Do you ever watch 18-wheel trucks drive down the highway and think, “That container on the back looks big enough to live in!”  Well, according to the housing office here at Camp Eggers, it’s big enough for three people to live in.  “Luckily,” due to my rank, I only have to share my shipping container with one other person.  Luckily is in quotes because in other less crowded camps around Afghanistan a Major would have their very own shipping container.  I should feel lucky however, since there are other camps where people live in tents, so it’s all relative.

Here is a picture of what my container building looks like.  I live on the second floor.

And here is the view from the top of those stairs.  This is the only real "common area" on Camp Eggers.

It's hard to picture that my building is made of shipping containers, so I took a picture of them adding a third floor to another housing unit.  Check it out:

Yep...there is someone's future room being lifted into place.

Actually, you will be pretty surprised when you see the final product.  It really isn't as bad as you think.  Here is what it look like when you enter my building:

I was really worried when I saw my room was next door to the bathroom because I thought it would be noisy, but I can't hear a thing from in there.  However, you can hear a pin drop in the hallway.

So, I told you I share my room with another person.  In the two-to-a-room situation, one person gets the front of the room and the other gets the back of the room.  Since the back of the room is quieter and more private, it is the most preferred location, so when someone moves out of the room, the one in front moves to the back.  When I first got my room, I shared with a woman in the Royal Air Force.  She got the back and I was in the front.  Here is what my setup looked like when you open the door to my room.  Actually, this picture was taken the day Ann moved out, so I'm about to move all my stuff to the back.  

Here is a picture of my current set up in the back of the room.  My share of the room measures about 7 x 7 feet.

Another thing that I am actually lucky about is that the bathroom is inside our building.  Some people actually live in quarters that you have to go outside to use a bathroom!  There are two bathrooms on my floor with each having two sinks, three stalls, and three showers.  Although I'm a morning showerer

So...there it is....my home away from home.  Its not as bad as it could be, but its not the best situation either.  The room is pretty small, but I guess it's good practice for my upcoming life of living in a backpacking tent and maybe, eventually living on a sailboat.

The Jewish population of Kabul equals one.  His name is Zablon Simintov, and believe it or not, he lives about ½ mile from me right now.  The stories about him state that he doesn’t take visitors.  However, he will open his door if you bring him a bottle of Johnnie Walker Red whiskey.  There was a large Jewish population in Afghanistan at one time, but most immigrated to Israel starting around 1948 and culminated after the Soviet invasion of 1979 supposedly leaving about 10 Jews in the entire country in 1996.  That number is now down to one.  Of course, you must now also add the Jewish people that are here due to military deployments or working in other Government and Non-government organizations.

So, now that you know the situation of Jews in Kabul, what if I told you we celebrated the first day of Hanukkah at a Bar Mitzvah here?  Check out these pictures of probably the first Bar Mitzvah held in Kabul since who knows when.  Army Second Lieutenant Kazar was Bar Mitzvahed by Rabbi Bazar at Camp Phoenix, Kabul on 21 December, the first day of Hanukkah.  I guess he was a bit of a troublemaker growing up, so his parents sent him to military school when he was 12.  Needless to say, he wasn’t able to be Bar Mitzvahed at the traditional ago of 13.  He met Rabbi Bazar on his way here for his deployment that eventually led to this day…pretty cool!  And yes that is my blurry face up at the Bima to help with the Torah reading. 

Oh, the Rabbi had some guys build and erect a giant menorah in front of the chapel at Camp Phoenix so I had to take a picture with my friend Risa.  By the way, I should have told you, Camp Phoenix is another camp here in Kabul that we frequently drive to.  It’s about a 30-minute drive in traffic...which there always is!

In case the Bar Mitzvah on the first day of Hanukkah wasn’t enough, Rabbi Bazer came out to Camp Eggers on Friday night to hold special Hanukkah/Shabbat service followed by a feast prepared by the local Afghans that work in the dining facility.  They made us homemade latkas and jelly doughnuts, both traditional Hanukkah treats.

Of course, Hanukkah wouldn't be complete without me lighting the Hanukkah candles in the office.  Amazingly, I had three different menorahs in the office to light.  I had the traditional menorah that came in a package from "Kosher Troops."  I had one that my friend Cathy made for me that consisted of light-candles and a homemade mat.  Lastly I had one that Layla's daughter Kylee made that required tearing off a sticker each night to reveal a lit candle.

