Well the last couple of weeks have been going by pretty fast for me I guess we've been so busy and a lot has been going on here in Afghanistan that we just don't think about the time and it just flies by. I think if we really dwell and sit around and do nothing than it just goes by really slow and we spend the time thinking about the ones we miss and love so much and it really gets us down. I don't think I could handle not getting to leave Camp Phoenix or having to do the same thing day in and day out, I would become so overwhelmed with sadness that I couldn't function. I mean a lot of guys don't want to leave Phoenix cause they worry what's outside that front gate and I understand that cause there are a lot of bad things out there that at any second could hurt any one of us. I guess I take that risk to leave and get out cause I couldn't stand being stuck here.. There are a few places I like to go and get out of here and really hate coming back on to camp, I like going to the other camps but once again we're trapped there as well so when we get to go out and do our CERP missions its great not just because were helping but because we are getting out of here and getting a little "FREEDOM" of our own...
We checked on the school we are building its coming along really good and should be ready for a final inspection by us Saturday and hopefully have the grand opening next month. We also checked on the hospital were we are building the patient rooms and they are almost finished as well. It nice seeing what we're doing for them and hopefully we can keep it up.
Last week I got to attend one of the most memorable things I would probably get to do here besides all the good stuff this was something fun for us to do without any work. We went to one of the local villages for a wedding and this was by far the biggest wedding I have ever been to.
Well let me go back this really wasn't the wedding but it was part of the ceremony. This was more like the bachelor party but they really don't call it that. Of course there were no women at this but there were over 600 guys there so Im sure the wedding itself was 1200 easily. We showed up talked for awhile and had supper and then got hena painted on our hands if you look at one of the pictures you can see the little girls waving and on one of their hands is hena and that's what they are doing to our hands. Then they brought in a famous Afghan singer who cost 3 thousand for the night so Im sure the parents are spending a lot of money on the whole thing. After the singer started all the guys wanted Lt. Marmen one to get up and dance so of course he did and there was a little old man there they called "Joker" (and if your reading this and from Madill you should get the next part.) Joker was Catman Morgan to the tee, crazy, didn't make any sense and his dance was more like a gymnastics contest than anything but he could put on a show, and that's what he did, he even wore a weight lifting belt Im guessing for his extra protection. It was an experience I will never forget and sometime next month our Interp will be getting married so Im sure his will be just as good.
Well anyway last week we did another MEDCAP like a couple weeks ago. This one was a lot larger and we were able to see more people. I did my usual part, taking pictures, helping out here and there with security and of course playing with the kids. I always seem to find one that Im drawn to one little kid who always catches my eye or does something that reminds me of Bayleigh or just doesn't bother me or bug me for stuff like the other kids do. One little boy (the one in the white clothes with my kevlar on) he is the son of the owner of the house were we did the MEDCAP he is about 6-7 I would say I never did ask him but he was the cutest and most ornery little boy probably the equivalent of a boy Bayleigh. He stood by my side the whole time and would pull on my pant leg every time he wanted another piece of candy and then whenever anyone else wanted some candy he would run them off no matter how bug they were. After awhile he got in trouble from his dad and then wanted to "flex" his muscles and show me how strong he was by moving rocks and picking up his brothers.
Later in the day I was standing on the porch of one of the houses and saw a boy pushing a wheel barrow into the compound and inside the wheelbarrow was his brother who had some type of crippling disease that mad his body contract and distort into positions the body shouldn't go. The boy was placed on one of the litters and the medics looked him over and there is really nothing they could do for him but give him documents to go to the hospital. As the boy pushed his brother outside the front gate a few of us stood on the porch and I thought what Im sure the rest of the group was thinking and that he probably wont live much longer and how sad it is that they cant be helped enough to fight all the diseases they face and all the problems they face. We can only do so much here and the longer I stay and go out the more it seems that they may never be able to help themselves without the help from us.
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