6 Months In Kabul: "smexi-ubercool-shaz-o-mite"

Problog

Hello and welcome to my blog. It is a blog about an Air Force Physician that was reluctantly deployed to Kabul, Afghanistan for 6 months.

I have to admit, I did not exactly volunteer for the deployment, and I was a little anxious about how it would all turn out. I ended up making the best of it, and surprisingly, I actually had a pleasant, life changing, experience.

I decided to keep the blog up and running because I kept on hearing, "Why is it that you only hear the bad news coming from Iraq and Afghanistan." I figured that I was helping spread a positive message about what we are doing over. Even more important, I wanted to continue to spread the word about the plight of the Afghan people, 99.9% of which are the most incredibly friendly people that you will ever meet. The title picture is a great example of that. I have never encountered such genuinely warm and friendly people. It was so strange to see so many people with so little material objects, yet at the same time, filled with so much of the joy that comes with close family ties, abundant friends, and a close knit community. We could definetly learn a lot from them.

You may notice, as you read the blog in its entirety, my arc. I shift from focusing on myself and my personal comforts, to shifting my focus on the Afghan cause. It is very easy to get distracted by the hustle of daily life and the comforts that the U.S. provides. It is really a challenge to awake from that coma and to start to care and think about the welfare of other people unrelated to you. I think it really took me about 4 or 5 months before I really opened my eyes and became personally affected by what I was experiencing. I hope I was able to recreate it.

I have tried to keep the blog squeaky clean so as to not offend anyone (or get me in trouble-I am still in the military). Even though I am a political junky with very strong personal opinions I have been steadfast in keeping this site free of any politics. I was called to do a job and I tried to do it to the best of my ability regardless of my political stance.

I recreated the blog to read more like a book, or should I say blook (get used to the corniness it only gets worse from here) just to make it an easier read. I have removed some names and pictures just to keep it more anonymous. I hope that it helps in making it less about me and more about the cause.

Lastly, in the spirit of the blog, I decided to include the Chipin Widget that I used to raise money for Nazia. If I get any additional money I will send the funds to The Women of Hope Project and someone over in Kabul will discretely give it to her (unless I hear otherwise). You can also contribute directly to the Women of Hope Project website. They are a wonderful cause. If you enjoy this blog then feel free to contribute. I am sure that once you read her story you will be very moved.

So kick back. Get ready to hopefully laugh and definitely cry.
If you like what you read then post a comment. I will be continuously editing this site in an attempt to improve it. Who knows maybe one day it will become a book!

Enjoy. Thanks for reading.

-Shazdoc

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

"smexi-ubercool-shaz-o-mite"

The title is courtesy of one of the students from a Gaffney, South Carolina high school that has adopted me. I am thinking of legally changing my name to it. Another student by the name of Jessi wanted me to add a little flare to my blog by adding background music. She requested My Chemical Romance. I will see if I can accommodate her. I will let you guys vote on whether or not I should keep background music.

"By mutual confidence and mutual aid -- great deeds are done, and great discoveries made."

-Homer

This quote was sent to me by a reader. Today was our "low tempo" day. I was supposed to plant apple trees but it was canceled for security reasons. Instead I helped to unload 3 huge pallets of food that was donated by the base store because it was about to expire. We plan to give it to the refugee families that were mentioned in Betsy's newsletter.

Take a look at the stuff. Here is the forklift bringing in the supplies.

No those are not cigarettes we are just using the box to hold sodas.

I am not sure what they are going to do with all of the gum.

Soups, Nutter Butter cookies, chicken in a bisket, chips , twislers, all kinds of goodies.

Lots of Gatorade.

We were given a couple of things from the store that we chose not to include in the stack of donations. One was pregnancy tests and the other was diet pills. I don't think that they would appreciate either of those.

-
I got a number of Christmas cards and letters today. One of the envelops was filled with letters from my favorite 8th grade class from Gaffney, South Carolina. Their letters are both touching, heartfelt and also funny. Here is a sample of 2 of them.

"I am starting to like my feelings more. We're okay with each other. They don't bother me and I don't bother them.....I accidentally got the cheese off of a Dorito chip in my eye this morning. It hurt really bad."

Dorito chips can be so dangerous. I recommend using eye protection next time.

"Thank you for the cool items you sent us. I think that was sweet of you. I hope you are doing well. I'm still praying for you and if you need support you can always talk to God. We are also here to support you whenever you want. I believe in you. God bless you! You are my angel. "

I put the picture that they sent me on the wall of my office.