AF Day 049

FOB Smart at 1545 - Saturday

I have had no missions over the last several days. Tomorrow and the remainder of the following week are full of such again. You know, I find these missions, albeit dangerous, to be rewarding and full of hope. Each mission holds the possibility of amazement, the possibility of mentoring, and the possibility of... well let us just say the likelihood of "excitement!"

Our new team is nearly complete save for a few remaining key individuals left to arrive. I find the new team to be just as competent and engaging as the current/outgoing team. We have nine months, well they have nine months, to get the ball rolling and keep the momentum at the same level the current team has set. It would appear we should be able to perform the same work in a similar capacity. I enjoy all of the members in the PRT Engineers office.

Saturdays are not the same... actually, no day here is the same, as back home. I am looking forward to a little downtime later this evening. We have had a few "busy" and "exciting" nights of late, so quiet calm is a reward here at times. Even on our tiny little FOB, the noise levels are high during the day, so nighttime is when you hear nothing but the calming drone of the diesel generators and an occasional Pashto man calling the local Qalat Afghans to prayer.

Muslims pray many times throughout the day, but there are five prescribed times when it is considered obligatory for such. This equates to a call near dawn, just after noon, in the afternoon, just after sunset, and around nightfall. This varies by sect of Islam and by region, tribe, etc., but a call to prayers is essentially the same in all Muslim lands. An elder literally calls for people to pray over a loudspeaker or public address system. These calls to prayer, in Qalat and other areas of Afghanistan, and around most of the world, are spoken in Arabic. The words spoken by the elder are more akin to singing and the sound is at once calming, to me, and haunting, to me. Most people in Afghanistan and especially in Zabul Province use Arabic only as a religious end, their language is primarily Pashto and Dari (form of Farsi - Persian), although they do speak many other languages in other parts of this country, too. Interesting...

143, K&K.

Good night and good day.