I arrived in Afghanistan in the late evening on Monday, June 7th. To my surprise the weather is amazingly pleasant and there are trees, lots of trees. It is nothing like Kuwait. Since we were traveling to Kabul the following morning, by plane, I decided to stay awake for the rest of the day. Unfortunately, we were bumped from the fight and took a military convoy to Kabul instead. It was the roughest ride ever! I am still sore from the trip. Nonetheless, I took some extraordinary photos during the expedition. I spent two days at Camp Eggers prior to convoying over to the New Kabul Compound (NKC). Camp Eggers was a nice facility with lots of morale boosters (e.g., free calls home, internet access, and great chow). It was nice calling and talking to Stephanie and the kids. NKC has similar perks.
I arrived to the NKC on June 10th, where I will stay for the next six months. The hospital, where I will mentor, is located within walking distance from my office. We took a tour of the grounds on Juma (aka Friday), the only day off for Afghans. They have a six day work schedule. The hospital was built by the Soviets in the 1970s and is considered “the Walter Reed” of the Afghan National Army (ANA). The grounds are very beautiful, full of gardens with lovely roses. Also, many of the Afghans bring their children to work, so there are always an opportunities to give candy to the kids.
Tribute to Pat Tillman at the Bagram USO
Afghan mother and children
Mud buildings close to Bagram
Busy market area in Kabul
Beautiful roses outside the hospital
Children and soldiers that I met on my first tour of the hospital
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