Thanks to all my friends and family that sent Hanukkah packages with cards, presents, and goodies I had one of the most festive Hanukkahs in a long time...even though it was on the other side of the world from all of you.  So thank you all so much!

I must leave you with a picture of this Rice Krispy Menorah sent to me by my friend Susan. How cool its that!?!

You know how I say that every day is Tuesday?  Well, Fridays are actually more like Wednesday, in that they are not as bad as Tuesday.  The contractors and the local nationals that work with me are off, so the office is fairly quiet.  We use the day to catch up on things in the office and take it a bit easier.  Another thing we do on Fridays is attend the weekly Afghan Bazaar.

Every Friday from 10 – 4, local Afghan venders are permitted to set up shop in one of our parking lots to sell their wares.  Afghanistan is most famous for their rugs, scarfs, gems, and lapis, a blue stone that is carved into just about anything.  

However, the busiest vendors are the ones selling DVDs and software.  You can pick up any movie (even the ones still in the theaters) for 100 Afghanis a piece (about $2.00).  Box sets of TV shows sell for 50 Afghanis ($1) a disc.  I picked up NCIS seasons 1 – 7, a 41-disc set, for $40.  Amazon is currently selling it for $160.  Yeah, they are bootlegs, but so far the only issue I’ve found is that disc 4 of season one is really disc 5 and disc 5 is really disc 4…not too bad for 75% off the retail price.

The hardest part of the bazaar is the haggling.  The price that they tell you isn’t the lowest price you can pay, so you haggle.  It is known that the vendors are actually knowledgeable about the military rank structure, so the final price depends on what rank they see you are wearing.  Being a Major they don’t give me the best deals, however I know that I am always paying too much anyway since I’m not good at this bargaining game. I could really use my sister Jodie here for her expert shopping skills!

The bottom line is the bazaar allows me time away from my desk and makes Fridays a bit more bearable.  This alone is worth paying 250 Afghanis instead of 150 Afghanis for a bracelet due to my awful negotiation skills.

So Thanksgiving is the first family-based holiday I get to spend alone in Afghanistan.  I think back to some memorable Thanksgivings I’ve spent such as when I went to visit the Varnhagen’s in Denver where we went with the non-traditional Thanksgiving lobster instead of turkey.  I also think back to all the Thanksgivings in Collins, Ohio with Tim’s side of the family when Mary went out of her way to find and cook Tofurkey for me.  Needless to say, the Thanksgiving meal this year wasn’t close to being half as good as what I’ve had in the past.

However, there was a bit of good to go with the bad.  Yankee right fielder Nick Swisher and his wife Joanna Garcia Swisher visited Camp Eggers for breakfast on Thanksgiving day.  His wife is actually an actress mostly known for her role as Reba’s oldest daughter in Reba.  I recognized her from the short-lived show Privileged which I actually really enjoyed.  I mentioned to her that I liked the show and was sad to see it only last one season.  She told me that every female she meets tells her the same thing.

Anyway…back to Nick Swisher!   Of course I wanted Nick to autograph something.  It would be great to have my Yankee cap signed, but it was left at home.  Having him just sign a piece of paper wouldn’t be any fun.  The only thing I have here with the NY Yankee emblem on it is my laptop, so I got him to sign that.

Oh, while waiting for Nick to finish eating breakfast and come greet us, a guy walks up to us and says, “You probably don’t know me, but I’m the Under Secretary of the Army Joseph Westphal,” and he gave us all a coin.  Kinda cool.

Of course, Thanksgiving wouldn’t be complete without watching the Detroit Lions play football.  So, at 10:00 PM we sat and watch the kickoff with some non-alcoholic beer and whatever chips we can find lying around.   And no, I didn’t make it till the end of the game, but I did make it till halftime right around midnight.

So, all in all, Thanksgiving turned out to be a pretty OK day considering I spent it away from my friends and family.  Although, seeing the picture my friend Layla posted of my husband on Facebook of him enjoying Thanksgiving at the Officer’s Club with some good friends and having all-you-can eat crab legs did make me a bit envious.

So, I’ve been here for 2 months now, but it actually feels like four months.  Why?  It is because we put in over 80 hours a week.  Here is how a typical day looks:

0715 – Wake up and get ready
0745 – Leave room
0750 – Breakfast
0800 – Arrive at office
1300 – Lunch
1340 – Back to office
1600 – Go to gym
1730 – Back to office
1900 – Dinner
1940 – Back to office
2000 – Return to room for the night

The work day is from 8AM through 8PM, but there are breaks for meals and the gym.  However, just the thought that we are supposed to be working for 12 hours a day can really bring you down.  Oh, did I mention that this schedule is the same everyday except on Friday when we go in at 900 and on Sunday we go in at 1000.  All total, the official workweek is 81 hours, so my one-year tour is really two years in total work hours!

