Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in ofimiano's LiveJournal:

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Friday, June 29th, 2007
2:45 pm	Broke my computer I tried updating my computer a few days ago, and when it finished, it wouldn't turn on again. Crap. So I'm working hard trying to fix it. Nothing new going on around here otherwise. I AM starting to get antsy though, I've got about a month left. And I'm ready to come home. More soon... (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, June 20th, 2007
9:58 pm	Back to work Just a quick note to let you guys know I'm back in Kabul. I will get some pics and other stuff up soon. I'm really tired right now and desperately need sleep. (Comment on this)
Sunday, June 17th, 2007
8:06 pm	Happy Father's Day First of all, I just wanted to wish all you Dad's out there a Happy Father's Day. Now let's talk about my trip yesterday. We started the day by visiting a camel market. They don't stink as badly as you'd imagine, but the noises they make are pretty creepy. Like a long drawn out moan. They sounded pretty pitiful. One of the owner's sons stopped and talked to me for a minute and we took a picture together. Then we stopped at the Old Souq. Souq is arabic for market. The old Souq was amazing. The Emir (president/king) decreed that the Old Souq section is to be a traditional area. So everything reconstructed hundreds of year old buildings. It was pretty obvious we were tourists but the people were very polite and friendly toward us. I picked up a few souveneirs there. I was tempted to pick up a camel saddle, but I knew I'd have no way to get it home. Then we stopped at the vegetable souq, and Gold Souq. The Gold Souq is a three block section of Doha dedicated to the buying and selling of jewelry. I did pick up some nice things for Noma there. one of the guys is our group dropped a couple grand buying pearls. Apparently, he's got some online business where he sells jewelry. He said that with his $2000 investment, he can pull in $16000 selling the same stuff in the states. Not too shabby, huh? After the Gold Souq, we stopped Ras Al Nasr restaurant. They served some delicious Iranian food. They said one of the meats was chicken, but I saw more camels roaming around than chickens. So I have my suspicions... Also, behind our table was this weird mural showing a shepard shooting at some deer. Doesn't really put you in the mood to eat does it? We also went to a coffee shop behind the restaurant and had some Arabian coffee and smoked Hookahs. We finished our tour by walking around a couple malls, the City Center and Villagio Malls. I saw this odd scene outside a Starbucks. Turning a corner and seeing a bunch of guys in white robes outside a Starbucks, isn't something you see everyday. This giant clam statue was a couple blocks from the mall. This is the Villagio mall. The whole ceiling is painted with a sky, and above all the shops are a little decorative village. Very expensive mall. I saw a pair of board shorts selling for $200. Too rich for my blood. And finally, here's an example of some of the skyscrapers going up here in Doha This is an immensely wealthy country. I've really enjoyed my time here, and I hope to come back again someday on a normal vacation. Tomorrow, I'll be flying back to Afghanistan, and back to the third world. Oh yeah and Happy Father's Day one more time. (Comment on this)
Saturday, June 16th, 2007
8:38 pm	Cultural Trip!! Ok guys, I had a freakin BLAST today on a cultural trip. Unfortunately, I was on it for about 12 hours and I'm exhausted. I promise, first thing in the morning, I will get my ass over here and post pictures and tell you the whole story. So check this space later today for more information. (Comment on this)
Thursday, June 14th, 2007
8:34 pm	The Furnace Ok I've spent the past day trying to figure out how to relate the heat of this place to you. I want to say things like, it feels like you're in an oven. But that still doesn't capture it. Think about doing laundry for a second. Have you ever waited until the dryer is just about to finish but, before the buzzer sounds the end of the cycle, you open the door and find a cotton shirt and throw it on quickly to capture the heat? And it's so hot it's a little painful, but it feels really good at the same time? Add some blinding sand, and try to imagine the hot shirt feeling all over your body and Lo and Behold! You've been magically been transported to Qatar! I also hit the swimming pool last night and again today. It felt phenomenal to lay at the bottom of a pool with my eyes closed, reveling in weightlessness. I layed out by the pool a little too long as well, soaking up that lovely radiation, and I'm suffering a slight sunburn on my shins of all places. No where else. I think I'm going again tonight. I can't get enough of the water. Right now I'm sitting barefoot in a room in the MWR building, with very soft carpet on a red Arabian style couch. They've got small tables with chess sets, magazines, art deco lamps, etc. strategically placed about the room. At the back of the room, there's a big 42 inch plasma TV, and lush cushions all over the floor, and a gaggle of military guys sprawled out on the floor watching some Spy Movie. There's