One month

The following is excerpted from yesterday's posting by 1LT Alex Pruden in Blessing:


"Today marks the 1 month mark of our (hopefully) 12 month tour in Afghanistan.  Its been a pretty long month, to say the least.  But we've finally settled into somewhat of a routine, and are starting to get used to the terrain and the other unique demands of Afghanistan.  

I would say that the hardest part of this month has been understanding the culture of the people here, and working within that culture to get things done.  Many of the patrols we go on involve me as the platoon leader meeting with one of the village elders to discuss security and other issues, and my negotiation skills have never been tested like this before.  Most of the time, its frustrating, like talking about security issues (Me: how is the security here?  Elder: the security is good?  Me: then why do we take fire from the ridgeline above your village?  Elder: We are afraid to go outside our houses because the Taliban will kill us  Me: So the security is not good here?  Elder:  No the security is good here.).  Other times though, its fairly enjoyable to sit down and talk to people about strangely familiar things.  For example, the Afghan people love WWF wrestling.  I have no idea why, but if John Cena ever came here there would probably be a riot.  I also enjoy describing a "turducken" whenever I have a discussion about food.  The reaction on their faces is priceless.  Its all about the little things. 

Thank you everyone for all of the memorial day wishes...it is nice to hear the support.  We just started getting packages here (the mail finally caught up) and those have been much appreciated as well.  


See you all in 11 months."