I’m finally in Afghanistan, but still another flight away from my final destination, and that flight would be 100% over Afghan soil with a 30 minute drive from the Kabul airport to the camp.  I wasn’t so sure of doing all this extra traveling on 9/11.  I know…I hear people saying that 9/11 would be the safest day to travel since everyone is at high alert…well, I didn’t want any part of it.

Luckly, I talked with the Air Force logistics officer at the Bagram airport and she was in agreement with me…oh, guess what here name was…Master Sergeant Jennifer Stout…as in stout beer…I knew she was the one person to understand me!

So…another night hanging out in a strange place.  Luckly, MSgt Stout was there to take care of me, because she was able to get me a private room to sleep in.  Of course, there was good news and bad news.  The good news of course is the private room; the bad news is that I could check into the room at 1130PM and then had to be at the terminal at 5:30AM for an 8:30AM flight.

So, 2330 shower, 2400 sleep, 0500 alarm, 0530 terminal, 0600 drag 7 heavy bags from temporary storage to hanger for palleting, wait 2 hours in terminal (at least it’s Sunday night at home so there is football on), board plane (C-130) at 0800, take off at 0830, land at 0900.

Kabul International Airport…now what.  There is one phone in the terminal with a line, so I figure that I should get in the line as well.  I need to call someone for a ride to Camp Eggers.  Of course, I have already asked everyone standing around if they were going to Eggers, but no luck.  After about 5 minutes in line someone walks up to the line and asks if Major Kail is here.  HUH…someone knows me here?!?  It winds up that people in my office had to make a run somewhere near the airport.  They know I was coming in sometime today, but didn’t know exactly when, so they stopped at the airport to see if I was there yet.  Twenty minutes later I was in the back seat of a truck getting my first taste of driving in Kabul.  Check out the YouTube video I posted of driving through Kabul...and I thought New York City drivers were crazy.  The video is over 6 minutes long, but it is kinda cool to see.

30 minutes later I make it to Camp Egger.

HOME SWEET HOME

I think I spent about 3 days or so in Kyrgyzstan.  It was all pretty much a blur between getting over the jetlag and not being able to sleep because the sleeping tent had 40 other women on different sleep schedules. 

I do know that the food was pretty good, there was a bar that served beer (more about that later), and it was a safe distance from any warzone.  Needless to say, I wasn’t in any hurry to leave there.  Every evening at 10PM you had to show up to a briefing to see if you were scheduled to depart for Afghanistan the next day.  Now I know how those guys felt back during the Vietnam War when they were waiting for their draft number to be called.

So back to the beer…I was pleasantly surprised that I would be able to drink beer here in Kyrgyzstan.  I thought that my last beer (for at least 6 months) was the one I had in Germany on the way here…of course there was good news and bad news about the beer availability.  The good news…there was a large selection of beers in big bottles for only $2.00!  The best beer was a Russian high-octane 9% beer called Baltika 9.  It was important to go for the highest-octane beer you could because…now here is the bad news…you could only purchase two beer within 20 hours.  So, of course I went for Baltika 9 most of the time.  I did however have to try the local beer, brewed right there in Kyrgyzstan called Karagandinskoe…only 5% alcohol, but was actually really good and worth giving up 4%.

Well, as they say, all good things must come to an end, and it did with my number being called on the evening of 10 September.  Can you believe that this means I will be traveling to Afghanistan on the tenth anniversary of September 11th! 

My mind was doing flips.  Not only was I traveling to Afghanistan, I will be traveling there on September 11th. Some of you don’t know, but I lost a close childhood friend on that day.  Michael Boccardi was on the 93rd floor of Tower 1 of the World Trade Center the day the towers fell. 

So here I am, after spending two and a half days in Kyrgyzstan almost over jetlag when the military throw another challenge my way.  I have to drop all my bags off at 3:30AM so they can palletize them before they load them on my 11:00AM flight.  Oh…remember those beers I was telling you about? Well, I finished my last one around 12:30 in the morning.   Anyway…drag my bags at 0330, show up at 0800 for what they call the lock-in that occurs 3 hours before the flight, load onto a bus at 1000 to head to the plane, sit on said bus for 30 minutes while they load our gear on the plane, and finally board at 1030.  Take off was promptly at 1100 with the flight landing at Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan 90 minutes later.

