Saturday, March 12, 2011

Life at KAF

If you've ever seen Apocalypse Now, you probably remember the USO scene, where they sell motorcycles in the PX, and then the Playboy Playmates come down in a Huey for a USO show. Well, we had a bit of that surrealism here on Wednesday. Before heading in to our first meeting, my traveling companions took me to the Boardwalk for coffee and a look-see. The Boardwalk is a square, about 400 feet on each side, lined with shop and eateries. It's actually a wooden walkway, with a wooden canopy overhead so you can walk in the shade. In the middle of the square, one things that caught my eye was a rectangular structure, concrete floor with walls about 3-4 feet high, with bleachers along the long sides. Obviously used for sporting events. On Wednesday, around mid-day, the Canadian Army hockey team took on a group of visiting NHL alumni for a street hockey match! They wore sneakers ... no ice here! ... and used a ball rather than a puck, but it was nonetheless fun to watch. I grabbed a gyro from one of the food vendors and watched the game, thrilled to the blast of the airhorn when one team scored, and chuckled as they played Gary Glitter's Rock and Roll Part 2 after the score. That's the song they no longer play at Capitals' games because Caps fans tended to yell "You suck!" at the opposing team during the chorus. What a day.

One thing I'm not proud of ... I allowed myself to be dragged into TGI Friday's for dinner. I flow to Afghanistan to I could eat in an American chain restaurant?!? Okay, I'll give them this much, the wings weren't too bad. But there's something strange about washing wings down with a Pepsi rather than a tall, cold beer. I've got to wait another 22 weeks or so before I can indulge in that luxury.

Oh, we also did work there. Bunches of meetings with Regional Command - South folks. In between the scheduled meetings and briefings, I spent a good bit of time with the Knowledge Manager at RC-S, and am trying to hook up with the resident DIA IT guy here.

So I'm back at Kabul now, back to living in a tent after the splendor that was Kandahar. New guy Ken is here, the guy who was originally supposed to relive Bill Eger and take the KMO job. So it looks like I'll be moving on. More as the situation develops.

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