I was going through some old pictures of mine that I took while in Afghanistan and came across this picture. I smiled as I looked at it and reminisced. This was a picture of the wall next to where I slept at nights. This was my corner of the world--my wall, a place to come home to.
As I look at this picture a flood of memories poor out. You see, no matter what happened each day I came back to this same wall and these same pictures and they were always there--day after day. I never grew tired of them. They always were a welcomed image to my eyes. I was so proud them. I would grin from ear to ear when people would see and comment on my beautiful wife. I remember a few times I had Afghan workers in my room and they would see the pictures and comment on my wife and congratulate me. That would just make my day. They were good people.
I liked the Afghan people. They were my good friends. I really felt like they were my brothers. Their circumstances were so humble and meek. A man I particularly liked was one of our workers on base who was a graduate from Kabul University with a degree in library science. He was the only worker who wore tennis shoes. Most of the workers wore the typical Middle Eastern sandals but he was wearing tennis shoes. The shoes were given to him through some relief agency. He was so proud of the 2nd hand tennis shoes. He had a large family next to the base and was very proud of them too. His children were in the local elementary school that had been reestablished after the Taliban had been kicked out of the country. He always had a smile on his face. This attracted me to him and always left me curious. He had become a day laborer after the economy had gone bad and was living off of about 40$ a month. His home had a dirt floor and only a few rooms but he seemed like the happiest man in the world. I had a lot of respect for him and always had a better day after I would see him.
I was lucky during my deployment. The latest technology allowed me to have a daily telephone conversation with my wife through my computer phone. She would usually call me in the mornings when it was after 9:00 pm her time. She would call when she had free minutes on her cell phone. We would talk every morning just before I would go grab a bite to eat--usually a bagel, some scrambled eggs, and a few slices of bacon. I liked breakfast sandwiches. The mornings were always bright and beautiful. The air was fresh and the base was full of energy. Sometimes I would pull my phone line outside and sit in front of my door and watch all the people start their day as I talked to my wife. We would talk about everything but what I was doing in Afghanistan. I enjoyed hearing about her and what was happening back home. There was little I was able to say about Afghanistan because of security reasons. At times the internet would disconnect and I would sneak over to the PRT building and get on their wireless internet if that didn't work I would borrow someone’s satellite phone. I had it all figured out and rarely missed a day talking to my wife.
Being in Afghanistan was like having an 84 hour work week back home except you didn't go home at nights you slept where you worked. I managed the prison facility on base and conducted all of the interrogations of prisoners captured in the Northern Provinces of Afghanistan. Interrogations were interesting. I learned a lot about the people through the long hours I spent at the facility trying to get the prisoners to talk. They all talked but not about the information I needed. They would always tell me how they loved the Americans and how they were framed by some local tribe who had a vendetta against their family. Sometimes they were framed and I got to talk to them anyways and learned a lot about them and their community. By the time I left Afghanistan a prisoner could tell me the village they were from and I was able to name off a handful of prior prisoners to them from the same village and ask how they were doing. It seemed so unusual but that is how it was.
That was an unsusual year--a year of yearning, a year of challenges, and a year of opportunities to make a difference somewhere else. I am proud of that time and grateful to have served. I appreciated the support of my wife, family, friends, and those special people in the country who just cared about the service men and women in far off lands.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Reminiscions
I was going through some old pictures of mine that I took while in Afghanistan and came across this picture. I smiled as I looked at it and reminisced. This was a picture of the wall next to where I slept at nights. This was my corner of the world--my wall, a place to come home to.
As I look at this picture a flood of memories poor out. You see, no matter what happened each day I came back to this same wall and these same pictures and they were always there--day after day. I never grew tired of them. They always were a welcomed image to my eyes. I was so proud them. I would grin from ear to ear when people would see and comment on my beautiful wife. I remember a few times I had Afghan workers in my room and they would see the pictures and comment on my wife and congratulate me. That would just make my day. They were good people.
I liked the Afghan people. They were my good friends. I really felt like they were my brothers. Their circumstances were so humble and meek. A man I particularly liked was one of our workers on base who was a graduate from Kabul University with a degree in library science. He was the only worker who wore tennis shoes. Most of the workers wore the typical Middle Eastern sandals but he was wearing tennis shoes. The shoes were given to him through some relief agency. He was so proud of the 2nd hand tennis shoes. He had a large family next to the base and was very proud of them too. His children were in the local elementary school that had been reestablished after the Taliban had been kicked out of the country. He always had a smile on his face. This attracted me to him and always left me curious. He had become a day laborer after the economy had gone bad and was living off of about 40$ a month. His home had a dirt floor and only a few rooms but he seemed like the happiest man in the world. I had a lot of respect for him and always had a better day after I would see him.
