Egyptian Hospital

After my initial visit to the Egyptian Hospital in September, I decided that I really wanted to do something to better the situation for the Afghan kids that visit there. Visiting the Hospital was an eye opening expereince. There are certian things you start to miss when you are deployed: the sound and sight of kids laughing and dogs running around ( I don't have a dog, but I do miss seeing them).  Its a crazy world to be surrounded by adults 24-7. So it was great to be around smiling faces of little kids. 

 

When we arrived, there were about 20 kids there and we knew initially that we didn't have enough for all of them to take one. We suggested to the Public Affairs Officer that we could have the kids share and  his repsonse was "No. They do not share." I chuckled thinking that the kids would most likely end up sharing.... Boy, was I WRONG! These kids were Ruthless!! Especially the girls! The girls would hide the items I would hand out to them in their head scarfs and have the nerve to look at me and say "Give me!" Some of the kids would sit on their items so their hands were always empty and ready to receive.

 

 I am really thankful for the donations I've received thus far from the Hanscom Troop Drive and my friends and family.

 

 

Here's a look at the goodies we've collected. BIG THANKS to the Hanscom Troop Drive for their donations! 



Capt Zaman has also been collecting items.

 



There's a baby (about 2 years old)  in the corner that you can't see, but her sister wasn't sharing with her at all. If I gave the baby something, I had to make sure that the sister got something as well or the older one would take it from her. Nothing like Sisterly LOVE!



The kid in the plaid button down was a charmer.. He would like me dead in the eys and  "Thank you" and then smile at me. I may have given him some extra candy.

 

 

 



The girl with the purple head scarf was NOT playing games when it came to the crayons. She wanted another even though I had given her one already.

 

 



The girl in the white stood up and grabbed the crayons in my hand and stared at me for a good 6 seconds. I looked at her and said "No" with a smile of course. She then let go and decided to move on to TSgt Lance.

The girl in the longer blue head scarf said "I have nothing." And as she jumped  up to say that all of the goodies she had already received fell out of her head scarf!! My jaw dropped!!!

 

Me and the Guys giving out the stash of goodies! It was a really great day!

 

 



We attempted a group photo. 

Us with the kiddos! It was a great day to give back.

As we handed things out, more and more kids kept showing up. Parents would come up to us and say "My son has nothing." We would try and give them things as well, but it was hard to divide things up as new kids kept appearing.
 

If you would like to send any items: Crayons, notebooks, pens, pencils, candy, or toys, please send them to me. I buy what I can when there are items at the BX, but in order to make this a monthly event I need the Awesome support and donations from you all back home!

 

DISCLAIMER: Gummy bears and Twizzlers do not make it past my office. So if you send either of those items, I doubt the kids will ever see them.... I'M JUST SAYING!!

September Update!

8 WEEKS DOWN! 

Here are my September Pictures... Better late than never!!

I had planned to upload pictures weekly, but the internet makes it hard to upload things and I have been pretty busy with work. I'll do my best to catch you all up on my happenings. These don't really happen in any particular order, but just recaps what went down in September.. ENJOY!

It seems like we are always saying Goodbye even when we just met. This was a going away party for, Betty (Lady in the Glasses). Five of the people in this photo have departed, with two more on their way out. I'm here until almost April so I will be saying Farewell to a lot of people.

This is the view from the Patio of our office building. We overlook the Mosque that is right next door. This is a look of their garden.

If you have seen my facebook posts, I've started a collection for the Afghan kids at the Egyptian Hospital here on Bagram. This was our first visit. This kid to the right enjoyed the candy we gave him, but was more interested in having a pen to write with for school.




                                                                                   
I got to visit the Women's Ward of the Egypitan Hospital and I dropped off some candy to the ladies. This little girl was not happy to meet me. But enjoyed the dum-dums I dropped off

I am blessed with AMAZING Friends. The first care package gets the shout out. My 4 Degree Year (Freshmen Year) Roommate, Kelsey, sent me some Yummy cookies and Brownies! My office was pretty happy to receive those! THANKS KELS.

My job is to travel around to closing down FOBs to ensure the contractor is ceasing its services properly and getting off the FOB on time. My first trip was to the North. I figured that because we are in Afghansitan I would be flying around on badass Military planes. You would imagine my surprise when we pulled up to this lil plane. There was even a flight attendant (in a polo and khakis)!! I fell asleep like I would on any flight back in the states and for a moment I forgot I was here in Aghanistan.









