Busy Week

Whew, it’s been a busy week.  We had a dinner with the KTR building the Brigade HQ.  Those Turks treated us to an excellent meal.  We had chicken and Adana kabobs, vegetable salad, onions seasoned with a Turkish spice (sumac??), nan and an eggplant/mincemeat/yogurt dish.  If moving to Turkey involved eating like that, count me in.  The translator that works for this company spent 12 years in America as a driver, mostly in NY City.  He had some stories!!  I think my favorite was about how when he first moved there he had to find a night job while he was going to school.  He worked at a gas station in a bad part of town and quickly figured out that if you gave the cops free food, they would hang out there.  After a few weeks the manager told him that their nightly intake dropped from around $1000/night to about $40/night because all the cops were scaring the customers away.

The weather has been beautiful the last few days.  Unfortunately, the nice weather has brought the Taliban out of hiding.  I had the unfortunate privilege of witnessing the first rocket of the spring.  I think our forces must have discovered them because the next day we felt the joy of an hour long artillery barrage.

Operation Ranch COK was carried off with great success.  Our DFAC has been running short of various supplies.   One being OJ and the other ranch dressing.  After calling in some favors I was able to get both items imported from Kabul via a heavy backpack and helo mission (they said that they were already heading this way).

Fat Tuesday brought a surprise parade.  No King Cake was to be found, but there were beads and cheering.  We had a farewell dinner that night for our Area Engineer and Office Engineer.  It’s about that time when we start having a major turnover in the office.  Since I extended I get to see most of my friends off and handle the turn-over.  Lucky me.

Today we had a ribbon cutting for the FARP.  The project consisted of a C-17 runway, turn-around, and a Helo refueling point.  It was a beautiful day to hang out with the office, KTR and all the military in charge of flying and refueling the helicopters.

HOMEFRONT NEWS:

I was talking to Lily on the phone a couple of mornings ago.  During the conversation she said, “Daddy, let’s go up to my room.”  So she walked up to her room jabbering the whole time.   Once “we” were up there she put the phone on the floor (it was on speaker):  “Oh, Daddy, here’s my Daddy doll.  See there you are.  And look, here is my puppy, isn’t he pretty….” And so on.  It’s almost like I never left J

To set this story up, you have to realize that Katy is deathly afraid of reptiles.  A frog once blocked her from entering our house for 30 minutes until I heard her screams and got rid of it.-------- Christian came in the house a couple of days ago excited to tell Katy about his new pet lizard named Sammy.  He caught him in the backyard and he is the best lizard ever.  All he needed was something to keep him in.  Katy asked him where Sammy was at that point, Christian said he was right here and reached into his pocket.  He pulled out his empty hand and started to cry that Sammy was gone.  Did he get out his pocket in the backyard or in the house???  Nobody knew (that was a restless night for Katy).  I was talking to Christian on the phone the next day and he was telling me about Sammy.  In the background I heard Sera calmly say, “Umm, Mommy, I think I found Sammy.”  What I heard next could have come from a horror movie.  There was screaming, chairs being moved/knocked down, ushering of kids out of the room (Christian wanted to chase and capture Sammy) and the frantic search for a bowl or pot to cover Sammy.  Eventually  a neighbor was called in to capture Sammy and take him outside.  Did Christian learn his lesson, only time will tell.

Contractor Lunch

The Afghan contractor building our Sea-hut is finally finishing up and decided to bring us lunch to celebrate.  They had plans to bring the food down here to cook, but with the snow we got throughout the night they decided to cook it in Kabul and bring it down.  They brought palow (a rice dish with raisins and lamb), grilled sheep freshly killed that morning, yogurt, nan, a flat cornbread and oranges.  It was delicious.  While stuffing ourselves the contractor talked about how different it was working for the Corps as compared to the Air Force CE (we are a lot stricter), how much we all learned from each other and life in general in Afghanistan.  His family is from the same province that we are in, but they can’t travel down here too often because of the violence from the Taliban that is in this area and the provinces to the south.  He said that many of the people support us being here but that they are pressured by the Taliban to not cooperate.    Besides MILCON projects, the Corps is coming into it’s large ANA and ANP push.  The owner of the company talked about how it is nice that we are building schools, roads, etc but that we should have been building the ANA and ANP facilities 5 years ago to help bring more security and stability to the country.  The people that are building private buildings are building mostly near the ANA and ANP stations.  While we were all agreeing, our Area Engineer said that “in America we have a saying, Better Late Than Never”.  The owner quickly chimed in that “in Afghanistan we also have a saying, The Fish is Always Fresher Right Out of the Water”.  I guess you can’t argue with that.

KATY’S KORNER

I generally received notices that Sera’s school lunch account is overdue by about 50 cents or $1 and I will send a check for $20 to pay the past-due bill and give her credit to use until I get the next notice.  I guess I failed to notice that I haven’t received a notice or sent a check in quite a while.  Recently, I received a phone message from Lake Carolina Elementary reporting that I was being “turned over to collections” because Sera’s lunch account is delinquent in the amount of $67.00.  Apparently, they have sent me several notices, all of which were crumpled up in the bottom of Sera’s backpack.  Upon inquiring with Sera I learned that she has recently been offered an “alternative lunch” every day   (cheese sandwiches) due to our non-payment.  She hadn’t mentioned this to me because….well….she likes cheese sandwiches….

