Tonight, the last two people from my office made it into country, so we are a complete office now. We went to see them arrive at the airport, and again, it was a complete cluster. The civilian guy that runs the PAX (passenger) terminal is on a real power trip, and is counter productive in getting people through there fast. Hopefully he won't still be working there when I have to go through again.
Today at the office was rather unpleasant as a generator right outside our building had something wrong with it and had smoke billowing out of it for most of the day. And by smoke, I mean lots of smoke! The building I work in is not an actual building that will keep stuff like that out of it. It is made of plywood, and it may have a tent around it. So basically, we were breathing in diesel fumes from the generator for most of the day. Luckily we didn't drop dead from carbon monoxide poisoning as we don't really have any way to ventilate the office. I have been told, by the legal team that we are replacing, that this happens from time to time, but not too often. However, on the other hand, every time it rains, apparently my personal office floods....
In other news, my shower tonight was hot and had water pressure! What more can a girl ask for in a war zone?
Monday, January 30, 2012
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Settling in
I'm slowly getting settled in and trying to get into a routine here. So far, it's not that bad. It is very muddy, as it apparently rained a lot before I got here, and everything is dirt roads. I have yet to have a hot or even remotely warm shower since I have arrived here. I am still holding out hope that it will happen. If nothing else, I should be able to get a hot shower when it becomes like 130 degrees....of course by then I will probably want a cold shower. I live about 1.2 miles from the office, and there is a bus that runs to and from the office and pretty much all around the base. I choose not to take the bus because I like to walk, and am hoping with walking back and forth at least 2 times a day, it will help me on my quest to lose at least 30 pounds while I'm here.
Speaking of losing weight....The food choices are pretty plentiful. Kandahar is a NATO base, so there are many different countries here, and some have there own DFAC (dining facility in case you have already forgotten that acronym). Last night I ate at the Asian DFAC and it was pretty good. They had curry and different stir fry. I have heard good things about the British DFAC, which surprises me because the British aren't necessarily known for their culinary feats.
I went to the gym last night, and the gym here is different from the gyms back in the states. Normally at a gym, you have to wait for a treadmill or an elliptical machine and there is usually no problems getting on the weights. Here, is the exact opposite. I had my pick of treadmills and ellipticals while there were lots of people standing around waiting for different weight machines. I am very happy about that as I like to use the ellipticals as they are no impact and are better for back problems.
The PX here is really kind of a joke. With so many people here they really never have anything in stock. So I have resorted to trying to by things online. Unfortunately, there are a lot of restrictions on what companies will ship to APO addresses. For the record, Amazon and Walmart will not ship a pillow to an APO address, but Brookstone will. So I got a Brookstone pillow! I made the mistake of not buying a broom the other day when I saw them on the shelf, and now they are out. So I have to go everyday to see if they have any in stock. With all the dirt roads and wind, everything gets covered in dirt, so sweeping is an everyday occurrence.
I am trying hard to maintain a positive attitude about this deployment, as I have seen some people who just complain about everything and think that they are going to have an awful year. So far, it hasn't been hard to stay positive, and I'm sure some days will be harder than others. But right now, other than the extremely cold showers, I have nothing to complain about :)
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Photos!
Here are some of the photos that I took along the trip to Afghanistan...
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| And this is where it all started. Michael and I at the deployment ceremony before I got on the bus. |
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| Me at Miramar waiting for them to refuel and re-cater the plane. |
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| The fighter jet that I watched come in for a landing, and was disappointed when Maverick did not get out of it. And one of my paralegals and her husband. |
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| Fighter Jets! I swear I saw 2 pilots give each other high fives and say something about the "need for speed" |
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| My row of seats on the plane |
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| A snack on the plane :) |
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| Lasagna Dinner |
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| When I found out I would be spending the night, I had to get a souvenir from my stay in Alaska. It also doubles as room decoration for the metal room I'm living in :) |
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| View from my hotel room in Alaska |
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| Snapping pictures on the way to the airport |
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| Mountains and Pretty sky on the way to the airport |
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| More on the way to the airport |
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| The city of Anchorage |
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| Waiting to the board the plane in Alaska |
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| One last picture as I was boarding |
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| Another snack on the plane |
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| Cheese omelet breakfast |
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| Sweet and Sour Chicken Dinner |
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| Mountains that we flew over right before we landed in Kyrgyzstan |
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| More snow covered mountains |
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| I think that English may have been the person's second language |
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| It's freaking cold and I have so many layers on that my arms look like Popeye's |
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| Right before we went on lock down to fly into Afghanistan |
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| On the C130 with one of my paralegals and her husband |
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| In the good side seats :) |
Greetings from Kandahar!
