Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore - Andre Gide

I'M HERE!!!!! Thursday morning bright and early Sarah and I hopped on a flight to Dubai and then to Kandahar.  It was a really nice chartered plane.  We met these really nice Navy men and talked to them all about Kandahar.  Then we get off the plane and they get this escort who immediately grabs their bags and puts them in a car, apparently they are some high ranking dudes.  One man's daughter is a senior in high school and they live in Kentucky, I was trying to recruit her to Marshall.  Old habits die hard!

Once we actually arrived my gut started churning.  I got really nervous, all the new sounds of jets flying overhead, and everybody carrying guns.  We unpacked and settled in, then I went to the Boardwalk.  The Boardwalk is this really cool hang out area.  It is essentially a big deck in the shape of a square with restaurants like TGIFridays, KFC, a kabob place and shops.  Then in the middle there is a stage, volleyball nets and the Canadians built a hockey rink.  I was still on pins and needles and knew that if I went back to my room all I would do is think about what in the world did I get myself into, so I went into the USO Center and just hung out.  It rid my mind of everything.  Then I came back to my room, fell asleep, and was awakened by an alarm.  There is a rocket siren that goes off if they think a rocket might hit base.  Base is so stinking big that it could hit 20 minutes from me, or it could be a dud, or it could just be an alarm.  I'll admit the first two scared the beejeezus out of me, but you get used to it.

I'm feeling GREAT now!  The job is so rewarding.  I had a troop come up to me and ask about our United Through Reading program and how it works.  I explained he can pick a book, read it to his kid on tape, and then we'll send the book and DVD to his kid back in the states.  He said, oh okay, how much does that cost.  It's free!  He said, wow, okay, I'm going to go tell my buddies, and we'll be back! :)  I'm starting to learn people's faces too, which is nice.  My coworkers are super fun.  I love my shift, it's 2-11, so I have the whole room to myself during the morning.  Oh yeah, I live in a room with 3 other ladies currently, but we're adding one more soon.

While still in Kuwait, we met some celebrities in our hotel.  Robert Patrick (Coach Tolley from We Are Marshall) was there.  I said hi to him and talked about We Are Marshall.  The lead singer of Staind, Aaron Lewis was there and played BS with us.  We also met Dennis Haysbert (Allstate guy, 24, and The Unit) he was the nicest!  He was complimenting us for going where we were.  Then he said, "Who knew they were sending such cute girls to Afghanistan these days?  Maybe you'll find love and remember don't settle for less than a 1 or 2 star."  LMAO!!!!  We also met some Football Hall of Famers (but I don't remember their names).  Okay, sorry for this super annoying paragraph, but I was just really excited about it!  I don't usually meet celebrities.  Oh and yes, Dennis Haysbert's voice is that soothing and delightful in person. :p

Okay time for work, gotta run, many more posts to come!  Love y'all!

Every girl knows you have to match your shoes to your flak jacket. :)