Day 16 & 17

Hola everyone. Sorry that I havent been on the blogger recently...My flight to Bagram was delayed 12 hrs....yes 12 hrs go figure? :) Well Im safe and sound up north in Afghanistan now and my boss and I will be here till Monday. Today is new yrs eve and Im GONNA try to call some people up at least my family and if they let me use the phone up here a lil longer, then a few friends. Everyone is gonna try to call home at the same time so dont be surprised if I call at a weird hour because of that. Anywho, nothing really new here. Oh well there is sort of some new news. Well my boss is Korean and the reason why we are up here is because he is ministering to Korean soldiers here stationed in Bagram. Its been "different" for me because we are living in their quarters too. So Im like one of VERY few that only speaks english on these side of the fences and the only thing I got in common with Korean soldiers is PING PONG!! HaHa, I played for a few hrs with some of them. I think I played like 10 games and lost 9 of them. They are VERY VERY good at ping pong..go figure! :) And one good thing I can say about Korean soldiers is that they are the POLITEST people that I know. I mean, I feel like a king here...they stare at me, bow to me, get out of my way, etc. lol Dont know if all of that is good but I like it :) Ok peeps, out of here again. Let me get a few shout outs here before I forget.

Dyan: Thank you for the masks (lol) Im sure my soldiers and even my friends would love those masks, thank you. and YES! Nip Tuck! I told some friends about that and cracked up haha.

Nicole: Thank you as well for making me a care package. It means so much to me. You are becoming a special person to me... :) Whether being a friend and possibly a girlfriend in the future, you are special to me.

Faith: You never did email me that dream? lol And Christina n I are good. We are not together but I keep in contact with her. Flirty at times, but thats about it ;) You know how I am. :)

Vanessa: I miss you!!! haha :) Yep, thats all you get.

Day 15

Still raining. Suppose to rain here in Kandahar until Saturday afternoon. As of this morning, both our shower tents are flooded, all chow halls are closed down due to flooding, 8 out of 10 roads are closed and our offices here at headquarters are closing down tomorrow because the water is 2 inches away from flooding that. But good news for my boss and I. We are flying out of Kandahar to go to Bagram at 2am in the morning over here. Which means, I can call alot of people that I would like to talk to on the phone because Ill be up :) So Vanessa, Ill be calling and I would love to talk to your mom too. My boss and I will be flying in and out of the bases we take care of for the next 10-12 days so hopefully when we come back here to Kandahar, it will be cleared up. Wasnt really ecstatic about eating MRE's for the next week. Anywho, Faith!!! Glad you can join us on my blogger :) I miss you too. How are you and Joe doing? And what kind of dream are we talking about here? lol Thanks Nicole for your prayers and thoughts. It means more and more to me everyday here since in a way, Im by myself representing Ft. Meade over here. Dyan, Dyan...Dyan.....Oh by the way Vanessa, your mom IS HILARIOUS :) Friends of mine and myself wearing surgical masks watching Nip/Tuck? LOL Only someone like her can come up with something like that ;) Dont worry Nessa, your pretty funny too haha. Dyan, you are becoming more dear to me everytime you write in my blogger. Granted, I liked you alot when I was still with Vanessa several months back but you have become one of my special moms...and I hope my mom wont be reading this anytime soon! haha Ok, time to go back to Waterworld...I hope to hear from you all soon...this blogger is turning out to be more of a HUGE 6 month email than a journal :) I dont care, Im gonna read back on these and laugh it off. You all are too much.

p.s.- As far as food Dyan, I would also like some slim jims and ANY other kind of beef jerky out there! Its my workout meals at the gym over here everyday. And "grandma's peanut butter cookies"! If you dont know what they are, just ask the grocery clerk, Im sure they will know. Other than that, Im squared away here :) Nip Tuck!! Yay :) I still want to watch all of season 1 Vanessa! I havent watched the show since we watched it.