also about 8 smaller televisions at the front of the room, all of which are hooked up to Xbox's complete with games. They've really outdone themselves on this area. I wish I could take pictures, but I'm going to have to settle for my description because photography is strictly off-limits while on this post. Today, I woke up at 0330 feeling fully rested so I went over to the gym and did about 4 miles on the treadmill, had some breakfast, and watched a movie. It's was nice to be a little bored as I drifted from event to event today. Rather than rushing around, scrutinizing passersby for unusual lumps under their clothes. And it's only Day 1! I've still got 3 more. I've got a feeling that while I'll be happy to get back to work, it's going to be painful to leave this wonderful furnace of a desert. I think I hear the water calling my name, and I believe it may be time once again to become submerged. Good night everyone. I hope to hear from you soon. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, June 13th, 2007
5:59 pm	Qatar Hey everyone, quick update, I'm in Qatar. And I hear they've got a pool here. So I just stopped off at the internet cafe to let everyone know that I'm doing well. I will attempt to write a longer update tomorrow or tonight, depending on what goes down. Remind me to tell you about the Korean Camp at Bagram. Those funny bastards. Ok that chlorinated water is calling so I must depart. (Comment on this)
Saturday, June 9th, 2007
9:30 pm	Camp Commando We went on a little trip today to do a training assessment at Camp Commando, which is in the country side around Kabul. Guess who they train there...ready?...No clue?...ANA Commando's! Very creative name I must say. All kidding aside. I would love to be assigned there. It's small, it's in the country, and the countryside around it is beautiful. Everything is laid out in neat orderly rows, unlike Eggers which is more of a rat's nest, or ant farm. We watched some of the training of the commandos, and had a quick meeting with the guys running the place, and got ready to leave. They asked us if we'd ever been on the mountains around the area, we told them no, so they gave us directions up the mountain by car. Ok, I'm not very experienced driving up winding mountain dirt roads. And to be honest, I've got some acrophobia...ok alot of acrophobia. So here I am, driving up this tiny dirt road, up this very steep mountain, and I start to feel my heart racing, and then I made the mistake of looking out the passenger side window at the view. And then I started freaking out a little. I held it together and kept going up the mountain. Then, I ran over a big rock which tipped the car, and it started tipping over the edge, so we all started leaning to my side and I hit the gas, righting us back on all wheels. Now I'm having a full on adrenal overload. I was able to make it 200 more yards to a flat section of the road, where I yanked the parking brake and jumped out of the car. No more driving more me. I was done. Anyway, now that I've told you what a scared little girl I am, let me show you some pictures. This is a picture of Kabul on the way out to the camp. Check out the slums going all the way up the mountain. This is the Shah's palace. I'm sure it used to look much nicer. This is the evil mountain from safely on the ground. Russian tank turret. Tres Amigos The valley from the mountain. Ok everyone, that's all for now. I'm not sure if I'll be posting for a few days, as I'm going on pass in Qatar. If I have somewhere to hook up my laptop, I'll give you a daily update on my goings-on. (Comment on this)
Friday, June 8th, 2007
9:10 am	Range Day! We got to go to the range today and shoot our M-4's and M-9's. We took over 1500 rounds and only ended up with like 8 people to shoot it all. So I ended up shooting over 200 rounds for the M-4. We were only able to get 30 for the 9mm pistol, so I didn't get to shoot that as much. Which sucks, since I prefer the M9. I like it because it's closer quarters, and I want whoever I'm shooting to be able to see me. That and I'm not a very good shot yet, so I've got a better chance if I'm closer. We also took Sarabi, our 'Terp, out with us and let him shoot too. He's never shot any kind of gun before and he was really excited. He did a pretty good job for his first time, so we were joking with him that he's been lying all along and he's really a Taliban sleeper. He thought that was pretty funny. We put a coke can about 25 yards and after most of a 30 round clip he was able to finally hit it. He was so ecstatic. After we'd all emptied our clips he ran out and grabbed the can so he could show his finacee. It was also really funny, because he's never been exposed to those kind of loud noises, and he's never had his ears ring. He kept asking me, "What is buzzing?" "It's your ears, dude" "What? I can't hear you." said he. Poor boy, we're really corrupting him with our culture. He knows more slang and profanity than he does of regular English. I also got a slight injury today, when I was shooting my M-4 and a spent round exited the chamber and flew down my shirt. Since I was wearing body armor, I couldn't get to it, and it gave me one hell of a burn on my neck. Here's some pics. The major that went with us, also took some pictures and she promised to get them to me within the next couple days. So as soon as I get them, you'll get them. Oh yeah! I forgot, I got internet in my room, so expect regular updates from now till I come home. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Friday, June 1st, 2007