I finally made it to Kandahar last night after 4 days of travelling. To say the least, I was exhausted! Kyrgyzstan was very cold, but luckily for us, they were experiencing a heat wave and the temps were only in the 20's when we got there and got down to single digits. Much better than the expected -44 degrees that they were experiencing the week before.
I wasn't there long, just a little over 24 hours. Unfortunately for me, my internal clock was all messed up, so I didn't get too much sleep while we were there even though there was a whole lot of waiting around. Once we arrived there, we sat through a couple of briefings and then it was time for us to get our bags. All the bags were loaded on to a truck which we had to unload. Most people had at least 2 bags and there were hundreds of us, so there were quite a few bags to unload. After they were all unloaded, then it was time to find your bag. Now this isn't like looking for your bag at the airport baggage claim. All of our bags look exactly the same, save for our names painted on the bottom of the duffel bag and small name tape sewn on the ruck sacks. When I found my bags, I felt like I had won the lottery....twice.
Then the fun part started. I had to drop the duffel bag off in the baggage yard, as I wouldn't be needing it again while I was there at Manas Air Base. After dropping that bag, I had to make my way to the tent that I would be staying in while at Manas. It was about a 10 minute walk, which felt like an eternity with a very heavy ruck sack on my back and heavy assault pack on the front of me and my M-16 slung over me in some fashion.
The DFACs (dining facilities) are open 24 hours a day in Manas, but only serve meals at certain hours. If they aren't serving a meal, you can still go in and get snacks, which usually consist of junk food. Luckily for my waist line, the DFACs here at Kandahar don't have this same option. The food wasn't too bad, but I only ate dinner there.
Once it was getting close to leaving, we went on lock down and just sat around in a tent for hours. Once you are in the Army for a while, you become a world class "waiter," because the Army is infamous for making you hurry up and wait. We finally were bused out to the flight line and then of course came more waiting on a bus that had horrible diesel fumes. I'm surprised I didn't get carbon monoxide poisoning from that thing. We finally got to load up the C130 aircraft. This was my first time on one of these. I must have had beginners luck because I didn't know that the first people on the aircraft get the better seats. The inside of the aircraft is huge and they have just regular airplane seats (read: really cramped and close together) in the middle. Then they also have seats that line the sides of the plane. The first people on get the seats on the side of the plane, and I was one of the first people on. Lots of leg room! I will remember this for future flights because the people in the middle looked miserable!
Once we got to Kandahar, it was a cluster you know what! There were some people who were staying at Kandahar, like me; and then there were others who were going to other FOBs. So, there were lots of people yelling out names of different people and telling them to do certain things and go certain places. The only problem was that you couldn't tell who was yelling what and what they were wanting you to do. My name ended up getting called and when I went outside to find my bags like I was told, another person outside told me to load them up onto a truck. Of course after I loaded my bags up and went back into the terminal, someone else told me that I was still supposed to have my bags and that truck was headed for FOB Wolverine. So, I had to run back outside and get up into the back of the truck and find my bags all over again and unload them. Then I had to carry them back into the terminal only to be told to carry them back outside to load onto another truck. Did I mention that these 2 bags together are extremely heavy? Needless to say, after all that I was exhausted.
I finally got my bags loaded up into the right truck and loaded on to a bus headed for housing. Luckily one of my Soldiers met me at housing and helped me find my bags quickly so I beat everyone to the housing office line and got signed for my room quickly.
