Some miscellaneous pics

OKAY, I'm slacking a little ~ OK a lot on the posts and pics that I've promised Kevin. So here are a few random shots from Thanksgiving, Christmas at the Boeglins and soccer.

Pictures

Merry Christmas

Greetings from frosty Afghanistan. First of all I hope that this finds everybody well and feeling good and blessed for the holidays. Thanks to everybody who has sent me anything since I've been here, it is really appreciated.  I worked today of course, just another day here. I will have to get up in the morning and send in a couple of mandatory reports and then the rest of the day should be mine. Hopefully the Italian Priest will come tomorrow, he is scheduled to be here at 1000. I would like to go to mass, I'm getting used to mass in Italian. I will tell you it doesn't really feel much like Christmas other than it being cold.  This is a picture of me and DR. G, we are in the Afghan hospital ICU. Doc G is who i hang out with most of the time, he is our physician mentor and an ER doctor stationed in Jax, FL. Merry Christmas everybody! To Sheila and the Girls, I love and miss you very much and I'm sorry that we are not together. To the rest of my friends and family I miss each and every one of you, have a great Christmas and thanks for everything. 

Bad Weather

Hey everybody,

The weather here has been pretty horrible for the last few days, freezing rain for a few days then snow, and then, more snow. Yesterday was pretty cool, we all pitched in and bought a goat for the hospital workers. They had the mullah bless the goat and then brought it to the hospital so we could watch the "sacrafice". Wow! Pretty interesting stuff i have some great pictures. I hope everybody is doing well, and everything is going great for you. Stay in touch. 

Kev

I hate snow!

Jenny

Jenny, 

Figures you pick the $500 dollar wool persian. Good taste. Hope you guys are doing good. I will find some more that I like and see if i can get more pics. If you want the persian let me know, i will see what we can do. Later

more carpets

Carpets

The top red one is Mawri Turkmen style 23,800 knots took 5 months to make

The second one is Kodani Turkmen style 19,000 knots 4 months to make

The third one is Bukhara 19,700 knots and 5 months to make 

These are the tribes that make these and then there are different styles by tribe and village, province and materials. These are all wool.

Carpet Auction

$200, $160, $180

Thanksgiving

First I just want to say Happy Thanksgiving to everybody!  I had a pretty good day here myself. I spent thanksgiving the way i think you are supposed to when away from home, with a few of the people you like to hang out with. I made a friend fellow HMC over at the MARSOF compound and we kinda put together our own thanksgiving food was good and company was good. I will get some pictures and post them. I was able to talk to Sheila and the Girls and that always makes any day instantly brighter, so that was good. Hope everybody is doing well. 

We are having a hell of a storm today, wind and sandstorm, intermittent rain and over all greyness, really makes you feel like staying inside. 

Later,

Kevin

For my Friend Kathy

Here are pictures of the Naan Bakery next to the hospital. They are a really good bunch of guys. They make everything by hand and the Naan is like thin crust pizza. It is really good they use wood to fuel the Tandoors(oven) so there is a nice smoke flavor to the Naan.  I go over to the bakery about once a week and get Naan  hot right out of the oven sooooo good.

Carpets

Haven't figured out how to mail them yet customs and all. Plus they can be quite heavy. I do have a hook up in post office right now so I will get the gouge. If you have something in mind please leave a comment on the blog for the type of carpet your looking for and silk or wool and the colors you have in mind and the kind of design. I will get over to the store and take some pictures post them on the blog you tell me yea or nay and I will pick it up for you. Providing of course I will be able to mail them. Hell yes Jenny I will hook you up just tell me what your looking for. Sheila I would love to get a few of these carpets just give me an idea of the colors your looking for. V-Bog I'm sure you want in on some of this too.
Later Kevin

carpet shop

Carpet Shop on the ANA Base

So today I was able to go to the NEW carpet shop on the ANA base. They have rugs in there from $50.00 to $6,000. There are some beautiful rugs in there, some Persians, Afghan, and Turkmen, and the lot, Silk on silk hand tied, silk on wool, wool on wool, sheeps wool and camels wool.  Here are some pictures of  some of carpets. There are some very nice Herat carpets that are camels wool and sheep wool they are anywhere from $100 to $400 dollars depending on size type of die and how many knots are in them. The top carpet is an Herat carpet about $100 and the bottom is an Afghan car[et can't remember the tribe but really nice $250. Herat is famous for carpets. 