1:28 pm	Back to Kabul Well everyone, it's now my second day back. And I would say it's good to be ack "home" but I would be lying. My first full day back I was told we'd get to take a slow day to put together our After Action Report so we could report to the commander what we did in Herat. But when I came in to work, I was needed for a convoy. Ok, cool, let's go. We went on the convoy and got back right after lunch. In the parking lot my boss said, "Alright Borde, go ahead and take the rest of the day off." Ok, no problem there. I just had to attend a promotion ceremony for Church. I walked around for a while, thought about getting a haircut, and around the time the ceremony was supposed to start I went back over the the office. But when I got there, everyone is wearing body armor and acting like something just hit the fan. It did. Commander Hale told me that he got a call from some Camp south of here that the ANA side of the camp had 500 people with severe diarrhea (dysentary style) and they needed medical help now. MSG Abrom told me that I didn't need to go since he'd already promised me the day off, but the mission comes first, so I suited up and within an hour we were on the road. We got to the camp and I was expecting people laying all over the place in pain, moaning, defecating. Basically a plaque. Nope. People are playing soccer they're working out, having a pretty good time. So we got the ANA Sergeant Major to round up all the sick people and bring them to a tent so we could setup a sick call. We had about 200 guys show up, and the first 20-30 guys all had diarrhea, then we started seeing, toothaches, backpain, leg pain, and two guys with get this, erectile dysfunction and the other was complaining of wet dreams! Somehow we got the information wrong. I don't know where or how, because I wasn't privy to that information. But none of those soldiers were dying from dehydration that usually follows severe diarrhea. So we treated what we could, considering we only brought 5000 units of Cipro, and left. I got home just in time for a BBQ on the roof of my house and then I went to bed. Welcome back to Kabul. Ugh. Current Mood: frustrated (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, May 30th, 2007
2:16 am	Afghan Gun sounds Hello again dear readers. I remembered some videos I put online yesterday that I wanted to share. My faithful readers will remember a post I made on Afghan gun sounds a few months ago. It was quality work, let me tell you. But now, I have video to go along with the story. This video was taken on a hillside behind the combat medic school. We had the students stage a mock battle so that they could treat the "casualties." This one is a little odd. They "captured" this guy during a break. It doesn't get weird until the last couple of seconds, with the "prisoner's" last words. Needless to say, I was so shocked that I had to keep filming. It was like being front row to an Al-Jazeera tape. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, May 29th, 2007
9:14 pm	Back to Kabul Well today should be our last day here. Back to Kabul, blah. To be honest with you, I don't want to go. It's nice out here, I don't have to put on body armor everytime I want to eat dinner. Oh well, Cest La Vie. I've only got 50-some days in country left. I got some pictures from Massoud, one of my 'Terps. I'll put more up later, of some candid shots of the actual city of Herat, rather then just the FOB. It's kinda cool to see the city from his perspective as an insider. I'm going to put some last photos of Herat up and some of a mosque that Massoud went to over here. I really wish I could see it in person, it looks beautiful. Without further ado: Let's start with the farewell shots of Camp Stone Here's a picture from the other day when we were shooting RPG's, I'm still trying to get the video. And some camels we saw walking next to the road: It's a very surreal experience to be driving down the road and passing a herd of camels. Here's Rojas and I playing with Massoud: This one is Sarabi: Sarabi and I then Massoud and I getting on the plane for Herat: And here's the shots of the Mosque in Herat: And here's a picture we found on his camera but no one knows where it came from: Feeding a monkey banana milk. Awesome. Well, I need to get packed, I will try and get another post up in a day or two. It's much harder to do at Eggers, but I will try. (Comment on this)
Monday, May 28th, 2007
