Busy and Very Tired

The patrol was fun. It was really good to be out in the desert, to breathe some fresh air for a change, to be exposed to the elements and to some immediate challenges for a while, and although it was an operation with a tight schedule, the hurry almost always stops when you get out there. Spending three days on patrol reminded me of any excercise with conscripts back home - except for that this time all weapons were loaded with live ammunition, everyone was serious and professional, and (almost) no-one had to be reminded of not using any visible lights in the pitch-black darkness of the desert.

From the three days' patrol, I rushed straight to the commander's conference in CNL with only one hour's break to pack, take a shower and shave. I thought that I would have time to plan my presentation on the way there, but there was a guest from ISAF HQ in the car who talked and asked questions all the way. After the first day of the conference I had received a bunch of papers to read, but there were some guests who wanted to talk, so I didn't get to read them. I didn't get to go to bed exceptionally early, either. The next day of the conference was done by lunch time, so there was just enough time to run all errands and even to get a haircut and to take a shower before heading back to the PO. But alas, just as we came out of Mazar-e Sharif, one of the cars in our convoy malfunctioned, and we had to turn to Camp Marmal to get it serviced. Fortunately there was another convoy heading to Aybak, which we could join up with. We arrived in Aybak at 2220, and I didn't get to bed early yesterday either.

Today there was a security meeting, which of course had to be attended to. For those of you who wonder why I even try to do everything myself, I can only say that I don't: I didn't want to send my second in command to the security meeting because he went to the previous one, and right now he was busy with other things. The operations officer is on leave, and there were important issues on the agenda. If I'm here I should go - after all, it is hosted by the provincional governor. Anyway, going to a meeting means writing a report, and that usually takes an hour or three. Right now higher commands keeps asking me for the report on the three day's patrol, and I haven't even begun writing that yet. The deadline was on Sunday evening, and now we are only some two hours from Tuesday. Sometimes it's really difficult to tell what day it is here because all days are the same, and there is no spare time for me. I don't consider short breaks between tasks spare time - they are essential to maintain a certain level of performance. Whenever I want to have some time for myself, I have to take that from the sleeping hours, which I gladly do, because it's really much more important to have spare time than to sleep. Sleeping isn't spare time.

Today I heard that there are dog fights arranged here every week. Of course I had heard of this before, but today the EUPOL officer who works with us was invited to one of these dog fights. He was told that traditionally the owner of the dog that loses must invite all participants to the fight for dinner, at which the main course is the dog that lost. This sound hard to believe, but judging from how the Afghans treat their dogs, it's not. I have seen more than enough cruelty towards animals here.

The day temperatures are getting back to normal soon: today it was 28 degrees in the shade. Here are some images from the patrol:


In a wadi.


The MOT's are heading out. It's green now, and it will be getting a little bit greener still, before it gets all khaki again.


Rise and shine (the sun doesn't).


An ANP patrol taking a break on nature's own golf course.


The kids of the villages never get tired of getting their picture taken.


Looking in real life for the road that's on the map.


The wheat mostly grows very thin.