Shake, Rattle and Roll!

It's been a very busy and eventful past couple of weeks.  I've enjoyed an earthquake courtesy of Pakistan, moving to a new base on a semi-permanent basis and just this morning, the bomb-assassination of the Deputy Provincial Governor which canceled all of my meetings today.  It's also begun to rain more frequently so I guess the rainy season is officially here. 

The new position is finally falling into place, making more sense and not becoming such a huge stress inducer.  Kudos to me!  Basically, they divide the City of Kandahar into 10 districts and I manage the activities through our funder, USAID, for 2 of them.  We build schools, roads, water points, equip offices, etc. and work with the line ministries for education, health, women's affairs and the city.  It's incredibly interesting and frustrating all simultaneously - for every good move, there's corruption, bullshit and delays to set you back.  Political positions and other lines of authority are obtained for profit and not necessarily for the advancement of the Afghan people - kind of like us... We also have to manage our projects through local staff which has been incredibly challenging - you send them out to do the work, site visits, etc. and have to trust and rely on what they report back.  Not the best way of doing things, but does avoid us having to be out in the middle of things.  Most, but certainly not all, Afghans are incredibly lazy I am finding and are more interested in the money than the mission, so they find ways to cheat and rip you off at every point - not shocking since that's quite common in countries suffering from poverty, war and devastation.  If you don't specify exact questions and outcomes, they usually won't make any effort to problem solve or think on their feet so a common request can take a week while you keep asking for more information - it's like sending a bunch of lazy teenagers out to do something important when all they want is the money!  I can relate to that as my parents will attest!  Not all of them work this way, but enough to make these projects a huge pain in your unmentionables.

So  now I'm safely ensconced at Camp Nathan Smith - fortunately this base in in the middle of housing and shops so they don't tend to shoot rockets onto base - it's more bombings at the gate, etc.  The base is small so I hear all helicopters taking off and landing, bombings outside of base in the city, gunfire and more importantly us blowing the Taliban to their land of virgins.  The A10s are always flying around and bombing the be-Jesus out of them - much different than KAF.  More in the middle of things, but safer if that makes any sense.  I also have a beautiful view of the mountains and can see kites being flown all around the city outside of base - we have one in our room that blew into base.  Tons of cats, dogs and a new puppy that someone has taken in.  There are also trees here which will make the Hillbilly quite happy when things enter the season of green.  The food is excellent - which can always be dangerous to a hungry Wino - but they also have a pretty nice gym.  It's rather old school and reminds me of a boxing gym - it's in the old Taliban prison to I keep my eyes peeled for ghosts! - but the equipment is good and I have for some reason fallen into a rather extreme cardio routine.  I hate cardio - it bores the hell out of me, but I could get through it with a good television show or movie.  However, here it's just you, your iPod and inside your own head - doing 60, 90 and 120 minute, hard at it sessions - can't explain that, but I think it has something to do with all of the underlying stress and adrenalin that you just get used to but can never fully release.  Hopefully I will return for my visit home in June as a very relaxed and toned Hillbilly!  Weird though to live in a space where so many people have been tortured and killed - had that feeling about my jaunt to Dachau while I was in Germany.

So - the adjustment to tin can living with a roomie has been evolving.  I had someone in my container the first 4 nights I was here -great people, but the living situation needs to me modified as you simply cannot work and live like that - they are working on it and hopefully we will have our own living containers soon.  The hardest part is just not being able to get up and work in the early morning, middle of the night - no Skyping at a whim and if you do, there's usually someone in the room while you're talking - I'm here on my own right now and loving it - am even slowly adjusting to the showers and bathrooms - I will say this ... people are pigs OR I'm just extremely clean - could be a combo of both.

My tin can - I live on the side with the window

 Here are some lovely pictures of the base and where I now live.  I'm quickly settling into a routine and enjoy that everything is so easily accessible - not like KAF where it was almost impossible to get many places without transportation.  There's a mosque on base and the chanting from the mosque here and then throughout the city at prayer times is  other worldly.  I was listening to music the other day while helicopter were landing, chanting was going on and some gunfire blasts were going off and it was totally surreal.  I think all of the gunfire and explosions really put you on edge, but you don't realize it because it's so "normal" and just part of your day.