My roommate has been here since right after Christmas as she was on the very first body that deployed. She is an awesome roommate and went around "acquiring" stuff for herself and me. The rooms pretty much just come with a bed and lamp and that's it. I'm not sure how she did it, but she was able to acquire a chest of drawers for each of us and many sets of plastic drawers. And to completely cement her rock star status, she was able to acquire and wall locker and gave it to me to use. I am really happy with my roommate situation and it will definitely go a long way with making this year more enjoyable.
Today, I woke up and had no idea what I was supposed to be doing or really where to go for that matter. So I got up with my roommate and she showed me around on her way to work. Once I got up to BDE (brigade or where I work) I was able to find my office and found Dave, the other attorney I work with. He had to give a ROE (rules of engagement) briefing so I sat in on that. I found out that I wouldn't be going to the range today, so I didn't really have anything else to do. After the briefing we went to the DFAC to eat some lunch and then went to the PX (post exchange, kinda like a walmart only the one in kandahar is much much smaller than a normal PX. I've been to the PX a couple times today and it is probably a little over a mile from where I live or about a 20 minute walk. I got lost going back as it was the first time I was trying to find it by myself, and I ended up at the poo pond (which I will explain about that later). Luckily, while I was there this time I ran into some people I knew and they had a vehicle so I caught a ride back to my room with them. I really don't mind the walk, but I had bought a large set of plastic drawers for my roommate as she had been looking for them, and the over a mile walk would not have been easy carrying that thing.
So, the poo pond.....It is exactly what it sounds like. It is this big pond that is filled with poop. I'm not sure the of the story of how it came about or why it is still here, but as soon as I find out, I will share with you guys. I had heard a lot about it and how awful the smell was here, but I don't know if it is just the cold weather, but I haven't really smelled anything....even when I accidentally ended up at it on my way to the PX. I'm sure it won't be pleasant when it is hot out and the wind is blowing.
I wasn't there long, just a little over 24 hours. Unfortunately for me, my internal clock was all messed up, so I didn't get too much sleep while we were there even though there was a whole lot of waiting around. Once we arrived there, we sat through a couple of briefings and then it was time for us to get our bags. All the bags were loaded on to a truck which we had to unload. Most people had at least 2 bags and there were hundreds of us, so there were quite a few bags to unload. After they were all unloaded, then it was time to find your bag. Now this isn't like looking for your bag at the airport baggage claim. All of our bags look exactly the same, save for our names painted on the bottom of the duffel bag and small name tape sewn on the ruck sacks. When I found my bags, I felt like I had won the lottery....twice.
Then the fun part started. I had to drop the duffel bag off in the baggage yard, as I wouldn't be needing it again while I was there at Manas Air Base. After dropping that bag, I had to make my way to the tent that I would be staying in while at Manas. It was about a 10 minute walk, which felt like an eternity with a very heavy ruck sack on my back and heavy assault pack on the front of me and my M-16 slung over me in some fashion.
The DFACs (dining facilities) are open 24 hours a day in Manas, but only serve meals at certain hours. If they aren't serving a meal, you can still go in and get snacks, which usually consist of junk food. Luckily for my waist line, the DFACs here at Kandahar don't have this same option. The food wasn't too bad, but I only ate dinner there.
Once it was getting close to leaving, we went on lock down and just sat around in a tent for hours. Once you are in the Army for a while, you become a world class "waiter," because the Army is infamous for making you hurry up and wait. We finally were bused out to the flight line and then of course came more waiting on a bus that had horrible diesel fumes. I'm surprised I didn't get carbon monoxide poisoning from that thing. We finally got to load up the C130 aircraft. This was my first time on one of these. I must have had beginners luck because I didn't know that the first people on the aircraft get the better seats. The inside of the aircraft is huge and they have just regular airplane seats (read: really cramped and close together) in the middle. Then they also have seats that line the sides of the plane. The first people on get the seats on the side of the plane, and I was one of the first people on. Lots of leg room! I will remember this for future flights because the people in the middle looked miserable!
