Today....It's 2 days and 18 hours until I leave and I'm in a reflective mood and thinking of the past year.
At times it was so difficult. The living conditions are just bearable, the weather is extreme, it's lonely and boring (so you work 12 hrs on and 12 hours off which seems like a long time off, but add in the walking time from place to place, bathroom time, eating time and it's shaved down to 6-8 hours of sleep with laundry and other daily living chores.) It's disease-ridden with insects, and filthy conditions, and anybody can be the taliban (they're not just outside the wire. They mix among us.) We can be killed at any moment and some have suffered that fate. We pray...well I do. AND, anything can kill you and sometimes does.
But what an adventure! I woke every day saying I can't believe I'm in Afghanistan. The people of the land are shy and suspicious, (They've heard about us too- from the taliban), until you smile and say hi. Then most are very friendly and welcoming. I mostly lived in a land with mountains that were stunning every day. Going to the local merchants was
something I always looked forward to. Not only to buy their wares but it was a change of pace and to socialize out of the
ordinary...something not easy to do here. The friends that I made, we became very close...we spend every waking moment
together at work, at chow, and even in the showers and slept side by side.
I will forget all the pain I suffered here and the hurt and meanness (it's all a distant memory as I speak) and move on to
the happy place of remembering all of the good times and all that I've accomplished. Nowhere have I lived has it been so
far from my comfort zone and so close to what I thought I could never do. I found that I could. I will remember those I saw killed and friends that died simply doing their jobs while trying to make this a better place. Afghanistan is
incredible and I would've liked to come back to explore and really see the land, though war and the taliban make that
impossible.
Contracting is not for everyone. You are looked down upon by the military that sees you as making big money (so suck it up).
Others feel put out that they have to protect you,(we have no discipline), so you get the scraps; in beds, housing, food,
no vehicles, using port-a-potties, and no entertainment or use of gyms and more. You learn to take each day as it comes
and make do with what you can order from Amazon (the reason why many go home broke). But you accomplish so much more in your life - in self, in accomplishment that you will ever think possible, and grow in ways that you've only read about. The adventure. I am so grateful that I experienced it.
At times it was so difficult. The living conditions are just bearable, the weather is extreme, it's lonely and boring (so you work 12 hrs on and 12 hours off which seems like a long time off, but add in the walking time from place to place, bathroom time, eating time and it's shaved down to 6-8 hours of sleep with laundry and other daily living chores.) It's disease-ridden with insects, and filthy conditions, and anybody can be the taliban (they're not just outside the wire. They mix among us.) We can be killed at any moment and some have suffered that fate. We pray...well I do. AND, anything can kill you and sometimes does.
But what an adventure! I woke every day saying I can't believe I'm in Afghanistan. The people of the land are shy and suspicious, (They've heard about us too- from the taliban), until you smile and say hi. Then most are very friendly and welcoming. I mostly lived in a land with mountains that were stunning every day. Going to the local merchants was
something I always looked forward to. Not only to buy their wares but it was a change of pace and to socialize out of the
ordinary...something not easy to do here. The friends that I made, we became very close...we spend every waking moment
together at work, at chow, and even in the showers and slept side by side.
I will forget all the pain I suffered here and the hurt and meanness (it's all a distant memory as I speak) and move on to
the happy place of remembering all of the good times and all that I've accomplished. Nowhere have I lived has it been so
far from my comfort zone and so close to what I thought I could never do. I found that I could. I will remember those I saw killed and friends that died simply doing their jobs while trying to make this a better place. Afghanistan is
incredible and I would've liked to come back to explore and really see the land, though war and the taliban make that
impossible.
Contracting is not for everyone. You are looked down upon by the military that sees you as making big money (so suck it up).
Others feel put out that they have to protect you,(we have no discipline), so you get the scraps; in beds, housing, food,
no vehicles, using port-a-potties, and no entertainment or use of gyms and more. You learn to take each day as it comes
and make do with what you can order from Amazon (the reason why many go home broke). But you accomplish so much more in your life - in self, in accomplishment that you will ever think possible, and grow in ways that you've only read about. The adventure. I am so grateful that I experienced it.