Total BS on the game

First of all Sheila, I'm glad you Jets finally beat the Patriots. It was a hard fought game and entertaining to watch. Good for Sheila to have her day.  It was nice to video chat while watching the game.

JETS 34 PATS 31

j-e-t-s jets jets jets. Enough said!!

Thank you, Veterans

Today I took Shannon, Riley & her BFF Brianna to the Veteran's Day parade here in Virginia Beach. I think now, more than ever, it is important to honor the sacrifices that those who came before us made. It was a privilege to be out there and pay our respects. They certainly deserve it. This is more than a day off of work and sales. I've posted some photos, unfortuanately my battery died well before the end of the parade, but I did get a few really nice pics.

Thank you for your service and sacrifice...

Happy Birthday Marines Semper Fi

On today November 10th the Birth of our Marine Corps 233 years ago in Philadelphia, PA. at the Tun Tavern, I would like to wish all Marines, Past Present and Future a great Birthday. I have seen and continue to see the NEED for the Marines and the esprit de corps they display. I have had the privilege to work with Marines for quite a few years and still to this day I miss alot of that camaraderie having earned the name "DOC" I take it pretty seriously. To me Marines are instantly recognizable, I can tell from hundreds of feet away the difference between Marines and Army, or any other service organization out here. Can't really say what it is but, they are all cut from the same cloth, refreshing somehow. So Happy Birthday Marines keep kicking ass and I appreciate it.

Kevin P. Smith
HMC(SW/AW/FMF) USN
ARSIC WEST
ANA 207th Corps
Herat Afghanistan.

Halloween pics

We had a nice Halloween here in VA Beach, we spent some time with my friends the Boeglins and my friend Claire (who, incidentally, I've known longer than Kevin) and her fiance and their kids. Then we went over to a party my brother-in-law had over at his place.

The next day we went to Shannon's softball game, which they won and made it to the championship (unfortunately we lost that game today but definitely gave them a run for their money). Shanny did well, she walked to first, then struck out, and then got a nice solid hit but got thrown out at first. At least she went down swinging. But she did really good on the field. She was playing the outfield and caught a pop-fly, then the ball came out to her and the base runner got cocky but Shannon threw her out at 2nd! Great job!! It made for a long afternoon though, it was cold, cloudy, windy and damp. At least it didn't rain.

Enjoy the pics...

Chritmas

Sheila keeps asking me what i want for Christmas, I have no idea.  I don't have a lot of room as you have seen pictures of my room on the blog.  I know that last year the team said that they told their families to get them Amazon.com gift cards, you can order what you want movies, books, music and etc., this is in no way an endorsement or advertisement for me for presents, I just really can't think of anything else. I try to keep just plugging along staying in my routine, it seems the easiest way to get through this. If you start counting days and looking too far ahead it will drain the life right out of you, I know Benny the Bull and Johnny B know what I am talking about.  So as some of you know, I have a little aversion to, how do I say this delicately "little people". So word has kind of leaked out to the folks I spend most of my time with and they have started to rag me and send me pictures of "little people" on email. I will tell you that Afghanistan must be over the freaking rainbow because  there are enough lilliputians to make a hundred Wizard of OZ movies. I hope everybody is doing fine and hanging in there. By the way Kathy. it sure was nice having a polite political discussion with you, as always thought provoking. Good luck with your thing on Tuesday go Independents!!!!!!!!  For those of you out there not sure who to vote for simply choose "Write-In" and put a big Kevin P. Smith for King. I will remain loyal to all my subjects promise. Take it easy.   

Mountains

The blue dome in the background is the mosque on the ANA side of the base. You can hear the call to prayer most days. They are telling us that there should be snow on these mountains within the next few weeks. The weather is definitely turning colder, it rained most of the last 2 days and the wind here is brutal. 

