And it starts...

I have written and re-written this blog four times now. Im a little overwhelmed with all of this, and getting it into words that have any sort of flow is proving to be arduous.
I had a rather long explanation of our trip from Bagram to our Salerno along with a slew of murderous thoughts for the air force, but I think the recount may be hazardous to my mental health.. so just know that the air force is beyond irritating, and they wasted 17 hours of my life with their incapablities.
We arrived to Salerno in the pitch black of night... its a blackout FOB, so I mean quite literally- pitch black. No lights. It makes for beautiful stars, I must say... however, add in the rocks and walking becomes a fine art. The air force had told the PAX terminal that the flight had been cancelled, and then flew us in anyway, so there was no one to receive us. They dropped us off with our bags in the dark, and left. So much for an in-brief.
We did finally get settled in. Our rooms have 6 people in them, but have plywood walls built almost to the ceiling. While I can hear my room mates snoring, and everything else they do (they are quite loud actually) it at least creates the illusion of my own room. We've been equipped with some handmade furniture.. a bookshelf, bed, and closet thing-y, which I proceeded to engage in a real-live tetris game with... trying to rearrange it in my 8x12 space inch by inch. I ordered a luxury bed set for my indulgence, and have been decorating with Afghan scarves and trinkets from the Bazaar. So I now have my little corner of heaven in this war-torn country. Salerno really is much better than I imagined. The showers are hot, the food is decent, the PX usually carries the necessities... and the weather is gorgeous. Ive been running in the mornings, and forgot how much I miss running outside. There is an orchard on my run route, oranges and I think (?) olive trees that have a grayish tint, making them almost lustrous in the morning (they are a little ugly once the sun is all the way up though.) The Bazaar is fascinating, the vendors all locals that call 'what's up' to you. Their English isnt very good aside of the common jargon used to barter, but they are (mostly) friendly and sell everything from bootleg DVDs and watches to handmade knick-knacks and rugs.
Our Media Operations Center is prodigious... at least in comparison to my original expectations. Considering at NTC we were crammed in a tent with all of the other HHC sections... our set up here is damn near glamorous, I think, despite the fact that the building has been condemned. I love it!
We have a cultural liaison who has been working in the MOC for 3 years... we'll call him Aifa... he is my projected new best friend. ;) He is incredibly knowledgeable about the politics and history of the area, the mission, Islam, insurgents, culture, everything really. He is helpful and willing to answer every question we can come up with. He also has agreed to teach us Pashto... which I am enjoying immensely, regardless of how much I suck at making the hairball sound.
I love the culture here. I watched some of the men praying, feeling like an intruder, but far too intrigued to look away. They are very intense. The groups of them that walk to the Bazaar in the mornings tend to talk very fast Pashto as I run by, then all laugh... apparently Im comical to them in some way. They seem to be a very peaceful culture. Obviously there are extremes, which is why we are here, but the locals on Salerno... well, I like them.
I am ready to get working, but we still have a few weeks before the rest of our unit all trickles in. Its nice to integrate into the environment, but Im getting restless already.
Random sidenote: Our internet signal is from Hong Kong, so everything is in Chinese.... my work computer is stubbornly stuck on French (internally), so I have a French computer with Chinese internet... fun, fun.

On the homefront... Jayvn went to his first Karate tournament and won first place! Mysteri's daddy didnt think she was ready for this tournament yet, and she was very unhappy about that. She is still enjoying her gymnastics. They both are well and healthy. :)