I recently returned from vacation in Dallas. This was my third trip home in twenty-one months. I had so much scheduled and so many honey-dos that now it all seems like a blur. Let me see if I can hit the highlights:

Julie met me at the airport. Went to the house and found my anniversary gift from her: a Texas-motif beer box full of ice-cold Shiner Boch beer!

We celebrated my parents’ fiftieth wedding anniversary party with most of their family/friends at Casa Navarro restaurant. Mom cried at least twice so I guess it was a success.

Shane and Diane & Dave Luther came by the house one night to safety-test the beer box. We gave it a thorough workout by drinking as many beers as we could. Amazingly, it held up even under the superior beer drinking abilities of Shane.

Julie & I went on a trip to Virginia to visit some friends, Mike “Caveman” Stutzman and his new bride Joann. We went to the new Marine Corps Museum in Quantico, VA. We never made it to DC to see the sights (spent too much time at the infamous Command Post pub in Quantico), so Julie insists there really are no monuments.

Drank too much beer at Shane & Sam Thompson’s again. Dad “loaned” a keg cooler to Shane, and rumor has it that he singlehandedly finished off three kegs in three weeks. Sam and dad decided it was time to “unloan” the cooler. Chris Thompson really enjoyed some Cuban cigars—don’t ask me where he got them…

Had lunch with longtime friend Charlie Stone who lost 55 pounds since I last saw him.

Shane & I took his seven-year old son Mickey to the gun range to shoot some old .22 rifles. After a little instruction, Mickey did remarkably well. Do we have a future Marine Corps sniper in our midst?

I traded in my Dodge Ram for a 2007 Toyota Tacoma.

We had dinner with friends Ed & Gayla Fussell at Patrizio’s restaurant in Highland Park.

We took our adopted Afghan son Fida to Nate’s Seafood Restaurant one night. Another day we took him to the Texas State Fair and met real son Mike Jungen with some of his friends there. Fida had his first genuine corny dog and had his caricature drawn. Mike did his best to make Fida hurl by taking him on the scariest rides, but I’m not sure which one of them was scared the most.

Played with the dogs who were all happy to see me. Digger the wolfdog now weighs 89 pounds although he looks bigger. We had to rebuild the 4’ dog run fence because he could easily leap over it.

Julie & I celebrated our seventh wedding anniversary. We didn’t do anything special, just the opportunity to be together was enough. Maybe in another forty-three years someone will throw a party for us.

Out.

Just got back from vacation in Dallas. Like last time, I ate too much and drank too much, enjoying the cleanliness, safety, and abundance of a civilized society.

Pics are here. They start with some guys at my house after a trip to the gun range to shoot my M4gery. Then my Mom’s birthday, when Julie & I took her to Maggiano’s. A few pics from dinner at Daron & Leah’s house, mostly pics of her delicious homemade pecan pie. Lastly, pics from a party at my cousin Monica’s bar Canuck’s in Lewisville (and Shane’s car made it home that night!).

I also took Julie to the gun range to shoot my Taurus 9mm and Ruger.38 revolver. Had Thanksgiving dinner with my family, and showed my 5-year old nephew Brendan how to stuff a whole piece of pie in his mouth. Julie & I had a great evening one night grilling steaks and drinking wine. Went to the Luther’s one night and drank way too much. Went to the hospital to see Diane’s mom Alice who is making a miraculous recovery from a stroke. Took Digger to Petsmart and put him on the scale to learn he is now 81.6 pounds. Did a few chores around the house but didn’t get to everything on Julie’s list.

When my final flight from Dubai to Kabul arrived, I called the office for a ride. Dave Bremer came to get me, but was delayed because of a suicide bombing on the road to the airport. Yep, I’m back.

Finally, some much appreciated time off. I spent 18 glorious days home in Dallas, Texas, USA.

I left Kabul on July 9. Sheron drove me to the airport, and being the seasoned Afghanistan traveler that I now am, I took only a carry-on and made it through the airport to the plane without paying any tips/bribes. In the waiting area, I met a Norwegian Air Force officer going home on emergency leave, and a DynCorp employee going on leave to China to see the Great Wall. Got to the airport in Dubai, had some time to kill so I took a taxi to the Emirates Mall, ate some Lebanese food, and watched Transformers. Flew into Heathrow Airport in London and have to catch the connecting flight at Gatwick Airport. London is lush and green this time of year. I didn’t see much interesting on the bus between airports—I could have been in Virginia, except everyone was driving on the wrong side of the road. At Gatwick, two young security officers took great pleasure in making a scene over a single male traveling without luggage from Afghanistan. As they were inspecting my carry-on, I had an almost overwhelming desire to yell “BOOM” but I was able to restrain myself. Julie picked me up at DFW and I was immediately struck by how green Dallas is (everything is brown in Afghanistan, and I mean everything). I was also initially a little nervous about all the vegetation and likely insurgent hiding places. But once I arrived home and enjoyed many cold beverages on my patio with my wife, I started to settle back in to the decadent infidel way of life.

