I now work for a new brigade and things are going good. I like them and they seem to like me well enough which is good because if they didn't I'd be sitting in Kandahar now. That would have sucked. It's still a possibility but I'm praying to stay here at Bagram with the snow capped peaks of the Hindu Khush mountains and the familiarity of friends and coworkers.
My new boss told me that Afghanistan is my oyster and I can travel where ever there's a story that involves our brigade. It's ironic how differently I look at being here compared to when I first arrived. Back then I didn't want to hear anything about a convoy, leaving the office much less the FOB and now I'm looking for places to go and stories to cover. I know my friends and family don't want to hear that but I can't help it. In order for any experience to be truly worth while you have to get out of your comfort zone and take a chance. Yes bad things can happen but so can good ones and if we hide from the bad ones we will miss the good ones too.
So my first mission for the brigade was back to Gamberi Garrison. The mission there is being assessed for changes and such and I was going to cover the civil affairs mission. Civil affairs involves reaching out to the local community to see what is the best way to build a relationship with them of trust and cooperation. I think its a very important mission and in order for Afghanistan to stand on its own the Afghan soldiers need the support of their people. Civil affairs is one way to build that relationship.
The FOB was a little different from the last time I was there. There were some improvements in the support services for the U.S. Soldiers and more build up. The base is relatively new so there will be a lot more changes.
I was looking forward to seeing the ANA colonels that run the show there. I got to visit with and interview one of them so I was happy for that. I can't really talk about the mission related meetings but I felt truly lucky to be able to be a part of the grass root efforts being made by the ANA and the brigade to try and reach out to the local villages. I was the only women at the meetings and I was given a lot of stares, some warm and some not so much by the village elders. I smiled to myself because I was privileged to be there and see the relationships my government wants fostered so we can succeed at this war and go home.
I love some of the traditions they have here like Chai tea and sweet treats when you visit with the Afghans. I never complain about the tea. I love it. Also I have received nothing but the utmost respect by the Afghan men or at least the ones I have interacted with. I'm sure there are some who can't be trusted but I have been lucky to not deal directly with any of them. They have a different way of looking at women than American men but I haven't found it to be bad even though I am a military woman. It doesn't seem to matter to them, I'm still a woman. Of course I can't see myself being the domesticated matriarch who stays home to care for the kids but I respect their culture and find they have a strong family unit, something that's lacking back home.
One of my favorite people here is Zaki, the linguist and he came with us to Gamberi too. We've become friends and he's very funny. I have a twisted sense of humor and so does he so we get along great. Our last night at Gamberi one of his interpreter friends invited me for tea with some of the other interpreters. These guys all grew up in Afghanistan and have a tight knit bond that's like a brotherhood. I was honored to be invited to share tea with these guys and hang out.
We played cards and I drank a lot of tea with dried blackberries. It was so much fun and they were complete gentlemen but very competitive with the card games as I would expect from any dedicated card player. Reminded me of card games back home except there wasn't any real yelling or arguing. Someone is always going to be accused of cheating. Afterwards I spent some time talking to another one of my favorite interpreters. He had been feeling down when he is usually very happy and comedic so I was concerned. His best friend is my friend too so I asked him to try to lift his spirits when he can and I tried to tell him that he'll be ok and he will succeed at his goals if he works hard. Believe me, I've been through those phases before too.
So all in all it was a good trip and a memorable one. We left this morning and said goodbye to a couple of stray dogs, one who let me take my picture with her. I hope I have more adventures like this.
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