Sera’s cat, Pebbles, living outside is working out better that I expected.   She stays in the greenhouse most of the time, lounging and soaking up the sun.  On the weekends and after school, however, Sera will put her on her leash and take her in the front yard to play.  If Sera is busy riding bikes with friends, she ties Pebbles’ leash to a tree or mailbox and Pebs lies down and catches a quick nap.  Sera is hoping to get a basket for her bike so she can take Pebs along for some rides, however.  I don’t know if the cat is quite that mellow, but I guess we’ll probably find out…

Christian and his BFF, Cayden, usually chatter excitedly on the way to preschool.  During a recent conversation, Christian giggled and commented, “I like you, Cayden.  You’re the funnest kid ever!!”

Site Visits

We have a lot of work starting this summer so we have had a lot of contractors on the FOB for site visits.  So far we in my work at this base we have only had American, Turkish and Afghan contractors.  The American contractors usually aren’t all that fun to deal with.  They usually want us to help arrange their transportation, find them a place to stay and help them get established.  It’s a shock to some when they realize they can’t just hop on a plane and fly into the local village, rent a hotel and car, and stroll onto the base.  The Turks I have dealt with are already established in the country and are usually fairly self sufficient.  The Afghan contractors are a mixed bag.  We get some that haven’t been a company very long and others that have done major projects with the corps.  Some companies are run by engineers, some by a Dr. Somebody in Kabul and others by Afghan nationals and their Afghan-American cousins that have come back over Afghanistan to help manage the company.  One of my favorites was from a site visit we held the other day.  This guy was attending Kabul University Engineering School when the Russians invaded Afghanistan.  He decided that at the time it was better to fight than go to school.  So he quit, moved north and “spent the next few years killing Russians”.  Now the company he’s with is building roads and buildings throughout Afghanistan.  Most people you deal with over here have either spent a good part of their life fighting, moving to wherever the safest part of Afghanistan is or moving between countries.

I have been starting to get boxes of school supplies to take to a local school.  Thanks to everyone that is helping out!!!

HOMEFRONT NEWS:  I guess Katy has taken a break from sending me stories so here is one she told be about a few weeks ago.

On the way back from Wal-Mart Lily had managed to get partly out of her seat belt.  In the past I had told Christian that the cops don’t like it when kids get out of their seat belts, and….maybe…..I said something about having to go to jail.  So Christian tells Lily to get back in her seat belt or she’ll have to go to jail.  She wasn’t able to squirm back in so Christian started getting frantic.  He looked at her, with tears in his eyes and said “Lily, you’re going to have to go to jail” and started crying.  Lily got all worked up, as kids do, and started crying as well.  She looked to her left at Sera and between tears said, “Sera, I’m going to miss you.”. 

Caulk Gun

This morning one of our Afghan contractors showed up to the job site with a caulk gun to seal some flashing.  In the afternoon the QA checked in on them and saw them spinning the steel rod.  He figured that the gun was broken, so he took the gun and squeezed the trigger a couple of times.  The rod moved forward a couple of positions, all is well.  At this time the two painters, helper and superintendent started yelling at him to stop.  They told him that they had been twisting the rod for about an hour and couldn’ t get it to back out so they could put the tube in.  Now he had triggered the rod in even further.  The QA hit the thumb release, pulled the rod out and gave it to them.  He said that the look of joyous surprise was priceless.   The little things in life.

The family finally got their Valentine’s gifts.  I sent Christian a bunch of Batman cartoons and he was inspired to create a new batman costume.

Katy’s Korner:

     I have implemented a new rule; it states that nothing is allowed to live inside unless it knows how to use the toilet.  Since Sera’s cat, Pebbles, hasn’t mastered the trick of that yet, she has been banished to the backyard.  This decision cost me $35 at PetSmart today, buying her an engraved nametag, pink/black zebra print collar and matching leash (Sera wants to take her for “walks”) and some new toys so she knows that we still love her (Sera’s request, of course).   I’m fairly sure that the cat is way too lazy to ever climb the fence and try to go anywhere, but….neighbors, if you do see a gray cat with a pink/black zebra print collar wandering  the neighborhood, PLEASE return her to us.  If anything happens to that cat, my first born may never forgive me….

Carseat Conversations:

“Sera, what are pilgrims?”  Christian asked.  Sera responded, “ I’ll tell you if you’ll get your nasty, stinking feet off me!”

Christian to self:  “I can’t decide which one of my sisters to marry when I grow up.  They’re both so pretty!!”

Lily refused to allow Christian and Cayden into the car to come home from preschool.  She insisted that “Boys are nasty and they stink too much!!”

