3 points to England

There is a British coffee shop on base that is responsible for today's point allocation.

1. Apple juice slushees: Refreshing, sweet, not electric-green. Just delicious apple juice frozen into a slush.

2. Curried chicken pies: Little puff pastries filled with chicken curry, not like a pot pie but rather rectangular so you can grab one on the go. Greasy and delicious.

3. Hot dogs wrapped in a long tater tot: I didn't actually try this, but the concept is brilliant. I can't believe an American college student didn't dream this up earlier. It is like taking an American staple, corn dogs, and making it even more fabulous.

My first photos of this chapter 2 of the blog are not really related to this post at all. The aunties assured me that they wouldn't get cranky at photos of me in body armor, and maybe it was mom all along who was squeemish and just blamed it on the aunties? Anyway, first photo is of me in my road trip outfit. Pretty cool, except that the vest has scratchy velcro that leaves long gashes on my arm when I take it off without paying attention, and snaggs my beautiful scarf I bought in Turkey. Oh well...

Second photo is from my short stint in Kabul. Proof of why life out here is not too rough; we can get Thin Mints in the stores?

They have quiz night here!

I am really quite easily entertained.

The team out here is great. As all projects seem to go, they are a mixed bunch, from Australia, Italy, Scotland, the Phillipines and the US. This is one of the hardest places in the world to do our job well, and yet everyone seems to be in a pretty pleasant mood and get along with one another. I am sort of filling in where I can since what I came out here to do has taken longer to get started up than we thought, but the work is interesting and I am learning.

All in all, life is just fine.

Update: trivia night was put on by the Brits and the questions were QUITE brit-centric. We found a young British marine and shanghaied onto our team to give us a fighting chance on any questions pertaining to British sports/tv/music. Combined with our resident feisty Aussie's liberal use of cheating off the blackberry, we ended up in 3rd place. Not too shabby.

Wow

We are not allowed to take photos on base, but I don't even think a photograph could capture how dusty it is out there today. It would be all one color. I was already feeling under the weather, but I took one look outside and decided I was leaving my bedroom as little as possible today. On the bright side, the wind that blew in the nasty dust-cloud that has enveloped my live really brought the temperature down.

Of course the week that my stomach is giving me trouble, the meal hall produces the most delicious cheese and onion pasteries.... I cherished every bite and am now in my bed paying the price. Rice and toast for me for dinner.

In other news, I am rediscovering my love of nerdy BBC miniseries. One summer in Zambia when I was a kid, my parents and I were obsessed with "The Private Life of Plants" which is as thrilling as you might imagine. I now have on loan "The Private Life of a Masterpiece" which is kind of like high school Art History class meets reality TV . Nerd alert.

Still stuck on melons

Ok guys, I just needed to show you this photo. Driving through the city yesterday my mouth was watering and I was repeatedly cranky about the lack of melons in my life. Oh, and okra too. Evidently it is also in season and was on every streetcorner and I can spot that delicious green shape from 10 meters and through 2-inch thick glass.

I didn't see a melon stash quite as impressive as this, but there were a LOT of melons to be bought. Just not by armored-vehicle-contained-Anna.

Forgot one

Add sushi to the TOP of my "can't get in Afghanistan" list.
It was the first thing I ordered when I got home the last time and I expect it will be the top of my list this time too. Hmm. How did I go from a girl who wouldn't touch seafood to one who eats obscene amounts of raw fish on a regular basis?

I will add one more Anna-observation in this post, which is that I sound like an idiot when I am around too many non-American accents. My brain picks up on the different vowels and inserts them in my own speech and I have no control over it. No one notices when I say "yeah" vaguely like a Kiwi or Aussie, but I need to watch myself in longer sentences because I am sure I sound like an moron when my halfsie accent slips in. Then again, has anyone heard Madonna or Gwenneth Paltrow speak recently? They do it too...

Melon Season

I am not the best supporter of the "Local Foods Movement" in DC. I tend to go with whatever is most convenient or is the best cost. I am, however, livid that I am living in the land of the most exquisite melons you have ever seen but am eating bland, mushy nasty excuses for melon at the DFAC that taste like they took the slowest boat possible from California. When I was in Kabul they had fresh melon at every meal. And mangos from Pakistan? and pomegranates (which will be fully in season down here shortly)? I can't even describe them. They were perfect.

Come on military! Just let a few trucks of produce through the gates. I am sure you have a way of differentiating between cantaloupes and bombs...

In the land o'dust

Hi all,

So the cat's out of the bag, I am spending most of this most recent assignment in Kandahar, but that is JUST FINE. I have the same security as before, only even more beefed up. If the Aunties won't be cranky, I may post a photo in the getup they make me wear whenever we travel...

I am living on Kandahar Air Field (check out Rachel Maddow's piece on what living here is like, quite accurate) Everything is various shades of beige, and intolerably hot during the day; I go through two bottles of water just walking to the general store and back. But it is quite nice at night and three of the things I miss most while in Afghanistan are readily available (bagels, bacon and good coffee) so I am quite happy. It is a dry base, so the fourth and fifth items are still out of reach (red wine and gin) but we survive.

The base is a space the size of Disney Land filled with 30,000 or so international military personnel and contractors. They have dining halls of all sorts of nationalities (going to the S. Asian one tonight, will report back later) and I am thoroughly baffled by the "street" names. "All American Way" and "Screaming Eagle Blvd" Seriously guys? We ask the entire world to fight this war with us and then we make them live on cheesy American patriotic titled streets? I am embarrassed to be honest.

The general stores (PXs) here are hilarious. They are also split up by nationality and I will share some select humorous facts:

-The French PX has a pastry shop inside where you can get 'un cafe' and a variety of croissant.

-The Canadian PX is full of Hollister t-shirts and surf shorts (really?) Next door is a Tim Hortons (I felt like I was in an episode of How I Met Your Mother) ie, where I will get my bagel fix.

-The American PX has "Afghan Sports Club" t-shirts for sale as well as about 20 copies of the last season of Vampire Diaries and a huge romance novel section (really? How fast is THAT merchandise moving guys?)

Anyway, that is probably enough of an introduction for now. I am going to go drink another three bottles of water and try to get this dust out of my nose. Love you all. -A