About to call it a night - but first thought I'd plop down some notes of the day. It was my day off. I am working six 10 hour days with 1 day off for now. I kinda like it; there's been talk of going to 12 hour days with 2 days off each week. Do I really need that much time off, here? I think not.
So I woke up early - and continued sorting & organizing my movies & tv shows. I refuse to watch any unless absolutely bored - or I have them all organized first. The collection has grown immensely the past few weeks! I then received a Facebook message from a buddy of mine from the CRC process who had some time at a nearby base. I went & met him (another System Administrator), another guy from our CRC group (Help Desk) and his Lead. We visited "the bazaar" - and boy, was it bizarre! On my base & the other nearby bases, they hold "bazaar" days, where the locals come & sell their wares.
After you've passed about 100 feet of "shops" - you've seen it all - and then the shops just repeat themselves - but with different "salesman" trying to pull you in. But there's probably 2,000 feet of shops! Tons of knock off sunglasses, electronics equipment (including some very funny looking & operating iPhone 4's), DVD's, rugs out the a$$ (some machine made, some hand made - including 100% silk), scarves, fur clothing, jewelry, stones & gems, old guns (at least they appear old - but I think they're knock off's too - 1800's Enfield's for $100? I don't think so), and plenty of other interesting things. I picked up a "spring assisted" (read: switch blade) pocket knife & a bottle of cologne (from the PX) today. You can never have too many knives as an unarmed civilian, and, well - I don't work/socialize with just a bunch of smelly guys - so why not smell nice? Grand total - $60 USD. Not bad at all. My summary of "the bazaar"? Neat - maybe worth a look if folks at home have something in mind or want a souvenir from here - but for the most part, I doubt I'll visit one again until right before I leave - to get myself a few items to remember this place. After all, I'm here to save money - not spend it on crap.
The rest of my day was more "sight seeing" at the base I visited, a walk through the US Embassy grounds (which these bases are more or less situated around), and a stop at my own base to check & see how things were going today. One thing that struck me was on the way to my friends base, I had to drive by the Afghan President's grounds. I wish I could've taken a picture (you will hear me say that phrase over & over unfortunately) because it is surrounded by an absolutely depressing poverty stricken area. Not much different than the White House in D.C. you say? Oh - its much worse. And there's all this security - which provides me safe passage mind you - within all of that poverty. It's really sad the state of affairs this country is in. They're in such a state of flux - between the 3rd world tribal culture - and modern day politics & adaptations of western civilizations. There's so many people "caught in the middle". I hope the youth & young adults make the right decisions & work to make this a better place. In my opinion, its really up to "them". We, the U.S. are pointing them in the right direction, & providing "guidance" (for lack of a better word) with our money, culture, and various offerings; unfortunately, the resistance of groups such as the Taliban - and those who wish to maintain their 3rd world tribal culture way of life are just so resistant. There really is & can be a sweet spot in the middle. I hope they can find it sooner than later.
PS: I was going to insert a picture of the president's complex by taking or linking one from the official website, however, the website is "down for maintenance". I'm not surprised. I wonder how long that message has been up (http://www.president.gov.af/)
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