1 April

I love being in Afghanistan, I thoroughly enjoy working for/with the Army, I couldn't be any happier right now.
Did I mention today is 1 April?

friday's lunch

In honor of the LTC's momentous departure, our interpreter offered to bring lunch on his day off, friday being prayer day, and yes we work every other day, Mr Taliban doesn't take any days off I am afraid.
On the menu was goat, lamb and some camel. It took our interpreter a few hours to stalk a camel and hunt it down over a distance of a few miles, and then he had to drag it back and bring it over! Actually he got everything at a restaurant, and his mom even cooked some potato-lamb patties that were quite tasty. All in all a very tasty meal, and the nan (local bread) is outstanding! I will most definitely have to try out the few Afghan restaurants in Virginia after I get back.

driving through kabul

I thought I'd get a little bit of footage from our drive through this most unique city. The first half was on the way over with lots of honking, the louder honk coming from the truck that was part of our convoy and immediately behind my humvee, and the clanking is only the windows; the second half was on the way back to the airport and was shot from inside the "Mad Max" bus, an up-armored bus that looks as if it belongs in the Mad Max movie.
Anyway, there isn't anything particularly amazing about this footage other than the fact it is from Kabul and was shot with my digital camera!

return to Herat

They decided to have us ride back to Kabul airport in the "Mad Max" bus, it almost felt like being on one of those tour buses! And I had a better vantage point to take pictures, and somewhat cleaner windows but they did have a blue hue. Hopefully I got some good street shots, and I tried to find as many burkhas as possible. I think they'd make for a great Halloween costume, they look like real life ghosts! I am definitely getting me one before I leave.
The flight back was on a C-130, my back is still traumatized from having to sit against the wall with a bolt protruding into the right side.

more pictures

more pictures from camp morehead

I thought I'd walk around the bombed out ruins, climb into vintage soviet tanks, drink beer and wine with the french special forces, and catch the sun rising on our last morning there, among other things. I might have taken a few too many shots but then again there isn't much else to do around here, besides how often will I be in Kabul, or Afghanistan for that matter!

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Camp Morehead

About half the pictures I took while at Camp Morehead, on the outskirts of Kabul. A rather interesting place with some old Soviet equipment and buildings that suffered a few years of bombing. The check marks on the walls are to inform that there is no unexploded ordinance left in the vicinity! It truly felt somewhat like a ghost town, and Kabul almost feels like a ghost city, and I thought black & white worked better for some of the shots. Then again there is not much color in this country to begin with!

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2 hour drive

Pictures from the 2 hour drive we endured through Kabul...

http://flickr.com/photos/ericbeta/sets/72157604222430640/