imminent sugar high!

I would like to thank my mother, younger brother, and aunt from Belgium for providing me with a "few" sweets: starburst, fruitella, napoleon, sugus, twix, m&ms, as well as some beef jerky and power bars. The gummy bears and milka chocolate I obtained myself. Now who should I send my dentist bill to?
And I would like to especially thank my mother for the Homer Words of Wisdom pillowcase, it certainly applies to me!

Saturday's sunset

I liked the way the sun looked, so I thought I'd take a couple pictures...

some big white puffy clouds

following Thursday's rain, big clouds on the horizon on Friday...

training kandak graduation

This past Thursday, the training kandak (battalion) was having its graduation ceremony. As with most things in this country it was well worth sticking around a little to see what would happen, and to break the monotony of my everyday routine. And as it turns out I was quite entertained by this event.

more pictures

and a short video...

witness to a miracle

So I arrived in Herat on March 2nd or thereabouts and I was starting to wonder if I would ever see any rain around here. Obviously the surrounding landscape was a testimony to the little rain seen in this corner of the world, but surely it must rain some time. I knew California was bad and never thought I would be in a place worse off.
Well, yesterday (Thursday) afternoon, which might have been early morning for some of you, late morning for others, and probably not evening for any of you, it started to rain. I did all I could to keep from ripping my clothes off and running out in this most beautiful of rain, and trust me I was close to doing so (I have also been working out). And it wasn't one of those Californian "downpours" (a few drops falling from the sky qualifies as such there) but a steady rain.
But then it kept raining in the evening, and the temperature had dropped as well, and I started to think... Will it keep on raining forever? Will the sun ever shine again? I was beginning to feel like I was back in Belgium!
And then today happened!

the silly military

The Army has a PT uniform (outfit to wear when working out).
The Air Force has a PT uniform.
The Navy does not (yet) have a PT uniform.
Some Army people apparently only care about that third point and are seemingly rather upset about the fact we are free to wear whatever we want while working out, so long as it is in good taste and reflects our Navy pride. So I purchased a couple shorts from the good ol' Naval Academy, one blue, one gray, both do not go below the knees, but I am now under the understanding that I can only wear the blue ones. The reason behind this asinine rule is that, while we still do not have a PT uniform, we were issued these silly looking blue shorts that are just plain ridiculous, so while we are at liberty to deviate somewhat we still have to wear blue shorts.
Well, what are they going to do, keep me in Afghanistan for another 8 months?
And another silly point, the Army people salute each other when in PT uniform. It is the strangest thing and one that takes getting used to as I have been saluted a few times, I first was caught off guard but later simply returned the salute. My question is this, how does the Army private in his Army issued PT gear know that the person approaching him from the other side is an Army general in his Army issued PT gear. Isn't he technically supposed to salute the higher ranking officer as he is in his PT gear?
Just plain silly I tell you!
And no, I refuse to wear our silly looking blue shorts!

my boss's last day

So the LTC I worked for since I arrived here is on his way back to the States. If you ever end up driving through Jackson, Mississippi, speed up and you might get stopped by a State trooper on a motorbike, and it just might be my now old boss. He was a riot to work for and will be missed, and I only hope the next LTC to come in a few weeks will be just as fun, but probably not.
handing out a "fake" certificate to our interpreter

handing out a real certificate to our interpreter

him and one of the better afghan officers, not the resemblance to Ron Jeremy