Outdoor Kitchens and Trebuchets

    Our Afghan contractors typically have a different workforce organization than the other contractors we work with.  If your contractor shows up introduces you to someone as “the driver”, well, he is pretty much just a driver.  Occasionally that person might have other duties, he might also be the cook.  They usually have drivers, a cook, sometimes a mechanic (to work on the cars or other equipment), various engineers (plumber engineer, door engineer, water engineer, civil engineer, mechanical engineer, etc), laborers, carpenters, etc.  Below is a picture of how a cook was preparing lunch for the crew at one of our off base sites.  They had an outside office area roped off, he threw down a rug, gathered his materials and took his shoes off to prepare the food.  He is making a meat gravy that will be put over rice.

Today I took my ½ day off and a few of us made a trebuchet.  We don’t have the weights attached yet, but we manually swung the arm and were able to throw about 8” diameter snow balls and water bottles 30 – 40 yards.  Maybe we’ll mount it to the hum-vee and have a mobile siege weapon J

Katy wanted to tribute to the Home Front News section so I added her email below (I think it’s her way of making me blog more J).

Sera is still working hard to collect school supplies to send to Afghanistan.  It seems that word is really spreading and this school may end up with enough supplies to last several years! 

     Christian is still spending his days changing clothes and “making costumes.”  His cutest recent one was an “Indian” (as seen in the pic).  The spoon sticking out of the belt wrapped around his head is a feather (or so I am told).

    My treat of the day was a play written by Sera and Christian during their post-dinner, pre-bath play time.  For this to make sense, I need to tell you up front that Sera has been studying Greek mythology in school… “The Baby that Flies in the Sky” began with Christian jumping off the couch into Sera’s arms (keep in mind that Sera is only about 10 lbs. heavier than Christian).   He explains (in baby talk) that “Zeus daddy” and has kicked him out of the sky.  Sera then breaks into an impromptu opera song, “Oh my, Oh my, What Are you?”  Christian follows her act with his own spontaneous song of “One day…when I’m big and strong…I’ll be a king!”  The play concludes with Sera sending “her son” off to train…I think they may have a future in theatre!

Snow!!

This area finally got some significant snow, not that I'm excited, but all the local people are.  Except for the mountains, most of the snow has melted, creating a muddy FOB.  What a mess.

Not too much going on here.  Projects are continuing, new projects are in the works and most of the people in the office are getting to redeploy in a month or so. 

Our office is gathering supplies to give to a local school.  Any school supplies, PE equipment, jackets or cold weather clothing would be appreciated.  Sera is gathering from the neighborhood and whoever she runs into :)  See flyer below.

Home Front News:  Christian had Donuts for Dads the other week.  Katy went in my place and had a great time.  His class filled out questions about their Dads, Katy said that when Christian was asked what his Daddy liked to do for fun, he said "Work".  And, according to Christian I love him because I like him :)

At Christmas I talked to his class regarding the conditions over here and about the children I've seen.  His class organized a drive in their school to send me candy to give out to the children when we do site visits.  I now have 3 huge boxes of candy to give out.  I'm bound to get mobbed for sure :)

Local site visits with the Czech PRT

Today we visited a couple of projects in one of the local towns.  The Czech PRT team occasionally will take the project engineer out to the sites since they usually have projects in the area as well.  Of course, it doesn’t hurt that the project engineer speaks Czech.  After a quick roll call (we had a briefing the night before so I sort of knew where to be from the pictures in the presentation) we loaded up and headed out the gate.  I was lucky enough to get a civil affairs guy in my truck that spoke great English.  If it wasn’t for him I probably would have been pretty bored.  After we got down the road a ways we actually crossed a river and I saw some green stuff in the field for the first time.  At first I thought I was seeing things, but a double take confirmed that green plants were actually growing.  Along, the road little kids that were outside playing would run up to see the trucks and give a thumbs up sign.  I think that was the only time I saw any little girls while we were out.  Our first stop was a big Afghan National Army compound that we’re building.  Everything looked pretty good, the only issue is finding water.  They are at 150m on their second well and not having much luck.   Below is a picture of a cement mixer with all the latest accessories; a wood fired block heater, a hand crank starter, an elevated gravity fed fuel tank and a barrel radiator. 

After we left the compound we stopped to look at a site where a possible road and bridge might be built.  After jumping out of the “Dingo” we were attacked by children seeking candy and pens.  Unfortunately they had a mob mentality so it was hard to get the little ones any candy and pens.  I had to wrestle one of the pens back to give to someone that hadn’t been given anything.  The boys that had little brothers were very protective of them and would turn their stuff over to them.  I had to convince one older brother to keep some for himself. 

After that we stopped at the Ministry of Education building for the province.  The Czechs were helping with some small education projects and stopped to tell them that the supplies had arrived at Shank and to arrange a delivery time.  The civil affairs guy that was in my truck (pictured below) is working this project.  He said that they typically identify humanitarian and quick impact projects that are needed in the area and work with the local government to complete them.