Lt. Dan - this guy hangs out with me every day

View from my container - this is the old Taliban Prison

Mountain views.

Little center courtyard in the hub of base

Upstairs deck for working, eating and hanging out

another view of the courtyard

Chinook coming in - these are LOUD

...and landing - the wind from these will blow you on your big behind

I have less than 2 weeks before Italy, Spain and France - it can't come soon enough and I am looking forward to actually sleeping for an entire night without jumping awake or insomnia.  Good food, good wine, good company and all in beautiful settings - to say I can't wait is an understatement!  Hope you all have an excellent weekend!

Drink of the Day - tea on a chilly, rainy day.

Clenched!

Damn!  I've spent the last 7 or 8 days learning the ins and outs of my new position.  The job itself is pretty easily grasped, but the documentation and database are causing me to fight the urge to crawl into the fetal position and rock myself into a "happy place".  Just when I think it's coming together - BAM.BITCH.BOOM!  There's yet another piece of paper that needs to be hunted down and included - seriously - this is a war of paper over here ... a war on the trees.  My head is spinning, my jaws are clenched and I'm having an overwhelmed moment because of the redonkulous level of paper trails necessary to do anything.  That's because the audits are all-important and what 'merica needs to justify the continuation of all the good we are doing over here - yes, I am smirking as I typed that last sentence.  I'm in awe.

On a brighter note - there looks to be a change in the weather today and it's looking like a mighty large thunderstorm is moving in.  That's a cause for great excitement as it's basically Groundhog Day here - every day is the same ... sunny, dusty with changes only in the temperature.  So I guess the rainy season I've been hearing so much about - the one that causes floods and the baby-powder-fine dirt to turn into peanut butter cement - may have finally arrived.  As usual, I will be excited about this for around 2 days and then will quickly become bored with the whole thing.  I'm betting it won't even smell like rain, but rather more like wet, filthy mud ... and poo.  The air here always has the aroma of poo, if even just a hint, and not in the "farm" way we are familiar with - more like the "look what the homeless guy did on my steps" way that occasionally occurs back at the Hillbilly's place of residence.

I had an amazing and fascinating meeting this week with the 5 members of the team I now manage which is comprised of local Afghans.  2 speak English well and the other 3 need the conversations to be translated back and forth which makes for long meetings and meaningful looks and head-nods from me as I pretend to grasp the context of what's being said.  I asked the team about their backgrounds and that was quite interesting - 3 were past (and highly ranked) military commanders back from the Soviet era.  All of them have many years experience working with international aid organizations.  One of them is extremely handsome with a very compelling voice and unusually colored eyes - almost like tiger's eyes - and were hard not to stare at, which is something women should always avoid doing here.  Let's see - their initial interest in me was only to ask my age and how many children I had ... not much different that the days of Don Draper ... both of the numbers I provided were most likely disappointing - Age 4+, and 0 chill'uns.  Of course I included my professional background and my stint in the military which was met with a round of appreciative head nods - I think anyone here who knows how to kill things is always welcome at the table - the inside joke is that they have no idea what kind of mad-capped mayhem ensued during my stint in the military.  Interesting fact - they all love cookies and juice which I find hysterically funny for some reason - most likely because I'm seriously due a break from here.  Here are these tough, seasoned military veterans enjoying the hell out of cookies and juice.  Eventually they clearly understood my boss-likeness, especially when I was laying down the law about reimbursements and other loose money issues.  The oldest one was happy that a woman was part of the team - this was said after I picked up garbage at the end of the meeting - and my co-worker and I were laughing about them being so confused as to my role.  Hell, I'm confused about my role but it's certainly not cleaning up after the "meetings with the mens".

