Outlook

I climbed up into a guard tower and took these pictures.
that's a mosque in the background

some Afghanis in traditional attire, carrying their workload
on the main road outside our base

Jen wondered what NATO forces would do with all the buildings/infrastructure when they leave. My guess is they'll take the buildings back the same way they got here, by boat. The buildings are all like modular homes. They are designed for travel, put up/take down.


Injuries
I am interviewing this Spanish soldier before we head into the OR

That we are standing while conducting his pre-op is unique.
He was pushing hard on a crank for a generator and his hands slipped.
The crank hit him in the face and cut open his forehead with a 2 1/2 inch gash
all the way down to his skull.

I had to do a "rapid sequence induction" because
he had eaten right before he injured himself.

notice my pistol-always on me, even in the OR

If I have time like this to chart, that means everything is going well.
In massive trauma cases there is hardly any time to chart
and you kind of have to pick up the pieces at the end.


Hooch
My humble abode

I'm on the bottom bunk.
Jen is the drink nazi in our home.
She cannot stand it when I don't finish what I pour into my cup.
The picture above of my water-bottle stash
(all partially drunk)
was cause for some serious chastising.

what to wear today
hmmm... fatigues I think.

This pic goes along with this post.
Dr. Drew snapped it with his camera after all was clear.

my non-European palate

Jen blogging for Drew:

He is on the Spaniard's base as mentioned before. This means he's eating in their kitchen, which follows a European menu. It's fair to say Dr. Drew doesn't enjoy deviating from his American palate.

He has asked for whatever spice/sauce packets I can get from ANY restaurant. The only condiments there are Ketchup, mustard, and Mayo I think. He pretty much eats rice and salad for his meals because the rest of the options are so unappetizing. For example, they served a beef dish several nights ago. After chewing two bites, Drew swore the food was NOT beef. Then last night they served Paia. Paia apparently is made up of rice, crab meat and parts (his buddy pulled a small crab leg out of his mouth after one bite) and some other stuff. Drew was brave enough to try one bite, but that was all he could muster for one night.

The base has more positives than negatives.

He can Skype. He gets 15 minutes for free. If he wants to Skype longer, he has to go across the street to the paid internet room. He has done both so far. The paid room has worse reception.
The base boasts two work-out rooms. Between that fact and the food I'm expecting him to come back slim and trim.

He has a bed, a hot shower, and laundry capabilities.

Oh, and even though it isn't Papa John's, there is a pizza place. He ate there at the end of the week and said it was o.k. (Anything is better than Paia.)

He has to buy things in Euros, which is a bummer since the dollar is down.

The base is established. The Spaniards have been there since 2005 so they have cement buildings. He's not roughing it in the dirt like he thought he would be.

That's about all I can recall for now.

Oh, I sent him his first packages today. He's going to receive two boxes in about two weeks. It was exciting to mail them. It kind of made everything seem official and real. I wonder how many I'll send in the course of the next six months. The boxes are special military flat-rate ones. I packed a lot of stuff into them. After every edge and corner was taped up, I realized that I forgot to put in my Valentine's card.

Oh well, I'll slip it in the next box I send.

Time for bed now. Lights out. (They really do do that over there. It's not just in the movies. Drew requested a reading light because he said it's so dark at night he cannot even see his hand in front of his face.)

for the Groskreutz men

I was surprised to find this scene in the middle of the base at Kandahar.
These guys are playing hockey on foot with jerseys, refs, and everything.

Herat, Afghanistan

I made it safely to Herat.

It turns out that our helicopter was a contractor flight
on a fast civilian helicopter.
It was really cool.

I have my own room right now for just a couple of weeks
until two of the Army officers that are in my room return.

We have flushing toilets and hot showers!
Unfortunately there is no wireless.
We can still skype though on the Spanish internet service.



Jen here to add some background info. for Drew:

He is filling a NATO position for the U.S.
on a Spanish base in Herat.
(The Spaniards have been there since 2005)
Bulgarians are also on the base serving the same capacity.
It is likely that Drew will serve his entire tour
on the Spaniards base.
He will, however, be working on a surgical team
made up of US soldiers.
Both country's surgical teams and Drew met the other day.
Communication was limited.
Drew misses the men he got to know well
during his week-long stay in Georgia.

Of interest: 2 days ago (he is 12 1/2 hours ahead
so I'm not entirely sure if my time line is correct here)
he had his first experience with a bomb.
He said a plane flew over the base rather low.
The next thing they knew they heard and felt
a huge explosion (it rocked the walls of his building).
They wondered if they should head for the cement bunkers.
After they stepped outside to investigate,
they saw a HUGE plume of smoke
and realized the US had just dropped a bomb on a target.

I asked him, "What did it feel like to worry about
finding shelter in a bunker?
Was it scary?"
He said, "Yeah."

He may add edits to this story once he reads it
in the coming days.
We only had 15 minutes on Skype before the computer
automatically shut down.
No one was in line, so he was able to Skype right back.
But between the kids, our connection (dropped a few times),
and scanning our brains to see if
there was anything either of us needed to discuss,
we didn't get back to that situation.

on a jet plane

the place I rest my head in Kandahar
(still on my way to my final destination)

This was looking to my right on the 4 1/2 hour plane ride to kandahar from kuwait.My body armor was resting on my bladder and I was not aware that they had a urinal on the plane. I had to urinate so bad that I couldn't fall asleep, which is a bummer since my bunk in Kandahar is next to a snorer.

looks cozy, no?

this is where we slept in kuwait (on bunks in a BIG tent)

ah, the comforts of home - in Kuwait


guess I'm not the only one missing good old home cooking