My Battle Buddy (aka BB) has a sister that is stationed at Bagram AFB, so Monday we set up to meet with her and try to grab a bite to eat so they could catch up with each other. Turns out, the sister (a Colonel) had a car so my BB and I took off straight from our shift and headed back to our tent to change into fresh uniforms to meet up. As we hiked to our tent, we heard there was a "tactical situation" and our FOB was going to be locked down within the next 30 minutes. So, we went without a uniform change and instead quick-times it past our tents, past the inner gate and down the road to the main gate..........just in time to make it out before the MPs locked the place down! However, we then had to wait outside the gate with a lot of nationals until our ride showed. Everyone pretty much kept their distance from us.....I think the M16s helped!
Anyway, the colonel and her First Seargent drove us to main base Bagram to a Dining Facility (DFAC) that was serving soul food that night (bbq ribs and fried catfish). It was a small DFAC and very crowded but the company was great and it was nice getting away from the base for a while. Part of our visit also included a trip the Colonel's place of work where her co workers (feeling sorry for us!) loaded us with bag of cookies and a case of Rip It (a caffeine beverage that is very popular over here). It felt a bit like Christmas! Luckily, our FOB had completed the security exercise so the First Seargent was able to drive us back to our FOB so we didn't have so far to walk back with out booty!
The next day was my first whole day off so another pal of mine and I decided to try the bus system and visit BAF (Bagram AFB) on our own. We left about 0600, walking once again past the two gates to a lone dog-house sized bus stop shelter to catch the Sabalu-Harrison and Warrior Express (our FOB to the next FOB). The bus was an old, old Mercedes bus with small seats that folded out and across the aisle. The idea is to squeeze your way on and find a seat amongst the other soldiers, nationals and coalition forces. The bus windows are half up/ half down with little electric fans that look a bit iffy if even safe. The driver has assorted plastic flowers hanging off his rear view mirror and propped all along his windhsield.. It seems the more gaudy, the more prestigious the driver. So, off we go, crammed sardine style, in full uniform with our M16s, tottering down a rickety, narrow dirt road. The speed limit is 20kph and the traffic is made up of jingle trucks, MRAPS, HMMVEES, Gators and civilian vehicle that saw better days in the 70's! Once we made it to the next FOB, it was time to catch another bus to BAF.
Again, we stood along a dusty road, balanced on a bit of level ground between the road and a wide and deep drainage ditch, listening to various conversations in many languages. Our sport was to try to guess the country by the speech pattern.............quite sure we were wrong more than right, but it helped pass the time. Finally, another old bus rattled to a stop and by the looks of it, the driver was VERY prestigious........to the point I wasnt sure the driver could actually see the road. Again, we squeezed into a seat as the bus chocked and coughed its way towards our final destination. Just when the heat and dust was about to overcome our airways, we arrived at the Big City aka BAF. For all we heard of how BAF was "a big base with a main drag with all kinds of shops" we stepped off the bus and nearly rolled into a giant drainage dish, full of the day's early rain and bits of garbage floating by. My first impression of the area was that it resembled an industrial port of a third world country (sans ocean). The road was barley wide enough for the two way traffic of military vehicles, trucks hauling loads of cargo containers and the miniature buses, cars and Gators that busily hummed about trying to share the road with the organization of blind-folded cats. Crossing any street was a major endeavor! But, we soldiered on (pun intended). We walked to the Px (which took us considerably time seeing how it was hidden inside a quadrant of 10 foot cement T-wall maize......we probably circled it 3 times before actually finding the entrance!) Once inside, we picked out a few postcards and a soda pop and continue in search of an Aghan eatery. The little shop was small, but the line was long, so we knew good food was at hand. And, after much sign language and nodding, we sat down to a wonderful kabob meal served with a long-rice and raisin side dish and fantastic flat bread the size of a dinner plate!
Having stuffed ourselves with local cuisine, we headed out for the bazaar......another lengthy walk! The wares ranged from silk scarves, to loose gems to wood and metal wares. The shop keepers stood outside their little shops, calling out bargain prices and great deals! We did a lot of looking but no buying. Since we are still living out of our duffle bags in tents, it seemed a share to bring something nice back! We did vow to make another trip once we finally move into our permanent barracks (maybe another 4 weeks!). After chatting with shop keepers a bit, we headed back to begin the bus trip back to the base, returning back to our base (it took 4 buses to get back) the clock read 1900 and we were bushed. We headed for the showers (we are allowed a 3 minute shower every other day) only to find that there was no hot water. But, we had to knock the dust off, so we turned the 3 minute shower into a 90 second splash! :)
Fortunately, we were able to crawl into our nice sleeping bags for a hopeful, full night's sleep. In the background I fell asleep to the sound of mighty jets blasting down the run ways out into the dark skies to protect us and our soldiers. Loud, yes. But reassuring. Only one blast that night that awoke me from my sleep. Until about dawn when security decided to do a test siren. Oh well, guess I'll try sleeping another night! :)
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