3-16-07

Helmet Head

I finally found a hat that doesn't make my ears look big!

So the trip is on. I gots me armor and departure time. Marv and Jamison just got back a couple hours ago and they had a quiet trip, only their teeth chattering in their head on the roads!

I doubt most of you know this, but I had planned all my life of being a Navy SEAL, but God had other plans for me. So this weekend trip with a bunch of Navy and Army guys will be not only be a nice getaway from Kabul-town, but will be the closest I've been in a long time to the military. Donning the armored vest and helmet a bit ago just got me wondering how different life would have been had God let me be a SEAL.

Okay, we're off to steak & lobster night so I gots ta go! MMMMmmmmmmmm......lobster.......

3-16-07
Nose Pickin'

I don't know that I've EVER picked my nose as much as I do over here! It's still cold outside and snow still lingers on the ridgelines surrounding this city so we have the heat running inside the house ALL the time. We have split units and floor heaters that run constantly. The house structure is entirely concrete and the floors in all but the bedrooms are tile -- so the place is always chilly. It also lacks the warmth of a place that we, as Americans, would call "home". Thus, with the heat always on the air inside the house is dry which takes it's toll on your skin -- and your nose!

Okay, now that you're laughing and wondering what in the world I'm talking about, I'll get along lil' donkey! Things are good for us here. We're awaiting the return of our friends Jamison and Marv from the Kandahar (K-har) province. They should be landing in a few minutes and since two planes have just departed KIA (Kabul International Airport), I'm guessing flights are still on today. There's really no reason why they shouldn't be, but things change here in a moments notice, with or without reason. I'm still scheduled to make a visit to K-har tomorrow sometime so tonight I'm washing clothes and packing for a few days. Oh, and tonight is steak & lobster night at the mess hall on base so guess where we're eatin' din-din tonight?! Schweeeeeet! Steak & lobster, wash clothes, hang out by the bonfire while clothes are washing......should be a good evening.

Well, not much else to say. I appreciate the emails and phone calls that you send. I'm sorry if I don't get back to your messages quickly or at all. Please just know that I do get them. Please pray that it's a quiet weekend down south in K-har province. Our trip to Kunduz next week has been pushed back, and we've got another site out west of here to go see. That should be a good trip too.

Have a great Friday, I hear it's supposed to be rainy in Atlanta so THFFFT :p That's what you ALL get for bragging to me this week about how wonderful the weather's been!

I still don't know where my house keys are. And Joey, nice try. I DO know where my bikes are...punk!

3-14-07
0810 hours

The latest is that we do not know for certain if the explosion was the direct result of a carbomb. We do know that 5 are dead, 20 injured. We also know that it was not something that was directed at the military or other Western agency. It apparently was an explosion of (4) shops which all contained gun powder. Like I said, it could still have been an IED or carbomb that started it but the likihood of that is slim right now. See, the people here use open flames for cooking and they drink chai tea like we do our favorite Starbuck's drink. The present news we're getting is that it is likely one of these open flames warming someone's morning chai that caused the explosion. Apparently there was enough gun powder amoungst the (4) shops to do some damage though.

We're still in a lockdown mode until everything clears but it's less of a concern right now.

3-14-07

0700 hours

Kabul, Afghanistan

Breaking news that I'm sure you'll hear about back home....the Coaltition Forces base here in Kabul just got hit with a car bomb. We're going into lockdown mode here at the Villa and our teammates that were to fly back in today may be delayed in Dubai. The picture shown was taken literally moments after I felt the percussion on the windows and heard the explosion. Right now all is quiet and our PST (private security team) is business as usual. I'm supposed to have a meeting at one of the other bases this morning at 0800 hours and I've just spoken with the Cdr. to see if we're still on but we're not sure yet if the base is in total lockdown.

It could be an interesting morning....

I'll keep ya posted as the day goes on here.

3-12-07

Happy Monday to you! So not much new to report here except the plans for the week, which lead into a couple prayer requests. It's been raining and snowing a bit more here in Kabul over the weekend so the roads around our neighborhood are back to being mud pits. I joke with our folks here that America just needs to send a few good ol' Georgia Rednecks over here with a slew of Rebel flags and their 4x4's and rest assured, the Taliban would stop any and all activity!

