Out and Back

So yesterday, 18 April 2009, I went outside the wire. Nothing big, we went to lunch with a demining company that works around Bagram. We went out in MRAPs, really big trucks. They have a com system that allows everybody to talk to each other without yelling, and somehow, the driver had music going through too. We started out going to the gate, but the road was still blocked from the flood. The road was no longer flooded, but the fence was down, so it was blocked for security reasons. So we had to go the long way around. Once we left the post the ride got real bumpy, but it was ok because of the 4-point seatbelts, it was a fun ride. When we got out to the site, there was a canopy set up with a table, chairs and snacks. Those of us along for the ride sat down, ate the snacks and drank tea. The Majors, Gunny and the contractor who came along discussed the contract for HDI, the demining company, with the CO of the company. The rest of us talked amongst ourselves, and took pictures. Then lunch was brought out. There was a lot of food, big bowls of rice, sheep (?) and tomatoes roasted on skewers that looked like swords, chicken, and some yummy flat bread. In the middle of lunch, there was a controlled detonation of the mines that were found that day, yes I took pictures, and video. But my internet connection is narrow, and it takes forever to load any pictures, and quite often they don't even load at all. After lunch, the outgoing Major was presented with a rug and a plaque for his contributions to demining and the local villages. Then we returned to the base, another bumpy ride. I nodded off for a while; it took even longer to get back to our area due to traffic. It was 1600 when we finally got back, we left at 1000. Back at the office I played a few games, chatted with Josh Beilie (Little John from TRF, now living in Alaska) on Facebook. Then it was 5pm, so I went to my room. I figured that I was tired from guard duty the night before and waking up early, but I found out in the bathroom that I was sunburned. Someone forgot sun block... I burn under any high wattage light bulb, or so my Mum says. So I watched Twilight - OMG I loved the movie too! Then I went to bed. I am still tired today, luckily it is a low battle rhythm day, and nothing is happening, thus I am writing here. The outgoing Major left this morning, so now the new Major is officially in charge. So now we get to get used to another style of leadership. He seems cool enough though. As of this post, I have 2 months, 8 days, 8.5 hours until I go on R&R!!