WELCOME TO AFGHANISTAN!

The day is actually here, the day to board the plane and head out for Afghanistan.  Everyone that has been on deployments have all told me that the worst part of the deployment was the getting there.  I am about to see exactly why this is.  The best way for me to explain the trip is to show you the timeline of events….so here I go.

NOTE:  Time format is:  CST (Local time) - Of course it is in military time.

7 Sept 11:
Time 0400 (0400) - Wake up for trip to Ft Walton Beach, FL Airport
         0600 (0600) - Board plane for Fayetteville, North Carolina (Stopwatch
                             started)
         1009 (1109) - Arrived Fayetteville, NC
         1109 (1209) - Arrived Ft Bragg Army Base by base taxi (Taxi driver is 
                                from my hometown of Mount Vernon, New York!)

         1930 (2030) - Board plane for Bangor, Maine (Along with 250 Army 
                                Airborne troops.)

         2115 (2215) - Arrived Bangor, Maine (20 people greeted us upon 
                                arrival...this is at 1015PM on a weeknight!)

         2305 (0005) - Depart Bangor, Maine for  Leipzig/Halle, Germany

8 September 2011:
         0535 (1235) - Arrive Leipzig/Halle, Germany

         0805 (1505) - Board plane for Manas Transit Center, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
                                (go ahead and look it up to see where it is...I had to!)    
         1405 (0135) - Arrived Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan (Manas) (Stopwatch stopped)

So, we get to Manas in the middle of the night, over 32 hours after leaving my house, and we are made to sit through a 1-hour “fire hose” briefing (don’t ask me what they said).  We were then given time to find our sleeping tent and drop off our bags...oh no...it is not time to sleep!  We next have to go get our additional equipment issued to us at 0430 which take us to 0600 when we are finally released back to our beds for sleep.  Now that is a LONG day!

CAST (Combat Airman Skills Training) or what I call Army training is an attempt for the Air Force to teach Airmen how to be a soldier.  Why? Because  this war is putting members of the Air Force into situations that are usually reserved for the Army and Marines.  Airmen are now expected to drive in convoys, carry weapons, and interact with the locals in ways that they never had to before hence the need for Army training.

CAST consisted of 10 training days that covered skills such as land navigation (how to read a map and work a compass); IED (improvised explosive device) training (how to ID and hopefully avoid setting off an IED while on foot); mounted operations (how to drive in a convoy including avoiding driving over IEDs, assisting passengers in IED damaged vehicles, and vacating vehicles); armored vehicle egress training (how to escape from a rolled over vehicle); urban operations (how to walk down the street in a village and survive); first-aid on the battlefield; how to fire our weapon (yes…I had to shoot a gun again!).

What did I learn at CAST? 

1. Wearing a flack vest, wearing a helmet, carrying 100 ounces of water, carrying a brick (that’s Army talk for walkie-talkie), and carrying an M-16 rifle everywhere we went is tough. All together it probably weighs over 50 pounds!
   
2. How to properly prepare and eat an MRE (Meal Ready to Eat). We ate these every day for lunch.
   
3. When you’re hanging upside down in a rolled over vehicle and you unbuckle your seat belt, that heavy helmet really does protect your head when you land on it
   
4. I don’t enjoy shooting guns…still.
   
5. I have a whole new appreciation for what the Army does.

With that said, the most important thing I took away from CAST is basically that I joined the Air Force so I didn’t have to learn, or for that matter do, any of this Army stuff!!! 
 
But all seriousness, CAST was a great crash course on skills that I hopefully will never have to put in practice, but if the situation arises I feel that I am prepared to do what I need to in order to survive and ensure others survive.

I actually qualified on the M4 after freaking out for a week and thinking that there was no way I would ever be able to.  Even crazier than that, can you believe that I am actually pissed that I didn't qualify as an expert?!?  I hit 39 of the 50 shots in the silhouette and I needed 43 to get expert.  Why do I care about expert?  Because my competitiveness  makes me want to do well in something that I don't even care (or for that matter, want) to know how to do.  Bottom line, I went from a score of 21 of 50 shots (42%) to 39 of 50 shots (74%).  

Anyway...although I am now qualified to carry and use the M9 and M4 I just hope that I won't have to actually use the skills that I have learned!