3-23-07

Bazaar Day!

So it's Friday and we took the afternoon off as usual. I've not felt well the last two days but after starting on a Z-pak and taking a couple ibuprofin last night, I went to bed early and felt better this morning! {WHEW}. We did the typical Friday thing and went to lunch and the bazaar and, of course, I bought more stuff. However, I can't tell you what I got because it might ruin a surprise! I'll let the pictures do the talking.

3-20-07

سال نوتان مبارک باد

That's "Happy New Year!" in Dari. It's pronouced "Sal- new- tan mob rake baad". Today is New Year's Eve here and so our Afghan friends have off work until Saturday. We didn't really have a choice in the matter, they informed us in our weekly meeting on Saturday that they had off for those 3 days! Ya gotta love how democracy works!

To celebrate, we did the traditional American thing and ordered food. We had lunch catered in and gathered everyone 'round the table. In contrast to American New Year's, there is no alcohol consumed by the Afghan people in celebration. Instead, the tradition is to eat healthy meals which differ is portion and cost from their everyday. The logic is that if you eat well at New Year's, you will have plentiful food and good health in the coming year. Those who can afford to, travel north to Paghram and enjoy the holiday by relaxing away from home. Most others stay home with family and enjoy rest there.

(I'm deeply sorry if the formatting is off today. I'm very tired and have been fighting the formatting on this post for 20 minutes....I give up!)

Here are some pictures from our lunch today...

While on base today, I snapped this shot of the flags which represent the countries participating in the security and assistance of Afghanistan. Nothing like seeing Ol' Glory fly in the breeze of a sunny day! Here you'll see England, Turkey, Holland, Australia, France, Belgium, Italy, Romania, and others surrounding the Afghanistan and US flags.

Now, being the Americans we are and today being a holiday, it gave us reason to go out for dinner and drinks. Yes, expats get to embibe while it's against local custom and culture for the Afghan people to. Thus, we made our way to the Red Hot Sizzlin' steakhouse (which is UN approved, btw) and joined with some Aussie friends of ours from down the block for dinner and drinks. Interesting thing, the Aussies were drinking Corona, a Mexican beer, while the Americans drank Victoria Bitter, an Aussie brew, which was served in a German beer pint glass! Ya gotta love the contrast in this place! It's very easy to see the influence that the rest of the world is having on the country. Of course, I collected the German glass to add to my collection back home ;) It'll go right next to the Harp pint given me by my friend Erin from her trip to Ireland.

I'll close today with a New Year's wish given our staff by Sonia, our Afghan administrative assistant.

Happy New Year to you!

~Charles

Another year unfolds,

New paths we have to tread.

We wonder what life holds

In the brand new year ahead.

My special wish just for you

Is a blessing from God above,

To make this your happiest year,

Filled with joy, Success, Prosperity and Peace

May you enjoy a healthy life and endless luck in this brand new year!
My sincere best wishes for this year and many years to come.

3-19-07

0700hrs
Dateline Kabul, Afghanistan (like I was going someplace?)

Okay, so I started this blog as an update to my sponsors so they'd be able to quickly see what it is I'm up to with my racing. Well obviously the first part of the 2007 season sees me here in Kabul so I ain't doin' any racing! But this post is going to be primarily about cycling today.

As I cruise the streets here I see literally hundreds of people on bikes everyday -- rain, snow, shine. I saw a guy the other day ride his 50 lb Hero Cycle bike with no tire tread, wearing dress shoes through mud that was almost 2' deep -- and he never dabbed (translated to non-mtn bikers -- put his foot down)! I laughed at it and the guys with me asked if I could do that; my response was that my bike wouldn't get close to this mud and I could name 10 mtb racers back home that would have busted going through that! (and for the record, I probably would've fallen).

The Afghan people ride because it's cheaper than a car or taxi. They wrap their bikes in tape to keep it from rusting. They have full fenders on front and rear tires -- sometimes they splurge and buy aftermarket fenders from the fender vendor on the street. Every one of the bikes has a rear rack and most also have a front rack. See my post earlier (2-23-07 maybe) which has the picture of the Hero bike and you'll see what they ride. I see guys carrying a person on the rear rack. I've seen slabs of raw meat flung over the handlebars and rear rack. I've seen piles of stuff strapped to the bike like I would load up my truck -- and the people ride.

Young, old, man, woman (some with burkas on) -- it doesn't matter. They ride their bikes. Rain? HMPH! Snow? No problem. Sunshine? The bike outnumber cars on the road! (the donkey carts number stays about the same though).

I've often wondered in our travels about town how strong these guys most be on their bikes. I wish I could get more pictures to show you but our security guys won't let me. I want to show you the bike parking lots that are clogged with bikes. I want to show you the shipping container these things arrive in -- just stacked in like sardines, not in a boxes. The Afghani people ride their bike ---oh, did I mention that they have 1 gear? I have 27, to put it in perspective. They ride up the mountains you see in my pictures, and that's just to get home after working all day, and they're likely carrying water or dinner on the rack too!

Getting to the point....so I'm cruising the internet last night and I come across Van dessel bikes website. Something catches my eye about Iraq....I click and get this http://www.vandesselsports.com/athletes.php?team=iraq. Holy crap! There's an Iraqi National Cycling Team? WHAT?! SWEET! So I wrote the main sponsor and asked if they've ever thought about A-stan. We'll see what they say today, hopefully.

Are you listening? Reading between the lines yet? My close friends knew exactly where this was going from paragraph one. SPONSORS! The Afghan people have to be the hardest working folk I've ever seen and they are so excited right now to get 3 days off work this week for their New Year's festivities. They work 6 days a week, every week, without fail. They are fighting to save their country and their culture and their families and for freedom like they've never known. So I ask you, why don't THEY deserve to have some fun once in awhile? Back in the States, we go party and play every weekend -- for TWO days -- and we don't work nearly as hard as these people do.

So the seed is firmly planted in my head. If I get the opportunity to come back here after this initial trip, I want to start doing something more to help. The Afghans have hope for a bright future -- why can't they have a little bit now? Starting today I'm looking into what it would take to start a cycling club or team here in Kabul. Why not? They already ride bikes! I'm contacting Gary Fisher, Cyclists for Cultural Exchange, and every other organization that does work in other countries. Dirt Rag magazine did an article not long ago about Rwanda or someplace off the map like that. Someone out there will help, I know it. I mean, Iraq still has active fighting everyday -- we just have the threat of it everyday here in Kabul so we're already ahead of the game! I want to know what to do, how to do it, how to get the money, how to get a coach, everything it takes -- I want to know it and start getting it in action.

The Lord knew I was getting down and weary because of all this rain, so He sent this little thing my way to keep my brain occupied! Well, it's working!

Any sponsors yet? Don't worry, you'll be hearing from me! Okay, I have to get to work....

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!