Wild Afghan Pomegranates

Yesterday Zubair gave us a big bag of local Afghan fruit. The best thing inside the bag... four HUGE, the biggest I have ever seen, wild Afghan Pomegranates. We enjoyed some this morning for breakfast and man, oh man, they were soooo deliciously juicy. So good!

Super Talented

Little background: There is a joke between Jurat, our dear friend at the Afghan bank, Diogo and I. When I first worked with Jurat, he told us that his name meant "Carrot Juice" or so we thought. For weeks we called him carrot juice, laughing and thinking "what a funny and peculiar name, but ok." (haha) Turns out there was a little misunderstanding. However, we soon stood corrected. What Jurat was really telling us was that his name means "Courageous" and NOT carrot juice. Haha. Because of Jurat's Afghan accent, apparently we weren't able to understand him correctly :) So funny, it seriously cracks me up.
So, as Diogo and my time is coming to an end here in Afghanistan we wanted to give something for remembrance... Diogo is soooooo talented. He took a close-up of Jurat's face, drew it again in microsoft paint, and added a few additions. We later took it to a shop here on Bagram and were able to put it on a t-shirt for him. Haha. Think he'll like it? Check it out:

Brrrrr

Mmm, a cup a day of Stephens Raspberry Hot Chocolate sure takes the chill away.

"Kickin' the cottage cheese up a notch!"

Do I look a little red?

Oh, the uncontrollable heat wave, painful sensation of needles prodding all over, the extremely uncomfortable, itchy skin, and the redness that covers every inch of skin, like a lobster being boiled in scorching water… how, how can people handle Niacin treatments; how can this be good for anyone? Oh man, I feel like I am going to die.

Our Georgia Aquarium Pictures Finally Came!

We adventured on the Marta (train) to downtown Atlanta and visited the Georgia Aquarium before our flight took us back to Kuwait; therefore, finalizing our R&R. I am so impressed with our cheap, little disposable camera and how well our pictures turned out. Just look really close. Enjoy. Loves.

Happy Halloween

Diogo and I made our own Halloween fun with a few Halloween goods we snagged from a care-package. We first played dress up on our way to the gym, stopped by to visit our local Afghan friends at AIB, bringing them a huge bowl of Halloween candy and snacks (of course we had to explain to them exactly what Halloween was), and then later, watched a 3-D horror flick while munching on our scrumptious Carmel Cobs. This year was absolutely spooky. Hehe.

Grrrrreat News!!!

You ready for this awesome, awesome news...

Ok, so for back to back deployments, like Diogo and I have been on, the military rewards with giving so many FREE leave days. This is on-top of the leave we already accure each month, but yet it doesn't come out of that leave. So here it is...

Word just got confirmed today when our leave will officially start and that our command is approving all PDMRA leave (free deployment days). Ready for it...

You sure you're ready...

Ok, ok...

Diogo and I will officially be starting leave DECEMBER 21st and will be approved to take 21 PDMRA, FREE, leave days!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is on top of our normal leave if we want. So mark your calendars; the Ordacowskis will be home for the holidays :)

Diogo and I are going to discuss our exact dates and will be putting our leave packets together this coming week. So more to come ok. Wahoo! I just have so much excitement right now. The days keep getting shorter and shorter (only 1 month left here) and the news keeps getting better and better.

Have a HAPPY and SPOOKY HALLOWEEN!!!

Loves.

Earthquake Hits Aghanistan

Light fixtures swaying, my bee hut shaking... holy, we just had an earthquake!! It hit at 12:21am. I woke, feeling my whole bee hut shaking, swaying uncontrollably. I sat very still, waiting, waiting for the big voice on the intercom to announce it's usual "Amber Alert" due from mortar attacks in the middle of the night. But there was no voice, no sound of movement or voices of anyone around. I thought my bee hut was going to collapse, my heart raced as I tried to prepare myself for the unknown, but then, finally, the shaking stopped. The earthquake was centered in the mountains about 167 miles (268 kilometers) northeast of Kabul. Kabul is only an hour a way from Bagram. With a preliminary magnitude of 6.2, no wonder I woke with fear from its affects. I'm thankful it was only the shaking hut I woke from and nothing more.

For You Nana

Lunch at AIB

Remember when I worked with some local Afghan men at the first Afghan Bank here in Bagram, or even the first on a military base, when it was opening? It has been quite a while since we have seen one another, but today Diogo and I were delighted to share lunch with our dear friends, Zubair and Jurat, and a few new faces, there at the Afghan International Bank (AIB). We shared with them Goiabada from Brazil with crackers as Zubair shared what his wife prepared, rice with meat and chips. We just laugh when we're all together. Its always good to see them. They're truly dear friends.

Jurat trying out the Goiabada on crackers. I think he likes it ;)
I have not had the privilege of meeting Zubair's wife, but she made the rice, meat, and chips especially for us. As Zubair says, "Because you both are VIPs."

Jurat, Diogo, Zubair. They both absolutely love Diogo. They call him "Magic Man" cuz they can't ever figure out Diogo's card tricks. They're always left in amazement, in ah.
I love these guys. Dear, dear friends.

Brazil Pic FYI

Ok, so I don't know if its my Internet connection here in Afghan or what, but a little FYI... there's a lot of pictures of my recent trip to Brazil on the slide show below. However, I have noticed that the slide show will show a certain amount of pics and then start over. Each time the slide show starts over it shows a few new, or a few more pics. Again, I don't know if its just on my side or what. As you watch, be patient, and enjoy. There should be about 87 pics. I know, a lot huh. But there was just so much to capture. The 87 pics here isn't even all of it :) Loves.