Yesterday, Hawk and I went for a patrol through Haji Baba, along with higher eschelon, and a few others. More or less for a area familiariztion. We skirted the East side of the village and then proceeded to the hub. I think me managed to find the sewage street and opted to walk straight throuh it. It stunk, but by this time in the game no more than we probably did. I'm beginning to get a small pulse on the people here. It seems that I'm growing more accustomed to their gestures and have an easier time communicating with them. Some days I make little jokes, for example asking 2 men sitting by their cars if they're packing their gas tank with explosives. They just smile and wave, because of course I'm not speaking in an accusatory tone. Well, the street we were patrolling through yesterday was really narrow, and on one short halt I found myself in front of a doorway. A little girl walked past, and into the doorway all timidly and nervous like. She came back out a few moments later with some Nan bread and strolled on past down the alley. A minute later, a small boy came out. I asked him if he was up to no good back in there. He just smiled and nodded. I greeted him in Pashtun, and he greeted me back. He went back inside for a second and came back holding his wee little sister, no more than 18 months old. I extended my grubby finger and the little bugger took hold. Kinda cute. At this time his smaller brother came out, and the 2 of them talked quietly about the kit I was wearing for a bit. The patrol was about to get moving again, so I extended my hand to shaake the younger ones hand. He shied away, so I offered it to the older one. He shook my hand and I told him to have a good one. A few blocks down, on another halt a small girl was loading her wheelbarrow with her little sister, with small sticks I'm assuming to be used as fire wood. Well, the barrow was full, and I could tell she wanted to get by us. I told the boys to get outta the way, and gestured for her to come by. She got to me, little sister runnin behind, and pointed out a small ledge she couldn't get over top of. So I lifted the front end and she kept pushing through. About 20m later, she came across another ledge, and asked an infanteer for help. Well, the damned thing spilled over into the sewage, and buddy had to get his hands a little dirty. Meanwhile, 6 Afghan boys are squatting watching the scene unfold. So I say to them, in English of course. "What are you lazy buggers lookin at, why don't you help your friend?" They just sit there and stare. I joke to buddy next to me, "that wheelbarrow was really heavy, she's probably got a 155mm round packed under that load and she's probably going to the bomb makers." Army humor I guess. We get back after a pretty short patrol and unwind for the rest of the day. Got Chandras package today in the mail. Thank you very much sweetheart and whomever contributed. We all enjoyed the jim booglies you sent to us. Especially that baclava. Heavy duty.
So this morning we wake up and find out some people are paying a visit. Can't say who on this site, but let's just say that we were sent to our old patrol base for showers. Guess who didn't want one... yep Blencowe, like a cat overtop a bathtub, legs spread. I thought I'd have to throw him in. Anyway, the water was glacier. I thought I had lost what was between my legs along with a platoon of inf. and the rest of my section. I wanted to record the shrieks of despair as these guys showered. It sounded like a horror movie and a lot of cursing. Had a good chuckle at that. The boys raided the fridges there. Tonight we feast on burgers and sausages.
So we lose Maddin today for a week. We're backfilling positions that are leaving on vacation. There's simply not enough of us. So we're making due with whom we have, and thus far its working out. The guys are clean, shaven, and its looking like another little while before we can get clean again. So cold shower aside, it feels good to be in new clothes, and a fresh layer of deodorant. Gotta go for a shift now.... me and ole Hawk are on duty, so we'll see what happens......out....peace
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Little things we do a lot of times have a rpple effect, like a pebble in a pond. Those little kids will remember the help you give them. Good for you. don't have to tell you to be careful though. Nice to hear you get the odd shower. Watch yourselves and take care of each other. Dad
ReplyDelete