062412 Urgh, I meant to say "2 'exploding stars' at most" and office gift box

062412 Urgh, I meant to say "2 'exploding stars' at most" and office gift box

On my last post I meant to say "2 'exploding stars' at most" (not 4).  Who edits this anyway???  The food here is OK but maybe, only, barely deserving '3 exploding stars'.  Heck in Iraq we had at least a dozen flavors of ice cream and 3-4 types of cheese cake!  Maybe I'm just spoiled by the war in Iraq.  Since I've been here (6 months) there are have been only two major attacks but in 2009 in Iraq there was at LEAST one car bombing every week at the gate.  Then there's the time in Iraq I watched a gun battle going on at the fence during my afternoon run (while wearing a bright yellow shirt...probably not the smartest move.)
Also the office received a big box o' stuff from corporate.  It pretty much had cheap 4th of July stuff in it and like lions devouring a wildebeest on the Serengeti, only the box skeleton remained 5 minutes after it was opened.  Anyway, here is a pic of me and a coworker enjoying the 4th of July accoutrements that were sent.

R/Chris

062012 What?! 3 'exploding stars?' Are you crazy? At most maybe four.

062012  What?! 3 'exploding stars?' Are you crazy? At most maybe four.

 

People ask me often what the food is like in Kabul and for the most part it's your basic institutional food that you'd find at your basic federal detention center (not that would personally know...)  But on the US bases I think the food is better because it's paid for by the US.  But on a NATO base (such as HQ ISAF) it's paid for by NATO.  (But does that really mean much considering 2/3 of the funding of NATO comes from the US?)  Anyway I digress.  Here's an artical that does a fine good job of examining the culinary delights that can be found on military bases in Afgahnistan.  But 3 'exploding stars' for HQ ISAF!?!? Are you crazy? At most maybe four.

R/Chris

http://atwar.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/14/the-best-and-worst-in-kabul-military-dining/?ref=afghanistan

061812 Last pic

061812 Last pic

Above is a pic that I reference in the previous post.  I had to fix and then repost. 

R/Chris

061812 To the airport and back and a new shirt

061812 To the airport and back and a new shirt

Today I got to drive to the airport again (for only my second time off base in about 6 months) to drop  off a coworker going on R&R.  While there we swap vehicles as ours was being serviced.  Even in AF you don't want a 'lemon' vehicle so the vehicle is serviced at No-Lemon!   Also driving along the roads here it looks very much like parts of Tijuana, Bangkok, Mombasa or Manila (having been to all four.)   There are donkeys, goats and garbage.  It's typical 'third world'.  I've also included a pic a thistle  that added some color to an otherwise barren environment.  The airport isn't a busy airport but there are twice weekly flights to Moscow, daily flights to Tehran and obviously Air Emirates flys cargo here (see pic.)   And I got a new shirt in the mail so I thought I'd throw in a pic as well.  The Toyota vehicle behind me is an armor plated with bullet proof glass (well, at least to a .22 cal.).  Just about every passenger vehicle here is 'up-armored' and drives 'like a tank' too but with 1 inch glass and no, the windows don't come down. 

Not a bad way to start off the week, a trip to the airport and a new shirt.

R/Chris

061112 5.4 Earthquake

061112 5.4 Earthquake

 

So I'm in the office having coffee and we feel this low rumble.  Really it wasn't much and given the shoddy condition of the building I thought it was just a truck nearby or a helo overhead coming for a landing.   Nope it was a real live earthquake in the Hindu Kush.  How cool is that, a 5.4 earthquake?

R/Chris

 

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/map/

061012 Haircut and a Green Goblin

061012 Haircut and a Green Goblin

Saturday and Sunday at the gym here is pretty much like it is in the states.  Attendence drops off significantly and it makes for a pleasant experience (in so far as much as possible that is.)  I've not been to the gym in several days and even today I was looking for excuses not to go.  But it's a slow day here, my assignment was done and the boss was going to the gym, The stars were aligned and they were telling me one thing, so I went.  I was there about an hour and then left (which is the best part.)  Afterward I had a 'green goblin'.  It's an after-workout drink that's supposed to be good for you.  Anyway, here's a pic, fresh haircut and a green goblin.

