Wow....

Has it really almost been 3 weeks since I last updated y'all?  Wow- that time has absolutely flown by, and now, here we are in October.  I'd love to say that it smells like fall, the leaves are turning, and that I enjoyed a pumpkin spice latte, but wait a minute, I'm in Afghanistan still.  It still smells like the lovely poo pond, the few leaves here are indeed turning green after having some rain knock off the moon dust, and I enjoyed some lovely Afghan Chai tea the other day.  I just honestly can't believe time is just flying by so quickly!!  We have started decorating the hospital for Halloween, and look forward to doing the same for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years!  It seems strange to decorate in a war zone, but it boosts morale and truly brings a sense of normalcy to the area.  It's all about the little things :)

Ok, so an update- I'm back in Kandahar!!!  I've been here about two weeks (I'm so sorry for the delay in notification!!) and have hit the ground just absolutely running.  It definitely makes the time fly, but I sure do stay busy!  I believe today is the first true "off day" that I've had since I've been back, and i've been busy decorating, organizing, and just catching up in general.

The flight back from Spin Boldak was incredibly smooth, and I didn't almost vomit this time, which was a huge plus for everybody around me!!!  We were greeted by warm smiles and genuine cheerfulness from those that we knew prior to going.  For the most part though, there are new faces in every which direction we turn.  While I was gone, the new large rotation showed up and began dominating.  It was very interesting to come back to and not only have new faces, but so many different policies, rules, and other nonsense that comes along with it.  There was about 240 of them that came together, and have known each other through training and traveling, so we're learning the ropes once again and doing our best to keep our noses clean and our friendships strong, and every once in a while edging a toe into their cliques.  It's just fascinating at times how much it reminds me of high school within the different sections of the hospital and the behaviors of the members.  Everybody truly is nice, but it's difficult coming from an area of peace to working in a hospital within a war zone.  There's a completely different mentality here in regards to all of our patients, and can definitely be difficult to wrap ones head around at times.  I just feel lucky to have been here before and developed my own way of categorizing and therefore caring for my patients.  I snuck one of my patients outside the other day for a smoke (not me, him) because the doctor refused to let him leave the ward for that.  My thought process, and for once I wasn't just being defiant, was that this guy literally got blown up, is lucky to have his eyesight, and is leaving the hospital in less than 8 hours to go to Germany and then home (as is the way with guys that have a long recovery process ahead of them).  Personally, I think if that's what he would like then I will do everything I can to help him have a smoke- shoot, he deserves it, and he's just going to smoke as soon as he can anyways.  That's just my thought- so needless to say, I helped him outside and stood by as he smoked said cigarette.  There could be much worse things in life.

Sorry about that slight rant, but things really are good here at the hospital.  Different, yes, but all different isn't necessarily a bad thing.  I'm doing my best to learn the new ways and continue providing the absolute best care that I possibly can.

I've found Kandahar to be much more of a social place than when i was here before as well.  The people that I met and befriended in Spin Boldak have spilled over back here, and I absolutely love it. It might help some that I'm currently on day shift, but I'm busy most every night after work just meeting up with people and chatting.  My social circle has expanded, and of course being a social creature, I absolutely love it.  I've begun learning more about cigars from a local group here called the Kandahar Koughers, and they're another great bunch of people.  I didn't realize there was so much to learn about them!  Under their instruction though, I have started a book of different cigars that I've tried, whether or not I liked them, and so on.  It's just lovely to have made friends that I don't have to talk shop with.  Plus, what's cooler than smoking a cigar and watching jets take off at night?

On this post, I'm going to attach pictures of my old room.  I say old as I had to move rooms as soon as I returned from the FOB.  I'm just down the hall from where I was, but I had to move because, being a lower ranking officer, can't have my own room.  It works out well- my new roommate is an OR nurse and was here before as well.  Her name is Regina and we get along great.  My new room is set up very similarly to my old room, which is why I'll still send the old pictures.  I have slightly less room, but it keeps me from acquiring too many things so it works out well.  i have plenty of decorations in the cards and encouraging notes from all of y'all, and I"m happy to say that this trend has spread!  There are a few girls that have used my twine to create a "wall of love" as I refer to it.  It's just so lovely to look up next to my bed and see all of the support I have back home.  Thank you to each and every one of y'all- I absolutely feel the love over here, and it's spread around.  I recently sent a box to some of my friends at the FOB including some beauty products for ladies, and of course some snacks.  That was one thing I noticed they were low on, and I am lucky enough to have such an abundance that I'm able to share.  I know they'll be excited for it!!

So I just attempted to attach photos for about an hour and it just isn't cooperating with me at all!!!  I"ll continue to work on that.

So I'm very much enjoying being back and Kandahar, meeting up with old friends and making some new ones, running 5Ks (I'm actually improving so much with this!!), and re-adjusting back to the food.  I can say, I am very well stocked on food in my room and eat a lot of those "just add water" meals.  They treat my belly so much nicer than much of the food here, and to be honest, they're much tastier than what they bring for us in the tent!!

THat's about all I have for now since the pictures won't load.  I'll continue to work on that, but hopefully this is enough to whet y'alls ever hungry appetite for more information and stories from over here!  Thanks for being patient, and even more than that, thank you guys for actually taking an interest in my life over here and being so supportive.