I would like to mention that I am slowly falling into very weird speech patterns and speaking habits that will probably be difficult to initially break when I finally return home.  Many of my co-workers speak English as a second, third or fourth language and much like my experience in Greece, an "s" is placed at the end of almost all words.  Something I no longer notice in my own speaking - writing correctly is easy, but speaking is more about what you become accustomed to hearing.  Spoken sentence construction is also different as are slang terms for common items.  I'm certainly not worried about losing my hillbilly accent, but am curious as how much of a newly minted American I will sound like when finally home.  The strangeness is that you just stop noticing ...  kooky...

I am trying to enjoy my last few days in my own private container with my own private bathroom - in sum, I am extremely clean and well-groomed as a result.  I need a cut of the hair - see what I mean about sentence construction? :) - and an amazing amount of red wine, red meat and fresh pasta ... bread, and some tapas plates in Spain ... and some heart-clogging butter and cream based dishes in France ... pints of beer ... the freedom to roam ... something to look at that's not a tent, metal container or camouflage motif ... and tons and tons of walking and exploring!!  February 10th is right around the corner.  Hope everyone is sufficiently enjoying Winter!

Drink of the Night - an Arnold Palmer drink mix in water - would be a John Daly if I had vodka...

Here's to 2011!

Well it's New Year's Eve here today - about 9 and a half hours ahead of the States.  I've showered, had some tea, Skyped, finished a good book and now settling in for the evening.  We have Fridays off and then Saturday due to the Holiday - something I never enjoyed with my other job as we worked all Holidays and just got paid for them.  It's been quite a year considering that on this date in 2009, Afghanistan wasn't even on my most remote of radars.  That's what I love about New Year's Eve - if you are open to new possibilities, you have no idea what the year will bring and it's always proven to bring something I never, ever expected.  Thankfully, I have a patient and understanding other half who really gets my need to wander not to mention my burgeoning addiction to experiencing and seeing new places and things.  The support makes it so much easier to be over here.  I'm also very grateful that my family and friends have made huge efforts to stay in touch on a regular basis, send plenty of goodies and therefore keep me very grounded and missing home - something I see as a barometer of good mental health.  Homesickness to me equates to still being tied to something and is a beneficial quality.  Too many people here are missing that because they've been doing this too long.

This coming year should be somewhat "normal" because I at least know where I will be ... I think.  I was just picked up for another year with my current company and will be working in Kandahar City from the base there.  Right now, we will largely be going back and forth, working much of our time there and then coming back to KAF for a few days every couple of weeks.  I like the new base and was even involved in planning it with my old job - weird - will have to share a container room with at least 1 other person.  The room also serves as our office and right now is cause for all of us assigned there to have to go back and forth, living from our suitcases as we are not provided with any permanent "home" - that sucks and will take some getting used to.  No place to place any personal items unless you want to haul them back and forth - we have 7 people assigned there with only 2 containers that sleep a max of 4 people each ... you see how much fun that will potentially be, but I very much like the team I am working with so I will be in good company.  I also have a 300 yard walk to the showers and bathrooms which is also less than desirable because I've spent most of the year with either my own bathroom (recently) or one I shared with 1 or 2 people.  But!  The base has a pool, is easily walkable and my container just needs some Hillbilly TLC and will be something to envy!  There are also tons of base kitties and a few dogs that wander around and let you hang with them and it's away from the big bosses which means a pretty relaxed environment.  I will adjust to the greatly decreased privacy and use of base shower and bathroom facilities ... at least I keep telling myself that, but it really is less than desirable.  However, no one can work the system in order to increase perks or living situations quite like the Wino! 

One of the base kitties who made himself at home on our security guy

Love these markets - I think this is where our food at the corporate compound originates - hygienic!

I think this was the bank building that was the victim of the explosions we saw - had driven past it that day

I am very happy about the new position.  I will be finished at the end of December 2011 and hopefully home in time to enjoy New Year's next year - which I hope will be in Vegas.  I will be managing a team of 5 local nationals who are actually implementing the work within the district I am assigned.  I have a weird, squatter district that needs an overhaul somethin' fierce - land clearance and allocation issues, infrastructure, schools, parks, economic development ... it really should be an interesting year and then I will finally return home and decide where I will be and what I will do next.  Hopefully something in a country that gives me more freedom to roam, is not such a violent shit-hole and is non-Muslim.  Or, something at home, but that doesn't seem too promising seeing that my field is based pretty much on development and growth and we aren't having much of that back in the US of A.  I have a year to think about it, so I'm not too concerned now.

