Have Gun Will Travel (Part 2)

Well, I have been in Afghanistan for a little over a week now and I am a little behind in my posting.  So, before I dive into describing life here in Kabul I will finish talking about Kuwait and the trip to Afghanistan.

(mural)

Kuwait: What can one say about Kuwait... hot, sandy, basic... well that pretty much sums it up.  I spent a whole week in Kuwait waiting for my flight to Afghanistan.  It was nice to have time to just hang out and regroup for a few days.  The dining hall there was pretty good, and the USO was top notch.  Some of the barricades around base had nice murals painted onto them from units that had been stationed there in the past (like the one above) - kind of making a wartime gallery of sorts. 

(Starbucks - they're everywhere)

Life in Kuwait is pretty basic.  We stayed in tents (nice tents, but still tents).  Luckily the tents had AC because it was about a billion degrees outside (think Phoenix on a really bad day).  Did I mention that it was sandy?  We were allowed to wear our PT gear around.  The good thing about that: a t-shirt and shorts are much more comfortable when you are on the surface of the sun.  The bad news is that my tennis shoes acted as a filter to let only the finest particulates of sand-powder into my shoes!  There was no running water, so we used port-o-potties for our restrooms and our showers were located in a trailer.  If I left the shower trailer with my feet even slightly wet... you guessed it: sand stuck to my feet.

 (bathroom)

 (my own tent city)

I got to know some of the people pretty well over those previous weeks of training, but then we started trickling out of Kuwait on different flights to different destinations in the CENTCOM area.  And then after a week it was my turn.  I got on a plane, a really big plane (C17), headed to Afghanistan.  No in-flight meal on this flight: 

(not as comfy as commercial)

(stuck in the middle)

And after many hours of sympathizing with sardines, we landed in Kandahar.  I spent half a day there for in-processing and waiting for my next flight.  I am glad I am not stuck at that base, it seemed very crowded, hot and dusty - and the food was terrible.

...and then I got on another large (but not as large) plane (C130):

(webbing for seats, how quaint)

...It seemed that the farther along in my journey I got, the less comfortable the travel accommodations became.  Finally, I made it to Kabul.  I am now a long way from home, and I have traveled thousands of miles with my rifle at my side - and I have finally made it to my destination... which is where I will pick up in my next post...