This non-camper now lives in a tent
Comments (2)
Tuesday, December 12, 2006 | 03:51 PM ET
By Laurie Graham
After a long delay in Dubai, a flight change and a few tense moments, I finally made it to Kandahar. Lucky me.
The base is massive: the size of a small city made up of tents. Rows and rows of long, narrow tents that are divided into 8' x 8' rooms.
The washrooms? Well, they're up the road. I found that out the hard way on my first night. I woke at 3:00 a.m. and had to make a mad dash. It's amazing how quickly you can run in the dark, in a strange place when you've gotta go. I made a note to myself as I wandered back to my tent... don't drink liquids after 7:00 p.m.
My time, so far has been anything but normal.
I go for a coffee one morning and get bumped by something heavy and pointed. I turn around and it's the rifle of an off-duty female soldier standing next to me. When she said 'sorry,' I smiled nervously.
I interviewed a woman for a story only to see her the next day as we both got out of our shower stalls. Needless to say, we didn't look each other in the eyes this time. Usually don't get this up-close-and-personal with interview subjects.
And no matter how many times you shower, you never feel clean. There is so much dust, it gets in your hair, under your skin, even in your throat. It's dirty, smelly and cold. Really cold. Being in Kandahar is like an extreme camping trip and I don't even like camping.
As difficult and as uncomfortable as it is, I think of the soldiers. The battle group out there on the front lines, sometimes for months at a time, living in cold, cramped quarters, no showers, eating rations from a box, sleeping with one eye open because the enemy is close by.
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Comments (2)
Peter Law
Vancouver
Enjoy your notes. Please keep them coming.
After hearing about the few (relatively) deaths of our troops it would be better,I think, if more time was spent with the wounded as well. Also, more time might be devoted to exploring the non-military work being done by our people in the field.
Posted December 13, 2006 02:41 PM
Brian Nelson
Well first of all best wishes to you in your new adventure. The CBC and its reporters have been providing great coverage from Afghanistan. As a Cdn I hope you cover all the non-combat actions of our Cdn Forces as well as you must cover the combat. It will be good to see especially for those - and not necessarily just politicans either - who think all the Cdn military is there for is to engage in combat.
Posted December 13, 2006 12:01 PM