As for Afghanistan... it's been pretty active over here with car and suicide bombings in combination with pretty regular rocket attacks.  I just found out that the one we had on Christmas killed a couple of people on base - way to ruin Christmas for those families for the rest of their lives. We had more attacks on base during the warmer months, but the fact that they are still doing it so frequently points to a change in strategy on their part - they usually pretty much close up shop and go back to their dirt hovels for the winter, but not this year.  Anyboom, I saw a huge explosion in the city while I was out in one of my parks doing a walking survey - really amazing to see from the hillside and it was a huge blast with an immense smoke cloud ...  We were all like, "what was that?" as you do while wondering in a park outside of any base when something explodes.  I'm irritated with myself because I had my camera in my hand to take pics of the project sites and could have snapped some great shots, but instead stood there with my pie hole hanging open, gawking at a large explosive plume of dirt. We had a rocket attack last night and totally expect one tonight for New Year's Eve - it's c-o-l-d out here at night and it's been taking up to an hour to give us an all clear before we can return to our rooms.  By then you are numb and wide awake.  I have a little sock and sandal combo going at night that never fails to entertain everyone else as "so American" - which I don't think is a compliment to my national heritage, but there's too much Hillbilly in the Wino to break old fashion statements!

I hope all of you have an excellent New Year's celebration and a happy and healthy 2011.  I have really appreciated the readership, comments and emails on and about this blog.  I hope to continue posting on a regular basis - I've been bad about regularity recently, but will be at a new base with plenty to observe and bitch about I'm sure, so things should pick up!

Drink of the Night - good and excellent news... it's red, not really allowed here and part of my namesake - Happy New Year to me!

Happy Festivus!

Ah, Christmas in the Afghan Wonderland!  After a Christmas Eve of Skype, contraband scotch and many games of iPad solitaire, the big day finally arrived.  I took a walk today down to the boardwalk to grab a pizza since they wouldn't allow lowly civilians into the DFAC for the Christmas meal.  I saw Santa riding around on top of an MWRAP (large military vehicle) and then on top of a tank down the road - I also heard that Santa was shelling the Taliban as well which kind of cracked me up thinking about it.  Seriously, they were apparently dressed in Santa hats while firing off mortar rounds.  Now that's the true meaning of Christmas.  Surreal but comforting.

Thankfully for Skype and Facebook, Christmas here has been somewhat bearable because I at least feel in touch.  I am very thankful for my own room, including my own bathroom, and a TV with real television broadcasts to get me through.  Oh, and books and the iPad - I would have gone nuts without the distractions.  Everyone is in a pretty good mood today and making the best of where we all are for the Holidays.  I would love to be home this year - my sister's kids are getting a puppy and it's an adorable GoldenDoodle ... I want one ... and am missing all the snow as well.  I keep myself busy by planning vacations which has become a weird hobby for me but damn if it doesn't take your head someplace good!

Tomorrow is back to work and Monday is another convoy to the park and afternoon strolls through both of them in Arghandab, topped off with a meeting of the minds with the military on how we will move forward with the projects planned.  I finally found a female local national who works for us - she was able to go down to the women's section of the park and ask them questions from my survey.  I secretly hope to make the parks as nice and accommodating as I can for these women - life here for them is complete shit for the most part and I like the thought of them safely enjoying something another woman helped improve for them.  It's all about the sisterhood!

One of the interesting aspects about working over here is that Afghans, much like most impoverished citizens, are unable to think about the group or the future and rather just about their immediate survival.  Makes sense. So many of the projects that are constructed end up totally scuttled after people sweep in and steal and dismantle the parts to sell or re-use.  It's frustrating, sad, but mostly understandable considering their situation over here.  We are trying to teach community leadership skills so they can affect their own change and work more effectively within the government (which is incredibly corrupt) - I think most of them are just as frustrated as we are will the state of affairs.