9:03 pm	RPG's!! Wow. Today we shot the russian RPG7. Holy crap! That is some fun. But to be honest it's not suprising that terrorists can't hit anything with them. I had to aim way above my target and about 30 feet left to actually hit it. And I was proud of myself today because Chief Tolley and I made sure that we had really good video of us shooting the RPG's so I could bring you guys the video. Unfortunately, his camera is not compatible with my operating system. So you'll have to wait a couple days to get the video. I'll try and get it up and running by Wednesday, Thursday at the latest. We also got bumped from our flight back to Eggers tomorrow. So we'll be here a little while longer. Not that I mind too much. I'd much rather be out here. The air is cleaner and I don't have to put on body armor everytime I want to eat. Also, I sprained the crap out of my ankle today walking to the ammo pit carrying an RPG launcher. It's not swollen at all, and it's very weak. If I supinate it at all, it gives out on me. Which is not a good sign. I doubt it's a hairline fracture but I'm going to get it X-rayed when we get back to Kabul if it's not feeling better soon. I did go to the TMC over here and get some ice packs and ace wraps though. At dinner this evening I also met a captain who is stationed at Holloman. Not only is he stationed there, he works at the clinic too. He gave me some good information about the base and clinic, and we talked alot about leadership, getting promoted, etc. All that military jazz. It's funny, you always hear people saying "It's a small Air Force" and it doesn't hit you until you start running into people in what seem like serendipitous circumstances. I ran into some of my classmates from Tech School at Bragram a few weeks ago. So it really IS a small Air Force. Anyway, I'm going to go ice my ankle. G'Night. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Sunday, May 27th, 2007
8:04 pm	PKM Today was range day! And today we were shooting the russian PKM: (Picture to come, check this space tomorrow) Basically a fully automatic machine gun. It's pretty fun to shoot too. We had some Aghan Police cadets up at the range and they all got to shoot around 60 rounds for familiarization fire, and I'm guessing they'll get more focused training later. But once the students were done, we had around 600 extra rounds. Well we can't just leave it sitting around can we? Of course not! Everybody got their own belt of 50 - 100 and we went to town. I've heard rumors that tomorrow is RPG firing day, oh man I hope so! I'll do my best to get some video of it so you guys can have a look. Now I've got something else I want to talk about that's been bothering me lately. And it's only been a problem since I've been here at Camp Stone. What is it you ask? Italian Gym Ethics. These are the rudest guys I've ever come in contact with. Not only do they wear next to nothing on their lower half, they get very deep in your bubble of comfort. Dude there are no females around here to look at your junk, put it away. And then they Bogart equipment, so you can't find anything you need for a workout, and when you go looking and DO find it, they yell at you in Italian for moving it. My boss Deleon almost got into a fight with a couple of Ities (pronounced eyeteyes, I learned that from the British) because they were blasting the gym with Celine Dion music. He politely asked them to turn it down, they should no problem, but didn't do it. A couple other American's asked them to turn it down. They said they would and went about their business. That's when Deleon got mad. He got in the "ringleader's" face and told him, "Either you turn it down, or I smash it against the wall, mother$%*" What do you know? That did the trick. Anyway, I've shared a gym now with people from all over the world, Russians, Spaniards, Czechs, Afghans, and Germans. But bar none, the Italians are the rudest suckers I've ever come in contact with. Just thought you should know. (edit) I just remembered the other thing I wanted to share with you. PKM is also what we call the nurses at the Hospital next to the combat medic school. My buddy Rojas mentors over there and one day while he was screwing around and killing time, he said his new title was 'Head TKM in charge of mentoring the PKM's.' "What does that mean?" I asked. "Head Time-Killing-Machine in charge of mentoring the Patient-Killing-Machines." Alright everyone, more tomorrow. (Comment on this)
Thursday, May 24th, 2007
10:10 pm	Still here. Nothing new to report today. Unfortunately today was a very slow day. We did get out to the clinic that's being setup for the ANA. They're doing some really good work over here. Plus the medical warehouse is immaculate. We walked in their and were blown away by how well organized everything was. And compared to our standards, it never would've passed an inspection. But Afghan standards? This place set the bar for excellence. Other than that, I took a nap, pull a muscle in my leg trying to get on my bunk bed, and watched a couple movies. Somehow, trying to get up on the top bunk, I pulled the same upper inguinal muscle that I always seem to pull. So I'm stuck icing it for the next few days and trying to keep it from getting worse. Which really sucks because I was running about 4 miles a day. Oh well. Well everyone that is all the news worth reporting right now. Tomorrow is FOB wide day off as well, so there won't be much more tomorrow. Although I might be able to upload some pics. (Comment on this)
Wednesday, May 23rd, 2007
8:18 pm	One more thing, I took this video today while we were trying to distract the students from rioting. One of my students who's always making me laugh asked if he could sing a song for the class. I said he could, but only if I could film it. So without further ado, here's Safiullah singing some indian song. He's pretty good huh? (2 Comments |Comment on this)
