Well, its New Year's Eve in Afghanistan, and a full moon. Due to recent events, we are alert and paying attention. We got hit last on Christmas Eve, so the chances are good we will get hit again. So tonight we are listening and paying attention, and the armor and helmets are within easy reach. I went ahead and checked our bunker for obstacles and trash (the locals that work on the bases often use the bunkers as break/lunch areas) and we are good to go. We don't have benches in our bunker, but we have sheets of cardboard down, so you can sit, as the bunker is not tall enough to stand up in. Let's hope the evening is quiet, and if its not, that no one gets hurt. If the peace is disturbed, I hope whoever is dumb enough to disturb the peace gets completely obliterated.
As I have said before, this is a strange country. Rugged and beautiful, in a way, but it has seen war in one fashion or another for thousands of years. The historic Khyber Pass is nearby, where Alexander the Great and Genghis Khan rode many, many years before. From the air, every home appears to be a walled fort, and the latest electronics show up in homes where the bathrooms are still holes in the ground, if even that.
It makes you think. Most never realize that so much of the world lives in poverty, and we as Americans take way too much for granted. And we seem to be naive when it comes to how we present ourselves, I have seen it here many times. We blunder around like tourists, even in a war zone, just because we are inside the wire. One thing I have learned quickly here, never let your guard down.
Here's hoping for a peaceful and happy New Year.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year from Afghanistan!
This will be the first year that I am not with my wife during the entrance of the New Year, and the first time her and I will not share a kiss to start the New Year off wishing for luck and happiness.
I can't help but wonder what changes this change in routine will bring. And I can't help but appreciate all the times we spent New Year's together, even those where our "New Year's Eve" was a dinner at home and falling asleep before 12 midnight.
I can't go into a lot of detail about being here, but the hours are long, and the work can be frustrating, irritating, and interesting all in the same day. It takes a special kind of person to work here, and an even more.....special person to thrive here. Note I said "thrive" instead of "succeed" or "do a good job".
I wonder what the New Year will bring? I have watched how the Health Care reform has turned into a circus, despite efforts from so many. And the news brings info that we can expect health care costs to rise. It's simple, those in control, on both sides, don't want anything to change, especially how much they make off of US.
I will travel home in the near future, even though I look nothing like any terrorist, the simple fact of the country I am departing from will cause me much grief during my travel home, I imagine. And the simple thing of packing to go home. Here, it is simply a part of everyday life to carry at least one decent-sized knife, unusually two. I will have to be careful on my way home, and hope they are not confiscated from my checked baggage, and hope my baggage makes it.
It will be nice to see green again, even if it is winter in the US. There is very little green here, and if there are trees and grass surviving, they are covered with dust. I hope it will be cool enough for a fire, I would love to sit by a fire once more. With luck, my wife will join me to share a few quiet moments by the fire, away from the chaos of this world, and the constant peril that is Afghanistan.
This will be the first year that I am not with my wife during the entrance of the New Year, and the first time her and I will not share a kiss to start the New Year off wishing for luck and happiness.
I can't help but wonder what changes this change in routine will bring. And I can't help but appreciate all the times we spent New Year's together, even those where our "New Year's Eve" was a dinner at home and falling asleep before 12 midnight.
I can't go into a lot of detail about being here, but the hours are long, and the work can be frustrating, irritating, and interesting all in the same day. It takes a special kind of person to work here, and an even more.....special person to thrive here. Note I said "thrive" instead of "succeed" or "do a good job".
I wonder what the New Year will bring? I have watched how the Health Care reform has turned into a circus, despite efforts from so many. And the news brings info that we can expect health care costs to rise. It's simple, those in control, on both sides, don't want anything to change, especially how much they make off of US.
I will travel home in the near future, even though I look nothing like any terrorist, the simple fact of the country I am departing from will cause me much grief during my travel home, I imagine. And the simple thing of packing to go home. Here, it is simply a part of everyday life to carry at least one decent-sized knife, unusually two. I will have to be careful on my way home, and hope they are not confiscated from my checked baggage, and hope my baggage makes it.
It will be nice to see green again, even if it is winter in the US. There is very little green here, and if there are trees and grass surviving, they are covered with dust. I hope it will be cool enough for a fire, I would love to sit by a fire once more. With luck, my wife will join me to share a few quiet moments by the fire, away from the chaos of this world, and the constant peril that is Afghanistan.
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