Julie won a weekend out by being the top producer at PrimeLending, so the first Friday we checked into the W, an upscale hotel downtown. We had a very expensive and delicious dinner at the top-rated restaurant Nine. Back to the hotel and the trendy Ghost Bar upstairs, which features a glass-floored balcony where you can look down and see tiny little people walking down the streets on downtown Dallas. Click here for pics.

Saturday is kind of a blur. We went to Shane & Sam’s house for a birthday party. Lots of children, and lots of Shiner Boch. Adults and children all piled into their awesome pool and while the kids played, those of us without kids drank and swam and told stories until it was time to go to my parents’ house. Mom wanted to have a little welcome home party for me. Barbeque and more Shiner. My brother’s friend unwisely presented me with a gift of Patrón, which quickly escalated our insobriety. Shane showed up also and helped me appreciate the fine Tequila. Then Julie, Shane & I went to our friends Dave & Diane’s house. Don’t remember much after that. Slept in on Sunday and went to Mom’s for lunch. Danny made a traditional Czech meal called Kapusta which is a cabbage & potato stew. Not exactly what you’d normally serve on a hot July day in Texas, but this was a special occasion. Shane came over to retrieve his car. Click here for pics.

On Wednesday, I went to my regular monthly Marine poker game. They rescheduled the game during my vacation time. It’s a group of former active duty Marines who have been playing poker on the first Wednesday of every month for years; I’ve been a regular member for about three years now. I won $23.

The next weekend we went to Galveston. Sort of a semi-annual event, the Luther family and ours rent a beach house one weekend in the summer and have a blast. Normally we drink too much; sing & dance; tell lies; and eat like starving dogs. This year was no exception. David did most of the cooking: steaks and garlic mashed potatoes, shrimp and Tilapia, huge cholesterol-laden breakfasts. We absorbed cases of beer and rum & cokes. We terrorized the neighbors with plastic-pellet toy guns. We caught & released dozens of hermit crabs. Daniel Boone’s “Beautiful Sunday” was the unofficial theme song. Mike, DJ, Jeni, and Katie made an eerily realistic sand-woman with piercing lifelike eyes. Julie & I stumbled across it at night and it scared the bejeezus out of us. Julie and I stayed one day longer after the Luthers & the kids all left, and we explored Galveston and had some delicious seafood in the local restaurants. Click here for pics.

We had a new fence built while I was home, a stained cedar 8’ board-on-board privacy fence with bottom board and cap. Northlake Fence & Deck bent over backwards to ensure it was finished before I left again for Afghanistan.

The last night home, Julie had a little party for me. The Luthers, Mike and his friends, and Shane came to the house and sampled many fine adult beverages and grilled burgers. The next day, as usual, Shane came over to get his car.

Overall, Julie & I had a great vacation. I got to spend time with my wife, family & friends; rode my Harley and drove my Mustang; played with the dogs & cats; purchased two new rifles; ate Mexican food and McDonald’s. I also enjoyed a few other things that most Americans take for granted: I went outside without body armor; I drank water from the tap; I drove down the street without looking for suspected bombers, and with my windows down; I didn’t see one single AK-47 assault rifle; my car wasn’t searched once; I went to the grocery store; I watched TV in English; I slept through the night without being awakened by low-flying helicopters or the early-morning Azan (Mullah’s call-to-prayer five times daily); I kissed my wife in public and held her hand.

God bless America.

Out.

Just got back from a short vacation in Dubai. MPRI encourages us to take leave and get out of Afghanistan every ninety days or so, and I intend to take advantage every time.

Tuesday, 4/17/2007

Worked until about noon, then Dana drove me to the Afghanistan airport in Kabul. Had to go through a security checkpoint before entering the airport where they frisked us & the driver, and inspected my luggage. Then, amazingly enough, we were passed through to Lot 1. There are three parking lots at the airport, numbered from closest to farthest, 1 to 3. Normally ordinary folks are only allowed into Lot 3, where they have to drop off or wait for passengers. Lot 3 is unpaved, unmarked, and surrounded by barriers and concertina wire. I carried my luggage into the airport and had to pay about $20 in tips (bribes) to get through ticketing and into the waiting area.

Funny thing about Ariana Afghan Airlines, we were seated by nationality and sex. Whenever possible, they try to seat the foreigners together and the women together.

I saw someone on the flight that I thought I recognized, but couldn’t quite place. Then I noticed he was with two guys carrying TV cameras with CNN tags. He was a reporter who’s name still escapes me, but I’ll figure it out and edit this later.

