Greetings All,
I have more pictures to post to give everyone a better idea of Mark's living arrangements and a little more about Mark's new job. Though these pictures are not Marks, I am Facebook friends with a fellow 1LT (R.F.) working with him. The pictures in this entry are from R.F.'s Facebook album so first and foremost- THANK YOU R.F!
View from inside the tent- all the guys sleep on cots
Outside view of the tents
Arial view of their "home base"
Mark said he has been "loving" the new job. He does say that not having showers and not being able to talk as often sucks.... but otherwise it has been great. Temperatures in the evenings are dropping and Mark said he had to use all three layers of his sleeping system (bag). He did say that they did just get heat for their tent. Evenings are in the upper 20s and low 30s and during the day is has been in the upper 50s and low 60s.
So as I said in the last post- Mark is now working closely with the Afghan National Police (ANP). Mark is mentoring an ANP Colonel. The Colonel (and thus Mark's job) is responsible for ANP development. Together they will be coordinating training sessions including first aide, communication, etc for police in the entire Kandahar Province. Mark said he is looking forward to mentoring the Colonel. Mark also states that he can understand if the Colonel is a little hesitant to work with someone new- Mark said he will have been the 4th person to have mentored the man since their unit arrived last summer. Mark said the Colonel is in his 40's and seems to be very nice. He has been offered to a Afghan Lunch with the colonel in his office in one of the upcoming days- consisting of fish. Yeah, fish from the river.... the same river that the locals get their water from, bath from, and ultimately where all the sewage goes. I am hoping and praying he doesn't get cholera!!! Mark said he isn't really looking forward to the food part- knowing the fish will still have the head and scales on it and still look- well- like a fish! Pictures to come of that if Mark takes any- and he said he might.
Picture of ANP in formation
In other news, there was an evening that they had a BBQ. Where they got the hamburgers and hotdogs they cooked out... I'm not really sure. Mark did say he had a little 24 hour bug that set in that evening that knocked him back a bit on the 1st. Vomiting and diarrhea... hoping he used the Pedialyte I sent him that day to help keep him hydrated at least. He wrote in an e-mail that he got a bunch of extra sleep and felt much better the following day.
I talked with him a bit tonight on the webcam- first time in a while. It was definitely good to see his face. His spirits are high and he said he might have enjoyed shaving more than the shower that he got. He has been sharing often that he is looking forward to his fast approaching R&R and I know he has been counting down the days. I can't wait to have him home.
Another small update about the 3rd graders that have been writing him from Brown Deer. The class held a supply drive for the school for a week in November. The teacher just sent me a message today saying that they have collected 12 boxes of care packages and have sent them out in the mail today. What a treat for Mark and his unit he is with. I'm sure the package and the letters from the kids will be well accepted.
Love
Angie
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