 

R/Chris

060812 Last of Kabul Street pics, eh, overall a good trip.

060812 Last of Kabul Street pics, eh, overall a good trip.

Above are the last pics I have from my driving on the streets of Kabul experience.  As you can see, some of the 'establishments' along the street are not built out of wood or steel and are probably pretty old.  Also many of the signs are in English as well as Arabic (as it is in Kuwait and Dubai.)  The kids outside the main gate speak English pretty well with no British accent.  Eh, overall a good trip.

R/Chris

060712 KIA (Kabul International Airport) has a real restaurant

060712 KIA (Kabul International Airport) has a real restaurant

 

At KIA I got to grab a lamb sandwich (which was really pretty good but took 15 minutes to cook.)  Above is a pic of the menu and a the restaurant interior.   The currency of choice is the euro but they'll take dollars too.  And of course there's soccer (aka football) playing.  I've included a gratuitous pic of me as well.
R/Chris

 

060612 Massoud Circle and Blue Burkas

060612 Massoud Circle and Blue Burkas

 

On the way to the airport to pick up the FNG we drove through Massoud Circle (see pics.)  Massoud is revered in Afghanistan and he was opposed to the radical Islam of Al Qaeda.  So two days before 9/11, he was taken out.  The whole story and reference is below. 
Also in much of the middle east the burka is worn by women. In Iraq and Kuwait it is black but in Afghanistan the traditional color is blue.  The woman in the blue burka (pic above) was begging in the middle of the street.  The pic of the boys in the blue shirts was taken outside a high school (I know because it was big English letters.)

 

"Ahmad Shah Massoud (September 1953 – September 9, 2001) was a Kabul University engineering student turned military Leader who played a leading role in driving the Soviet army out of Afghanistan, earning him the nickname Lion of Panjshir. His followers call him Amir Sahib-e Shahid (Our Martyred Commander). An ethnic Tajik, Massoud was a moderate of the anti-Soviet resistance leaders.

Following the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan and the subsequent collapse of the Soviet-backed government of Mohammad Najibullah, Massoud became the Defense Minister in 1992 under the government of former Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani. Following the collapse of Rabbani's government and the rise of the Taliban in 1996, Massoud returned to the role of an armed opposition leader, serving as the military commander of the United Islamic Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan (known previously as the Northern Alliance).

On September 9, 2001, two days before the September 11 attacks in the United States, Massoud was assassinated in Takhar Province of Afghanistan by suspected al-Qaeda agents."

http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM85MD_Afghanistan_Iraq_War_Memorial_Massoud_Circle_Kabul_Afghanistan

R/Chris

 

 

 

 

060512 My first trip onto the streets of Kabul, where you drive on the right side of the road...usually.

060512 My first trip onto the streets of Kabul, where you drive on the right side of the road...usually.

 

Yesterday a driver was needed to go over to KIA (Kabul International Airport) and pick up an FNG (F@#$%^g New Guy.)  So I said sure!  I've not been off base for 5 months now and I get to drive!  Frankly Kabul is like any other third world city.  The streets here look very similar to what you'd find in Mexico, Bangkok or the Philippines, but with maybe more guns.  Anyway, the traffic laws are somewhat relaxed and as you can see in the pics above, cars go everywhere.  There are typical street vendors, bikes and motorbikes (aka potential VBIEDs) on the road as well.  And in Kabul, you drive on the right side of the road...usually.

R/Chris

060112 My Oakey sunglasses, you get what you pay for

060112 My Oakey sunglasses, you get what you pay for

One of the things that is cheap overseas is sunglasses.  But then again, are they really?  I bought my first set of 'haji' sunglasses a few weeks back and I was 'guaranteed' that they were genuine.  Of course Oakley sunglasses do not go by the brand name of 'Oakey' so that was a tip off but I bit anyway (first pair $25.)  Anyway, within a week the cheapo nose piece fell off and I finally got a chance to go back to the bazaar and for only $10, I bought a replacement.  I bit again and wasn't more than 10 feet away when a lense fell out of that pair.  So I went back for a third and ended up with the sunglasses above.  Now I got to go back to the office and 'pay' more in further humiliation.  Evidently haji sunglasses go for only $7!  Eh, you get what you pay for.

R/Chris