Learning to Trust

I hope that everyone had a nice St Patty’s Day weekend.  It was interesting to get on Facebook and see how everyone was celebrating.

My weekend was somewhat interesting.  I traveled to JRAC to see patients by request from the Lieutenant Colonel there who runs the show with the SFAT team.  My last trip there was 2 months ago so I didn’t know how some of my guys would be doing with only the initial evaluation.  Fortunately, many of them were doing better with their original complaints.  Some came with other problems and there was really only one person that needed something more than I could offer – in which case I referred him to KAF (again).  The SFAT Lieutenant Colonel acts as an advisor and mentor to a 1-star Afghan General there at the JRAC compound.  JRAC is primarily composed of Afghan Nationals and we have guys there who train them and aid them on their own missions.  Friday night I was the “guest of honor” at their nightly dinner/meeting.  So we walked across the base to where the Afghan general works with an interpreter alongside.  The LTC wore Army PTs to be comfortable (our workout uniform) but I didn’t bring all my stuff since it was a short trip, so I had to wear my ACUs.  The Afghans have a thing about women not showing their knees…so wearing just my PT shorts were out of the question.  The LTC gave me a little update, that this General had rightly earned his rank…he’d been shot at least 20-something times.

When we got there we took off our shoes and bowed to everyone…which made me feel a little like I was in a ninja movie.  The room where the General stays had a small bed about a foot off the ground, a small shelf, a closet for clothes, and a large television.  On the floor were pillows in a half circle where everyone sits cross-legged.  There was clutter on the Generals bed because he does not sleep on his bed…he sleeps on the pillows on the floor.

I introduced myself through the interpreter…which was interesting because they basically called me a “doctor” to make it easy to understand.  Eventually I was able to tell the General that I treat people’s injuries and pain and help them exercise to get strong so they can continue to be soldiers.  He talked a lot about getting the Afghan soldiers to exercise more (you’d know what I mean if you’ve seen them) and said he wanted to have them run in a big group with him leading.  It was a little ironic, because he had a pretty big belly on him.  His Executive Officer (XO) also had dinner with us, and I think that guy probably has undiagnosed heart disease and diabetes.

So we sat on the floor barefoot and ate Afghan food…which was pretty good.  The conversation covered everything from business (training and traveling plans for the next few days), to the Afghan Generals plans regarding his upcoming marriage to his 3^rd wife (he has 21 children that he knows about), to how ugly the XO is (they make fun of him a lot), to why I am 26 years old and not married (women here are usually married before age 16), to how funny it is that most Americans don’t sit cross-legged very well (we were all getting leg cramps after about an hour).  The local news was on the TV the entire time and the room got really quiet when a news clip with President Karzi was meeting with the families of the 16 dead civilians that were killed by one of our soldiers.  It was interesting to watch the responses of the Afghan General and XO as they saw their own country’s leaders speak.

The convoy back felt long.  It was only about 87 degrees outside, but it felt hotter with all my gear on.  And it was dusty.  And it smelled.  Afghanistan smells bad.  Aside from areas that look like a trash dump, they don’t have real plumbing or sewage systems or electricity…all the things most of Americans take for granted.  I saw young children playing in dirty water on the side of the road…playing in trash…no one supervising anything…I started feeling a little ill when I got back.  My work computer crashed while I was gone.  They had a new one waiting for me when I got back, but I lost all of my files and some pretty important documents.

I tried a 14 mile run this morning, but it was already getting hot.  And I didn’t feel good at all.  I made it 10 miles outside in the dusty, muggy heat before I just gave out.  I finished all my notes from JRAC afterward and tried to sleep this afternoon.  I was interrupted a couple times (thanks to NCOs that ask for information, then put off the task until the last minute, then come back and ask for the same information you already gave them).  You never feel so burned out as when you’re getting sick.

One day at a time.