Today we ventured outside the wire to a nearby district called Darulaman. There were five of us from our office armed and dressed out as usual. One of our guys needed to visit the Counter Insurgency (COIN) Academy and one of our new guys, a Dane, needed to get out and see how to get around. While out there we visited the former Queen’s Palace. I took a load of pictures, which I hope to share sooner rather than later. The place is torn apart, full of bullet holes, graffiti, and the like courtesy of the former Soviet Union and the Taliban. The structure is still magnificent though. From the Palace, one can see the King’s Palace. They preserved their marriage by having separate palaces I gather, or maybe she insisted. We also took a short trip to the former Soviet Officer’s Club. Some neat pictures to share if I can post them. Oh, we also visited where one of the Afghan army brigades is garrisoned, so did accomplish some things.
The other palace I visited on Sunday night was the Nordic Palace. This is the fancy name for the national support element social area here on base for the Nordic countries, similar to what the Germans and Canadians have as well as others. The US doesn’t do fun stuff in our social area, so we have to go to other countries. That turns out to be a great thing as we make new friends and learn about what they are all about. Nordic Palace houses five countries: Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and Iceland. On Sunday nights, they serve homemade waffles with a variety of choices for toppings including maple syrup, butter, peanut butter, regular cheese, and goat cheese. I kept it real with the syrup and butter. Of course we drank beer with our waffles. Why not?
Shout out to my long-time NJIT friend James who has a birthday today. Also, this evening we said good-bye to Ron who leaves us tomorrow. He is US Army stationed in Poland. Off he’ll go, I won’t be too far behind, although not to Poland. Hope to get the time to post some pictures, but the real issue is the difficulties in uploading them. We’ll see how it goes.
7 comments:
It's good to hear you had a chance to venture out and do a little sightseeting. Looking forward to seeing your pictures. I love interesting architecture.
I haven't been home much in the last month to send you some goodies. Is there still time to send one more package if it is sent in the next day or two? I realize it may be too late for you to enjoy, but others can enjoy the treats. Looking forward to your return.
Donna
Enough with the palaces outside the wire. Get back to NJ and we will take the kids to Point Pleasant and build "Palaces in the Sand" without debris and bullet holes etc. Eat more waffles. We have that stuff here too!
Thanks for the shout out. It was a great surprise hearing from you on my birthday. Get home soon.
I'm a little concerned about getting anything mailed out to me at this date. It may not make it and then the post office will try to turn it around. However, if you want to mail it to David Arnett with the same address and put a note in it with my name, that might be all right. That way, if I am gone, the directorate will still get it.
Hey Ithan,
AP scores came in today...Len's got them. My kids did well,87.5% pass rate. From what I heard, your Science colleagues kicked some butt again this year.
Look forward to you getting home and shooting the .... with you over them.
Counting the days, my friend!
Sean
As long as you are talking AP scores, I thought you would want to know that Stephanie got a 5 on her bio test.
HI Ithan,
Way toooooo muggy up here in the Adirondacks. It must be horrible at home. Kate and Anne's boyfriends are arriving soon. Any one up for chaperoning? SBHS rate.
Did Cannon doubt that the Chem kids kicked butt? 58 fives out of 74 kids. Wait till next year??? Keep it in perspective- most of these kids are born on third base. Now if your orphanage kids scored well, the world would cheer.
I'd love to see pictures of the Queen's castle.
Be safe,
Terry
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