I very much cannot wait to get the hell out of here in February for a much needed jaunt through Europe - hopefully the time will fly until then.  Hope you all have/had a very special Christmas with your families and friends!  Oh nice - we just had a rocket attack - F-them for doing that on Christmas.

Drink of the Night - hot cocoa with a side of Jingle Bells.

Dusty Christmas!

I can't believe it's been so long since my last post!  I've been busy learning this new job, traveling for it and trying to figure out what comes next.  Now that I work regular hours (8 a day), live in a container apartment and on the non-explosion side of the base - not to mention, not under a rocket siren or at the end of the runway - life is seeming normal here and time is passing quickly.  I can even watch the BBC from my room and movies on India's HBO.  Very strange how incredibly different this new job is compared to the old one - living in a tent, working in a tent, sitting in a tent for 6, 12 hour days with bad internet and no TV signal - it's truly like night and day!  It's also making the passing of the Holidays in Afghanistan bearable I think.  I read, watch the tellie and work - the only thing missing is the evening wine and the ability to get out of here when I want.

The downside is that it gets to feeling so normal, that you forget you are in a war zone until something weird happens.  The road convoys are enjoyable to me now and I have to fight the urge to take a nap.  It's misplaced fearlessness - not out of any kind of courageous center, but just out of normalcy.  I've always thought is was strange what a person can get used to, but here it is and we all fight the boredom.  However, I was sitting outside last weekend at the base in Kandahar waiting to meet with the Mayor when we heard an explosion - it ended up being the bombing of the Afghan Police HQ that we had just driven past and hour earlier.  Apparently that was part of a whole series of attacks that weekend - those are the kind of gentle reminders of where I actually am.  I do think there's a tendency to become addicted to the adrenalin rushes you get over here and therefore become willing to push yourself further just for the jolt.  Luckily, the company I now work for has an excellent security team and they are very cautious, so we can't push ourselves like you tend to want to do.  How the Hillbilly loves a good rush of excitement!  That's really a stupid reaction to being here since the people who actually live here - in the middle of this s*&^ - risk there lives every day just walking down the street and trying to support themselves and their families.  I make more in 1 year than most of them will ever see in a lifetime, so I should simply be thankful I'm generally safe.

So, on the job front - this one officially ends in February.  I have already planned my next jaunt through Europe in the company of one of my favorite people in the universe.  Italy, Spain and France - woo hoo!  I've been asked if I would be interested in taking a position here in the Panjwaii District office that we are opening up in a couple of months, but nothing official.  I am looking for plan Bs just in case.  I think I could barely stand to be here one more year, and then will call it a day and look for something at home or in a country that's not at war, more interesting and allows freedom of movement.  Many people I know would be happy with that decision!  I'm not sure how I will ever be able to adjust to a normal working environment after this - can't even imagine it!

I hear there's snow, with some extra snow going on at home.  I hate that I'm missing it because I thrive on a good snow storm, love to drive in bad weather and find the city being closed down due to horrendous weather exhilarating!  Seriously.  Instead I'm here where its getting pretty cold, but with no snow.  My partner in crime is seriously missing my winter duties as well - I shovel the walks and steps and clean off and extract the cars when I'm at home - that is missed, but my trying to get the Jewbilee to walk through a storm to go to my favorite bar/restaurant for drinks and conversation isn't missed.  Just typing that made me homesick.

I hope all of you have an excellent Christmas with your families and friends!  I will be Skyping for mine which is almost as good as being there.  My 3 year old nephew was at my parent's house while we were Skyping and the minute I said hello to him from the computer he went screaming and running through the house - I almost collapsed laughing.  By the end of the convo, he was up in the screen jabbering like all of the Wino's relatives - when he ran out of things to say, he just spoke in tongues.  Interesting little fella.  Anynuttyfamily, enjoy the pre-Christmas week and I will post more often!

 I'm throwing in some Christmas picks of the Hillbilly's family to enjoy - we are very innovative with our cup holders, maternity wear and hair-dids!  Merry Christmas!

Drink of the night - tea...I.am.so.bored.with.tea.