On my way to  FOB Spann, I had a short layover in Mazar-e-Sharif. While in the Pax Terminal I ran into my Air Force Academy teammate Brittany "Whit" Gilmer. I was so excited and shocked to see her. She then introduced me to her coworker, Maj Amanda Knotts, who happened to be my former coworker at AFOTEC at Kirtland AFB in New Mexico. What a SMALL WORLD!  I was pretty lucky to spend my four hour layover with them.

 

While at MES, Whit took me on a tour of the base. This is a German Coalition base so the feel of it is different. For one, their DFAC has real plates and silverware. I was so excited about it and had to brag to my coworkers, so I snapped a shot of the yummy Ravioli from the German DFAC! Of course, when I stopped by their BX (store) I HAD to grab some German Chocolate and my favorite, HARIBO Gummy Bears!

FOB SPANN: A SPANN-TASTIC TIME

 On my way to my final location, I stopped at FOB SPANN. This FOB is named after Mike Spann, the first American killed in combat during the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. This is a smaller FOB and the people here are really nice. A lot more so than at Bagram. (People don't smile at Bagram).

Here's a look at some of my adventures while at Spann!

FOB Spann was a lot of fun. I went to the German Compound where they showed me their "POOL" and the German's rode around in the Gator that my DCMA coutnerparts drive. 

 I got to capture the sunrise the following morning when I was heading to FOB Kunduz. It was beautiful!

 FOB SPANN had a restaruant called Mak Team Afghanistan. It was great to sit around and enjoy milkshakes and pizza.

FOB KUNDUZ

I arrived at FOB Kunduz to complete an Audit and here's a look at the Pax Terminal. I chuckled at this one!

This is how we traveled around to the smaller FOBS. 

A couple of pictures of me in the helicopter flying across the northern country side.  

 

 The country side in Afghanistan is Beautiful! There were moments when the desert bumped right up to green plains.  I didn't get a picture of it, but I got to see my first camel. YAY!

This is a look at some of the towns we fly over to get from one FOB to another. 

CAMP MAZAR-E-SHARIF/MARMAL

After hanging out at FOB Spann, I flew back to Marzar-E-Sharif and got to hang out with Brittany "Whit" and Amanda for the evening. They were hosting a Knitting class at the USO.

She's a pro at knitting now!

Whit and Amanda leading the class.

I did all of that in 2 hours.. (YEA RIGHT!)



Back at Bagram I was greeted with a package from my Aunt Michelle in Anchorage, AK! The socks  have been a great now that the weather is getting colder. THANKS!

THE GUYS!!

This is Maj Medeiros (back), TSgt Clonick (showing me the proper position in case of an IDF Attack aka "Rocket attack") and Lt Col Ray. These are the guys that took me under their wings when I got here. They even make sure I got my Ice Cream Saturday if one of the Chow Halls isn't serving it. They are great!

What do you do when you are bored on Tuesday Night??   B-HUT Volleyball!  The objective: Keep your butt in the seat and try to hit a small ball over the table without it touching the back walls or the sides. (Imagine the table as an imaginary net). There are more rules, but you have to witness it to appreciate it. It is pretty funny to see 4 grown men trying to finesse a ball across a table.

Using the bathroom is always interesting. There are pora potties everywhere and there is decent women's bathroom near my office building that has a cipher code to get into. But there is ONE bathroom inside the builidng next to mine with two stalls. Here are two pictures to show you how to use it. It's an ingenious idea, but it can cause problems when a male runs in there and forgets to change the code.

On Setpember 10, the base was hosting a basketball tournament. I cringed looking at the court (which is now resurfaced) but it was great to watch some basketball. As the teams warmed up, the IDF alarm went off. So everyone hit the floor (Bottom photo.) After that, we all went to the bunker and enjoyed an ongoing night of attacks. Now that winter is approaching the attacks are becoming less common. Rarely is anyone impacted by them here at Bagram. But we always take precautionary measures.

One of the many flags that were flown on September 11th. 

 A look at me in the bathroom airport! You are never too good to take a Bathroom selfie..even in Afghanistan!  

September ended with Shawn and Chase (2 guys in the middle) competing in a squat competition. It was a great chance for us to get out and show our support! After all their smack talk, they both tied for second place.

Septemeber was a great month filled with tons of first time experiences. I am truly blessed for all of these opportunities, especially when I get to travel. Hopefully, I will get the chance to keep you all more updated on my experiences.