So I promised in my last posting that I'd send you some pictures from the new room on the upper deck of the Villa. So I've included a couple below. Take note that I did not manipulate the color on these at all. I just set my little Fujifilm FinePix A600 to the night setting and snapped away. These pictures were taken this evening, Monday, at about 6:00pm local time.

Alright, moving onto important matters. As I'm sure you've all heard, action is picking up here and much of the rebel activities are in the Southern areas of the country (must be something about the South regions of countries that fuels disdain for government...but I digress...that's another entry for another day). One of the hottest areas of the country is the Kandahar Province. Well, on Tuesday we have two of our team heading to K-har for site visits with our military counterparts. They'll be gone until Friday. I may be heading to Kunduz, which is North of our location in Kabul, on Wednesday or Thursday of this week before heading to K-har for the weekend. Since our team here is working on two different areas, our military counterparts represent the same split in focus thus, it's incredibly difficult to try and coordinate that many people for one trip to go see different things. Hence the reason why I will not be traveling with Marv and Jamison on Tuesday's trip to K-har. Oh, I should add that we will be traveling with military forces so we'll be very well guarded!

Here's a map so you can follow along at home!

Furthermore, I have a new friend that is currently on a trip outside of Kabul, where she is based. She's a Marine who calls Lafeyette, IN home and she works with public relations for the Corps. She wrote the other day that she got to spend some time as the turret gunner on a HumVee for a couple convoys this week and she was pretty stoked about that! To fully understand the danger of this, I've included a picture -- not of any operations currently in Afghanistan -- so you can see how exposed the turret gunner is. This person must be on their toes and have their eyes open no matter what. Watching these guys suit up for transport makes you truly proud to be an American! Jamison, my coworker, is a former Tanker for the US Army and fought in Desert Storm and when he saw the armor these gunners were sporting, he was impressed.

Oh, and I know there've been talks back home about ramping up troop sizes here and Iraq. Well, I may not know much, but I do know that we're seeing a lot of new faces around, many of whom look to be only 19 or 20 yrs old.

Do us a favor and keep all these people in your prayers this week. Not that I'm seasoned here or anything, but it doesn't take long to figure out a thing or two. You can tell the new folks in country by the wide-eyed stares and freshly pressed BDU's. Some of these men and women left children at home to come here. They get no time to let jet lag catch up to 'em - they're put to work straight away in their armor, no matter the time of day.

I'm confident that we'll all be just fine because I know our God will protect us. I've not heard from the Marine in a few days but that was expected. I'm sure she's just fine because I know she spends a good amount of time in prayer before our God as well. Now, that doesn't make planning for the trip to K-har any less stressful. We'll go and do our jobs. If something happens to me while I'm gone, then hopefully I've accomplished whatever it was that God had set out for me to do.

3-10-07
Who has my house keys? I'm sitting here wrapping up the work day and just had this fear come over me that I have absolutely no idea whatsoever who has my house keys? Is it my parents? Is it one of my friends? Did I leave them on the counter? Not a clue. My folks took me to the airport and I think I left my keys with them. I hope so!

I miss my dogs. My mom told me that they haven't chewed or destroyed anything -- WHEW! I'll tell ya this, the first day I'm home, those dogs aren't leaving my side!

And I'm going for a drive -- just to go for a drive and see my city again. I'll drive my truck with my dogs in the back eatin' it up!

I'll eat lunch at Chick-Fil-A. Yessir. That is where I'll eat lunch. And breakfast or dinner will be at Cracker Barrel. You betcha! And my dogs are comin' with me; the managers are just going to have to understand. And I'm oh so sure they will. {rolling eyes}

So I just moved upstairs to the 3rd floor where I now have a private room. No more snoring roomie. No more of having someone else ALWAYS 3 feet from me. I'll be able to make phone calls without having him in my ear talking to his family. Not that it's bad, it's just that neither of us have had any privacy since we got on the plane in Atlanta. Everyone else here has private rooms. Now we do too. Maybe he's used to it because he's married with 3 kids and since I'm not married and don't have a roommate, I'm not used to it. I'll get you all some pictures of the new digs later on, but it's 3 walls of windows and it's above the power lines so I have clear view to the mountains beyond.

