The South (it's hot)

It's been almost a month since my last post, and I was able to travel, which has a # of advantages. One, it kills a week. Two, it gets me into new scenery, new food, new adventures and gives me something to blog about that might be more entertaining than my last whiny post.

I joined a group of engineers to travel to Helmand and Kandahar provinces to conduct 2 planning conferences. First, we went to Leatherneck, which is also known as Marinestan. It is HOT! The weather reports are, and I quote, 'Blazing sun and 110 degrees.' There is no shade on this post, and the reflection off of the sand and gravel is BLINDING!. Despite the heat, I got to exercise one day. I know you think that I am crazy, but it was totally worth it, because the fitness center was full of Marines. :-)

Mid-week, we waited for travel to Kandahar. As these things go, our flight was delayed by 12 hours. So we hung out in the tactical terminal ALL DAY, no air conditioning, no video games, no internet connx, not even a deck of cards. I finished my book, took a nap. But by mid-afternoon, we were so wilted that I grabbed two of my friends and said let's go out to the bus stop and see if a bus goes by. One did, and it had air conditioning, so we just rode around the post for an hour. An added benefit was the various Marines getting on and off.

When we arrived at Kandahar late that night, I got to experience first hand the legendary poo pond. See, Kandahar was one of the first places the US Military established its presence 10 years ago. The engineer planners thought they'd placed the waste water treatment plant far away from the center of camp, but the camp has grown up around the pond, and the pond is too small to handle the waste stream. SOOO, by nightfall, the stench is overpowering. It literally will bring you to your knees.

So in addition to the blazing, 110 degree heat and sun, we now have added a cloud of aerated feces. But hey, at least there were no rockets!

On a more serious note, I got to meet with a whole bunch of engineers and planners from a variety of nations and military services which was very gratifying. I also finished the book Punishment of Virtue by former NPR reporter Sarah Chayes. It is a memoir about both the history of Afghanistan as well as the events after 9/11 and the fall of the Taliban. It is an easy read, and puts the current events into greater context. I highly recommend it if anyone is at all interested in this war anymore.