A Few Thoughts On Afghanistan

James- For the past two weeks I've been shuffled around from airbase to airbase. I'm on my third and hopefully last airbase before I should end up at my semi-permanent post. Afghanistan reminds me a lot of Jamaica. I see Toyota trucks that have diesel engines and there is often the same smell that comes from standing water. The people do dress a little differently. In Jamaica it seemed like people tried to wear as little clothing as possible. Here the opposite is true. Almost everyone has long sleeves and pants, though they are usually made out of light weight material.

Living on a military base has been a bit different though. For the past two weeks I've been living in a series of tents. All of them had A/C of some kind. The tent I'm in now is probably my favorite. It's small and I'm only sharing the tent with 16 other people, thats down from 100. The food varies from place to place. I'm not about to try the local food here, but the dining facilities are excellent for the most part.

Since I'm en route to the place I'll be posted no one really cares what we do all day. It doesn't matter when I go to sleep or when I wake up. It's been nice to have flexible hours like that to deal with the jet lag. I think I'm just now getting used to it. Most of us read and watch movies all day, taking breaks only to visit the latrine or go eat. They do have a small Base Exchange that we can buy personal hygiene items and like things.

Some of the highlights have been observing the fighter jets take off from the airbases, as well as some of the helicopters. A major low point hit when the wind changed at one base and discovered that the human waste dump was located just behind our tents.

All things considered I've been doing well. It has been nice to relax and get accustomed to the time change and the heat, without having to worry constantly about security. All that will change when we finally get flown into our post, probably later on this week.

I hope that things are going well for all of you and I appreciate your support for both Tami & myself. I firmly believe that I'm out here doing something good for our country and that I'm bringing some good for the Afghani people.