Winter is officially here at the Sandbox. We had a little sandstorm, then a little rain and waa- la...winter. It dropped at least 40 degrees over a few hours. I been taking a lot of crap over my luggage, which really wasn't that much for a girl- I might add, but included an all seasons coat good up to/down to (?) 20 below- hurray! It is cold at 33 degrees here. The poor Kenyans are layered like Ralphie's little brother (The Christmas Story), and I'm waiting for them to fall over from the layers- insert chuckle here! You can definitely tell who comes from the north. They are still walking around in short sleeves, in fact, I saw a Bosnian guy who had just jumped out of the shower and came for his bedtime smoke in......drum roll.... shorts and a t-shirt....really! I'm from Michigan and you don't see me acting a fool. But, I've also had a tiny little thought that I was switched at birth with a kid that's enjoying hot weather in Texas. I just can't explain looking exactly like the family that I'm with.
Another thing about getting cold here, it stirs all of the critters. I've seen snake trails in the bunkers and rat foot prints...OK they are probably mice, but who cares when they're climbing into your sleeping bag. Everything's trying to find a warm spot. It's really hilarious to hear people scream over the radios that they need vector,(exterminators) right now to... and vector doesn't respond. I can't tell if they are busy as all get out or if they're giggling on the other end. There is talk/rumors going around of a rat infestation across the street where the poorer foreigners live. They sleep 80 to a tent....whew! I could barely tolerate the 12 princesses I was stuck with. Back to bugs... There are also these nearly invisible spiders that can do a number on you when they're biting a trail up your arm. All things are biting and trying to store up a fat layer. We have very tiny lady bugs. Precious name...lady bugs. We all know that as the world had evolved and the weaker species has been winnowed out, so has the lady bug who has strapped on killer pinchers becoming smaller and meaner. We have had 2 cases of this little undesirable lady crawling into ear canals. I was the lucky one who knew what it possibly was and flew out of bed to make a night time trip to the clinic where I tried to drown the bitch. Remembering that she might float, I put my ear down and shined a flashlight and she swam right out where I promptly smashed her!
Another thing about getting cold here, it stirs all of the critters. I've seen snake trails in the bunkers and rat foot prints...OK they are probably mice, but who cares when they're climbing into your sleeping bag. Everything's trying to find a warm spot. It's really hilarious to hear people scream over the radios that they need vector,(exterminators) right now to... and vector doesn't respond. I can't tell if they are busy as all get out or if they're giggling on the other end. There is talk/rumors going around of a rat infestation across the street where the poorer foreigners live. They sleep 80 to a tent....whew! I could barely tolerate the 12 princesses I was stuck with. Back to bugs... There are also these nearly invisible spiders that can do a number on you when they're biting a trail up your arm. All things are biting and trying to store up a fat layer. We have very tiny lady bugs. Precious name...lady bugs. We all know that as the world had evolved and the weaker species has been winnowed out, so has the lady bug who has strapped on killer pinchers becoming smaller and meaner. We have had 2 cases of this little undesirable lady crawling into ear canals. I was the lucky one who knew what it possibly was and flew out of bed to make a night time trip to the clinic where I tried to drown the bitch. Remembering that she might float, I put my ear down and shined a flashlight and she swam right out where I promptly smashed her!
The army really hooked me up for the cold! There's 3 colors of sleeping bags: red, green and back. Red are soft and cozy if you need a little warmth and it's 60 degrees outside. Green are good until about 30 degrees. Black is good until 60 below. So I walked in initially to a new clinic in a new setting, Sept 27th in Kandahar when it was 140 degree- welcome to Afghanistan! and everyone laughed at my black sleeping bag telling me that it will be too hot and I'll never need it. Next base that I went to, same thing. The girls were laughing telling me I should have brought linen from home. How could I sleep comfortably wrapped up in that? Well ...Ha!Ha!Ha! Who's laughing now. No one was expecting it to get this cold this early in the year. Even with the space heater in the room cranked as high as it will go, as soon as someone opens the door the heat goes out and it's back to square one. But, I sleep snugly and very warm and comfortably! Thank you US Army!