I'm missing my workouts. In order to get a workout, I can't just walk to the base. I can't just drive to the base. I have to coordinate it with everyone else in the house and figure out where my little workouts fit in with everyone's dinner plans because we have 7 people and 2 SUV's. It'll be nice to just take the dogs for a walk around my block. It'll be nice to get on my bicycle and take off down the street when I get home.

I guess you could say I'm in a bit of a slump. I'm not stressed out, I'm not upset, I'm no less thrilled to be here. I just miss the freedoms I'm accustomed to. Last night I just sat in the living room and watched TV, something I've not done in quite some time (since before I left the States).

Cheers all!

3-6-07

Today got started the best a day could.....with a hike! I'll let the pictures do the talking, but a few of us went out at 5:30am to catch a sunrise hike up and over Shir Darwaza, a mountain that separates Kabul into North and South. There's a wall along the ridgeline that was used to defend the city at some point in history -- I'll have to research that. However, there are records of recent fighting there as well, which is evident by the empty .50cal shells I found along the trail. Now, this was one of those hikes where we were instructed to stay on trail, because there are still mines scattered about. Who would plant them up there? Someone crazy, that's who! Attendees on the hike included Smudge, Frank, Matt, Scottie, Ralph, Jamison, Tillie the bomb dog, and myself. (The first 4 names on that list are guys from Blue H, so we were in no danger at any time)!

Our hike started and ended in two different villages, and I cannot describe the poverty we saw. There is no central sanitation system so basically there's a pipe coming out of the house that is to remove the "stuff" from the homes, but it just gets it outside onto the ground. Kabul is a beautiful city with magnificent landscapes surrounding it, but I'm afraid the residents don't enjoy it as much as we do.

Top of the Shir Darwaza is about 2300 m, and the elevation of the city os about 2000m above sea level. Hopefully you'll enjoy the pictures!

3-4-07

Today is Yak shanbe (Sunday) the charoom (4th) roz (day) of mars (March). Ha! I'm sure there's a more proper way to put that, but I have to put my new Dari language dictionaries to use sometime, eh?

Well, thanks to a Marine I met on Friday night at a campfire on base, I found out there are church services on Yak shanbe at 1100 and 1900 hours at the Camp. Given that we work on Sunday here, I was able to make the 1900 service (7:00pm) and I'm glad I was able to go. The worship was contemporary with a small praise team and the Word was delivered by one of the new chaplains on base. Chaplain Shaw is a gospel minister from Alabama and I promise you, he almost broke loose a couple times and we came really close to havin' us some CHURCH! It was extremely refreshing. The passage that he used for his message is one of my favorites, from Ex. 33:13-23 where Moses asks God to show him the Glory!

The format was very camp meeting like. The Chaplain asked after the worship time if anyone had anything to testify and folks did. We took communion after the message, and he asked for prayer requests before a brief prayer time.

On that subject, please keep a young Naval officer in your prayers. A few days ago, Lt. Rob (I won't post last names) was in the infirmery with what he thought was a cold. He left there in a coma. He was airlifted to Germany where his condition did not improve and now he is at Besthesda Naval Hospital. His wife is with him, but there has been no change in his condition. I'm sure there are a hundred other stories like this, but this is one I heard of tonight. Please add this family to your prayers. I'm not sure if I'll be able to get any updates, but I am going to try and find out where the Chaplain's offices are and pop in on them from time to time, so maybe I will.

Let's see...what else. Oh, I did mention about my laptop crashing. The good folks I work with in Atlanta are getting me a new one out on Monday I do believe. I've had a webcam up for about 1 day, so when I get the chance to get a new cam, I will and I'll try to get a short film of our offices and inside of the villa, maybe getting some of the faces I work with as well. I've never done anything like that so it may take me some work to figure out, but I'll do what I can. I wish I could take pictures on the base, because I've seen some great opportunities to capture the geography surrounding Kabul with an Army tent or flag or sand bag wall or armored HumVee. I understand the reasoning, but it would still be nice to capture.

Okay, I know I've spoiled you all with pictures so here are a few more. We had the chance to buy some local things at a bazaar on Friday so here are some of my findings.

See those marble goblets and vases? They cost me less than $40 total! Don't feel skimped if you're one of the lucky ones to get a marble vase as a gift, though, remember I'm the one who has to carry 'em home! The blue and gold thing there is a bedspread and matching pillow cases which I got for $5.

