Travelling tales

I know I said I would write every day and I have already skipped a couple days. Sunday night I was up in Kabul visiting ISAF Joint Command headquarters. I brought my computer along, but I did not have internet access. I have posted a picture of the accommodations for transient/visiting personnel. This is a pretty typical setup - tent with bunk beds. Some places issue linen. IJC did not. I had heard from a workmate that someone who visited IJC the previous week returned with a case of bedbugs. YIKES! So I washed the blanket I brought with me and all the clothes I wore in the bed as soon as I returned to KAF - just in case. No itching - I think I'm safe! Several bunks are empty in this picture, but by the end of the day all had been filled by incoming travellers, including a group of Egyptian women who were less than impressed by the IJC hospitality. One of them actually broke down in tears as she walked in and sat down on her bunk! While the visit to Kabul was great for meeting contacts and linking up with a number of former classmates, it was good to get back to KAF and to my own bunk. (I will post pictures of my room in an upcoming blog.)
I returned from Kabul Monday and today (Tuesday) I had the opportunity to go to the Afghan Army's 205th Corps base nearby. What an experience! The base is a quick ride from KAF but I got the chance to see a bit of "real Afghanistan." Unfortunately I did not get a chance to take pictures during the ride, but maybe in the future.... We drove through a small Afghan bazaar area - this is a martketplace - with shops and food stands lining both sides of the road. I also saw a little playground and several Afghan boys running and playing in the dirt along the way. As we approached the base I saw old Soviet barracks from the 1980s when Soviet troops occupied Afghanistan. The buildings are cratered in some places from old fighting, but that is where many of the Afghan Army officers and their families live. I also passed a huge Soviet vehicle "graveyard," full of tanks, trucks, air defense artillery systems, etc. that the Soviets left behind when they withdrew in 1988-89. Wow. I was happy to know I own stock in Ford Motor Company when I saw the huge fleet of new Ford trucks and SUVs the Afghan Army drives. :)
Accompanying us on the trip over was an interpreter who I took some time to speak to throughout the day. He was born in Kandahar City but moved to California in 1979 when the Soviets moved in. Normally he works just translating written documents between English and Pashtu or Dari, but today he got to do some in-person work and it was nice talking to him and hearing about his love for Afghanistan even though he left it so many years ago. He may never move his family back, but he is still vested in the outcome of what we are doing now in this country.