Day Sixteen

The sound of my alarm clock bounced off the walls of my plywood "room," waking me up after a decent night's sleep. It was the first time in a while that I actually slept well. Between making DVDs for the ANA's well into the morning hours, and staying up for NFL football games, I haven't been getting to bed at a decent hour lately. It felt good to finally get a few hours of sleep in that I so desperately needed. I reached for the snooze button, only to knock over the bottles of Tylenol and allergy medication sitting on my wooden nightstand. "I really need to clean that thing off later," I thought, as I rolled out of bed and grabbed my personal bag and towel. It was off to the showers again before making my way to the office. This is becoming routine.

After my shower, I went back to my room to put on a new uniform and get ready for work. I caught myself standing there just looking around at my little 6x6 foot space in the world. It reminded me of a conversation I had with my 11-year old daughter Jordan last night. I showed her photos of where I was living, and she was surprised. Her response when she saw them was simply, "poor you." I just sat on my bed and laughed about that while putting on my boots. "It's not as bad as it looks honey," I thought.

I got to the office with hopes of going over to the ANA camp to work on equipment. I had heard last night that their computer was fixed, so I was anxious to get over there and get things started. As it turned out, I found that the ANA's were busy this morning, so Chris and I decided to go over to the self-help wood shop on our Camp to see about making the video editing suite shelves for the ANA's. We got there and inquired about how to go about making this wooden contraption we had neatly sketched out on paper. The Army guy there talked to us about what we wanted to do, changed a couple of the dimensions we had based on what they could do, then told us to come back tomorrow at 3pm to pick it up. "What?" I thought. Chris and I kind of looked at each other surprised as we walked out. We couldn't even make up work to do. We were so fully prepared to go there and make this thing ourselves, that we were very surprised to hear that this guy and his "team" were going to do it for us. I'm not complaining by any means, but it would've given us something to do this morning. Oh well. At least now I know it will be done right. It probably would've fallen apart if I had tried to build it anyway.

We got back to the office and hung out for a while. Sandy and I talked about some of the things going on, and how her meeting with the PAO went yesterday. Chris had mentioned something about going to eat lunch at the little Afghan restaurant in the market. We decided to do that and I was very glad we did.

The restaurant was small. I could barely get my knees under the table and I had one elbow on the wall and one elbow in Chris' face it seemed. The menu was very simple, but the items on the menu sounded very good. I ordered rice, chicken and beef kabobs, and some nan bread. It was all amazing. The chicken and beef were marinated in something amazing, and it tasted really good. For those in Binghamton, NY, you could almost say these were "Spiedies" the way they tasted. Amazing. A taste of Afghan culture much like what we have in America. I was pleasantly surprised and very full when we left. I'll be going back there again...soon.

After lunch, we decided to go over to the ANA camp to check on their computer. I was pretty anxious after hearing the computer was up and running. I grabbed the software and cables that I needed and Chris and I left. We trudged through the moon dust roads and through the gate like always. We loaded our 9mm pistols, signed out on the sign-out sheet, and made our way out. Bari, our interpreter, wasn't there yet, so we stood around and waited for a while. I was able to take some photos of Afghan men working on the walls to the camp, and of a German convoy on its way outside the wire. Everyone was just kind of doing their own thing - in many different ways - during the one moment in time that I took to look around and see it all. We're all experts in what we do...whether it's as a videographer, a linguist, a construction worker, or an infantryman. It's amazing sometimes how many things all go on at once that you don't even think about. Life really is just like one big, well-oiled machine.

Chris and I made it to the ANA camp and to the PA office. We greeted our friends and socialized for a short period of time. I think they knew I wanted to get my hands on that computer, as they ushered me right to it and made room on the couch for me to sit and work on it. It fired up beautifully, and I realized that this computer was very good...and very new. I was hoping that it wouldn't have a problem running my software, but I had to load it on there to see for myself. I put in the disk and loaded the code, and away it went. "The software is loading and there are 17 different programs in this Adobe Master Collection...and I'm loading them all," I told Bari the interpreter. Bari translated what I said to the ANA's and they all got big smiles on their faces. "Thank you friend," said LtCol Niem.

