4-9-07

Easter and Konduz



First, the Easter sunrise service yesterday was really awesome! There was a choir, doves, great preachin', and about 100+ people. I was talking with Chaplain Fisher at the gym tonight, and he heard today that it was the only sunrise service held in Afghanistan yesterday! Now THAT's a testament to the the chaplain staff at the base here. I have a couple pictures which I'll post below.


Chaplain Fisher delivering the opening scripture


















The Choir!














Doves that were released but didn't stray far












I actually had to leave the service just as Chaplain Shaw was gettin' cranked up because we had a convoy to the airport for an 8am flight to Konduz, which is province and a city, about an hour flight north. It would take about 2 days to drive there, because the mountains are incredible between here and there! Kabul sits at about 6500 ft above sea level and is surrounded by moutain peaks reaching over 11,000'. Konduz sits at about 1200' and is surrounded by some of the same 11,000' peaks! It was beautiful. The area was lush, the city clean, the people friendly (just as they've been all over), and there are remnants of the Soviets all over the place. It was obvious they got their butts handed to 'em -- there are tank shells that are upside down, fighter jets in pieces, I could go on. The weather was great -- 85 degrees and sunny! I think I actually got a minor tan!

Of props and peaks. Just north of Kabul














Soviet tank graveyard











Afghan surface to air missle delivery vehicles. These have long been retired.



So, on Sunday morning, I found my new dreamland -- Feyzabad (pronounced 'Faiz-a-bad'). It's this little village thats nestled in a grand valley at like 3870' above sea level. The peaks surrounding it range from 7700' to 9800'. We landed on this Soviet runway that was built using corrugated panels for fast construction. There's grass growing through the panels and the only thing you see coming in to it is a faint white line on the ground. The flight into the valley was gorgeous -- pictures do not do this place justice. I was wishing for a video cam! I have a picture below -- and no, that's not Colorado!





View of the valley of Feyzabad looking north from beside the runway.







One last word about Konduz....the Afghan soldiers and police there are really a few notches above the others I've seen in this country. They all wore their wool uniforms squared away -- even in the 85 degree heat, they saluted our colonels (and me for some reason) with a snap and at attention, and basically you can tell these men take pride in what they are doing. That's not to say the others don't, and after mentioning this as a product of the trainers the U.S. has there, one of the instructors was quick to respond that it's the people in that region. They take more pride in everything they are and do -- and it shows. The city of Konduz itself has sidewalks -- not mud-- so folks walk there and not in the street. The markets were clean and colorful. Some burqa clad lasses wore white instead of blue or black. The pride of the tribes living in Konduz really shows through and it was a joy to see!

4-3-07

"Picture pages, picture pages, time to get your picture pages. Time to get your pad and your pencil!" Ok, if you know where that's from, you're allright! If you don't, well, go ask your parents!

So I went on a little excursion to a western province last week and got to spend 5 days with some pretty cool guys. They're all Colonels and 3 of the 4 actually came here voluntarily out of retirement. I won't bore you with a lot of words this time, just pictures of me from various places last week. I hope you enjoy!

First, me measuring off a potential site for a facility. Proof that I am actually working! I need to fix my vest situation -- that one looks too much like a target. But hey, it's what our Blue H guys have. Not that it'll save me from IED, but it WILL stop an AK round if shot directly at that little plate!

Construction guy had to toss in construction equipment pictures sometime!

In the background is a small village near one of the training facilities we're building.

Ah-hah! Now the fun begins....that's the Iranian border behind me. And it was very cold that day. The above picture was taken the day before and as you can see, the weather took a turn for the worst.

Another shot from the border....

Proof that I am actually in Afghanistan, in case we had forgotten!

Suited up in the HumVee. I'm sending this picture to Rudy Project for their "Show us your Rudy's" picture contest. I bet they never thought they're glasses would be worn in a combat zone.

These were some boys in the passport control office at the border.

The Cdr and I after surveying the site for a facility. Cool guy from northern VA. He's a Navy SeeBee working with the military agency that is leading this work. I could go on and brag here that the Navy guys are actually about to take control of that group because the Army guys are all phasing out. But then I'd upset a Col. or three and would have to make up for it. Oh, I know, Sir, we'll name the South Camp at A-skan for ya! Jack's Stop and Drop! (inside joke ya'll-- you'd a had to been there!)

3-27-07
Herat

So today was a day of firsts for me:
(1) first time in a private jet
(2) first military convoy
(3) first time getting a workout OUTSIDE in Afghanistan (WOO-HOO!!!)
(4) first time seeing people live like the Patriarchs of the Christian faith

I'm in Herat, Afghanistan and yes, there is obviously internet access here, but not everywhere, just in the military compounds. This province is beautiful! It's mountainous with green fertile land. The towns and villages are amazing -- they're mud hut villages, well, ok not all of them. You've likely heard that much of the Afghan population is nomadic. Well, I'm here to tell ya, it's true. It's beautiful! All over the countryside are flocks of sheep, goats, camels all being tended to by the shepherd. The nomadic people live in these huge brown tents -- which, once you experience the wind here, you gain even more respect for them! In the coming months, I've heard that the wind will howl across these parts at 40-50 mph for about 140 days. As we would drive past, people would run to road and wave at us -- it was quite the sight to behold!

Another sight is the convoy itself. We had (3) HumVees and (4) pick up trucks (1 Ford and 3 Chevy's). If you had told me 6 months ago that I'd be cruising through Afghanistan in a Chevy truck listening to Toby Keith and Kenny Chesney, I'd have asked what you were smokin'! Well, with the sun shining down from Heaven, there I was with guys from GA, MI, NY, NJ, and Afghanistan cruising down the road (oh, this one is newly constructed so it's paved and smooth) singing out Kenny Chesney tunes in the backseat of a Chevy truck! Good stuff! Turns out one of the guys in our convoy is from Macon, GA and lives not far from my folks -- it's a small world, I tell ya.

I'll shut up in a minute and get to some pictures, but this is important. I got to go for a run today in the great outdoors! The headwind was strong but WOW was it nice to be outside and not on a treadmill or spin bike.

Allright, calm down.....here are the pictures....

This camel got away from the herd.

Don't fret -- we're well guarded out here! Notice the "Heartbeat of America" made it to the 'Stan!
















Typical mud hut village (sorry for the blurred foreground, but this was taken at about 50 mph through armored glass which is about 2" thick).















Construction geek coming out.... here's a wall being constructed for security at one of our camps.











Not a bad view, eh? Notice the kids on the right side of road waving at us. This was pretty typical of everyone we saw today.












Token bike shot












A guard tower in Herat. The flag may be tattered but the spirit of the people is not. The soldiers here get paid $70 / month. They share one rifle between (3) men. Yet they stand up and guard their country from would be attackers, and they believe in a better Afghanistan, that's why they man their post.

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.