Baghdad or Bust

I gotta go to Iraq for a few days. Please, please - this is a good thing: all of the housing in Iraq has indoor plumbing :-). It's practically a vacation destination compared to Afghanistan!

I'll be at Camp Victory in The Green Zone if you want to google it and get the lowdown. I'm told they have a Cinnabon. No kidding. Everyone who hears I'm going to Victory says, "Oh yeah, you'll like it. They have a Cinnabon."

I'll probably be out of comms (communications, for you civies reading this) until 28-ish September while I travel. I'll only be in Baghdad for 4 days but it takes an additional 5 days to get there and back. Go figure.

So, no blog until I return from the Emerald City-Zone. I'll try to bring ya a Cinnabon or something.

Birthday at Bagram AirField

Ignore the poster of intestines and the bottles of malaria meds in the background. The swanky martini bar was booked so my Birthday Bash was thrown at one of the Army's medical clinics and, I gotta say, those Army docs really know how to host a birthday party! Considering I am in Afghanistan - the land of "no sex, drugs or rock-n-roll" ... not to mention "no family, good restaurants or day spas"- I had a surprisingly awesome birthday.

Yeah, so my gifts were presented in bed pans (i'm assured "new, not used" but, hey, what else are they gonna say?) with turnicut bows and high-lighter colored name tags. Yeah, so my birthday cake was stolen from the chow hall and tasted a little bit like Afghanistan dust by the time it got to the clinic. Trivial insignificalities. I had fun and, when it was all said and done, I turned 36 surrounded by lottsa well-wishers who are pro's at making "a-million-miles-from" feel like home.

Little Orphan Ahchmed

I'm not gonna beat around the bush: Orphans in Bamian will freeze to death this winter if you don't send them some clothes, shoes and coats. It's that simple.

The orphan population in Afghanistan is epic - NPR,Afghanistan Now and thousands of other websites detail the humanitarian impact of the ongoing war here. Bamian is at a higher altitude where it is already snowing.

The yoga teacher on base is a pilot (he drops supplies to remote military camps) who has identified hundreds of kids in Bamian orphanages as needing your "used but clean children's cold-weather gear and footwear in good condition" for children ages Toddler through High School.

So, please yardsale and goodwill to your little hearts' contents. Maybe your church would like to take up a collection or maybe your child's class would like to sponsor a clothing drive. Send the clothes and coats and warm socks and shoes to:

Will Sherman

Blackwater Aviation

Bagram AFB

APO AE 09354

(FYI: You can ship a small, flat-rate priority box for $11 while a 30 pound box of clothes will cost abou $40 to ship; the max weight you can ship to an APO is 50 pounds; packages cannot exceed 130 inches combined length and girth)

An important aside may be to remind you that clothing without writing is preferred - we don't want to risk bringing the children detrimental attention by offending the extreme muslims (The Taliban).

If all of the above hasn't moved you to orchestrate a monumental effort on behalf of the Afghan Orphans then let me throw one last guilting effort your way: September 14 is my birthday. Let it sink in ... yes, that IS today! Oh my goodness - you forgot? You didn't get anything in the mail to me? Don't fret - it's all good. All I wanted, anyway, was clothes for the orphans (okay, clothes for the orphans and dark chocolate but it's still too hot in my part of AFG for you to mail dark chocolate). Isn't that convenient!?! :) And don't worry - I'm putting my money where my mouth is. I'm donating all of my shrunken clothes to the kids. Ha Ha.

Now, go have a shot of something that would violate General Order No. 1 (No Alcohol Allowed) and eat a big, gooey chocolatey dessert in my honor. Blow out a candle, make a wish on my behalf - and then get busy sending these kids some clothes.