8:05 pm	Quitting in Protest Well, today was another interesting day. I took my students outside so I could teach them care under fire and have enough room to be moving around. At exactly 0930 about 12 of my students stood up and walked over to me, which freaked me out a little, and said to my translator that they were quitting in protest. I asked what they were protesting. They said that one of their friends got sick and was sent to Kabul, when he got back (today) he was told he could no longer be a part of the course. So in solidarity with their friend they were all leaving. I said "Well I can't stop you, go." Then I went and found one of the administrators of the course and asked him what the hell I should do. He said take their badges and send em to the gate. So I sent my other students back to the class with my translator and told him to watch them, and went to find the protesters. By the time I got to them, the police Colonel had already found them and had them lined up and he was yelling at them in Dari, so I figured he had everything sorted out. I went back to class and put my students on break. A few minutes into the break, all the protesters (35 by now) were walking away while the Col. was trying to corral them. That group ended up stopping in front of the other students about 160 of em, and they started telling the other students that they also should leave. By this time it's me, Rojas, and Tolley (the DOD medics) and things look like it may become a riot very soon. I suddenly realized that if a riot did break out, I've only got my 9mm and about 15 rounds on me. So I gathered up my students and brought them back to class and locked the door. I went about class like nothing was going on, trying to distract them. Luckily a riot didn't break out, and it turns out that the Afghan administrators decided to arrest the 35 students for disturbing the peace. What a day. I asked about the sick student because I hadn't heard the whole thing yet. Turns out, the kid bought wood alcohol and was mixing it with coke trying to get drunk. Predictably, he went blind. So they sent him to Kabul where he regained SOME sight, but not enough to continue as a cop, but they gave him a certificate of completion and were going to send him on his way. Alright everyone, I'm going to hit the gym and get some sleep, more tomorrow. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, May 22nd, 2007
8:17 pm	Are there still dinosaurs in Africa? One of the guys I'm working with told me that he was asked by one of his students today if there were still dinosaurs in Africa. And when he was telling the rest of us this story, he said "I didn't even laugh when he asked me that, it was just so god damned sad." But fret not dear reader, things really are getting better over here, slowly but surely. Anyway, while driving around the ANA base right next to ours today, my boss Rojas and I found a sign painted on a building that pretty much sums up where we are with regards to Afghanistan mission. We're close, but not quite there yet. Anyway, I'm not feeling very verbose this evening, as a matter of fact I think I may be coming down with something. Cest La vie. (Comment on this)
Monday, May 21st, 2007
10:21 pm	Some More Pictures Hey everyone, looks like you luck out and get two posts in one day! I was trying to sleep but unfortunately could not. So I was looking around my hard drive and I found some random pictures laying around that I had planned on sharing with you way back when, but never had an internet connection to get them to you. Since I've got one now, I figured it would be a good time. So without further ado, This is me laughing at the guys carrying a litter while "under fire." Basically, me yelling bang bang. This is my boss MSG Abrom being put on the litter, needless to say, he was a little nervous. Abrom being carried over a wall. We call this kid Junior because he looks so young and he's much smaller than the other guys. And for some reason, he ALWAYS has that look on his face. Weird kid. Here's Junior again, and he's about to need that bandage. The guy in the left side of this picture insisted that he looks like Tom Cruise, and he does a little I guess, so that became his name. So here's a picture of me and Tom Cruise. And here's me and Junior and another guy whose nickname I don't remember. Oops. Alright everyone, that's all for now, expect more tomorrow! (Comment on this)
