...Final day in country...

That's right - today is my last full day in country. Right now I'm a little preoccupied with getting out of here (I'm actually sitting around waiting to get picked up so I can take care of some things) and I'm kind've frustrated.

I figured I'd put together a little list of things that I will miss and things that I will NOT miss about this place.

Things I will miss:

The insanity of this place - the cars, how the people act, people fighting in the streets. Rules don't seem to be so much rules as "suggestions.'

The natural beauty of this place is, in my opinion, unparalleled. I'm sure other people who have been to other spots will disagree with me, but this is just my opinion. I think I could truly be happy if I were to wake up every morning and see some of the landscapes I saw in Bamiyan. That place, to me, is what heaven would look like.

Afghan people... I admit, I hold these people in pretty high regard. Most Americans I work with think they're all stupid and constantly talk shit about Afghans and wonder how they could ever win a war, etc etc.. I think that sort of attitude is kinda funny, because countless amounts of people have come in with the exact same high-and-mighty attitude and gotten the dogshit knocked out of them. I found Afghans to be very friendly, and while their driving methods are ... different ... than ours, as long as you don't act like a typical road raging retard, it's not a really big deal. It's just how they drive. It kind've goes along with a general overly laid back attitude, but again, you can ask the Ruskies and the British before them about that...

The South Africans. I've never met a more polite and generous group of guys, which is funny because they're all a bunch of war criminals. They put politeness and courtesy above all, and are very sensitive to how politely they're regarded. They do not tolerate rudeness. I think this is something that people in the USA (me included, I suppose) could learn a lot from. They're the type of guys who are always glad to see you and always have a nice thing to say. It might sound corny, but considering the alternative, which is the norm with most of the Americans who work here, it's very refreshing. I hope to someday travel to South Africa (where I have an open invitation at several locations!!) and see these guys again. I kind've feel like a fraud for leaving at this point in the program, but it's time to move onto greener pastures I guess, and no one begrudges me my choice (because they'd all do the same thing :) ).

The kids. The kids who hung out outside of our compound served as a doorway in a lot of ways to how things work here. Out of each group, there is always one or two who has a certain intelligence, savvy, etc, and you can just tell that they're very unique and dynamic individuals. I will miss the two brothers Omed and Fuad (not sure how to spell their names). I hope that maybe they'll get an email address or give some of the guys here their address - I think it would be amazing to see these kids in 10 years or 5 years and see how they're doing. We (contractors) come and go, have our fun, have interesting experiences, get paychecks, etc, but in the end we're just transients. We move on and do other things, but I will never forget these kids and the Afghan people in general, and I plan to keep tabs on both (if I can) to see how things are going. Here's a pic of the two brothers and me, probably back in June:



Ok, now on to the next section:
Things I will not miss:

The management here. I've never run into a bigger group of socially and professionally inept assholes in all my life - and that's a lot, considering I spent some time in the USMC. Right now, our "boss" is holding my plane tickets hostage cuz he wants a drill that I left with someone. Yeah, shit like that. These guys think they're still in the military, that they're Reichsmarshalls, and that everyone else is a recruit. Coupled with extreme paranoia and obesity, I guess there is an element of humor that makes things barely tolerable. Either way it amazed me, and I really hope that this company isn't representative of all corporate leadership in the USA. Yipes.

The pure, unabashed Redneckery of some of the people here. Don't get me wrong - some of the coolest folks I know are rednecks. But often times there are certain things associated with it, the most irritating of which is the winning combination of blind nationalism and religious / racial intolerance. I guess everyone's entitled to their opinion - the South Africans certainly have their opinions about society, but my problem with these American guys is that they just seem to want to tell everyone. They don't really give a shit what you think about their opinions, or that they don't know what they're talking about, 'cuz accepting baby Jesus as your savior makes everything a-ok. I'm not exaggerating either - this all became clear to me when I moved compounds and was surrounded by the Bible Belt's Finest. One guy was cruising around yesterday with confederate flags on his pants, shirt, and wearing a confederate bandana. Fortunately he was dealt with (and I think fired, because he mouthed off to an "important" person here). These are some of the people that are hired on here. Crazy. It's odd though because when you're not talking about stuff associated with that "winning combination," they're really good guys. But god forbid CNN be on, and god forbid some Afghan pissed them off. Word on the street it's even worse at other sites, so I'm glad I'm not there to see it.

So I guess that's what it boils down to - the elements I will miss the most and miss the least are the human factors here. Sure, being isolated sucks, being away from your family/friends sucks, but it's almost as if these people have taken it upon themselves to make sure that it REALLY sucks by doing everything the hard way and being complete fuckheads. Aside from the fact that, everyday at least twice, I wanted to go into someone's office and ram a chair up their ass, this job really wasn't too bad, and I have no complaints. I knew about the things associated with remote jobs when I signed on, but I didn't imagine how miserable people could make a group of [fairly] professional and experienced former military guys feel. On the opposite side of the coin, however, the people I got the opportunity to meet and work with were among one of the greatest parts of this whole experience. I got to work with guys from South Africa, Bosnia, Angola, Nepal, and a couple others, and I'm glad they were patient with my constant stream of questions and curiosity about the places they lived and their experiences. All in all, I guess I'll chalk it all up on the experience board and move on. I wouldn't trade in the experiences I had, good or bad, for anything.

So yeah, assuming I locate this power drill and turn it in to the appropriate authorities, I'll get my plane tickets and be happy. I can totally understand why he would hold on to my tickets - if there's one thing I need, it's a power drill. I've always wanted one, and will do anything I can to smuggle it out of the country. My plans have been foiled again!!!

I don't know how much I'll be writing after today - maybe something about my reactions to returning to the US of A after 7 solid months away. Hopefully I won't abandon everyone like Kabul Joe did... More later - Double Impact is on. Nothing gets you in touch like bad action movies like being in a foreign country.