Day 14

Its been raining non-stop the last 3 days. Since it NEVER rains here, almost 3/4 of our base is flooded of some sort. There is no where to run, only one chow hall is open but even that one is half flooded too. Very few offices are open (like mine) because our building is sitting on top of huge cinderblocks. BUT even our office is only about a foot away from flooding. I believe the last thing I heard was the water is about 9 inches deep on the ground. Certain places its actually a few feet. Ridiculous over here. Enough about me!!! Even though this is my journal :) Actually Dyan, there is only one thing that comes to mind that I would like to have :) The only reason why I mention it to you because only Vanessa knows about it!!! I would LOVE to have the DVD set of "Nip Tuck" season 1 or if season 2 is out that one as well. Ill pay Vanessa when I get back to give to you if you can do that for me!! HaHa. Ok, enough about that. Thanks for telling me my poem sucked. I appreciate that Dyan. Wait a minute, you said it was good! haha thank you Ma. Speaking of Vanessa, tell her to say hi on here! Just because she is home with you doesnt mean she cant spill a few words on here either :) Ok, off back to work now. TaTa

Day 13

Seems pretty quiet here on this blog. Its ok though. Ill just have to keep my self entertained I suppose...(twiddles fingers)...Ok Im bored already! I miss everyone talking to me! HaHa. Anyways, once again nothing new here. Finally get that ping pong game back with my boss. Tomorrow morning. Lets see if he shows up this time. And oh, before I forget, Yes Dyan! I would love those surgical masks :) It is very very dusty here. We had our first ALL DAY/ALL NIGHT rain here in like 9 months! Or so I heard. Ok, well like I said earlier, not much going on here at all. Ive been catching up on my gaming on my computer...thats been entertaining :) And I know what my new years resolution is...Getting close to being ripped as I can before the summer comes along!! It isnt gonna be a terribly off the wall feat but it will be demanding. I already lost 4 1/2 pounds in a week. That seems like a good start to me. Ok peeps and peepettes, get back at me!

Day 12

Not much going on here. I got my first day off since I arrived in Afghanistan over a week and a half ago. Just chillin out today. Doing my laundry, checking the ole email and getting some of my uniforms alterated. I got my combat unit patches yesterday so just getting them sewn on. Other than that, pretty peaceful here. Found out that my Chaplain and I are going on our first "convoy" together except its not by ground, but by a helicopter. We are going back to Bagram this Thursday. We should be there for 4-5 days. Hopefully these mini-convoys will help make the days go faster here. Hope to hear from everyone soon.

Merry Christmas! A poem for everyone :)

Im not good with poems, but I figured that I know how to rhyme words a little so here it goes :)

Kandahar, Afghanistan....
Not a place for every man,
could easily get a tan;
just ask all the bearded Taliban!

Stuck here on Christmas Day;
where all the sand flies and scorpions play,
maybe holiday chow on a cardboard tray?
Must be dreaming, so slap me Ok?

Arriving back in June;
When all the blossoms are in full bloom,
Possibly singing a tune? While vacationing in Cancun?
Must be me drunk, barking at the moon.

Not very good at this writing thing;
Never could rock a beat or sing,
Doing my best to let our freedom ring;
In Afghanistan, where all American Soldiers are king :)

Day 10

Ahhh, Christmas Eve. The day you wake up, smile and say "Cait wait till tomorrow morning!" The chances of smelling hot coffee and cocoa in the kitchen is pretty good along with a fully cooked breakfast just minutes away. The anticipation of opening up an early Christmas Eve gift (always has to be the crappy one) and nothing like shopping for last minute gifts at customer-packed stores. And then I realize, oh...Im in Afghanistan! I get to wake up to my annoying alarm clock and my roomate snoring 10 feet away. I get to take a shower in sub-zero weather. I get to eat "relatively" hot chow with the dining hall smelling like a** (they clean the sewage underground every morning). And I work on top of all of that. Thats everyday here at Ft. Verydustyairwithverycoldmorningsworkingtwelvehourdays, Afghanistan. Wow thats a tongue twister. Try saying that over the phone as a greeting? Haha. In all honesty, I never really was a big holiday guy except for my birthday anyway. So it works out ok for me over here. All is well so far and only 5 1/2 months to go! Yipee! I hope everyone enjoys Christmas in the states. And please try not to open the crappiest present on Christmas Eve! lol It happened to me as a kid and Id hate it happen to you now. Enjoy! Miss everybody

Day 9

My boss stood me up this morning! :) We were suppose to play some ping-pong for PT (special activities once a week) and the korean man stood me up. As much as he loves ping pong, it puzzles me...Oh well. Yep, I am at work now. WAITING for him actually to arrive. Ive been here for a week with the sleep adjusting and all and a man thats been here for 8 months cant get to work on time haha. Its ok, I know Im squared away. As much as I just talked about him, he is a great man. He really is. Just teasing him. Anywho, as you can see this COULD be a good day...we will see. Some country stars came onto base yesterday and did a show. Some guy last name was Worley and a couple others...I dont know, I really dont listen to country. Al Franken was here too though :) He did Saturday Night Live back in the day. Awesome guy. He ended up getting a massage beside me (well he was the next one over) but I was star struck what can a say ;) Ok ladies and gents. Oh by the way, where did everyone go? So now that Im over here 11,000 miles away and 9 1/2 hrs ahead everyone wants to just forget about me huh? Ill show you. Ill email you and remind you that Im here! hahaha. Thanks Nicole for staying in touch. Glad someone is thinking of me. HA!