While the software was loading, my video guy Rollulah Amin (pronounced Roll'ameen) and I went outside. On the way out, he kept pointing to me and saying, "you brother...you and me brother." That made me feel good, as I didn't think these guys would take to us as quickly as they have. In all the briefings we had prior to coming here and even after, we were warned that the Afghans won't trust you much at first, and once they establish trust, they'll open up a little bit and be more friendly. They'll talk about family and all that with you at that point, but they won't talk about they're wives, show you photos of their wives, and we shouldn't ask about their wives. It's a different culture here as far as that goes. I say this because it was very interesting when Rollulah Amin and I got outside. He kept saying that we were brothers for a reason I think. He pulled out his cell phone and started flipping through it. Right before he clicked on a "video" folder he had on his phone, he looked at me and called me "brother" once again. After that, he clicked on a video and it showed a two minute clip of his family, to include his wife. He pointed out his children and talked about his wife. He made sure to point her out to me twice, and then pointed at himself...so as to say "that's mine." It wasn't in a possessive way though, it was in a "I want you to know my family" way. I couldn't help but be taken aback at first. I never expected this. All the talk about wives being off-limits, and here he is letting me into his world. It's hard to explain how I felt at the time. Unless you're here experiencing what we are, there are probably no words that could ever make you fully understand. It was an emotional moment for me, probably because I never expected that to happen at all in my six months here...let alone happen after only two weeks. Rollulah Amin is a great guy and very funny. We have a very unique bond already, as we're alot alike in many ways. That's a very cool thing. We'll be very good friends for a long time, and I'm happy about that. It's amazing to think that because of the little things I've done and said since I've been here, I've made a difference in their world. I haven't even begun to scratch the surface with the things I can show them, and they're so happy and so grateful. Once you prove that you'll do the things you say you'll do and establish that credibility I talk so much about, it changes everything. They perceive me so differently than they did the first couple days. They call me "very smart" and "the smart one" and "a mechanic" because I've been able to fix all their problems so far. Apparently, they've been told many things in the past and no one has ever followed through. I've done everything I said I was going to do so far, and will follow through with everything I've told them I will do while I'm here. They've been disappointed too many times...you can see it on their faces when they talk about it. It's not going to happen this time. Not on my watch.

Rollulah Amin and I went back into the office, where the software download was still working. The Afghan 209th Corps Command Sergeant Major came into the office and talked for a while. Before he left, I asked him if he minded taking a photo with me. He obliged, and I told him that I was going to send it to Chief Suttles, my own Command CMSgt at Scott Air Force Base. He smiled and thought that was cool. I'll have to send it off here sometime today. Chief Suttles is the type guy who I think would really get a kick out of that.

The software download finally finished and now it was time to see if things were going to work. I restarted the computer and brought up the video editing program. It opened perfectly. "OK, time for the real test," I thought, as I hooked up the small Sony video player via firewire cable...yes, the same one that wouldn't work on those stupid Mac computers. Rollulah Amin gave me a tape and I loaded it into the machine. Now, all this thing had to do was let me control the player with the computer program. If I could start and stop the player using the editing program on the computer, we would already be a step ahead of where we were two days ago. I tried it. It worked. SUCCESS! (Chris got a photo of me and Rollulah Amin at this point - I'm making a stupid face, but we were happy!) Finally, things were starting to look up. Now, I just had to see if I could log clips and digitize automatically. [NOTE: If you remember, I talked early on about not being able to digitize automatically because of PAL/NTSC conflicts - I had to digitize manually which is what caused me to have to work through the night that one night.] I created an "in" point and and "out" point for the video I wanted to digitize. I logged the clip and tried to do a "batch capture"...meaning, I wanted the computer to digitize all the selected clips automatically without me having to sit there and start and stop the record button every time. The tape rolled back beautifully to the "in" point I had marked, and digitized the clip perfectly! I clicked on the clip in the program and it was there. I couldn't have been happier. At that point, I unplugged the video player from the computer and then played the clip that I had just digitized in the program. Rollulah Amin looked at me like "how did you do that without the player plugged in?" I laughed at the look on his face and said, "it's all on the computer...you don't need the tape anymore." He was amazed. They all were amazed. What a huge accomplishment for us today. Again, I realize just how much I take advantage of things in my own life when I see reactions like that. This is what it's all about.

The rest of the day went like usual. I checked e-mail and facebook to see what all my friends and family were up to. I talked more with the team about things that were going on and what our plans are for things coming up. Sandy was with LtCol Niem today and he told her he has gotten more help from us in two weeks than anyone who's ever come through here. That feels very good to hear. Forging these strong, new relationships is what will help Afghanistan be able to stand on its own. Preparing the Afghan soldiers to be self-sufficient while providing a stable and free nation for the Afghan people is what we're here for. Success like today feels very good when you stand here in this country looking at the big picture. Trying to understand why we're here while sitting at home in America is difficult. But, if anything, take it from someone who's here now...there's a reason we're here. There's a reason why we're all put in harm's way. I have to believe it's for the greater good, and I do. I'm seeing it with my own eyes. It's not my place to question why I'm here, and I don't think I would if it was. We, as American soldiers, airmen, sailors, and marines are making a difference. One day, Afghanistan will stand on its own and we'll read about how much of an impact we had on making that happen. I'm looking forward to that day. The road may be long, and unfortunately, many more sacrifices will probably be made along the way. But we'll get there...one day at a time. Today was a good day and a GIANT step in the right direction. Little things make a big difference to my ANA counterparts, and I will do anything I can for them. We have much more to do and plenty of time to do it, and as I've said before...they ain't seen nothing yet.