they stare. I can look like garbage (remember the rather not shower in the cold water comment) and I still get stared at. I go to the gym and I might as well be naked. The staring is unreal. I just want to pick my nose or something to make them stop, but, they may stare more or not even care and still stare. It is sooooo annoying. The FOB is also like being in high school again. There are cliques, there are groups established of who hangs out with who, who sits with who, who works out with who. I wasn't popular in high school and I am not here. I don't eat in the chow hall unless I am with my co-workers. The people checking names at the door at the chow hall know I don't stay and give me a to go box. I haven't made that good friend here that you go hang out with and eat with. I am solo. I go to the chow hall alone, eat alone. I go to the gym alone and sweat alone. Why, because everyone has their little friend circles made. I am the first female mentor in my job, no other females. We just got a new girl, but, she is in medical supply and has her medical friends already. So, I spend my time alone. We do have an Army girl that works with us, but, how do I put this. I think she has a crush on me. A bit weird and she lives next to me.

There are days where the being alone gets me down, then I think I am going to be okay. I mean I am okay in my own company. I also know I may not have someone physically here to eat my dinner with and whatnot, but, I am not alone. I have Kevin, my family and friends with me in my mind and my heart always. Kevin is my strength that is getting me through this.

About my job. My job is to mentor the Afghan National Army (ANA) on how to do their job. I am a mentor for Munitions and for Weapons. I mentor Captain Satar and his crew (11 soldiers) on the operations. Not sure how much longer this position will be filled, Satar and his crew get it. I am here as a worker and help to get things done, either by showing them, suggesting it to them, making it their project and decisions. I am learning a lot about foreign weapons and ammo. I don't really work with weapons at all, so it is a totally new experience. I especially don't work with foreign ammo, so that is new too. The biggest thing I plan to accomplish is safety and a better awareness of it. To get them to stop smoking and using cell phones around ammo. To handle the weapons safely with muzzle down. To get them properly trained on the weapons they are using when pulling security. To have 100% accountability of their assets and store it correctly and safely. All of this is very tricky with the language barrier and the female barrier. We have interpreters we use and for the most part they are very good. The one I interact the most with is Niazy, but, he may end up leaving with the Army guys-which will suck. My other choices suck. Norri-his English is horrible, I need someone to translate what he says. Popal is a pervert and gives me the creeps-feel like I need to scrub my body with bleach after just being around him, then there is Rockman, he is okay, but, lazy and unreliable. So, if I lose Niazy I am going to use Rockman. Norri is in love with the Major and stuck to his hip like super glue, he is supposed to be with me, but, has glued himself to the Major-fine with me. One of the hardest parts about my job is that I was born a female. The ANA stare worse then the people on the FOB. They are unsure of me. But, want to shake my hand all the time. Want to take pictures with me. They talk about me, I have been here long enough to pick up on things. They remark on how tall I am, what big feet I have. They are not used to seeing women in uniform, so I know it is a new thing to them. They regular ANA I am around are better about the staring etc and will joke around with me. When new ANA show up, they are the worst. I might as well be standing there naked again. It is very uncomfortable. But, I smile, shake their hands and take pictures. I have my weapon on me always, a knife and my gerber on me all the time. I also have a whistle on my keys, a cell phone too. I am never in a situation without my regular ANA with me if stranger ANA is there. If I am going to be caught up in stranger ANA around me, I leave, if I have no choice, my weapon is loaded and my hand is resting on my knife in my pocket. I pray I never have to use anything, but, if I do, I am prepared. My regular ANA guys are protective of me though. They will come and stand next to me if there are new people around. Satar carries a 9M also and it is loaded. His guys know that and he told his guys that if they tried anything with me he would shoot them dead. So, they don't mess with me and they joke with me. I have nicknames for most of them because I can't say their names. Big Show-he has huge hands and feet, 50-50-he is all about having help to lift things, Teryaki-close to his real name, The Joker-has a smile like the joker, Necklace-named earlier for the necklace he always wore, Mr Silent-never says a word, and various other names. They are good workers. Satar is a good person. He wishes me well health always and wishes I have a son one day and marry Kevin and have a long life of health and happiness along with my whole family. He has 2 wives for sure, I think a 3rd. His family, just like family is to everyone in the Afghan culture is very important to him. I give him candy and gum and he gives it to his children. Family in Afghan isn't like American families. It is everyone, Grandparents, Great Grandparents down to the nieces and nephews will all live in the same home even. When you ask how is your family, they could tell you their Aunt is unwell. If you ask an American how their family is, they will think just husband, wife children family and not really about that Aunt with a cold. If I need to hit home a point about safety I tell them what will their family do without them making the money they are making if they get hurt or get killed for not being safe. It tends to hit home the point and they rethink their actions.

I have experienced a lot of things here that I wouldn't have expected or ever thought would happen. I will cover those in my next posting tomorrow.