Halfway Around the Globe

The time finally came to pack up all of my crap and head off to the other side of the world. And by crap I mean all the random useless stuff they make me pack that I'll most likely never, ever use. I don't enjoy packing 200+ lbs of gear, clothing, and other items into 2 bags that I have to lug around for 4+ days before I get situated in my permanent living quarters.

Coming out of Colorado we flew to Anchorage, AK. I was very excited to stop in Alaska for a couple reasons: I've never been there and I've always thought about being stationed there. My first impressions are positive ones. It wasn't nearly as cold as I thought it would be for February and the view of the mountains are breathtaking. They certainly seem to dwarf the mountains on the Front Range.

Our next stop takes us to Kyrgyzstan, a not so pleasant country in Central Asia where we wait for a flight to our final destination. There's not a hell of a lot to say about this country. It's cold, it's miserable, the overall appearance is just grim. I guess as a part of the former Soviet Union you expect it to look this way.

Finally from Kyrgyzstan we go to our final destination: Afghanistan. This will be my home for the upcoming months along with my brothers and sisters of what basically becomes your extended family.

This will be my second trip to Afghanistan, but this time in a new location, with new people, a new job, and thankfully, for a shorter amount of time.

Unfortunately, all this traveling has some set backs. I still can't get on a proper sleep schedule for this time zone. I go to bed at a normal time and still wake up to early. Hopefully once in the swing of things this will sync up and I'll get back to normal.

All those bags full of crap I mentioned before? No more carrying those around! Once in Afghanistan, we went directly our permanent billeting and I've been able to arrange and unpack everything. I share this room with only one other roommate. Our area is roughly 20ft x 6ft, so it may not seem that luxurious, but it's much better than some billets I've had in the pasts. I'll get some pictures up as soon as I dig out my phone to take some (I unpacked everything but I don't remember unpacking that. Hmmm....) After a quick stop at the PX for some essentials (garbage bin, air fresheners, area rug, etc) the room is well set up to suit our needs.

So what is like where I'm at you ask yourself? Well, without divulging too much information I'll give you a brief description. Here's a few things that I think are important:
- It's noisy. Very noisy.
- It smells. I did not miss the burn pits. There's also a sewage pond. It's winter now, but I'm sure I'll have complaints about that in the summer...
- There's POLICE. Yes. They pull people over. You can hear them chirp the sirens.
- Everywhere I need to go I can walk to. No more than a 10-15 minute walk. That includes the PX, Troop Store, dining halls, work, etc.
- There are 3 dining halls in close proximity to my room. So far, the food hasn't been half bad.
- I have internet. In my room. Obviously this is what I'm using to post this. And if you aren't on it during peak hours, it actually works quite well.

That's about it for now. I'll get some pictures up of the room when I get a chance. This is only the beginning, but I'm looking forward to what lies ahead, including the challenges and the headaches. But most of all, I'm looking forward to the reward at the end: coming home!