Noticed some scraping and wobbling noises during take-off that made me think there was a suspension problem with the landing gear, but we landed safely at Dubai International Airport so that’s someone else’s problem now.

Got to the hotel, the Arabian Courtyard Hotel & Spa, and unloaded. Had a few beers with some Spaniards from Pamplona at the hotel bar, a man and his Mom. I asked if he ever ran with the bulls and he sheepishly said yes. Then Mom told me that she would never allow him to because it was too dangerous, but one day she was looking in the newspaper and there he was, running from the bulls. Bad boy.

Then I went to pickup Julie from the airport. Her flight was three hours late so I got to hang out with Arabs, Indians, Pakistanis, and a myriad of other nationalities I can only guess at. Finally she arrived and we went to the hotel. At this point, the daily journal ends due to mature content…

Wednesday, 04/18/2007

We treated ourselves to 80-minute massages in the hotel spa, and walked across the street to the Dubai Museum. The museum is an old fort in the heart of old Dubai. They had displays of how Dubai used to be, mostly poor Arabs living in houses made of palm branches. Fish and dates were staples of their diets. The primary industry was pearls, before oil was discovered in the sixties. The museum was informative and entertaining.

We also found this neat little art gallery. Mostly paintings, all of the art was, of course, of the middle east.

That night we went to the Western Steakhouse at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. We had a nice bottle (two bottles, actually) of Merlot, escargots sautéed with butter & garlic, I had a juicy t-bone steak and Julie had a rib-eye and lobster tail. It was delicious. Then we hit the hotel bar and closed it down.

Thursday, 04/19/2007

Low-intensity day. Not only was Julie wiped out from the time change, but we were both nursing hangovers from last night’s activity. We mostly stayed in the room and enjoyed each other’s company. We did venture up to the hotel pool for a few adult beverages, but not any farther than that.

Friday, 04/20/2007

The plan was to go to the beach this day. We were up and getting dressed, I bent over to tie my shoe and got a terrible, stabbing pain in my back. I don’t have a history of back problems, but I must have twisted just the wrong way because it hurt like Hell. We had the Desert Safari and BBQ Dinner scheduled for that night, but moved it to Sunday and scheduled a dinner cruise instead. The hotel was very close to Dubai Creek, which is really a large inlet from the Arabian Gulf. We got on a boat called a Dhow, cruised up the creek, had a delicious dinner, and generally enjoyed the views of Dubai at night from the creek. It really is a beautiful and interesting city. At dinner, we were introduced to Omm’Ali, which is a traditional Egyptian Bread and Butter Pudding.

Saturday, 04/21/2007

Had the Dubai City Tour planned for this day. Luckily for us, because of the tour company’s timing/bookings, we got out our own van and tour guide. A lovely woman from Sri Lanka was our tour guide and a surly dark-skinned man from Eritrea was our driver. We saw most of the city while she pointed out sites like palaces and other attractions, including the Sheik’s palace. While we weren’t allowed to go into the Sheik’s palace grounds, the entrance is a tourist attraction. Beautiful landscaping and lots of peacocks. Part of the tour was stopping at a spice market and the gold souk. “Souk” means market. Gold is relatively inexpensive in UAE and sold by the weight. I dropped some serious cash on a ring for Julie.

Finally made it to the beach. We wanted to go to the Burj Al Arab Hotel, which is a landmark multi-million dollar hotel built on a man-made island in the Gulf, and shaped like a giant sail. Rooms there go for $2,000 to $7,000 per night. But non-guests need a reservation at the restaurant and specific attire to get in. So we settled for Jumeriah public beach instead. Nothing particularly noteworthy there, but I took a nap and got sunburned while Julie walked the beach. On the way back to the hotel we stopped at Harley-Davidson of UAE and got some t-shirts.

After the beach, we decided to see a movie. Now keep in mind that I am a pseudo-movie buff and for the last three months all I’ve seen is either grainy old re-runs on Afghan TV, or poorly focused pirated movie DVDs from the bazaar. So dammit I’m going to the movies. We went to the Emirates Mall which has an indoor ski slope, had a drink in a swank new age bar, did some window shopping and people watching, and saw 300. Not too complicated of a plot, but the visual effects were stunning.

Sunday, 04/22/2007

Today is the day we rescheduled the Desert Safari and BBQ Dinner. But it didn't start until later in the day so we had some time to walk around and do more sight-seeing. Then back to the hotel and I scheduled another massage for my aching back while Julie went to the pool. At least that's what I thought...but first she walked over to that art museum we found earlier and bought a very cool painting for me. It was a scene with a mosque that we could see from our hotel room window, only it was from the opposite viewpoint--from the creek.

