Facilitating our own demise...

The chow hall is full. The line stretches out the door and all the tables are full, I guess I'll get my food to go.

The Gym is full. Every weight station in sight has a line and the basketball court is reserved for the next 10 hours by two soccer teams and a volleyball marathon. I guess I'll come back later.

The bar, Pete's, is full. The line to get the allotted two beers stretches all the way across the big tent and out the door. Looks like no beer tonight.

How is this happening? I find myself stuck in my room because there is simply nowhere else to be. The beloved isolation of our tiny base has vanished. Who is responsible I demand? Who could have possibly done this to us? Maxed out the precious little resources we had. Then I think about my last mission. 162 people came here on my jet. Ironically, the more 'work' I get done, the less I get to enjoy my time off. Oh well, off to go fly again.

Spring

As I sit down to write another post, I'm afraid of repeating myself. My days over here are like that movie groundhog day with Bill Murray. Eat, sleep, fly and workout. I'm trying to spice it up with my master's class, (as spicy as learning about finance can be) but generally its getting pretty monotonous. I did find out recently that I'm going to turkey for the second half which will be a wonderful change of scenery. I'm expecting to get seriously acquainted with the Mediterranean.

Spring is officially here now. Not sure if I already said that, but its for real now. Its a beautiful 80 degrees out. The skies are blue and the mountains are pristine. The snow is finally releasing its death grip on them. The last couple days I've been off so I have gotten to spend some time sitting on the patio in the sun and working on HW. Its a nice change, although its still frigid at night. All in all, its been a couple of nice days out here.

Catching up

Wow, a lot seems to have happened since I last wrote. I think I had one of my favorite days out here so far. We were assigned a mission to the country of Georgia, which is a nice change. The flight and arrival were uneventful, but I was surprised at how nice the countryside looked on approach. Tbilisi is situated right at the base of a decent mountain range and works its way around some of the foothills as the town sprawls out. It was evening and we were on a timeline, but there were some things that really stuck out in our short visit.

First, the smell. It was a really clean, spring smell with a hint of lavender or some other sweet scent. Not overpowering, it still had the power to overcome the stink of Afghanistan sand, and soldier sweat that pervades every jet we fly. The sun was setting over the hills and a slight breeze swept the grass between runways from side to side. It was generally, pleasant. Later, the Officer in Charge of the US detachment ordered us some local cuisine from downtown and had it brought to the jet. There were some sort of Gyro/Panini/burritos filled with chicken, cucumbers, onion, tomatoes and a type of tzitski sauce. They were delicious. Accompanying them were pieces of flat bread that had a layer of feta cheese baked into the center. Possibly one of my favorite things I have EVER eaten. All in all, it was a great change of pace.

Focus on the small things. Enjoy them. The smallest of things can bring immense joy if it comes at the right time and is rightly appreciated. This is something I'm learning out here. Things as simple as a sweet smelling breeze, or a unique flavor can be enough to enjoy. Enough to be happy perhaps. Hopefully this will follow me back to the states.

On the flip side, yesterday we flew an incredibly long and painful mission. It was a 20hr day, but it was for Aeromedical evacuation so in the end it was really rewarding, despite the exhaustion. With only two pilots and flying into and out of the combat zone repeatedly, it was very tiring. But in the end, missions like that are the reason I joined. To help others and use my talents for 'good', I guess. I cant see a whole lot better than getting our wounded to medical attention. Someday ask me about the Tactical arrival into Bagram I flew, it was 'sporty' haha, and one hell of a good time.

Last note, I finished my master's class midterm today. 95% not too shabby. Hopefully I can ease off on the HW now cause the midterm is worth so much. Remember, work smarter, not harder...

Desert rain and a taste of home

Well, a lot has happened since the last post. The revolution ended, we kind of got back to flying, I had a combat Gyro, and saw a rainstorm in the desert. Maybe this should be more than one post, but I'll try to summarize. A few days ago, we flew down range and decided to checkout a rumor that this base in afghanistan had gyros for sale. So we landed and another LT and I set off into the night in search of something different. we wandered about the dusty gravel roads for a bit until we saw this big lit up square. We were amazed to find not just gyro's, but pizza, Burger King, Ice cream, and a outdoor floor hockey rink. We were both immediately envious. We found the gyro shop, ordered 8 (we had two crews on the jet) and watched a bit of floor hockey. The rink had bleachers full of people and it looked like the place to be on a Tuesday night in southern afghanistan. The gyros were delicious, although we werent sure if we would get sick off them. We didnt really care, it was something a little different that didnt come from a chow hall.

Our final destination was Kuwait and we had to stay the night, to fly back the next day. Nobody likes going to Kuwait because the air is full of sand and the landscape looks like death valley-with tents. however, this time was a little bit different. The second day, we were out walking around in the very mild and pleasant 90 degree weather, when it seemed as if a brown hill appeared off to the east. This hill however, was the forming dust/thunderstorm headed our way. We all headed for the tent just as the giant desert rain drops began to fall. It rained hard. I was amazed to see rain in such a hot and desolate place. It sort of made it seem like a real place in the world for a little bit. Even this place gets rain. It was quite a sight. It seemed like mere hours after the rain stopped that plants had grown. Maybe they were there and had merely been washed from dusty tan back to brilliant green, but it really changed the look of the landscape. Similarly, Afghanistan is beautiful right now. Lush green trees and bushes fill the towns near water and give the impression of a mediterranean oasis. The middle east is a whole different world in spring time. Almost like home....Almost.

Unrest

As most of the world news agencies are reporting, Kyrgyzstan is in civil unrest. There is a long history for this recent conflict dating back to before 2005. Apparently people have become fed up with the corruption of the new government and when it tried to raise energy prices, protests began. These were angry mobs and quickly over powered the police forces and turned violent. You can probably find a lot more on NYTIMES, BBC news, or Christian Science Monitor. They have all been covering the events and most websites have some pretty intense videos.

The base has effectively shut down. All the planes except one C-17 have left to other bases. Our fuel supply has apparently been cut off (we have enough for the one jet though). We are all on curfew to our rooms and so its getting pretty boring. Luckily, the chow hall is still open, and the internet still works so its not really bad here.

Bishkek is about 20min from here and because this didnt have a whole lot to do with us, it hasnt been dangerous here on base. Although, there are a lot of Kyrgies that work on base in the chow hall and what not, and I wonder how it has affected them. This morning for breakfast, there were a lot more locals in the chow hall that I had never seen. It makes me wonder if we are letting people bring their families on base to get food. I'm not sure what the impact is on commerce outside the base, but I dont think its good. Even though the Russians are supposedly supporting the new opposition gov't, I would bet its been difficult to find normal supplies in the downtown area.

There's no word yet on what they will do with the last of us flyers who are left, or the ground personnel still here. But for now it is safe on the base and we have all the provisions we need, even if it is becoming exceedingly boring.