Next we walked to an ANP project that we are building.  There were supposed to be some demonstrations in the area today so the Czechs figured it was better if we walked the 2 ½ blocks to the next site rather than drive.  Other than staying away from the cars on the road and the firefight that was taking place some distance away, it was a pretty nice walk.  I enjoyed seeing a little bit of the everyday life outside the FOB.  We walked passed some little stores and café/diners, gave out some candy and took a few pictures.  Pretty uneventful. 

On a different note, we are gathering supplies to take to one of the local school in about 6 weeks.  Anything from pencils, pens, paper, new/used coats, winter caps, gloves, shoes, soccer balls etc would be great.  If anyone is interested in sending anything you can send it to me and I’ll post some pictures when we deliver the items.

 

Certificates for the Carpenters

We hired a local Afghan contractor to build a couple of wooden buildings, install the plumbing and do a little site work.  The contractor hired a group of carpenters from north of Kabul and left their young civil engineer on site and in charge of the job.  The head carpenter (on the left in the picture below, the "Master of the Carpenters" is in the center, the engineer is on the right) is a pretty strong old man, dresses like he stepped out of a National Geographic issue from the Afghan/Soviet War (has the beard to match) and somewhat intimidates the civil engineer.  From the first day they showed up on site they wanted to know that if they did a good job would I give them a Certificate.  I said sure, but only if they did a good job.  Every day I would walk out to the site and the carpenter would come over, shake my hand, wave his arm toward what they were doing, give me a thumbs up and say OK.  I would usually say yes and then we would say “Certificate!!” (I think he only knew how to say OK, certificate and cigarette in English).  I would get our interpreter or the civil engineer over and have them tell the carpenter that if he got the building done in three days I would give him a certificate.  He would laugh, say something in Dari (probably fussin’ at me) and go back to work. 

Occasionally we would have to get the carpenters to correct some work or add some trim work.  If the head carpenter didn’t agree with what the civil engineer was telling him, they would have a short discussion and the carpenter would stroke his beard indicating he was older and wiser than the civil engineer.  The engineer would look dejected, so we would step in and have him tell the carpenter that if he didn’t correct it we wouldn’t give him the certificate.  The carpenter would laugh and eventually would correct it.  Or, if we didn’t say anything the engineer would just look at us and say “I will get the Master of the Carpenters to tell him to fix it”.  The “Master of the Carpenters” was another man that was the boss, but much less intimidating. 

The FOB doesn’t let the locals coming on the base bring their cigarettes.  So whenever we would come on site the QAs would give them one of their cigarettes and they’d smoke while we talked.  Once they realized the QAs would always give them cigarettes, they would quickly come to them and ask for one.  One day the engineer walked up to me and said “You know that they always go to Dave first because he has cigarettes.”  He was trying to make sure that my feelings weren’t hurt and that he knew who was in charge J

Close to end of the job the head carpenter and I had our usual exchange and he asked for a certificate.  I asked him how long until the buildings were done.  He said, “Maybe 8 days.”  I picked up a piece of cardboard, signed it, gave it to him and told him that this would do until he’s finished.  It surprised him and he thought it was pretty funny, we had to take a picture to capture the moment.

We have finally come to a close on the main carpentry part of the project.  Other than some punch list items and other minor work they have finished up.  The consensus was that they wanted their pictures and names on the certificates.  Dave (the QA) and I prepared them and signed them.  We all gathered so I could hand out the certificates.  Dave and I thanked them individually and told them how we really appreciated their work and efforts.  The head carpenter then gave a touching speech thanking us for giving them the opportunity to work and show what they could do, the opportunity for future work, for being present in Afghanistan and for helping to create a safe place for them to live and work.  His remarks really gave meaning to what we are doing and that we are really helping people.

ANP Headquarters

There are a lot of different government entities in Afghanistan that are trying to get projects started/completed/approved.  Just like in the States, we don’t always know what the other person is doing and it occasionally causes conflicts.  Two government bodies not knowing what the other is doing is one thing, throw in the culture of how things are done in Afghanistan and you have a whole new dynamic.

I have an Afghan National Police Headquarters that I’m building in a district near the FOB.  I get a call from a Civil Affairs person at a nearby COP and he tells me that I’m building my well on some land that the Sub-Governor promised them in the District Center.  That’s interesting, considering the Corps has also met with the Sub-Governor and arranged to build the ANP HQ there. 

We arrange to meet with the Nevada Agricultural Development team to look at the plans they had approved for the District Center.  It appears that I’m building a HQ building on top of their apricot and cherry orchards (or that they want to build it under my building) and both of us have permission from the Sub-Governor to do this.  After trying to resolve the situation we discover that the ANP Chief and the Sub-Governor are both aware of what’s going on, but the ANP Chief doesn’t want to give up his HQ building with walls and towers and the Sub-Governor doesn’t want to give the ANP Chief all the land and apparent power. 

After discussing with Civil Affairs possible compromises we get a sit-down with the ANP Chief.  Four of us (the Civil Affair CPT, the MAJ in charge of helping to train the ANP, the PM and myself) are ushered in to the Chief’s office by his bodyguards to find he is in a meeting aligning himself with the ANA of another province.  After 30 minutes of discussing possible locations for the HQ building (in which the main topic of discussion was how much land he was going to get and the number of towers along his wall) the Mayor and Sub-Governor come in.  Negotiations start all over.  From the body language it looked like the Sub-Governor was trying to appease his head strong son (maybe he was?). 

