Afghanistan - Day 9 - Day of Rest

After eight days of non-stop activity, I had my first day with no major obligations. No work, no travel - just a day to rest. I couldn't believe how badly my body and my mind both needed it. I slept in until 5:30am (yes, that is sleeping in around here) and slowly made my way to breakfast. After breakfast I sat down with a book and my schoolwork and made some significant progress. Calls home were highlighted by my connecting my laptop to a satellite-powered WiFi hotspot. For $3/day I won't be using it for much more than teaching my Sunday School class tomorrow. In testing it out Benjamin was thrilled to do a screen grab of me posing in front of the Burger King here. Yep, we also have a Pizza Hut, Popeye's, Dairy Queen and Orange Julius.

For lunch in the middle of all that activity I found the legendary "BBQ DFAC". The DFAC at the farthest end of the post is only open from 1100-1900 (11am-7pm), and serves only Bar-B-Que. I had a grilled Italian sausage and a grilled chicken breast, with some bar-b-que sauce on the side. Not nearly as good as what I could get at the Whole Hog Cafe in Arkansas, but I'll be there soon enough.

All that walking (about 4 miles/day) has got my toes rubbing each other incessantly. One toe has a blister, and two more were threatening. I got some cloth tape from the PX and wrapped each toe to cut down on the trauma. It has helped significantly.

What can I say? In eight days I'll be home and resting comfortably. So I can't and won't complain, knowing that I'll leave behind 20,000 people here in this small city who are out here for 12-15 months because they were given orders. May God give them success and safety in their mission and a joyful reunion with their loved ones back home.