My 2 jackalope terps

The guy on the left is my regular terp and the guy on the right is like a special guest terp. Both are really cool guys. They help me out alot.

Pics of the last few days

This is a little girl i helped the Ears Nose and Throat(ENT) with. She had some problems with her ear and she was a real trooper. In her hand is a cup I gave her some M&M's and she loved them, but of course she had never had chocolate before. 

RAIN RAIN

The best thing just happened to me, I was sitting at my computer and my skype goes off and it's Ed, Lala, and the kids. Good talking to you, sorry we got cut off but it was good to hear your voices. We had rain today for the first time since I have been here and the first time since last april. So it was wet and cold today, the camp is pretty crowded right now lots of people moving through and it's kind of busy these days. Tomorrow the AFN(Armed Forces Network is coming to the ANA hospital to do a story on the Ambulances we just received. HM2 and I are setting the Ambulances up and developing the entire program for the regional hospital. The PAO(public affairs officer) will be bringing the camera crew and reporters by to get the grand tour. So busy day tomorrow for sure. 

Mom the mattress topper is great, it helps alot and i really appreciate it. I have received 3 of the boxes so far. I was telling Laura on the phone that Sheila sent me some sopresseta salami and my god you would have thought it was crack it went so fast. It was really good  and everybody liked it. It was good because it needed no refrigeration until after opening but that wasn't a problem there was nothing left.  Chips and Salsa are another hot commodity, crack a jar and open a bag and guaranteed you have a bunch of new friends. That is usually what everybody does is share the goodies you almost feel obligated because some people can go their entire tour without getting a package. So it kind of works out plus karma is a bitch. I will put a picture of the rain seeing the camp wet is really kind of weird, it's been so hot and dry here. I do want to say thanks for all of you for keeping me up to date with what's going on and sending me packages it is greatly appreciated. Send all pics to Sheila and she can post them on the blog for me to see.  Later.

Kevin

Great Carving

Halloween is for Infidels only

MAIL MAIL MAIL

Oh happy day!!!! Finally MAIL after all this time. First I want to thank everybody who still believes in the mail system and faithfully mailed packages. First to the BEST Sissy-in-Law in the world, I got six boxes from your work with all kinds of kids clothes and we will be handing those out pretty soon. We will give some to the hospital workers and there is a mission to a local orphanage in just a few days. I will get plenty of pics for you. To Jen I got your box and it was spot on fur lines crocs, socks and the goodies much appreciated. To my beautiful wifey thanks for the slippers and the goodies. My mom always looking out for me much appreciated. Oh and by the way as luck would have it I got the freakin' mattress topper today. I got like 11 boxes it was AWESOME. I noticed that the mattress topper was mailed on 4 September damn that took a while to get here. They say the mail will slow down even more the colder it gets, as you can probably imagine there is no equipment to clear roads and runways so things have a tendency to sit for a bit in the winter. Sheila I hope you had a good Bday party last night, I'm sorry i couldn't call but the networks were down. I was a little pissed. Please post pictures on the blog and let me know how it went. Thanks everybody. Later

My Internet Screwed Up

The last few days have really been tough ones. Like i said before it's like the movie "Groundhogs Day" the same things over and over. Well, you become kind of institutionalized expect certain things to kind of just be here. I come back the other day from being out all day and it's kind of stressful being on the road over here (Trust me on that one) and all i want is a damn diet pepsi, I'm sick of water and tired of gatorade and just want a damn diet pepsi, now we have been out of diet pepsi for about 3 weeks now and was assured that there was going to be a shipment coming in that day. Now I know this seems a little trivial to most of you but we don't have much and what we do have we come to depend on. I get back to camp and am anxiously awaiting my GD diet pepsi and low and behold nothing but regular soda, so i settle for water and none too happy about it either and the next couple of days that follow just bring disappointment after disappointment. The shower unit by my hooch breaks down completely and is secured, so now there are 3 shower stalls for about 60 people on my side of camp, we haven't seen mail in forever they just keep cancelling flights, and to top it all off our private contract internet shits the bed. Now I have to wait in line to use the MWR computers and then you are only granted about 20 minutes to get done what you have to do. My work email is working 90% of the time but they have most websites access denied and certainly all the pop mail servers you can't access. Whew good vent, and to top it all off every time I get a line out to Sheila's cell i get her voicemail. Boy i sound pathetic. Still there is always a bright and shiny cloud to everything, today in the DFAC a box of avocados just showed up out of nowhere and about half of them were ripe, see little things. Don't despair things are always looking up, the weather has turned cold enough o have to wear a jacket during the day now soon we will have snow on the mountains and it will be incredibly cold. At least it keep some of the smell down(Hopefully) Sorry this is so beeeyatchy but had to get it out. My time is up Later!!!

