Report #2 - Chow

Report #2 - Chow

You all can't understand the suffering at the base I am at. The Ice
Cream bar at our chow hall was out of Mint Chip and I had to eat
Pralines' and Cream. The other tough part is the long line at the
custom Panini bar. I probably should not be saying all this as everyone
was thanking me for my service and sacrifice, but I got it good. I am
not saying everyone in Afghanistan is living like this, but I bet at
least half are.

Chow ends up being the major event of the day. It is the social
gathering place, it is the place to have meetings and generally what you
look forward to. Today I actually went there twice for lunch. I at
1100 and then I was back in the office and the LtCol I work for asked me
to go to lunch with him so we could talk. He was in meetings all
morning and that we the only time we could sit down. The Chow hall is
about a 200yrd walk from our work space. They have put river rock down
everywhere because of the rainy season (Dec-Feb). They are either
really small and it is like walking in deep sand or fist size and you
have to watch rolling your ankle. Again I whine about nothing.

There is a Exchange or a little shopette on the base with basic supplies
and food. There really is no need to buy food as you get a lot from
meals, Class I and care packages. Class I are items that they have
available to take back to your office or hooch. As an example in our
office we have 4 cases of diet coke, a couple of Rip It (a type of red
bull), cases of clif bars and water powders. There are also piles of
left over care packages everywhere. People generally get care packages,
grab what they really want and then pool together everything else. I
was in a tent yesterday that had a 4' cube box of left over valentine's
day candy.

Water here is all in bottles. At every corner there is a palette of
bottled water. It is either 12 oz bottles of commercial water or 1
liter bottles of what they call expeditionary water packaging system
(EWPS). I don't know exactly how it comes about, but basically them
make the water here and bottle it. There are little packages of crystal
light, propel, kool aid,......... everywhere too to add to the water.

Well it is almost dinner time so I must go.

Not this blog is submitted from my work computer to a blog e-mail
address and automatically posts. The mail account adds the unclassified
note at the top and bottom.