At the Orphanage

It was a very normal day today, if one can call any day normal down here. In the morning we went patrolling and took the visiting DEVAD (Development Advisor) and FIN Chaplain whit us. We visited OCCP as usual (NSTR, Nothing Special to Report), but on the way back we visited an orphanage. The DEVAD and chaplain went in to talk and the others, including me, stayed and watched the cars, which had to be parked in the street. That's always an unnecessary risk, as they draw some attention, so we like to park in the yard of buildings whenever it's possible. This time it wasn't so there were a lot of children and other people coming to have a look at us.


M and his new-found friends.
("First time a friend, second time a brother" - Afghan proverb - )


Ball? Ball? Ball? (Sorry, we had no footballs, volleyballs, frisbees or any other PSYOPS giveaways with us today.)

When the DEVAD and chaplain were done, it was time to head back to the safe house. Some parts of the patrolling are becoming routine now, and I've even stopped complaining about the temperature (it hasn't helped much - it's still very, very hot in the afternoon). Routines are dangerous and should be avoided as much as possible. One example of this is the routine of unloading your weapons when entering the base. Accidents do happen at the unloading barrel.


Finland 1 - Sweden 4. And in this game low score wins!

There was no usual Thursday barbeque today, because we didn't have enough suitable meat. The hordes of unexpected guests this week hade made away with it. Instead we had sauce and potatoes in the dining hall. Just before dinner our interpreters were taking part in the weekly kite-flying competition. They took the business of getting their kite to fly the highest very seriously: they had over 1000 metres of string ready and were running around, shouting advice to the "pilot" and climbing on the cars to gain altitude. Just as their kite had reached about 300 metres altitude, it got caught in another kite's string (the sky was full of them), and they both fell to the ground several blocks away.