Sultan Jeff's Stuff To Say #3: "Don't leave Khost without it..."

Mongolian barbeque....Free

Orange Julius from Dairy Queen....$2

Personal pizza from Pizza Hut....$6

Whopper w/cheese from Burger King.....$7

2 piece fried chicken meal from Popeye's.....$8


Hanging out with good friends (Chris and Andrew) at Bagram Airfield....Priceless

Sultan Jeff's Stuff to Say #2: "A Few of My Favorite Things"

Anyone who knows me knows that one of my favorite movies is The Sound of Music (stop laughing). Well, in keeping with The Sound of Music theme, here is a list of "A Few of My Favorite Things" while I'm deployed here in Afghanistan:

Whiskers on kittens (just kidding)

The 2 hrs in the morning when I workout, read devotionals, and eat an incredible breakfast (especially the whipped cream covered strawberries)


The 30 minute break I take in the afternoon to go for a walk and grab a cup of coffee

Eating dinner while I watch Sports Center

The 2 hrs in the evening when I read and watch a movie (so far I've watched The Big Lebowski, Airplane, Fletch, Usual Suspects, Bourne Identity, and I'm half way through Bourne Supremacy)...and I'm reading "The Bible in a year"...and C.S. Lewis' Screwtape Letters

Eating lunch at a local guy's (Aziz's) restaurant or with the interpreters on the FOB ....once a week or so

"Cinnamon bread Saturday" when we enjoy the most delicious bread in the world....from the same local guy (Aziz)

"Sunday morning sleep in" day....to include church service in the afternoon

Reading emails from friends/family

Calling home in the evenings

Finally, getting pictures of my triplet nieces and nephew (Audrey, Lydia, and Josiah)

Fortunately I haven't come across any biting dogs or stinging bees.

Hope everyone out there is doing well.

God bless.

Jeff

Sultan Jeff's Stuff to Say #1

Greetings! I'm Andrew's friend, Jeff. I'm writing from beautiful FOB
Salerno...approximately 12 miles from the Pakistan border in the province of Khost (pronounced "Host"). The weather here is beautiful compared to the rest of the country right now. Fortunately for us Khost is in a lower elevation "bowl" surrounded by mountains that keep most of the bad weather out....and the humidity in (can't wait for the summer). So, unlike Andrew, I don't need a bobsled to get to work everyday. Anyway, I thought I'd share a little cultural anecdote I experienced recently in my first blog (I'm a little nervous...so forgive me).

A few days ago I met a really nice guy named Mike. Mike invited me and the rest of the guys I work with to have lunch with a local friend of his, Lucky. A VERY friendly guy. He got his name by being the lone survivor in an IED attack. When he was pulled from his completely destroyed vehicle and found without a scratch on his body....they said, "Man, you're 'lucky'!" His friend, an interpreter, was killed recently by an IED. He's cooked us lunch TWICE (great cook)....and is so generous that he gave my boss and I our very own turbans. I found out later that black means Taliban. So, don't send this picture to the Dept. of Homeland Security....otherwise I may be going straight from here to Gitmo.

I hope everyone is doing well out there. God bless!