Occasionally I'll post individual stories from my deployment along with some pictures to help tell the tale. However, a lot of experiences and pictures are more anecdotal in nature and would be more appropriate as a compilation rather than individual posts. Here is the first installment. (Remember: the pictures and stories are not necessarily related)
Transient life is horrible. I'm thankful for twin size beds at every stop, but settling into my home for a year was a wonderful feeling after weeks of this.
I. Afghanistan is an islamic republic. Hence, building codes need to follow several Islamic traditions. One interesting example would be that an Afghan toilet (it's really just a hole in the ground with treads on each side to stand on while you squat - n/k) must never face East or West. This way, there is no risk of facing the same direction one would pray while taking care of "business". Funny, but true.
This is the view from the first camp where I was living, before I moved to my current camp.
II. I went to a provincial police headquarters building to check out a generator site for future improvements and repairs. We wanted to get a better picture from one of the second story windows of the site, so we went inside, up to the second story and found an office that gave us a great vantage point for photos. Incidentally, the men in the room (mostly Afghanistan National Police - ANP) were just "chilling" - at least as good as you can in this country. They were seated, eating corn nuts and raisins, and drinking chai tea. Before my friend and I could thank them and leave the room, two servings of chai had been brought in for us and we were offered a seat. The next fifteen minutes of drinkink chai, eating the snacks, and speaking in broken english/dari were interesting to say the least. Finally, we thanked them, and went on our way. That was all - just two americans, several ANP, and chai.
This is the attic to the Queen's Palace. It has been pretty abused over the years, but it still has an amazing allure to it.
III. A contractor who is working on the camp is bound by the principle that his father will choose his life partner. He hopes it is this girl he gets to see once a year, but that's all he can do - hope.
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