Antoher beautiful, crisp and cold morning. All the snow we had kept the dust down and the view of the Mountains is amazing. Here's a couple pics of the surrounding mountains.
Thursday was a half-day for the faculty and staff at NMAA because it was the last day of finals. The cadets now get some time off before they come back and welcome the newest class of 275-325 cadets and they all go off for basic field training. There's a range in the number of incomings because just like the Air Force Academy, there will be some percentage that wash out during basic training. However, here in Afghanistan, they don't wash out when they get here - if you make it to Kabul and NMAA, then you will be staying. The new cadets come from all over the country and as you can imagine in this war-torn country, it is hard to travel around to say the least. So, although 325 have been admitted in the newest class, it is presumed that they all won't get here because the journey may be too difficult.
The faculty and staff get some time off too, so they took Thursday afternoon off, Friday is their typical "weekend," but today (Saturday) happened to be a religious holiday, so everyone got a 2.5 day weekend as opposed to the typical 1 day "weekend." About the "religious holiday" - it seemed to start off as a rumor, and when we asked some of the staff if it was a holiday, they would just say, "maybe." It was like they didn't want to commit until someone else would do it first. It reminds me of the situation in a cave full of bats. Which bat is the first bat that signals the others that it's time to go out for the night to eat? If some bat doesn't step up and signal, then will the bats continue to just hang there and then starve to death? Well, it is frustrating at times dealing with our counterparts, because they really are reluctant to commitments - of tasks or time. Something to get used to I guess ...
So, on Friday, I slept in then went to the gym and had the whole place to myself. So, while I was working out and listening to my music, I permitted myself to sing out loud, very loud, and dance between and sometimes during sets. It was quite nice actually. After that, got a hair cut at the "Beauty Salon" which also offers up massages. The staff there are Russian-speaking women from Tajikistan. They were listening to Russian music and I was quite impressed with myself of being able to translate the lyrics on the fly as I was getting my haircut. In addition, the ladies were gossiping about some German soldier that was in there before me. Apparently he smelled and one of the ladies was complaining about having to touch him for his massage. I just sat there and listened thinking how rude at was for them to be gossiping like this in front of me. I guess we've all been in that situation when you'll be speaking to someone in English and then they turn and speak a foreign language to their buddy and maybe start laughing before they turn there attention back to you. And then you sit there and wonder what did they say that was so funny - was it about you? Well, these ladies didn't know I understood their Russian until as I got up to go to leave, I said, "thank you very much, now I'm quite beautiful," in the best Russian I could muster. Their jaws dropped as I walked out the door.
Friday night, Lem, Brian and I downloaded "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" from iTunes and watched them. Good show.
Saturday, got up and worked out again - this time, Lem and I were the only ones and instead of music and dancing, I continued listening to the audiobook of Three Cups of Tea. It's a book about Greg Mortenson(?)- a climber who when trying to summit K2 in Pakistan, fails and ends up getting saved by a little village from northern Pakistan. As gratitude, he promises to build them a school. Well, apparently he does that and then hundreds more for the poor secluded villages in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Another must read if you want to know more about this neck of the woods. After that, spent a half day at work at NMAA, mostly on getting my computer to work - seems NMAA is full of viruses and my software, let one slip through. Oh, BTW about viruses - I"m feeling much better now - I think my illness was just a 24-hour flu thing. So, thank you for the kind wishes and thank you for sending comments to the posts.
After lunch and work, we went to the bazaar that takes place just outside of KAIA. It's a bunch of vendor stalls selling everything from pirated movies, knives and antique guns, jewelery and figurine knit-knacks, Afghan rugs and scarves, various precious stones, and various fur coats/hats. Here are some pics of the Afghan lapis (blue stones) and camel bone boxes and some raw rubies and emeralds.
