Well I got up early and was ready to meet everyone for the trip. We headed to the airport where we had to wait about three hours. That's normal show time for military flights. So of course the topic of discussion was what happened at Fort Hood and I was sticking to my theory. Apparently not a very popular theory with some of my other acquaintances but I stuck to my guns and argued my point. We didn't get into full blown arguments about it, just heated discussions. Someone wanted to argue that I wouldn't think he did this for religious reasons if he wasn't a muslim. I agreed I would not because most other religions don't believe killing non-believers and sacrificing yourself to become a martyr to prove your dedication to what you believe in is necessary but jihadist do. It was an interesting morning of conversation and my heart rate went up a little but I liked arguing my point a little.
So they get us out on the tarmac ready to load the plane. I ask which plane is ours and I thought they pointed to a little white prop plane. I swallowed hard and jokingly yelled, "MRAP please, these little planes make me nervous." An MRAP is the latest up-armored vehicles we convoy in these days. The fact that I'd rather convoy than fly in a little plane like that says a lot. I'm terrified of doing my first convoy. As luck would have it we were flying in a bigger military version of that prop plane so I felt a little better. The reason for my fear of flying in little Cessna's is their crash history. Way too many of them go down for this that and the other reason.
Our flight went smoothly and as we're flying over Kandahar, I see the vast difference between the geography of Bagram and this desert wasteland. Obviously there were far fewer natives living in this hardly hospitable part of Afghanistan. It's a bit warmer than Bagram as I'd expected and far far dustier. The sand is a fine light gray, almost white with a clayish texture. I can imagine the mess here when it rains.
The base was confusing to me but I wasn't familiar with it so that is likely why. I won't bore you with the details of getting a place to sleep just that we were put in a tent with women who obviously lived there full time and we were now invaders. Due to the lack of living space they had permanently assigned people that were living there for several months or more to these transient tents. We got stuck with top bunks and very little room to put our gear. I hadn't packed much but even finding a spot for my boots at the end of the day was a challenge. It turned out the residents were civilians there for a year and this was their home. I was astounded and thankful for my little hut at Bagram.
After taking care of the business we had come there for, we went to the bazaar. It was crowded with a slew of people looking for a good deal on handmade items and some knockoffs. I was looking for a blanket like the one I saw at Bagram. It is made of real fur and suede. The fur was colored and placed in a patchwork pattern on top of the suede. Simply beautiful but the guy wanted 150 for it and I wanted a better deal. I didn't find that blanket or any like it at the bazaar but I did find some other things for xmas presents and such. I'm not a very good haggler though so I'll have to learn that art. I was getting better by the end of the day though.
After that we went to the entertainment district. This consisted of a huge board walk that went around in a square with shops all along the outside of it. In the middle was a Canadian hockey rink (no ice of course), volleyball nets, a stage and a lot of dirt. We walked all the way around checking things out. I waited in line twice for almost an hour just to get some sweet iced tea. it was worth it but like everything here, you have to be patient.
As the day wore on, the smell was getting worse and worse and worse............. There is an open cesspool on the base, almost in the middle so no matter where you go, you smell it. It was getting so bad that my stomach started hurting. I ended up just sitting inside and reading my book to get away from it. This place had racked my last nerve, or so I thought.
I got pretty tired after the long day and headed to bed. I got myself changed and cleaned up and climbed into bed and just when I thought I could finally relax and get some rest, the smell was stronger than ever and nothing was going to make it go away. I finally fell asleep but my sleep was restless and I woke up from time to time and the smell was always there. I wanted to roll over and kick it out of my bed like a bad lover who's warn out his welcome.
When morning came I couldn't wait to get out of there. When we were waiting at the airport there was the threat of a delay to the afternoon. I was praying that wasn't the case and it wasn't. I was never so glad as to be in that small airplane, and this time it was the little white one but I didn't care. I slept the whole way until we were flying over Kabul toward Bagram. I could see how much more beautiful it was. The sky was full of fluffy rain clouds that cast intermittent shadows on the villages and green grass below. I saw half a rainbow peak out from a cloud and reach for the valley below but not quite making it. There were villages and large towns surrounded by mud walls everywhere and the beautiful mountains embraced them all. How I wished I could freely travel the countryside and see these places and take photos but I can't without risking my life. How sad that another country I'm a guest in is imprisoned by violence and hatred. It reminds me so much of Bosnia, right down to the three factions that want to rule here. So familiar yet here we're fighting a very determined and dangerous enemy.
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