Once we got to Kandahar, it was a cluster you know what! There were some people who were staying at Kandahar, like me; and then there were others who were going to other FOBs. So, there were lots of people yelling out names of different people and telling them to do certain things and go certain places. The only problem was that you couldn't tell who was yelling what and what they were wanting you to do. My name ended up getting called and when I went outside to find my bags like I was told, another person outside told me to load them up onto a truck. Of course after I loaded my bags up and went back into the terminal, someone else told me that I was still supposed to have my bags and that truck was headed for FOB Wolverine. So, I had to run back outside and get up into the back of the truck and find my bags all over again and unload them. Then I had to carry them back into the terminal only to be told to carry them back outside to load onto another truck. Did I mention that these 2 bags together are extremely heavy? Needless to say, after all that I was exhausted.
I finally got my bags loaded up into the right truck and loaded on to a bus headed for housing. Luckily one of my Soldiers met me at housing and helped me find my bags quickly so I beat everyone to the housing office line and got signed for my room quickly.
My roommate has been here since right after Christmas as she was on the very first body that deployed. She is an awesome roommate and went around "acquiring" stuff for herself and me. The rooms pretty much just come with a bed and lamp and that's it. I'm not sure how she did it, but she was able to acquire a chest of drawers for each of us and many sets of plastic drawers. And to completely cement her rock star status, she was able to acquire and wall locker and gave it to me to use. I am really happy with my roommate situation and it will definitely go a long way with making this year more enjoyable.
Today, I woke up and had no idea what I was supposed to be doing or really where to go for that matter. So I got up with my roommate and she showed me around on her way to work. Once I got up to BDE (brigade or where I work) I was able to find my office and found Dave, the other attorney I work with. He had to give a ROE (rules of engagement) briefing so I sat in on that. I found out that I wouldn't be going to the range today, so I didn't really have anything else to do. After the briefing we went to the DFAC to eat some lunch and then went to the PX (post exchange, kinda like a walmart only the one in kandahar is much much smaller than a normal PX. I've been to the PX a couple times today and it is probably a little over a mile from where I live or about a 20 minute walk. I got lost going back as it was the first time I was trying to find it by myself, and I ended up at the poo pond (which I will explain about that later). Luckily, while I was there this time I ran into some people I knew and they had a vehicle so I caught a ride back to my room with them. I really don't mind the walk, but I had bought a large set of plastic drawers for my roommate as she had been looking for them, and the over a mile walk would not have been easy carrying that thing.
So, the poo pond.....It is exactly what it sounds like. It is this big pond that is filled with poop. I'm not sure the of the story of how it came about or why it is still here, but as soon as I find out, I will share with you guys. I had heard a lot about it and how awful the smell was here, but I don't know if it is just the cold weather, but I haven't really smelled anything....even when I accidentally ended up at it on my way to the PX. I'm sure it won't be pleasant when it is hot out and the wind is blowing.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Greetings from 34000 feet!
Today I got up at 0500 because we had to be down in the lobby at 0600. Of course when I went down there the plan had changed and now we didn't need to be in the lobby until 0900. So I ate breakfast and then went back up to my room to take advantage of a couple more hours of sleep in a comfortable bed.
We finally left for the airport. The drive to the airport was really pretty. Alaska is definitely a beautiful place and I definitely want to come back for a longer visit. Preferably with Michael and not in January!
Once we got to the airport, it was like no other airport experience. Some guy met us at the entrance to the airport and then took us through some door and we were practically at our gate. There was no checking in and no going through security.
I am currently on the plane writing this blog and will post it later. I mention that because when I started writing this blog it was 1445 and we just passed the international date line and it is now the next day at 1245! I just lost almost a whole day in one blog post. It's also worth mentioning that the current outside temperature is -79 degrees! Thankfully the plane is somewhat heated...
