What is there to be Thankful for in Afghanistan?

Thanksgiving has come and gone and we are almost in December. The start of a new month brings significant joy as it means we're that much closer to returning to those we love and care about. That much closer to leaving all of this behind and returning to some degree of normalcy. I'm sure that returning will bring with it as much confusion and adjustment as when I left, but that's another thought for another time.

Thanksgiving here was nice, but mostly like any other day. We had a half day off, which allowed me the time to go to the gym before heading into work. Our command reserved a tent at one of the American chow halls so we could all dine together. The meal options were fairly traditional, although the pomp and circumstance of putting out the fine silverware and carving the turkey and lounging around with full bellies was definitely lost. Oh, there was turkey - pre sliced in a pan beneath a sneeze-guard. There were glazed yams and green beans and ham and pecan pie and all those things you would expect, but vastly different than anyone would remember from life at home. Paper plates, plastic forks, and hair nets have never before been a part of my traditional Thanksgiving, and I honestly hope they never are again. To further reinforce the fact that I was not at a regular Thanksgiving, I had to eat quickly and leave early to make it to a meeting - the war does not stop for Thanksgiving and neither do those that support it.

Overall the food was pretty good, but Thanksgiving is one of those days built up in the mind where "pretty good" just doesn't cut it. No turkey will ever be as good as Mom's turkey, no pie ever as delicious. To eat this meal almost felt like a mockery of what it was actually supposed to be - although at its core, the message was still the same. I sat on a wooden bench in a vinyl tent eating my Thanksgiving meal with what can only be equated to my family here. It was a time to come together and enjoy a little slice of life different from the norm. For that, I was thankful. It has also served to lend a great deal of perspective on what I had come to take for granted as "normal life" back home.

Before dinner, I took a number of the guys from my office out to the smoke pit to enjoy a cigar (Thank you to the Zent family!) and asked all the guys about traditions they shared back home. A risky topic, as thoughts of home can sometimes invoke strong emotions on either side of the spectrum. My Chief shared that this type of Thanksgiving had become the norm for him. He had spent a total of one Thanksgiving with his family in the past fourteen years, the rest being spent deployed to ungodly locations or simply stationed too far from home to return. If that doesn't make one sit down and think about things in their own life...

So what is there to be thankful for in Afghanistan? The fact that I'm only here for 6 months, the fact that I'm still in one piece and mostly no worse for the wear. The fact that I have friends and family to return to back home. The fact that, as hard as it may be, I am learning a lot out here, and not all of it exclusive to the military. As much as I'd rather be home, I'm thankful that I'm here. This is an experience not often afforded to people, and there is no doubt in my mind that I will come out a better person because of it. And next year, wherever I may be on Thanksgiving, I will remember my time here and be thankful that countless other men and women are sitting on wooden benches eating mere visages of a Thanksgiving meal some place far from home.

In other news, I have completed my Fire Administration class and started Chemistry. I received extremely good reviews from my students at the conclusion of their last class, but I am not so confident about this one. Teaching chemistry in Afghanistan without chemicals or a lab will be a feat in and of itself. The students do not have text books, and I do not have an instructors guide. This course may be the end of me... Work continues to be grueling and intense, I rarely leave the office before 2200 and have not been making it to the gym as much as before. Gary Sinise came to KAF with his LT Dan Band and performed quite a few songs for a USO concert, it was a great break from normal life here. I also receive two boxes full of goodies from my co-workers back in San Diego; it was a very nice gesture and brightened the mood in the office. A photo of us is below - and yes, that is a Beer magazine in my hands. I will be buying a subscription when I get back!