I was lucky during my deployment. The latest technology allowed me to have a daily telephone conversation with my wife through my computer phone. She would usually call me in the mornings when it was after 9:00 pm her time. She would call when she had free minutes on her cell phone. We would talk every morning just before I would go grab a bite to eat--usually a bagel, some scrambled eggs, and a few slices of bacon. I liked breakfast sandwiches. The mornings were always bright and beautiful. The air was fresh and the base was full of energy. Sometimes I would pull my phone line outside and sit in front of my door and watch all the people start their day as I talked to my wife. We would talk about everything but what I was doing in Afghanistan. I enjoyed hearing about her and what was happening back home. There was little I was able to say about Afghanistan because of security reasons. At times the internet would disconnect and I would sneak over to the PRT building and get on their wireless internet if that didn't work I would borrow someone’s satellite phone. I had it all figured out and rarely missed a day talking to my wife.
Being in Afghanistan was like having an 84 hour work week back home except you didn't go home at nights you slept where you worked. I managed the prison facility on base and conducted all of the interrogations of prisoners captured in the Northern Provinces of Afghanistan. Interrogations were interesting. I learned a lot about the people through the long hours I spent at the facility trying to get the prisoners to talk. They all talked but not about the information I needed. They would always tell me how they loved the Americans and how they were framed by some local tribe who had a vendetta against their family. Sometimes they were framed and I got to talk to them anyways and learned a lot about them and their community. By the time I left Afghanistan a prisoner could tell me the village they were from and I was able to name off a handful of prior prisoners to them from the same village and ask how they were doing. It seemed so unusual but that is how it was.
That was an unsusual year--a year of yearning, a year of challenges, and a year of opportunities to make a difference somewhere else. I am proud of that time and grateful to have served. I appreciated the support of my wife, family, friends, and those special people in the country who just cared about the service men and women in far off lands.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Home-Sweet-Home
Those that have been to our home have wondered how some of our projects have turned out. Here are a few before and after photos we took to keep you updated. We're lucky that the owner's let us paint to make it feel a little more like home to us.
Dylon's room before
Dylon's room after
Kitchen before
Kitchen after
Dylon's bathroom before
Dylon's bathroom after
Scrapbook/guest room before--the after pictures are forthcoming
Curtain divider between living room and dining room
Friday, August 22, 2008
Classic 80's
Tonight Dwayne and I watched the first film of the "Back to the Future" trilogy, what a classic. One of my numerous favs from the 80's. We laughed at what Doc was dressed in when he came back to get Marty. That was supposed to be 30 years ahead of 1985 which would be 2015. I sure hope we aren't dressing like that in 2015. I would on the other hand, not mind having an alternative fuel option of garbage.
Back to the subject on hand, what a great decade for movies and music. After the movie we discussed all of the great flicks of that decade. There are so many that we couldn't decide which one was the best. I looked up an 80's site that listed the top twenty films, (in case you would like to reminisce with us, here is the website www.inthe80s.com). The number one film was "The Breakfast Club" I do agree that was a great flick, but what about all of the others?
To name a few of the many: Ferris Buhlers Day Off, Footloose (who didn't get up and dance with Kevin Bacon?), Sixteen Candles, ET (I loved those reese's pieces), The Goonies, Better Off Dead (I couldn't eat hamburgers for weeks), The Christmas Story, Top Gun (we all remember Tom Cruise in this one), The Princess Bride (Mawage. Mawage is wot bwings us togeder tooday), Karate Kid, oh and one that is easy to forget, but I was reminded of it just the other day from my friend Christina, Troop Beverly Hills. I'm sure most of you gals remember that one! This is just to name a few of the great hits, so reminisce with us, remind us of all the other great 80's flicks that have not been mentioned.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Webelo Mom
Marie is the new Webelo Den Leader for our ward Cub Scouts! Her calling was a shock for both of us and I couldn't keep my composure and ended up laughing out loud when they told us. I just try to picture her in the Cub Scout uniform entertaining a group of excited boys working on their projects. I can't stop grinning and I am very eager to see how it works out for her. So if anyone has done it before I am sure she could us some advice and some friendly teasing.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Its cold down here?
I had to post Marie's picture after coming home from church. She was so cold she ran in our room and put her winter cloths on. I couldn't believe it. It is 110 degrees outside and 78 degrees in our house. That goes to show that Marie has adapted quit well to our new environment.
One of our envelops has turned into a hat. Dylon enjoys it when I put it on my head. He also likes to wear it and we caught a funny video of him wearing it.
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