Mazar-I-Sharif from the ground and air.

In the past week I have had the pleasure of driving through and flying over Mazar-i-Sharif.   Mazar-i-Sharif is the 4^th largest city in Afghanistan with a population of about 370,000 inhabitants.  I tried to look up more information but Wikipedia is down because of SOPA and PIPA protesting… so you will have to do that on your own in 24 hours.

My drive through Mazar-i-Sharif was with a German caravan.  On the way out there I traveled in the back of an APC.  I will avoid doing that again at any cost.  It’s like going on an old wooden rollercoaster ride with no windows.  The ride took about 50 minutes, and lucky I didn’t eat breakfast or it might have been all over the inside of the APC.  On the way home, the German’s were nice enough (or didn’t want to have to clean my lunch off their equipment) to let me ride in an Eagle which has windows.   I did not take any photos on my ride back, sorry, as it was my first ride and I was too busy taking everything in. 

Also, to make life a little more interesting the day before my trip is when the video of the US Marines urinating on dead Afghans was released.  There was concern for the backlash this might have caused or demonstrations that might have transpired as a result in the city.  Fortunately the trip was uneventful and successful.

Few things I noticed on the trip:

1)      Mud!  It was raining but everything I saw was made of mud or covered in it.  It seems when you get a piece of property in Afghanistan the first thing you do is build a huge mud wall around your property.  Even if you don’t built a house on the property… you make sure to have this mud wall up.

2)      Afghans seem to wear the same attire in the summer and winter.  I saw men walking in sandals with their feet covered in mud.  Even a delivery guy had his back stripped with mud from spray off his bike tires.  There were a few women walking around with Burka but mostly I saw men and children in the streets most without gloves or winter gear of any kind. 

3)      Children for the most part waved at us as we drove by.  Some ran by the side of the road to follow us.  I saw a soccer game being played on a muddy field with most of the kids barefoot (note: the temperature was about 45 degrees F).

4)      There are a ton of yellow cars.  I would say 80 percent of the cars on the road I saw were yellow.

5)      Men seem to loiter on the side of the road, not really talking, just staring at the cars as the pass by.  And majority of these men don’t stand when loitering, they seem to squat like a catchers in baseball.  An interesting site to see all these grown men squatting next to the road.

6)      They do have food venders selling food on the side of the road.   Looked to me to be some kind of nan bread and a lot of fruit and vegetables.  I also saw a whole pig strung up outside someone’s home.    

7)      Afghans so far seem to be happy, friendly, and nice... and love mud walls!

Smiling... this is before my ride.



Inside the APC



APC... my ride out.

German soldier... if James Brown (my JB) was in Afghanistan and German this would be him!

My flight over Mazar-i-Sharif took about 10 minutes.  I flew on a Sikorsky 61.   This was my first helicopter flight.  The morning flight was too dark to take pictures but I took some on my way home.  A couple of my tent mates happen to be on my same flight and I took a picture with one of them.  I hope you enjoy the pictures of Mazar-i-Sharif as seen from my chopper.

In the chopper with Hanzel, one of my tent mates.

Mud walls

some more mud walls

city center

Yup you guessed it... more mud walls.

And the 4th little pig built his house out of DRASH.

There has been a new development since my last post… it snowed!

I guess before each snow storm (and even sometimes when there is no storm to follow) there is a wind storm.  Because of the previous rain there wasn’t much sand flying around in the wind. However, it was still ear and nose biting cold, which really made going using the bathroom at night an adventure. 

I was trying to fall asleep the other night amongst one of these wind storms and couldn’t as I was compelled to do mathematical equations in my head.  I was trying to figure out at what velocity the wind would need to reach to blow down my tent.  This brings me to the other reason I couldn’t sleep… the crashing and banging sounds my tent was making in the storm had me convinced we were fairly close to that critical velocity.  Good news is by morning the wind had died down, my tent was still standing, and I had freshened up on some Newtonian physics I hadn’t thought about in years.  My tent mates informed me that no one sleeps on nights before storms… looks like I have some fun midnight math and physics problem solving in my future.

I am attaching some more fun pictures for you...  

This is the truck I get to drive around.  I share it with my 2 coworkers.  And yes we mounted the antenna ourselves, and no it does not help get radio stations from outerspace.

 As you can see there are basketball and volleyball courts.  I am hoping before I leave here to get in a game or two of volleyball, but we will have to see.

This is the first book I finished here.  It is written by a friend of mine I met on my last assignment at Fort Benning, GA.  Cheers Colonel Bill if you’re reading this.