Approximately 8 hours has passed since I wrote the first part of this blog and it is currently 1309...that's right, the clock has advanced only 24 minutes! It is very weird to travel forward in time but backwards at the same time. (if that makes any sense)
When I look at the map on the television, we are flying over places that I cannot pronounce and also ones that I have never heard of. I thought it was cold outside earlier, but when we flew over Siberia (not one the previously mentioned places that I cannot pronounce or have never heard of) it was -94 degrees outside. Now that is freaking cold!
The food on the plane hasn't been too bad. They definitely keep us fed, as they probably realize a plane full of hungry Soldiers and Marines would not be a good situation. I've had French toast, a cheese omelet, lasagna, and sweet and sour chicken. They have also provided many different snacks and even hot towels! The only thing that would make the flight more enjoyable would be if I could have a glass of wine, but that's prohibited nor do they even have any alcohol on board.
I think that we have about hour left on the plane. It's really hard to tell though as the clock on the tv keeps turning back to 1245 every hour or so as we cross another time zone. But since my phone is in airplane mode the clock isn't changing and according to my math we have been in the air for a little over 9 hours. Plus our little plane on the screen is getting pretty close to the destination diamond.
So once we are on the ground it will be approximately 24 hours after we left Alaska but only about 10 hours will have passed. In other words, I think that I am going to have a serious case of jet lag at some point.
We finally left for the airport. The drive to the airport was really pretty. Alaska is definitely a beautiful place and I definitely want to come back for a longer visit. Preferably with Michael and not in January!
Once we got to the airport, it was like no other airport experience. Some guy met us at the entrance to the airport and then took us through some door and we were practically at our gate. There was no checking in and no going through security.
I am currently on the plane writing this blog and will post it later. I mention that because when I started writing this blog it was 1445 and we just passed the international date line and it is now the next day at 1245! I just lost almost a whole day in one blog post. It's also worth mentioning that the current outside temperature is -79 degrees! Thankfully the plane is somewhat heated...
Approximately 8 hours has passed since I wrote the first part of this blog and it is currently 1309...that's right, the clock has advanced only 24 minutes! It is very weird to travel forward in time but backwards at the same time. (if that makes any sense)
When I look at the map on the television, we are flying over places that I cannot pronounce and also ones that I have never heard of. I thought it was cold outside earlier, but when we flew over Siberia (not one the previously mentioned places that I cannot pronounce or have never heard of) it was -94 degrees outside. Now that is freaking cold!
The food on the plane hasn't been too bad. They definitely keep us fed, as they probably realize a plane full of hungry Soldiers and Marines would not be a good situation. I've had French toast, a cheese omelet, lasagna, and sweet and sour chicken. They have also provided many different snacks and even hot towels! The only thing that would make the flight more enjoyable would be if I could have a glass of wine, but that's prohibited nor do they even have any alcohol on board.
I think that we have about hour left on the plane. It's really hard to tell though as the clock on the tv keeps turning back to 1245 every hour or so as we cross another time zone. But since my phone is in airplane mode the clock isn't changing and according to my math we have been in the air for a little over 9 hours. Plus our little plane on the screen is getting pretty close to the destination diamond.
So once we are on the ground it will be approximately 24 hours after we left Alaska but only about 10 hours will have passed. In other words, I think that I am going to have a serious case of jet lag at some point.
Monday, January 23, 2012
And the Adventure has begun....
The day finally arrived yesterday (or today, as I'm not really sure at this point) to get on the plane. I dropped my bags off around 10pm last night and drew my weapon an hour later. Then Michael, my mom and I sat around for a couple hours waiting for the first accountability formation. Then it came time to get on the buses and head to Hickam Air Force Base to get on the plane. Of course with it being the Army, there was more waiting...hours and hours of it. One thing that I found was rather funny is the pre-boarding briefing we all received which included that no weapons are allowed on the aircraft according to Federal Law. This was quickly amended to, other than the weapon you are carrying, no other weapons are allowed on board...
We finally boarded the plane and we had a rather large plane, so there was lots of room. In fact on the first leg, I and one other soldier shared the 5 middle seats of the plane, with each of us having an aisle seat and separated by 3 empty seats. The first leg was to Miramar, CA. We landed there to pick up some Marines who were also deploying. Being in Miramar was pretty cool. We were right on the flight line where all the fighter jets were and I felt like I was on the Top Gun movie set. I kept waiting for Maverick or Goose to walk by, but alas, they never showed up....But I did get to see many take off and land.