Here's my Ghengis Khan warrior helmet! It'll be a good thing to hang on a shelf. I'm not sure how old it REALLY is, but it's cool nonetheless. The thing in my hand is a tool used to harvest vegetables, not a tool of war, but it just looks cool with the helmet!





Is he French or Afghani? The hat was made popular by Masud, the "Lion of the Panjshir", Tajik mujahed commander of the JIA and then top military chief of the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance. He was assassinated in 2001.




Okay, that's enough for tonight. Oh, and in case you're interested, the attack that you're hearing about on the news today occured on the Jalalabad Rd near the city of Jalalabad. It was not near Kabul, but over the mountain from us. Everything is still quiet here. And I'm keeping you guys back home in prayer as well. I saw the results of the tornados that ripped through south GA and I'm about to call home and check on my folks. I spoke with my sister earlier and she said there was some damage in Macon at my parent's house. I also heard that a friend in Americus sustained some damage to their home and business.

3-2-07


Friday! Today is our "off" day here, which means we'll work a little bit but will be able to do some other things as well. There's a bazaar today at Camp Eggers at which locals sell their wares and we'll head over there as well as the American Embassey. The weather is nice here today, so it'll be a good day to be outside!



Yesterday a couple of us took a walk up to the grocery store and it was honestly about the highlight of my week! See, since we have the Blue H guys, we cannot go anywhere without an armed escort and because of the rules we have to follow concerning security, they are obligated to ensure our safety, which is why we typically drive everywhere. We're picked up and dropped off behind gates and walls and such whenever possible. Where not, they exit the vehicles first and scan the area before letting us out. So given the chance to take a stroll up the street was a welcome gift! Now, we didn't go unescorted. One of our Blue H guys went with us but I think he volunteered just so he could get a change of pace as well.



I'm excited about the break today. I'll get a chance to catch up on my journal and some reading that I've not had time for this week. Before I left the States, I was doing this Bible study of I Samual with some guys from church and I've not done anymore reading since I got here. Hopefully I'll be able to find a place outside on the patio to catch up on it while taking in some sunlight. Oh, we all went out last night with another contractor and you would not believe the night sky here. I went out Wednesday night as well to have dinner with some folks from ECC, Inc and their compound is located out near the airport so you get a really good view of the sky. It's neat because since we're on similar parallels, I get to see the same constellations as back home. It's a little comforting, to have something here that reminds one of home.



Okay, enough yammering.....onto the pictures!




Ralph & Jamison ready for our stroll











This is outside of the villa. Now, before you go thinking we're living the highlife here, remember -- this is our house and our office and there are about 15 people that live here presently.








Now you see why Ralph has on those boots! This is the street our villa is on.







Here's the little store just up the street from us with it's proud manager of the day! We didn't shop here today, but went to the larger which is on up the block, on a paved road.









Here are the children that "escorted" us to the store.








There's nothing like the smile of a child to brighten your day!









As I eludeded to earlier, here are the bread winners for the family. They were so happy about their new prizes that I couldn't resist this shot.








Here I am with them (notice the paved road).










Sunset in Kabul. I do not know the name of the feature shown, but I'm working to get an unclassified map of the area so I'll be able to tell you soon.

3-1-07

We are experiencing momentary, technical difficulties. Please stand by. Seriously, my laptop crashed just at the end of the workday today and I'm trying to remedy the problem. I have access to another unit, but it does not have all my files obviously so that may present a problem....ARGH!

Once I get the issue corrected, I'll post up some pictures from our walk to the market today. It was quite an enjoyable time and we got to meet some neighborhood children along the way who loved us taking pictures of them. Granted, they wanted a $1USD for each one, but we obliged. See, I'm told these partically children are the bread winners for their family since their father was injured in some fighting and lost a leg. Turns out, he's the guy I've seen around the block on the crutches!

Okay, well, pictures to follow soon. I promise. Tomorrow is a bazaar and half day work since Friday is like Sunday here. We'll be heading to the bazaar and while there I'll be able to pick up some local things to take home. Woo-hoo! I'll be the first in my family to have the Christmas shopping done this year!!!

Cheers!
~Charles