This is one of the Germans hangout rooms.  I have to walk through it every day to get to my office.  Sometimes they have parties in there while I am still working and I can hear their techno music and the clanking of beer bottles.  For now I will just have to live vicariously through them… and each of you at home.

This I came across this gem in the German PX... it made me laugh.

I am still well and healthy and God willing I will stay this way.  I miss you all and look forward to coming home in a few months.  Till then I will keep you posted on my life in the sandbox.

Pictures of my tent city (Prime Beef), tent, and room

Me in Afghanistan!

My rug

My bed

My room from the door. Desk on right, bed on left.

Tent hallway

My front door

Front Gate into Prime Beef

I survived week 1.

Camp Marmal (near Mazar-i-sharif) – Week 1

I have officially been here a week and I am still alive. I will attempt to guess questions you might have and answer them as best I can. Feel free to ask me more questions that you wish for me to answer in my future blogs. If my reply doesn't involve me having to kill you after answering your question then I'll most likely add it.

Am I safe?As safe as one can be in Afghanistan. This is a Nato base mainly run by Germans. We have not had a mortar attack since I have been here but its only been a week. I do hear gun fire and some explosives being detonated but am told that is just our troops practicing.

Is it what I expected?No, its better and here are a few reasons why:
1) I thought it would be colder. Don’t get me wrong it is really cold to me here but manageable.
2) I thought I was going to have to sleep in a bunk bed in a 20 person tent having my neighbor, Ronda, stare at me while I slept. I am in a 20 person tent but they have partitioned off rooms with plywood. I have a desk, dresser, nightstand and rug. I still have to be quiet in the morning and night as you can hear most noise through the plywood… still not bad. As the base gets more built up they might add wet CHUs and dry CHUs. I’ll let you google those. I allegedly live in the best tent city at Camp Marmal for the US called Prime Beef. We have the nicest bathrooms and showers as well as our own private gym. We are surrounded by a fence and the gates are locked at night adding extra security to my city that most of the other tent cities don’t have.
3) I thought I was going to have to pee in a porta potty and shower with perfume. There are porta potties located around the base, some marked for women only (Thanks God) but in my housing area we have enclosed bath/ shower area. Very similar to what you would find at a 24 hour fitness. The water is treated with some salt solution and is not potable. This bathroom is about 75 yards away from my tent. Which makes peeing in the middle of the night a chore.
4) That it would be easy to lose weight because the food sucked. The food here is ok, there is a German DEFAC and a USA DEFAC. The USA put butter on everything… which makes it taste pretty good. And they have cakes, cookies, ben and jerry’s icream, etc. It will take a lot more self discipline on my part which I haven’t started yet. I feel the German’s have healthier choices and usually don’t have desserts, however, they are allowed to drink so they make they make up the calories in beer (note: All USA citizens are forbidden to drink).
5) Not sure what I expected but I didn’t think it would be like a mini town. There are a few gyms and they have classes you can take (spin, zumba, Insanity, etc). There is a church. There is a free movie theater. There is a pizza hut, burger king, and some coffee shop. They have a place to play pool (free), place to play video games (free), rooms you can rent with flat screens to watch any movie you want (free), phones to call anywhere with a 30 min limit (free), a bus system with bus stops around the base (free), bars (if your non-American), a service that does your laundry (free), an airport, a beauty salon including massages and mani and pedis (not free)… I’m sure I am leaving stuff out but you get the point.

How many times have I been hit on?This is easy, 0, even though the ratio is about 100 to 1 men to women. It could be the 5.11 pants, hiking boots, the leatherman I carry on my belt, the no make-up or all of the above that makes a guy here think we are playing for the same team so why bother. Joking aside everyone here so far has been very professional and focused. It is refreshing. Plus we can’t drink so no one has liquid courage.

Have I made any new friends?I have made friends with a few of the ladies in my tent. They are older black women who are showing me the ropes. One even took me to a Zumba class. I have 2 coworkers here that I spend most of my time with. I haven’t ventured to the USO or other hangouts yet as the jet lag has been kicking my behind. Out of the 1 week I have been here only 1 day did I fall asleep after 9PM. Last night I slept from 7:45PM till 7:30AM. I am hoping to adjust sooner than later but I guess the 12.5 hour time change is harder on my body than I thought.

Am I glad I came?Yes! It does feel a little like that movie groundhog day because you work 7 days a week, rain or shine, holiday or not but it’s still interesting most of the time. There are new challenges here you don't get back home. It’s only been a week so I am still learning the ropes but it nice to see what it like in the sand box.

Do I miss you?You betcha!