After we picked up the Marines, the plane got a little more crowded, but not by too much. I still had an empty seat next to me, which makes me happy because I don't like encroachers. The second leg of the trip was to Anchorage, Alaska (which is where I am currently writing this from). Once we pulled up to the gate, we got the news that we wouldn't be going anywhere else tonight as a result of the weather.
There are quite a few of us, and finding hotel vacancies for all of us would usually be a miracle in and of itself. Luckily for us, we just landed in Anchorage in January. Not exactly the peak of tourist season. Amazingly enough, the Hilton had rooms for all us, and to exemplify how much January isn't a tourist season in Alaska, we each got our own room. Not too many other places in the world that you could find hundreds of hotel rooms in one location at a moments notice.
And that takes us to present time. Hopefully this installment wasn't too boring. I hope to write as much as possible, as I hate reading blogs where the blogger hardly updates. I promise I will try my hardest not to be one of those bloggers. That being said, I may not always have an internet connection, so blog updates may not be everyday. I will still try to write updates and then post them when I can. Lastly, there will be some stuff, that for security reasons, I cannot post to my blog, but I will include as much as I can.
Tomorrow, we head to Kyrgyzstan where it is rumored to have temps around -40 degrees. So if I'm not a frozen Popsicle, I should be able to post again once we get there.
I have also been taking lots of pictures. Once I get all settled in, I will start adding pictures to the blog, so everyone can see a little bit of what I'm experiencing. Until next time...
We finally boarded the plane and we had a rather large plane, so there was lots of room. In fact on the first leg, I and one other soldier shared the 5 middle seats of the plane, with each of us having an aisle seat and separated by 3 empty seats. The first leg was to Miramar, CA. We landed there to pick up some Marines who were also deploying. Being in Miramar was pretty cool. We were right on the flight line where all the fighter jets were and I felt like I was on the Top Gun movie set. I kept waiting for Maverick or Goose to walk by, but alas, they never showed up....But I did get to see many take off and land.
After we picked up the Marines, the plane got a little more crowded, but not by too much. I still had an empty seat next to me, which makes me happy because I don't like encroachers. The second leg of the trip was to Anchorage, Alaska (which is where I am currently writing this from). Once we pulled up to the gate, we got the news that we wouldn't be going anywhere else tonight as a result of the weather.
There are quite a few of us, and finding hotel vacancies for all of us would usually be a miracle in and of itself. Luckily for us, we just landed in Anchorage in January. Not exactly the peak of tourist season. Amazingly enough, the Hilton had rooms for all us, and to exemplify how much January isn't a tourist season in Alaska, we each got our own room. Not too many other places in the world that you could find hundreds of hotel rooms in one location at a moments notice.
And that takes us to present time. Hopefully this installment wasn't too boring. I hope to write as much as possible, as I hate reading blogs where the blogger hardly updates. I promise I will try my hardest not to be one of those bloggers. That being said, I may not always have an internet connection, so blog updates may not be everyday. I will still try to write updates and then post them when I can. Lastly, there will be some stuff, that for security reasons, I cannot post to my blog, but I will include as much as I can.
Tomorrow, we head to Kyrgyzstan where it is rumored to have temps around -40 degrees. So if I'm not a frozen Popsicle, I should be able to post again once we get there.
I have also been taking lots of pictures. Once I get all settled in, I will start adding pictures to the blog, so everyone can see a little bit of what I'm experiencing. Until next time...
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Getting Short....
We are getting closer and closer to the time to get on the plane. Two members of the office have already left. I'm not working full days anymore, as I am trying to spend as much time with Michael as I can. Unfortunately, working only a half day doesn't mean that I am doing half of the work. With people constantly leaving and putting things off until the last minute, my office is quite busy doing Powers of Attorney and last minute wills. Which reminds me, I need to do my POAs....
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