My Day Off, Jom'a (Friday)

The way the days of the week work in Afghanistan and most of the Islamic world is Friday is their day off, so they work Saturday to Thursday.  Hence, our work schedule, since we are combat advisors to the Afghans, is the same schedule. Today being Jom'a (Friday) (doing this to help me remember the days), we had our surf-n-turf at the dining facility.  The steak wasn't bad and the lobster tail was okay.  When you make it in a mass cafeteria style setting, it just isn't as good...anyway, I had my steak.  It's a nice thing to look forward to every Friday.  Surf-n-turf Jom'a is a regular occurrence at most bases.

Here's a guy that has had enough lobster tail to hibernate...sorry for the poor pic quality, the iPhone doesn't allow zoom or do real well indoors.  We joked and said we think he might just eat on Fridays.    Most people don't have this many.  I had one lobster tail and two small steaks.

This morning I went to our elevated platform to see if the generator was still running in the village...YES!!! It was still running.

Next, I went to check on the medical outdoor kitchen.  It's nearly done and I can't BELIEVE they're working on Jom'a.  It should be nearly finished tomorrow.  Oh I almost forgot, the color pink is not associated with being feminine...hence the pink construction truck.

This picture makes me feel like I'm in an Indiana Jones Movie.

I decided to take a trip to the main base and walk around to look at the shops, but when I finally got there I forgot my Eagle Cash card.  The Eagle Cash card is similar to a preloaded ATM/Debit Card and there are machines everywhere, so you don't really need cash...it pulls money directly from your bank acct with no fees and is secure with no personal information on it.

Here is what I saw on the way to main base...This is what's left of some buildings that were bombed in the initial fighting here in Kandahar in 2001/2002.  You can see the hole in the roof where the bomb dropped through.  I am speculating this, because it looks similar to others I knew were bombed.

Here is a site you don't see every day at home.  Might want to give them the right of way.

Here are the new MATVs.  They are awesome.  They can even change air pressure in the tires at the push of a button, so when you are going off-road you can adjust while moving.

When walking around Kandahar main base, I saw a Canadian camp.  Here is quick snapshot.  Looks like they're living in tents the whole time they're here.

The Canadians must love hockey.  It was 104F and here they are in the sun playing!!!

Take a look at the Canadian Coffee House 'Tim Hortons' prices.  Holy cow, that's cheap coffee.  In case you can't make it out...the column to the far right is a large size for $1.50 for a cappuccino. 

Last thing.  Here's a tent with a spray-on foam insulation that is an energy saving measure.  It's estimated to reduce cooling cost up to 70% in some cases.