Karaoke

Monday night at KAF is Karaoke night at the MWR tent. They draw a regular and decent-sized crowd. On one of the last nights Mike Champion was in town a bunch of us went to see what it was like.

Pretty legit with the whole stage thing.

Lyrics for all to see.

Taking pictures with the flash on has a very predictable problem associated with it - note the reflector-belt.

Glorious Cuba can only benefit from watching others sing popular songs.

...Also I really love Karaoke.

Did you know Karaoke means empty orchestra? Isn't that hauntingly poetic?

Go Michael!

Michael is kind of a celebrity at Karaoke night. He even had a request one time. The best chance I have at having that sort of notoriety around here is being known as beard guy - and there are plenty of those. There's even a guy with a handlebar mustache walking around... How can I make my mark?

One Month Contractversary

It has been a month now since I arrived at KAF. It is extraordinary how fast the time here seems to slip by. I'll turn around and a week has gone by. This is definitely related to all the days being the same, and having very little variation. Here's how my week normally breaks down:

The first half of the week I get the late shift. That's 1000-2200. I wake up around 0730ish and go to the MWR gym (because it's closer to my room), as opposed to the NATO gym which is supposedly cleaner and nicer (it's nicknamed two-shoes because you must bring a second pair of non-dusty does with you in order to exercise there). Afterwards I pick up breakfast and then get ready to go to work.

Throughout the day there are various odd jobs that I'm responsible for, as well as breaks for meals and incidentals and this helps break up the time on the clock. You'd think it would drag on because it's half a day's worth of work, but it doesn't.  When I get off work at 2200 I sometimes stay after a bit to skype with home - then go to my room and sleep.

The second half of the week I have the 0700-1900 shift. I pick up breakfast on the way into work and eat it in the early slow hours during which relatively few soldiers come in for help in the Army Learning Center. I try to come in a bit earlier because when it's 0630 here in Afghanistan, it's 10:00pm back in Eastern Time, and once daylight savings time starts in November it'll be 9:00pm: perfect time to talk to friends and family through skype.

After work on these days I either go to the gym or to the Shabbat Services available to me (this is why I requested the early shift during the second half of the week), and then the gym. After I exercise, I'll read or watch tv, or if I'm feeling up to it after the long day I'll go to the MWR or the USO which are like morale and welfare institutions for those living on KAF. They have movie theaters, pool, fooseball, video games etc. And that's pretty much how my time here is spent barring any routine-changingly significant events.

I find myself going through that thought process articulated in the show Seinfeld. You know when they're stuck in Florida for an extra five days and Seinfeld goes on about how the first and the last days don't even count, sleeping and meals don't count, and so on until they're really only stuck in Florida for 20 minutes instead of five days? I find myself thinking this way about months going by.

I know I shouldn't start thinking about leaving this early considering I have five more months to go, and considering that I'm not miserable here and don't plan to be... but I can't help it despite all the advice I've been given to not count down to when you're leaving until at least 3 months have passed... and that's only two months away from now and if you take away sleep and meals... see? I'm doing it again...

Here are some more interesting pictures I've collected from living in Afghanistan:

I live on Illinois, the most commonly landed upon space in Monopoly.

Ohio street is only a block away, where everyone is playing cornhole all day long and is nice to each other

The airport has lost some of its 1960s sheen.

 We had clouds last week. It was significant.

Christian enjoying a cigarette on the Education Center's porch.

What feels like the only tree in KAF.

Obligatory sign pointing out which direction and how far away things are.

Remember VHS tapes? They used to be the way to consume media and still are in some places (like the Kramer household). VHS tapes are still popular in very specific places, namely: The Kramer household, and Afghanistan. I'm pretty sure all the VHS tapes that aren't in the Kramer household are either destroyed or have somehow found their way here.

Lots of VHS tapes.

Some Classics. You'll shoot your eye out kid! Also, You can't handle the truth! Also, 1.21 gigawatts?!?!

Update on my own personal content consumption: I'm waist deep into "The Wire". Season 2 was sort of a let-down, but 3 is better. Reading The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is pretty enthralling - it reminds me of Dan Brown books. I'm also reading Theodore Rex about Teddy Roosevelt's time as president, he was a badass.

Until next time!

One Week Contract-versary

Today marks the end of my first week downrange. So far things have been pretty manageable. Quick shout-out to Captain Dr. Warren Gross (more on him later), and Sarah Kemp for helping me to adjust to life here. Sarah deserves a plug here on my blog for hers: A Blogworthy Life

I found her blog through a bit of stupendous facebook stalkery. By searching people's names in google that I found in pictures posted on the USO Kandahar facebook page I stumbled upon her blog and it's really helped me prepare for life here and adjust to it. Her blog is more weighty and deals with more serious issues and is better than mine... so far... just thought people should know that going in. Also, she doesn't know it yet, but I plan on stealing some of her pictures to illustrate some things here - I think she can get away with taking pictures of cooler things than I can considering she works with the USO and is a girl.

Anyway, I've gotten into sort of a rhythm here of work, eat, sleep, and exercise. I've neglected working out since I last wrote about working out in Germany, I didn't go again. So now I went nearly a month without running (and I'm used to going every day). So far I've gone only to the MWR (Morale, Welfare, and Recreation) gym which means it's the American gym. Generally it's considered dirtier than the NATO one where you need to bring a pair of non-dusty shoes with you if you want to even get in.

Didn't take this picture - I work out alll the way on the left on those cardio machines.

Maybe later on down the road I'll get more into weight training. Some people have been suggesting I get really buff because that is the more common work-out style here...  In general I've been adjusting to life in the desert and to one surrounded by a multitude of extremely large vehicles meant for war and for lifting/digging/carrying.

Don't even take sides against the family.

I've been slowly working my way through Curb Your Enthusiasm. I've watched many of the episodes in the past but by no means all of them, it's really hilarious. I'm almost finished with Season 6 right now. The number of guest stars is crazy! If anyone has a suggestion regarding what my next show/movie endeavor should be don't hesitate to suggest.