Eventually the PM and I had to leave to make our ride back to FOB Shank.  The ANP Chief walked us out to the COP and made it clear where he wanted his walls.  After much hand shaking and a picture we were off.  I later found out that they continued to meet for another 2 hours and………………….accomplished nothing.  However, after talking to the Civil Affairs person today, he seems resigned that I’m going to get my building where it is and he is going to have to move his orchards.  If the ANP chief gets his walls, I might have a friend for life!!!!!!!

 

How to get the stench out of a shoe and Sera's letter

Obviously our culture and Afghan culture differ.  And, some things are lost in translation.  It usually makes for a good laugh and sometimes for a frustrating conversation.

 

The other day my QA (Dave) went to check on a building that our Afghan contractor is building.  When he looked up at the roof to make sure everybody was working safely he noticed that one guy didn't have any shoes on.  He asked him to come down and explain what was going on.  The worker told him that his shoes stunk so he took them off.  Dave asked him to put his shoes back on but the worker said they were full of sand.  Of course Dave asked why they were full of sand and the response was that he was trying to get the smell out of them.  We're still not sure who was complaining about the smell of the shoes or who told him to take them off.  I guess some mysteries will never be solved.

 

Below is a letter Sera wrote for our office.  Lily didn't want to be left out so she colored it.  If you can't read it it says:

 

Dear Corps of Engineers,

I think it's so nice that you guys are helping Afghanistan.  You guys are also bringing so much pride to our country.  I just wanted to tell you that my family and I are happy to know that people like you guys are protect our country.  Keep up the great work.

Love Sera

 

 

Pizza and Birthday

A group that one of our QA's belongs to at home decided to send some hammers to a group of Afghan carpenters building a Sea Hut for us.  They only had a couple of hammers between the 10 of them and the ones they had weren't in very good shape.  One day a box of hammers arrived with a condition, get the building dried in and this group would by them pizza for lunch.  Great, this was going to be fun!!!  Even better, they have never had pizza and were somewhat reluctant to try it. 

 

The day finally arrives and our QA and interpreter go down to get the food; pizza (no pork), some rice in case they don't like the pizza and some nan brought in from outside the base.  The carpenters throw some plywood down and gather to enjoy lunch, as they do every day.  We start dispersing pizzas in front of them and in our ignorance forget to tell them the proper way to eat pizza. (I should mention that their typical meal is nan, rice, and goat or chicken.  They break the nan and use it to scoop up the rice and meat)  As we're sitting down I notice the confused looks on their faces.  Then one of the younger guys gets up, grabs the nan and starts giving it to everyone.  Then they break the nan and start scooping the topping off the pizza with the nan and eating it. 

 

We finally convinced them to eat the pizza as we would.  They said they liked it, but I think they were just saying it to be polite.  It's a safe bet that there won't be any Pizza Huts opening up anytime soon!!

 

 

I had a pretty fun birthday yesterday.  We went out to the Afghan restaraunt, convinced one of the workers to put on our new favorite Indian movie (Dabangg), and had a good time.  When we got back I was surprised with a cheesecake (somewhat illegally confiscated from the DFAC), which was promptly washed down with near beer.  A good time was had by all!!

 

 

Home Front News:  Listening to Katy talk it's a non-stop comedy club at our house. 

 

After dreaming up some new adventure in his mind Christian came downstairs and yelled "Captain No-Beard is my name and Pirate-Shippin' is my game!!  Sera, you want to sale the 7 seas?!?!"

 

Lily managed to escape the grasps of Katy, Sera and Christian in Wal-Mart the other day.  Lily eluded everybody by slipping through the swinging doors into the bakery.  After Sera finally tracked her down Katy heard Sera tell Lily, "You're lucky they didn't think you were a chicken.  You could have ended up as somebody's lunch!"

I'm Back

WAR EAGLE!!!  NATIONAL CHAMPIONS!!!!!!

 

 

 

For those of you in Columbia.....be thankful that I am over here and you don't have to listen to me (my office is ready to send me back if I tell them one more time that Auburn won).  Maybe I'll have it out of my system by the time I get back and you won't have to listen to me brag about the Auburn Tigers.......or.......I'll make up for lost time.  Hopefully none of you will lose any sleep in anticipation.

  

Getting home for Christmas was great.  The kids were off the whole time I was at home so it couldn't have worked out better.  It was fun just hanging out with Katy and the kids.  It only took about a day and a half to finish off Katy's list of things to fix while I was home.  I found out that the threat of no beer until I get my chores done is a pretty good incentive!!!  Sorry I didn't get a chance to come to the office and say hey, but the kids wouldn't let me out of their site while I was there.  We mainly hung out around Columbia and visited friends.  The day before I left I presented Christian's class with a flag and certificate that I flew for them.  I told them about our mission over here and how life in Afghanistan is different from theirs.  Of course, these were four year olds so they were mainly interested in the kind of animals over here, why a lot of the children didn't go to school and what did the kids play with.  I think a good time was had by all, maybe we'll have some Corps recruits knocking on the door in the future.

