Tidbits

I am finally heading out on a real mission.. no ceremonies, no grip-n-grins, but out with a provincial reconstruction team (as far as I know, they do humanitarian-type work, and assessments of the villages) and the Cavalry for two whole weeks. Spc Steve has to cover one of our infantry battalions, so I am going alone. I am so excited/anxious/nervous... the way the 'activity' has been ramping up lately, Im sure to see... something. Yay, stories... and an opportunity to really do my job!! Assuming it stops raining, I leave in the morning.

I went to the hospital yesterday to cover some Afghan VIPs that came to visit the men that were hit by a suicide bomber a few days ago. Otherwise Ive been running silly errands and taking photos for graphics, and of course, pulling tower guard... I watched EOD play out in the field with some rather large mushroom-cloud-producing explosives... thrilling!

I had a random chat conversation with a local that apparently 'found' me through the Afghan media... the media that I escorted on base last week were taking my photo, and one of them got out, according to the chatter. Of course, we wear our names on our uniforms. He was very persistent in knowing my location and upon my refusal, mentioned that he will 'find' me. Great. Stalkers... Afghan style.

I dont know if I'll be able to blog or not over the next two weeks, so I apologize in advance for any resulting gap in entries... I'll try to hand-record any events so I dont leave anything out. :)