Later our driver picked us up for the Desert Safari. It started out with “sand bashing” which was four-wheeling on the dunes. I really didn’t expect too much, but it was a blast! We were picked up in a Toyota Land Cruiser with a roll bar. We stopped to get another couple & their beautiful 5-year old daughter. They were from Italy and only Dad spoke English so he did all the translating. We drove out to the dunes and learned that our driver was the senior driver for the company and trained the other drivers. He took us up & over progressively bigger dunes and performed maneuvers that were breathtaking. At times I just knew he was going to kill us all but he made it look simple.

Then we stopped on a high dune next to some rock outcroppings and watched the sunset. The rocks were purple, and light. I’m guessing it was a sort of lava from an ancient volcano or something.

After the sunset, we drove to a site set up like an ancient Arab settling. There were some camels to ride, and Julie (International Woman of Mystery), rode hers like a pro. Then we went inside. There were different stations set up: first we had some fried dates, then found the bar and ordered some drinks (I didn’t expect that!), and Julie got a Henna tattoo on her hand. We then had some appetizers. I don’t know what it was exactly, it was like a goat meat and Hummus burrito, but it was good. Then we were seated on rugs & pillows at low tables for the buffet dinner. Rice, vegetables, Hummus, bread, lamb, chicken, beef, and more Omm’Ali. Then belly dancers came out to perform. They encouraged spectator participation, and the little Italian girl was adorable. Julie (International Woman of Mystery) also wowed the crowd with her undulating.

Monday, 04/23/2007

Julie’s day of departure. We walked down to the creek for some sight-seeing. Happened across another museum, this one was an old Sheik’s house that was restored and most of the museum was a collection of photographs. Browsed around the textile district and went back to the room to pack. Surprisingly, everything Julie brought, plus the stuff we bought, all fit in her suitcases! Went to the airport and, sadly, departed until my next leave. I’m planning to go home in July.

As I left the airport, I asked the taxi driver to take me to the mall with the most movies. Turns out that was the Chinese mall, way across town. The mall was interesting, all in oriental motif with a Chinese junk (boat) in the lobby. I saw The Reaping, which was better then I expected, and then went back to the hotel. The plan was for me to leave the day after Julie so I could see her off at the airport before I left, but I couldn’t get a flight for the 24th, so…

Tuesday, 04/24/2007

Slept in, had breakfast in the hotel, and went to the museum to look for a book about Dubai that Julie wanted. Then I went to the Centre City Mall in Deira. Did some window shopping, ate at a Lebanese restaurant in the food court, bought a watch, and found where the locals buy their clothes. There were several stores tucked away in a corner on the third floor. These we high end stores, men’s & women’s attire in separate stores. In the men’s stores they had those white robes, different colored and patterned headdresses, sandals, and accessories. In the women’s stores they had the black robes, black headdresses, veils, and accessories. Then I went to see Shooter. Incredible plot, but great action.

Monday, 04/25/2007

Up at 3:30 AM to get to the airport and through customs for my 6:30 AM flight back to Afghanistan. This would be a good point to explain that Dubai has two terminals. Most westerners only ever see Terminal 1, which is indicative of a world-class international airport. However, local flights (Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, etc.) arrive/depart at Terminal 2. A little rougher, grungier, and smellier, Terminal 2 started to remind me where I was going back to. We departed on time and I sat next to an individual that smelled like feet.

Interesting arrival. I had a window seat on the port side, so I could see when they rolled the stairs up to the plane. Immediately, about twenty high ranking ANA officers lined up on either side, creating a greeting line. They were laughing and joking and had flowers and photographers. An Afghan in civilian clothes was escorted off the plane to hugs and handshakes. I asked my feet-smelling neighbor if he knew who that was, and he said something about a former commander ruining the country. I asked “Taliban?” and he said, “No, before Taliban.” I asked “Mujahideen?” and he answered yes. Now I’m not sure if his English was that bad or if he was sympathetic to the Taliban, but I thought Mujahideen were the good guys, or at least before many of them turned Taliban.

I also had a revelation. The vehicle that carried me back to Afghanistan wasn’t a Boeing 727; it was a time machine. The last four hours transported me from 2007 back centuries. I was back to the dirty, crowded airport where I had to pay a $5 bribe to a policeman and $3 to a self-appointed porter to get my luggage. I walked out of the terminal past bundles wrapped in burlap which many of the locals were using for luggage, past more security, through dozens of dirty, bearded men, across a dirt “parking lot” bordered by concertina wire. Everything was the color of dirt. Alex was there to meet me, and our driver, Jon, took my bag. We got to the van, donned our body armor, and drove through the dusty, clogged, unpaved streets to our safe house. At the house, I changed into my MPRI uniform and we went back up Jalalabad Road to Depot-1 in time for lunch. Did I really leave or was that a dream?

Pics are posted here.

Out.