 

The flights back and forth between here and the states were pretty uneventful.  I spent most of my time in the Dubai airport trying to figure out how the husbands can tell who their wives were by only being able to see their eyes.  My FB friends came up with some pretty crazy ideas.  I'm pretty sure none of them were even close to the truth, but they were entertaining and helped me pass the time.

 

Things remained relatively unchanged here.  Getting colder.  Some projects moved along fine, some didn't.  Food hadn't changed except that they found some place to get fries and mushrooms for omelets.  I think they had a change in management philosophies, now if the omelet line runs out of cheese and you get some from the salad bar to put in your omelet you get fussed at.  I guess in Afghanistan there is omelet cheese and salad bar cheese....they aren't interchangeable.....and it's a matter of life and limb, at least according to the manager.

 

Thanks to all my friends at the Ft Jackson NEC for sending me a Christmas box!!  I got it when I returned.  It's always nice having something waiting on ya when you get back.

 

Our intrepeter watched the last half of the Auburn game with me and is now the newest Auburn fan.  He's not exactly sure what that all entails, but he figured that if you get to throw toilet paper on a tree when you win, he was all in! 

 

He gets paid about $400 a month and additional money if he goes out on missions with us.  He sends all his money home to his mother.  She's a school teacher and makes about $100 a month.  His dad is disabled.  Of course, his mother is scared to death for him and is afraid that the Taliban will get him or he will get hurt out on a mission.  The other interpreters in his tent are jealous because he works for the Corps.  He gets to learn about construction, we don't go outside the wire to often, and when we do it's not to clear IEDs or hunt Taliban.  Such is the life of an interpreter in Afghanistan.

 

HOME FRONT NEWS:  It's cold in SC and y'all are getting snowed in.  Katy was excited that one of Christian's friends came to the house to see if he could come out and play so she could get the kids out of the house for awhile.  I guess he hung out with me too long while I was home because his response was "It's too d**mn cold outside.  I'm going back to the living room.".  I must have been a BAAAD child and now I'm reaping my rewards.

Almost ready for R&R

Well, it's been a while since I blogged.  I'm getting ready to go on R&R so I'm trying to get all my projects in order before I go.  So what's happened since the last time I was on here:

 

WAR EAGLE!!!  Yep, I got up in the middle of the night to watch the Auburn Tigers put a whoopin' on the Gamecocks.  Of course everyone was tired of me talking about it so they had to haul a fellow Auburn Man in from Qalaal House to talk football with me just to get it out of my system. 

 

 

 

Had another round of outside the wire site visits.  I met with my LNQA, KTR and District Minister of Education at one of my project sites.  The District Minister of Education was a little upset that we didn't let him know we were coming.  I guess the part about not giving people the advance notice to round up the local taliban never crossed his mind.  Of course, a few days later the LNQA failed his CI Interview and had to be escorted off the base.  He's no longer allowed on the FOB.  I don't know if the interviewer was being over cautious or right on the money, still working that issue.

 

 

 

 

 

 

COL Magness came down for a visit.  Project reviews and tours.  All went well, nothing to exciting to say.

 

 

 

Dinner tonight was provided by an Afghan guy that we know who owns the bakery.  They made rice, bread, vegetables and goat.  It was excellent!!  I'm not sure how the goat was made, but it was probably simmered somehow all day because it was really tender.  So far my stomach has handled everything Afghanistan has thrown my way, hoping tomorrow won't be any different :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

HOME FRONT NEWS:

 

For those of you who have kids, you probably know what the "Elf on the Shelf" is.  If you don't know what it is, it's basically an elf that sits on a shelf.  Every night he returns to Santa to let him know if you have been good or bad and returns to a different shelf the nexdt day. 

 

The elf that visits our house is named Fisbee.  My son has seen Fisbee as a direct challenge to his free-wheelin' good spirit.  The first night he was a little weary of Fisbee, but willing to accept that Santa's good will lay through this elf.  The next night, he started yelling at the elf to go to sleep and quit watching everything he did.  The third night, he had it all figured out.  He told Katy, "You know what I think?!?!?!?!  I think that is not even a real elf, it's just decoration!!" 

Thanksgiving Weekend

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.  I worked for about 8 hours, ate the traditional Thanksgiving meal for lunch at the DFAC and grilled steaks, chicken, burgers and hot dogs for the office in the evening.  Overall it was a pretty good day.  I also got a hum-vee so I had to take it out for the initial spin.

Friday was back to business as usual, even the local insurgents obliged by lobbing in a round or two to wish us a Happy Thanksgiving Weekend. 