visitor from California

Hi everyone, I've been pretty busy, so haven't had time to post. About a week or so ago one of my best friends surprised me with a visit. He and his wife used to live around the corner from us, and we were really close. Had lots of fun nights with them on their back porch, hanging out and drinking lots of wine, beer, etc. Anyway, Ken was in the Navy, so eventually he had to take orders which took them to California. I was crushed when they left. Their kids and ours played together all the time. Anyway, we have kept in touch with Ken and Vine the past few years, and I know they are friends we will have for the rest of our life, even if we don't see them very often. Kevin was lucky enough that before he left for Afghanistan he had to process out through San Diego and got to spend almost a whole week with them. I'll try and get some pics posted of that if I can track them down. Anyway, Ken, it was great to see you and spend time with you. Hopefully we will be able to get to San Diego next summer.

Thanks to my friends!!!!!!!!

Yesterday was pretty shitty. It was just a bad day from the get go and damn if nothing would go right. I was in a pretty foul mood most of the day, it started with my routine being jacked up. I had to wait 15 minutes for a shower not much tepid water so real fast, then on to breakfast where they were out of everything that i usually eat. So I usually have a packet of chai latte that Sheila and my mom so graciously send me, i rip open the packet go to the hot water dispenser and in goes the water and right back out onto my boots, the bottom of the cup was cracked, damn styrofoam cups. This is all before 0730, and my day just got worse from there. Now not to complain anymore, my internet wasn't working so i wait in the mwr for what seems like an eternity and finally i get a computer. I get to my email and see that opalirish has sent me pictures to my myspace account, I know Jen sent me pictures of Ben's pinning but haven't been able to see them bandwidth and all. So i go to myspace and look at all the pictures Jen has posted. How great it was for me to see the pics of the camp, NYC, and especially of Ben's pinning. I'm still a little pissed seeing the pics in McSorley's and not being there. But what great pictures, they really made me feel better. You see it's the little things that you go without everyday that add up to your insanity. Thanks to Jen and all other family and friends out there send pictures to Sheila and she can post them on the blog for me to see. By the way Sheila has a B-Day coming up on the 28th. Oh and to top it all off no mail for the last 6 days. Got to love this place.

Holiday Weekend 10 Oct 2008

Until I talked to Sheila this morning(my time) i had no idea it was even a long weekend for you guys. We don't really get days off around here so everyday is the same. If you have ever seen the movie Groundhogs Day, that is the big joke. Everyday is more or less the same. So I am wishing everyone a Happy and Safe Columbus Day weekend, I am sure my friend V-BOG is already shopping for Christmas. So have a good time enjoy being with friends and family and have a cold one for me.
To my friend Kathy air freshner and febreze don't even touch it. But nice thought. In that little cracker box of a building is 3 toilets, 1 urinal, 3 showers, and 2 sinks.

Kevin

Shower and Head Facilities

These are the shower and Head facilities. The smell out of these things is nothing you could ever imagine. Think Porta Potty full in the hot sun, and then multiply that a few times. 

These PICS

Below are some pics from around the camp.  The bottom picture is the building I work in on the ISAF/Coalition base That I live on, it's called the JMOC (Joint Medical Operations Center).  The other pics are from an area called the Crows Nest.  Pretty Fancy Huh?

Around the Camp