Wild, Wild West

Kandahar, Afghanistan                                                




                      Not a NATO vehicle!


Been here three days here in Kandahar.  As I walk the dusty roads, becoming more familiar with my new home, I am reminded that Alexander himself rode the streets of Kandahar on his horse Bucephalus 24 centuries ago, choking on the same dust that I have been choking on.  Kandahar in fact means Alexandria in Afghan Pashtun, in honor of Alexander the Great.  Alexander probably could never imagine seeing what I am seeing now though.

This is the NATO "Wild, Wild West."  Everyone carries a weapon, everyone is dressed for "the fight," in their various cammies, flak jackets, and occasionally, helmets.   The streets beg for a roadside saloon.  A duel could be imagined, although it would probably take place on the hockey rink (no ice) or rugby pitch we have here.

I have spent parts of the past three days exploring this expansive base: we haven't begun clinical duties or turnover with the offgoing crew just yet.  In fact, parts of our posse are still arriving from Kuwait - I had to welcome aboard 28 newbies this morning between the hours of midnight and 4am.

The streets are clogged with coalition force vehicles of every make and model, most enormous pachyderms with a yellow-ochre hue designed to mask them.  They belch out diesel and stir up the lunar dust on the unpaved streets, which are narrow.  There are pedestrians walking astride these dangerous roads, wearing a veritable palette of camouflage with flags and patches that could fill an encyclopedia.  So far I have seen Bulgarian, Romanian, French, Canadian, UK, Dutch, German, Australian, and more. The Aussies, God love them, have the most unusual cammies (you could say funny looking, but that would be mean, and I like the Aussies) - yellow with brown spots.  They look like giraffes (sorry mates!).

There are a few old structures, such as the Soviet built airport terminal, but most buildings are built for expediency, temporary shelters and tents, boxy prefab shelters, and so on.  The airport terminal is interesting - all archways and a thick outer shell.  On the inside are the scars of war: apparently 100 Taliban were holed up in there when we arrived shortly after 9/11.  They didn't fare so well.  You can see the evidence of bunker-busting bombs on the inside.

Today we walked to the bazaar on the far end of the base.  It was a packed area filled with local Afghanis and coalition forces.  The wares included rugs, hookahs, toys, jewelry, and a variety of dubious looking DVDs.  I didn't buy anything today as I am presently broke.  It is hard to get cash here: the last time the ATM was down it lasted 3 weeks - it's down now.  Most places on base take a debit card called the Eagle Cash Card, which is tied to ones bank account.  We have heard that the base officials like to limit circulating cash as this somehow trickles to ne'er-do-wells who can use the hard currency for their less than noble purposes.

I have visited three different DFACs (dining facilities for those just joining).  There are different "themes" with different names for each DFAC.  Luxembourg is the European DFAC, Niagra is the mostly American (heavily Canadian though), Cambridge is UK (great curry!).  There is also "South Park", which one has to walk past the "poo pond," a human waste treatment plant.  It's run by KBR, which is the Halliburton follow-on project.  I may boycott this one, though the thought of walking past the poo-pond mentally causes me to lose my appetite.  There is also the "Asian DFAC" which has been universally chastised.  It's weird, there are no Asian forces here that I have seen.  I may have to check that one out.  The UK DFAC was playing cricket on the telly at lunch today.  Niagra mostly plays hockey or US basketball.  I can't remember what Luxembourg was playing. 

Meredith, whom I dined with at Cambridge today, reminded me that the World's Cup is this July.  Can't wait for that!

Our barracks are awesome.  We are in NATO barracks, built by the Danish I believe.  They are simple, clean, and comfortable.  I already have internet access in my own room.  Not cheap at $100 per month, worth every penny though.  I think the relatively ascetic accommodations of the past 30+ days allow us to truly appreciate these barracks.  Two nights ago I put my head on a pillow for the first time in over a month (minus our one weekend off).  Unbelievable.  

More on Kandahar later, it's still so new to me that I will most certainly notice something weird every day.


I believe this is the Dutch side of base, whadya' think!?  The Dutch Kaafi Haus is supposed to be the best, although there is always a long line out the Tim Horton's (Canadian Coffee/Donuts).