Thanksgiving was great and all, but the highlight of the weekend was Auburn taking down Alabama in the Iron Bowl!!!!!!  I even convinced LTC Staggs to let me fly my Auburn flag on the compound flagpole to celebrate.  No, the area office engineer didn’t appreciate (Bama Fan), I don’t really understand why though.  When the wind came up and had those beautiful Tiger Eyes flapping in the breeze, not even the local Auburn fans couldn’t help themselves.  They had to come by and look for the person who was flying the Auburn flag.  It was definitely a treat talking some Auburn football with other Auburn fans.  Of course, I had to explain to the office the origin of “War Eagle” and other Auburn traditions.  Alas, I could go on forever about my love of Auburn, but I’m sure none of you will want to hear it.  Especially the Gamecock fans that have the unfortunate privilege of facing the Tigers next weekend.  WAR EAGLE!!

Site Visits

We toured sites on Sunday.  We landed at a small COP to check on an ANP project that I have.  It was our first time landing there and we weren't quite sure we were actually at an American base.  After coming out of the landing area the only people we saw were Afghan National Army and their camp.  Had the base been taken over and we didn't know?  The next wave of people we hit were Jordanians.  At least now we were feeling a little more confident that we might possible see some US Forces at some point.  A couple of guys and I went to check on the site which is outside the COP but in an adjoining compound while the others went to make contact with the Mayor Cell to find out who we need to let know that we will be landing at their site in the future.  All went well and we survived :)

Next we flew over a road project trying to locate the equipment that had moved to site.  Supposedly the KTR had mobilized, had their camp fired on by Taliban, put under seige by ISAF, had their survey crew kidnapped and their second survey crew denied access to the area by the local COP.  I didn't see any sign of their equipment on the road and I still don't know if the KTR is telling me the truth or not.  According to the local COP they have not had contact with them.  And the saga continues...

See below for required attire when you roll with the Corps.

We finished off the trip with a landing at a nearby FOB then back home.  Another harmless day of travel.

Not much else going on other than work.  Got a package of ACUs and coffee from my FJFD friends and Pat.  Thanks to Bill for sending it out.  It really made my day.  We've had a peppering of incoming rounds over the last few days.  I also got a package from Christian's pre-school class.  They sent me their hand turkeys with a sign that said "We Put Our Hands Together To Thank You For Serving Our Country".

  

HOME FRONT NEWS:

Katy had to take the babies to get their hair cuts.  They did good of course.  However, they discovered a new game.  Christian was the sylist and Lily was the customer.  After seeing how Lily ended up, I hope she didn't leave him a tip.  Needless to say their momma wasn't too happy.

HOPE EVERYONE HAS A GREAT THANKSGIVING!!!

Cooking out and Controlled Detination

I forgot to mention that I got a package from Katy yesterday.  Besides a few toiletry items it was filled with candy and my favorite, cans of frosting!!  Not that I need the frosting, but It's soooo good when it hits your lips!!

 

Finally cooked the steaks that we traded for a couple of weeks ago.  We got the fire going with some scrap wood and charcoal.  Then I cracked my Becks near bear, lit my cigar, threw the steaks on and it was just like cooking in the backyard..........Except it wasn't....it was in Afghanistan :)

 

 

 

Above are a couple of pictures from the controlled detonation that they had today.  They blew up a ton of explosives today.  I was out on a site right after lunch when these pictures were taken.  I don't know how far away I was, but the percussion was pretty substantial.  A few hours later they had some more detonations but I missed the announcement.  So they went off, shook the building, and I headed to the bunker.  One of the Force Pro guys asked where I was heading...to the bunker of course.  He clued me in so that was my "DOH" moment of the day.  Just part of doing business over here.

 

 

 

 

 

I've attached some pictures of my room and office.  It's pretty good.  I'm definately not complaining.  If you're thinking about coming over, don't think that all rooms are single rooms.  I don't know if all the FOBs have single rooms but this one does and so does Ghazni.  Though Ghazni's accomodations aren't near as nice.  Below is a picture we took when we landed at Ghazni.  Dennis, I've got the bear safely to Shank!!

 

 

 

If these pictures appear distorted, just check them out in the photo gallery. I'm not all that great at resizing them. 

 

In case you're curious on how we stare down contractors to let them know we're not happy with their performance see below.  I'm the bearded one of course!

 

 

 

Eid is over

Yesterday we had a cook-out at the contractor who sacrificed the sheep.  And of course it was really good!!  We had nan, a flat pretzel bread, sheep and chicken kabobs, eggplant spread, a spicy tomato spread, onions, and their excellent sausage patties.  To finish it off, Turkish coffee. 

 

After asking about how they made their bread we got a tour of their kitchen, dining room (tea was dispersed), one of the TV rooms, a guest room, the open office and then back to the project manager's office where we got more coffee.  I was bouncing off the walls by the time we were through.

 

I got a picture of their oven the use for making bread.  It's a brick oven in a connex.  So, when they get ready for the next job they just pick it up and move on.

 

We also watched the Afghans learn to fly helicopters.  Some didn't seem to get to far off the ground and others have been hitting the landing area and tearing up the concrete.  Since rotary wing project is ongoing, the contractor isn't too happy about his concrete getting messed up.