Day 8

Another quiet morning. Its about 845am and just waiting for my boss to get to work. Overheard cadre talking about a mortar attack on a US base in Iraq killing 20+ soldiers and civilians in a Dining Facility tent. Sure enough, checked on yahoo and there it was...the story about it. It makes me kinda worried about what can REALLY happen over here in the middle east and Asia. Not going to lie to you, I dont think about what can happen very much at all here. I got briefings when I first got to Afghanistan about how often we get fired and mortared upon and it just wasnt enough to really trigger my feelings about it. And now that I think about it, 2-3 times a month can get you thinking about it now. I heard that Taliban/Afghan insurgents have the worst aiming in the world, but they still try to kill us. 2-3 times a month being fired/mortared upon can still hit a soft target like a mess hall(dining facility). Lets hope it doesnt happen here EVER...not likely but lets pretend. Everyone is only a little shakened up over here for now. Sorry this wasnt a happy blogger but Im not exactly ecstatic right now either. Maybe tomorrow :) And Vanessa, havent heard from your mom in a few days...thats not like her lol

Day 7

So far so good here in good ole Afghanistan. My boss was able to get me a computer here at work so it will make it MUCH MUCH easier to talk on my blogger now :) Today I dont have much time but starting tomorrow I can elaborate on my days here in Afghanistan. For my re-enlistment options, Im either going to stabilize at Ft. Meade, Md or go to a Stryker Brigade in Hawaii!! Yeah you heard it right. Its not promised to me yet but guess only time will tell. Regardless which one I pick, I should be at Ft. Meade at least till the fall next yr. Ok, this is gonna be a short blog. Sorry about that. Good news is that there is a massage parlor here on base :) I made an appt yesterday for 4pm today here. 50 min massage for $15! Ridiculous I know but they are cheap here. Ok ladies and gents, like I always say, keep those comments coming. :) Oh and Nicole, thank you for the poem, it was real nice. Thank you for keeping me in your prayers. :)

Days 5-6

Well my first real day of work was today and it went pretty well. A little busier than what Im used to but it was a good kind of busy. You can get bored VERY easily here so it was good to be busy. Im restricted on the computer and phone once again because of the limited resources we have so I must apologize. But just think, all of my internet time is on this blogger usually. I went to the retention office (re-enlistment office) today and I plan on re-enlisting for another 4 yrs. Wow, who would have thought Ricky wanted to do another 4 yrs in the army? $10,000 says I will ;) haha. And Vanessa, no I am not checking out the turban girls (thats what they call em over here) it was the other soldiers I was talking about. One thing thats really cool over here is that there are British/French/Romanian soldiers here! Yeah I know! Cool right? Very friendly people let me tell you. And the French/British soldier girls are little hotties let me add ;) Ok Ill shut up about the girls. And Dyan, Im just scoping not groping haha...(it rhymed with scoping, teehee) Ive been a good boy, promise. I miss you too Nicole. Heck, I miss everyone. But I like it here a little. Its gonna grow on me pretty soon I can tell. Ok when I have more time, Ill talk some more. There are some things that I left out that I will get to next time. Till then, keep them comments up! I love reading them. See ya

Day 4

Ah HAH!!! Im in Kandahar now and Im FINALLY...FINALLY...FINALLY settled in once in for all. Granted, my job is going to take me all over Afghanistan days at a time but I finally have a room that I can call home. So thats what matters to me now. Other than that, nothing else new here. The base is a little smaller than Bagram which is a plus and my living quarters are MUCH nicer than up there as well. Hotter women too :) Def. a plus...sorry Dyan. Well, once again I will be avidly waiting for all of your posts and comments. If I didnt thank everyone enough with these posts, I WILL THANK YOU AGAIN :) Thank you. Well off to get some grub. ME starving

Day 3

Good news. Found out that I leave for Kandahar in like 5 hrs or so. Bad news. Its like 330am in the morning! lol So I fly in the middle of the night. Its actually ok because Im still working backwards here. Sleeping during the day, out at night (I wish I was out at night if ya know what I mean) Which is also kinda good because Im still up when you all are still up over there in the States so it makes it much easier to contact u all. Gonna keep this one short though because I want to make this the day that I make phone calls to most of you. So be watching out for me! :)