The vendors are all very friendly and tried their best to get us to buy stuff, but I didn't budge - just looking today to see what's what. Most of the vendors spoke a little English and would give the line, "Dear sir, want some of my nice things? You name very good price - for you I give very good price." I really hate to shop and this environment made me hate it even more, so I hurried along stopping occassionally to look at the minerals and antiques for sale. One vendor was trying reverse psychology - he decided this tactic, "Hey sir, I have very expensive items - for you, I will charge extra" he would say with a smile. Good innovation. Another vendor "hooked" us in with this, "Very nice rug for only $2." Which they were very nice rugs, so we stepped closer. We perused the many rugs and then when it came time to buy, he changed the price to "two and $200" - again with a grin a mile wide. These people at least have a wonderful sense of humor. Which reminds me, on the way into NMAA today, as we approached the gate, the gate guard opened only one side of the gate - and we couldn't drive through. He motioned for us to try and squeeze with a smile - teasing our drive, then opening the other side to let us through. Must be the holiday thing or something. At the bazaar, there was a young boy selling stuff. As I walked by, he stuck his hand out to shake mine and said, "hello sir, will you buy my nice things?" As I shook his hand he pulled my to his little table. He then waved his hand over each of his items and kept saying things, like "beautiful," or "nice." It was all pretty much junk, but I told him I'd take a picture and would be back next week to pick something out - which I will, if for nothing else to reward his gumption, but more importantly to help with the local economy and his welfare. Here's a picture of the little business man ...
For dinner, we decided to forgo the chow hall and headed to the pizza joint in the KAIA burroughs. It was actually very good and a welcome change to the chow hall menu which include rice, pasta, some kind of meat in some sauce, vegetables in sauce and then some kind of potato item at every meal. Also, the pizza joint was a lot quieter than the chow hall and could actually hear each other in conversation. The company was nice too and included Lem and Brian, M, and H(US Army). M and H also work at NMAA. M is a short timer and is leaving soon. H has been at NMAA for almost a year and will be rotating out during the summer just in time to retire in August after 28 years in the Army. H told us of another of our NMAA brothers that got the "patch" for misfiring his weapon at one of the "clearing" stations. You see, although we are supposed to carry our firearms around with us, they don't have to be loaded. And if they are loaded, then they shouldn't have any rounds "chambered" in order to prevent accidental shootings. Probably, the Army made this rule with us short-time Air Force deployers in mind who don't know anything about guns. So, anyway, as you go from place to place there are discharging cans (think 50 gallon drum, filled with sand, with a metal pipe just big enough to stick the end of your gun into it) strategically placed and you're suppose to fire your weapon into the can before entering certain zones. So, if you don't have any ammo in your weapon, it's no big deal to discharge your gun into the barrel because you have nothing to fire. But, if you're one of those that likes to load his gun then you have to be sure to drop your ammo clip out of your gun and then empty the chamber before firing the gun into the barrel. If you don't and you actually discharge a bullet into the barrel, then you are "apprehended," counseled, and then get one of these patches to adorn your uniform to signify your negligence at the discharging station. So, a few weeks back, this hot shot helicopter pilot, got the patch, but even more humiliating has to keep hearing it from the NMAA boys making fun of him (in that tender, brotherly way). The thing is, what H was also trying to convey in his thick Texan accent, was that when a person fires a bullet into the discharge barrel, they get in trouble for the exact thing that discharge barrel is there for. So, why not let people keep their weapons holstered, safely, instead of setting them up for failure. He was convinced it was someone in the Air Force that came up with the discharge barrels and we are sure it's got to be an invention of the Army.
Well, my weekend is over - back to work tomorrow. Hope everyone is well - good night!
4 comments:
We love reading about your adventures. I wanted to comment on that little boy that you took the photo of. It has been our experience on the poorer islands & Mexico that some of them want a tip and some people actually get angry if you take a picture. I'm not sure, but it may be because we needed to ask permission. I do know that if you hand out anything to a child, you may soon have the whole village following. We do try to buy from the locals as much as possible. We are proud of you. Just be safe.
The bazaar place sounds creepier than Tiajuana
I was looking at that boy's eyes...they are so deeply brown...they remind me of that very famous National Geographic picture from many years ago of an Afghan woman...I will never forget her eyes.
Yes, that famous NG picture is posted in many places around here - often times in poster size. In fact, last night there was a large one looking down at me at the pizzeria. I couldn't help but stare at her - at her eyes. They are quite mesmerizing and convey the hopes and personality of these people.
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