 

I guess Eid is officially over.  The Taliban celebrated the end of Eid by launching a couple of explosives into the FOB.  It was one of good ones, it shook the building and was probably 200 - 300 meters away.  I guess they're back in business before winter hits.

 

If you're getting tired of my babble shoot some topics my why and I'll check them out and let you know what's going on. 

 

HOME FRONT NEWS:  Lily has finally reached the booger eating stage.  Katy caught saw her in the back seat sneaking a quick snack and told her, "Lily!! Don't eat that, they're nasty!!''  Of course Lily replied with a, "No momma, they're yummy to my tummy!!"

 

Christian may have had the comment of the year the other day.  He told Katy that he was "brave and not afraid of anything.......not evan a SHARK or an EVIL WOMAN!".

 

I hope he wasn't talking about his momma.

EID Sacrifice

 

Today we attended the EID Sacrifice at the compound of one of our Turkish contractors.  When we got there they gave us candy to sweeten our breath and gave us an oil cologne to fragrance our body.  In the above picture was the handlers bringing the sheep over to the sacrifice area.  They decorated them with ribbons.  They took the sheep to a corner and put the ram on the ground near a shallow pit.

 

 

 

 

They chanted over the Ram and then the Iman (?) sacrificed the ram.  Once it bled out they moved the sheep in behind it and sacrificed it as well.  After that it was Happy EID to everyone. 

 

Tomorrow we are invited to the cook-out where we will eat the sheep.  Not to bad of a deal if you ask me.

Rollin' with the Czechs

It's been a busy last couple of days; getting people in the gate, running out of water, getting water, server down, generator down, server up, server down; no worries.

 

I've been getting to know one of my Afghan contractors.  They are celebrating EID this week, which is kind of like their Christmas celebration.  He lived in this province and his family moved to Pakistan when the Russians invaded this area.  He attended university in Pakistan as well and is a civil engineer.  His family eventually moved back to this area.  The taliban took over and at some point burned the girls school where they lived.  They then moved to Kabul so his sisters could go to school and it's safer.  He said that's why Kabul is so crowded; everybody is moving there because it is safer and there are opportunities to go to school.  Most people definately have different life experiences than what we are used to.

 

We met with the Czech contingent that stays on the FOB.  We try to coordinate our visits to our sites with them when they are in the area of our projects.  They have their own missions they support and typically run 14 - 18 missions to the area during the week.  They check on schools and humanitarian efforts they are supporting and work with the ADT that operates out of Shank.  Fortunately they will let us convoy with them.  The bad part is that at times, depending on the area they are visiting, they will not let us go because Americans aren't readily welcomed.  The Czechs have their own problems as well, when visiting schools and town centers children will occasionaly throw rocks at them.  We were told that if the ANP is with them they will throw rocks at kids and chase them away.  Probably need to get those kids in school!!

 

Meeting with the Czechs reminded me of a story of my Great Great Great Grandfather, John Brchan, who immigrated from what is now the Czech Republic.  When he was old enough to serve in the army he was taken from a dance floor at a local gathering (the czech we met with said that they were either ending conscription service or changing how it works and the rank structure).  He served 10 years in the army as a mule overseer and had charge of the pack animals and about 20 men.  During his time of service he fought against the Italian Geribaldi.  His mess kit consisted of a spoon in which he used to eat out of a common pot.  His family paid for his rations, so if they didn't send the money, he didn't eat.  Things have definately changed.  I hope Katy would choose to feed me over buying a new pair of shoes or an outfit!!

 

HOME FRONT NEWS:  Lily spilled some milk and Christian decided to help Katy clean it up.  When they were on the floor he looked at her and said, "Let's say dammit....dammit!".  Yep, he learned that from me.

Escort Business

I've spent the last couple of days playing escort to some contractors.  I think I've got this business of heading out to the gate figured out.  Tomorrow I've got to figure out if we have enough room to easily manuever the M-ATV through the barries, then we'll be riding in style.  The pick up yard is basicall part parking lot, shanty town and zoo, depending on the time of day. 

 

 

 

Finally got a haircut yesterday.  Since my beard was looking like I could hide some trolls in it I decided to let the man trim it.  Haircut and beard trim all for the low price of $8.  Sure beats Sports Clips, you only have to find your way to FOB Shank, Afghanistan.

 

Had some Nan and Chi after that and listened to the Afghan interpreters talk about politics.  They were Afghans that left at some point and have come back to work here as interpreters.  They laid out how the positions were bought and how the tribe system kind of works.  They feel like most people here don't feel like getting an education and would rather play with AKs.  Hopefully that's not the case, but it'd take a lot to convince them otherwise.  However, until the taliban situation is under control all our Afghan contracts leave around 1600 to make sure they can get back home before dark falls because it is too dangerous to be out after dark.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I took a picture of a C-17 flying in over the base.  They normally land and take off away from the base, so this vantage point was pretty cool.

 

We celebrated Veteran's Day by flying some Corps flags over the compound for us to take home.  Oher than that it's business as usual over here.