10:15 pm	Cabeza De Vaca Today we taught our police cadets about recognizing and treating shock. This was especially difficult in my case because my Tajimon(translator) has ZERO medical background. I eventually figured out that when I said shock, he was translating that as electrocution. I first became suspicious something was amiss when I was explaining Hypovolemic shock, which is basically when you bleed to death, and at the end of my spiel I asked if they understood. I received a resounding chorus of "NEY." "Oh crap" I was thinking "today is going to be really hard if they can't understand bleeding to death." So I asked them what they weren't understanding, hoping that I could clarify. One student said he was confused because yesterday when I taught them about burns, I said that electricity causes burns. "Yes it does, but we're not talking about burns, we're talking about shock." The Tajimon gave me a querying look and commenced translating. And as he went on explaining what I said, the students looked more and more confused. So I went and got Sarabi, one of the translators we brought with us from Kabul, and since Serabi is a pharmacist and he helps mentor the nursing corps at NMH (military hospital) he's got a good grounding in medicine. Finally he explained to me what was wrong, the translator was talking about being shocked by electricity and not the condition of shock. Damn english and our multi-use words. Anyway, the students all laughed at me laughing when I figured out what was going on, and I had to teach the whole hour long section over again. Just on a side note, and as a reminder to myself, once I get some pictures of Sarabi and Massoud (our translators from Kabul) that I can post I'd really like to tell you guys about them, Sarabi especially. He is one of the nicest people I've ever met in my life, and he catches nothing but grief. For one, he's Hazaara, and Hazaara's are traditionally treated like second class citizens. For two, he's so damn nice, that most American's don't know how to deal with it, so alot of people either brush him off or tease him all the time. Concerning the latter, since he's been working with me I've kind of taught him that it's ok to talk shit back to people when they are messing with him. And he's got a great sense of humor so he doesn't really let it get to him. Anyway, more on him when I've got some accompanying pictures. You by now may be wondering at my odd choice of title for this post, Cabaza De Vaca. I'm standing at the front of class today with 50-odd Afghan's of various ethnicities giving me blank stares, but this one guy in the back kept catching my eye. I kept thinking, "Man, this guy looks REALLY familiar!" Finally it dawns on me, with his beard, his pale skin and light eyes he looks exactly like a spanish conquistador! I mean you give him one of those metal helmets, a horse and spear, and he's ready to conquer some Aztecs. I knew I had to take a picture with him, or I'd never believe it myself after I leave here. Unfortunately, the one we took didn't come out very well, because we were outside in the middle of the day, so it's a little bit washed out, but you can still figure out which one he is from the picture. </br> I also got another taste of Afghan jokes today. While on a break some of the students stayed behind, like always, to ask me questions about myself and about America. One guy told me to tell him a joke. I told him that I didn't know any, because all the ones that I know are either ridiculously ribald and/or offensive. (That's just my sense of humor, so sue me.) I said "Why don't you tell ME an Afghan joke?" So he told me (all through a 'Terp mind you) about an Afghan who went to America, and he climbed to the top of a tall building with some snuff in his mouth, and when he got up there, he didn't know where to put the snuff since he was done with it. So he spit it over the side of the building. Well back on the sidewalk, some American's saw this small brown substance land on the ground and they were all dumbfounded, no one could figure out what it was. So another Afghan comes by and says "Oh that's just snuff" but the American's didn't believe him, so he put some snuff in his mouth, chewed it up for a second, and spit it out on the ground next to the first batch. "See I told you, snuff." Yeah I didn't laugh either. They all thought it was HILARIOUS. One of guy was literally slapping his thigh. Wow. So tonight while I'm online, I'm going to peruse some websites with jokes, looking for some semi-clean material to keep my guys entertained. If you guys have any suggestions please let me know, because I don't think they'd even understand most of my material. Well, it's about time for me to call Noma, so I'm going to go ahead and wish you all a good day/night depending on which hemisphere you're currently residing. Till fingers and keys meet again. (Comment on this)
Sunday, May 20th, 2007
9:39 pm	Just a quick update and some pictures Hey everyone, just wanted to let you know that yesterday's update wasn't a fluke and I really do intend to update on a daily basis while I've got access to this internet connection. I've also got some pictures of myself and mis compadres for you to ogle. I know, we're 4 very sexy men, we get told everywhere we go. But hey, that's life! Anyway, things went very well with the students today and they now know how to treat burns. Which, by the way, their treatment before consisted of: butter, olive oil, and/or urine to cool the burn. Wow. And I showed them the Heimlich Manuever ("Helga come quickly, I've invented a manuuuuever" Noma, you know what I'm talking about.) which they thought was absolutely hilarious. But that's what you get in a country of bisexuals. Anyway, here some pictures of me and the guys hanging out smoking cubans and us in front of the memorial of Camp Stone, and another of the sunset over Herat. Love and miss you all, and I'll update again tomorrow night. *Fingers Crossed* (Comment on this)