Howz-e Madad: the Life and Times

When I got to Kandahar, I was told I was going to Tarin Kowt (TK), a multi-national airbase in the northern part of southern Afghanistan. Then I was told I wasn't going to TK, because there was no bed space. Then I was told I was going to Wilson, a small-ish base just outside of Kandahar. Then Howz-e Madad (HEM), who wasn't scheduled for a fire department just yet, had a fire. So Mike (the A/C I went through Ft. Worth with) was told he was going to HEM. He ok, but I want to take Jason and Michelle with me. We'd been together for almost 2 weeks, so it was cool with us. The big Chief said "ok", and so off we went.

The trip getting to HEM was fairly entertaining, if you like sitting around for hours on end. We were told to be at the flightline at one time ... it was IMPERATIVE that we were there on time ... and didn't actually leave until 8 hours later. Jason, Mike, and I all loaded into one helicopter, with a metric crap ton of stuff, (with some other people) and the 4th guy going with us, Pablo (who is a whole story unto himself) got in another one. They told us we were going to a base before ours, so some of us knew there would be two stops. Well, the helo I wasn't on landed at the first stop, while we circled overhead. We got to HEM, landed, unassed ourselves and our metric crap ton of stuff, only to disocver that we had no Pablo. Yeah, he got off on the wrong base. This both amused and annoyed us, and that it amused us is really saying something, because by the time this was all discovered, it was 3am.

So they found us a tent for the night, then moved us to another one the next day, we got our bearings and started life at our new home. (Pablo missed the first ride out of the other place and eventually arrived the next day ... about 30 hours after Jason, Mike, and I.)

This is the fire station:

That's Jason and Mike standing in front of it. The big white boxes on the side are fire extinguishers and/or bottled water.

One of my favorite parts about HEM is our blimp. We have a blimp that hangs out with a camera that looks at the surrounding countryside. Lots of bases have them, but ours is special ... mostly because it is ours. Basically, it looks for bad guys. I'm sure you understand why I like the blimp! The blimp very rarely comes down to visit the earth, but it did today and I got a couple of pictures!

And there were pictures here, until I was told I was wrong for having them here ... so there are no more blimp pictures. But it is an epically awesome blimp. You'll just have to trust me on this.

We also have wonderful places called "bunkers"! So far, knock on wood, we have not had to use them. Fingers crossed it stays that way for a long, long time. Like until next November. :)

Hurrah for bunkers!

So, food. The food isn't bad. It's not exceptional, but I am in the middle of a war zone, so I am not expecting great things. They feed us and it is rarely ever inedible. They often have delightful treats, like kiwi fruit and mango, and rarely can Buffalo Bob's Everything Sauce not make something edible. There was some stuffing last week that even Buffalo Bob couldn't save. Right now, my biggest concern is that I have to keep deciding between strawbery or banana milk for my tea in the morning, because we haven't had white milk in a while. If you work on it, you can eat relatively healthy ... but the goal here isn't necessarily to enjoy low-calorie, low-fat foods. The boys and girls in uniform need their calories. THe worst day is Sunday, because brunch doesn't start until 10, and that's 3 horus after we normally eat breakfast. And sleeping in is very much not an option around here.

So this is my typical day:

0630 - wake-up

0700 - pick boys up for breakfast (if they aren't ready, I harvest my crops on FarmVille)

0800 - finish previous days sitrep, send it to the chief for approval, then forward on

0815 - 1130 - find stuff to fill time

1130 - lunch

1230 - 1800-ish - find stuff to fill time

1800-ish - dinner

After dinner - screw off on the computer and go to bed

Shampoo, rinse, repeat. But only every other day. :)