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28 November 03 - Camp Julien
I’ve had an interesting few weeks since my last message. The UAV program consumes a lot of our attention. I
watched the crash (I didn’t see the impact. Oh the Humanity!). The Air Force guys here took it pretty well (any crash
you walk away from). The crash investigator from Ottawa has flown Sea Kings etc, and he knew Herb Harzan.
The rocket situation was more humorous than anything else, although I guess we got lucky. The Minister and the
DCDS joined us in the command post. Once again, the whole situation kind of felt like camp.
It rained and snowed for three days, and it reminded me of Gagetown. The locals were absolutely miserable.
I have expanded my CD collection through the local market. The Coldplay disc is one of the best I have ever heard.
People who hear it stop and ask “Is that Coldplay. I’m going to get a copy.” I think that it was rated as the greatest
album of all time last year, although maybe it was the Greatest Coldplay Album of all time, or maybe the Greatest
Album of All Time for the Year. I also picked up Joshua Tree, which has the best one-two-three punch of any non-
Greatest Hits disc out there. The disc selection here is quite eclectic, as though all the discs come from someone’s disc
case that fell off a truck. I find it amazing that the record labels sell their music for so cheap over here.
I spent a bit of time with an Afghan National Army unit (along with their Canadian training staff). I ate in their mess
hall. It was a large circular cafeteria in a Polytechnic College that seemed to date from the Russian era. We ate at
long tables wearing our body armour, which promoted good posture. It was nice to eat in a large open room with
metal utensils. Bottles of Coke and Fanta (the German influence in Afghanistan) were on the table, along with
glassware (a novelty item). The food came out in a large cauldron carried by six staff. Plates of rice were placed on
the table, and we dug into them with large spatulas. Pieces of chicken were in the rice, and it was quite good. I also
ate the local bread, which was also all right. Lunch was chicken with rice, while supper was rice with chicken. The
soldiers are paid 70 US Dollars a month (our interpreters make 400 USD a month). They seemed a cheerful lot.
I climbed a rickety ladder up onto the roof of one of the college buildings, and the view was excellent. An ANA
soldier was stringing comms wire on the roof, and I was amazed by his complete indifference to danger. He was
standing on the edge of the three-story building setting up wire while talking on a Motorola. I guess he was in God’s
hands.
Ramadan is over, as is the three-day end of Ramadan celebration. I’m excited about that, as it means that another
month has passed!
See you soon,
Iain
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