Day 2

Finally got a room to stay in and found the people who I would be working for...only one catch...They are diverting me to Kandahar now!!! To give you an idea of whats going on, Im in Bagram now. Which is where my orders have me going. And instead, the NCOIC over here wants me in Kandahar. Afghanistan is the size of Texas and the move is like going from Amarillo, Tx to Corpus Christi, Tx. (About 500 miles or so). So, I said "OK" and now they moved me to transit until tomorrow. (2 days from u all now). I hop on a C-130 and go down there for the remainder of my deployment. So Im still not settled in yet (AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!) lol Fustrating let me tell you. Oh...I am haha :) Thanks once again Vanessa and Dyan for the posts I do appreciate it. Im still waiting for my family to put some posts on here but found out that the computer at home is down so now I dont feel upset about it. But Ill probably be using the phone tomorrow to call the unit and calling the family and probably you too Vanessa so be looking for it. Oh, and thanks Dyan for the cadence counts...hilarious :) Your more of a soldier mom then I thought you were. Definetly do miss everyone from over here. Its more lonelier than anticipated. But one good bit of information had brightened up my day...a $10,000 bonus for reinlistment in 2 weeks. :) And of course the rest of the extra money u get for being over here. Rooooom! Rooooom! What sound does that make? Ill let ya only guess :) Ok, outta here till tomorrow (Actually it is like 1am in the morning over here I think). Adios!

"The Eagle has landed"...In Afghanistan that is

Well folks, Im finally here in good ole Afghanistan. Everyone seems so so far away now...Huh. Ok, well I ended up going through Turkey as expected but we were only there for like an hour or so and everyone wanted to jump on the only computer they had so I didnt even bother. Then 6 hours later we landed in Manas Airforce base in Tgurkistan (I rather call it "Dirka-DirkaSTAN", inside joke on the way to it). We couldnt pronounce it between the few of us and so that was the easiest way to say it haha. We ended up staying there for about 10 hrs. They gave us quarters to chill out in since we all havent gotten any real sleep since the states and that was ok. So I got about maybe 5 hrs or so and went and ventured all around base to see what was up. Ended up going to the "Tent". It was a place where u can play ping pong, pool, open bar, and watching movies in such. They had a stage for bands set up as well. Well I walked in there for reason...I thought I heard Karaoke going in the "Tent" so I checked it out. And what was going on? "Manas AF Base Airmen Idol" (American Idol set up except with airmen haha.) Great idea but man o man, it was bad. They sung their hearts out though, Ill give em that. But they were terrible :) By the time I got out of there, it was about time to leave for Afghanistan. We all hopped on a C-130 (a bulky, slow military plane to u all civilians) and took our good ole time to get to Afghanistan. I ended up landing here around 1230am Afghan time (3pm EST). Found out everything was pretty much closed down except Inprocessing and this Internet cafe that Im in right now. So yes, I have no place to stay till everyone wakes there happy ***** up and no place to work till that happens. So Im walking around like a lost little kid with my nifty little Energizer flashlight till the sun comes up. Oh by the way, it finally has come up :) Good stuff. Ok this post is way too much and I need to stop haha. I feel like a zombie and Im weezing like a 185 yr old man out here (theres more dust than there is oxygen in the air) and its been making me lightheaded since I landed. Hopefully I can get used to that fast. Ok ladies and gents, I will be avidly waiting for your posts...I miss everyone. I mean that.

On my way to Afghanistan

Before I start off this blog, I just want to say that Both Dyan and Vanessa are nuts! haha. And Im not taking that back ;) I had a ribeye last night thank you very much :) Anywho, Im in Frankfurt, Germany as we speak. Its like 4pm here (10am over on EST USA) and it actually feels like it...weird. I slept on the plane the WHOLE time! I actually only got up twice to go to the restroom and when we had a late night dinner at like 330am EST. Last night was not cool at all though. We were scheduled to leave the United States at 745pm. When did we leave? Im glad you ask :) We left at 2am EST. Yes! 2am! RIDICULOUS. Did I spell that right? Anyways, Im here now and we are actually departing for Turkey in about an hour or two so I didnt really experience much here in Germany. German girls are hott though :) I did notice that ;) Ok, ladies and gents Im off. Hopefully I get to type on my blogger in Turkey! Thats our next stop. I think its another 8 hr flight just like to Germany. Adios! I want more posts! :)

Day 14 of CRC @ Ft. Benning, Ga

Sunday...today is my last full day at Ft. Benning, