Sleeping tents on right, Himalayas in the background.
I think I spent about 3 days or so in Kyrgyzstan. It was all pretty much a blur between getting over the jetlag and not being able to sleep because the sleeping tent had 40 other women on different sleep schedules.
I do know that the food was pretty good, there was a bar that served beer (more about that later), and it was a safe distance from any warzone. Needless to say, I wasn’t in any hurry to leave there. Every evening at 10PM you had to show up to a briefing to see if you were scheduled to depart for Afghanistan the next day. Now I know how those guys felt back during the Vietnam War when they were waiting for their draft number to be called.
I do know that the food was pretty good, there was a bar that served beer (more about that later), and it was a safe distance from any warzone. Needless to say, I wasn’t in any hurry to leave there. Every evening at 10PM you had to show up to a briefing to see if you were scheduled to depart for Afghanistan the next day. Now I know how those guys felt back during the Vietnam War when they were waiting for their draft number to be called.
Baltika 9 (left) Karagandinskoe (right)
So back to the beer…I was pleasantly surprised that I would be able to drink beer here in Kyrgyzstan. I thought that my last beer (for at least 6 months) was the one I had in Germany on the way here…of course there was good news and bad news about the beer availability. The good news…there was a large selection of beers in big bottles for only $2.00! The best beer was a Russian high-octane 9% beer called Baltika 9. It was important to go for the highest-octane beer you could because…now here is the bad news…you could only purchase two beer within 20 hours. So, of course I went for Baltika 9 most of the time. I did however have to try the local beer, brewed right there in Kyrgyzstan called Karagandinskoe…only 5% alcohol, but was actually really good and worth giving up 4%.
Michael's name on the 9/11 Memorial in New York City
Well, as they say, all good things must come to an end, and it did with my number being called on the evening of 10 September. Can you believe that this means I will be traveling to Afghanistan on the tenth anniversary of September 11th!
My mind was doing flips. Not only was I traveling to Afghanistan, I will be traveling there on September 11th. Some of you don’t know, but I lost a close childhood friend on that day. Michael Boccardi was on the 93rd floor of Tower 1 of the World Trade Center the day the towers fell.
My mind was doing flips. Not only was I traveling to Afghanistan, I will be traveling there on September 11th. Some of you don’t know, but I lost a close childhood friend on that day. Michael Boccardi was on the 93rd floor of Tower 1 of the World Trade Center the day the towers fell.
Michael and I at Senior Prom 1988.
On C-17 flying to Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan on 9/11
So here I am, after spending two and a half days in Kyrgyzstan almost over jetlag when the military throw another challenge my way. I have to drop all my bags off at 3:30AM so they can palletize them before they load them on my 11:00AM flight. Oh…remember those beers I was telling you about? Well, I finished my last one around 12:30 in the morning. Anyway…drag my bags at 0330, show up at 0800 for what they call the lock-in that occurs 3 hours before the flight, load onto a bus at 1000 to head to the plane, sit on said bus for 30 minutes while they load our gear on the plane, and finally board at 1030. Take off was promptly at 1100 with the flight landing at Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan 90 minutes later.
WELCOME TO AFGHANISTAN!
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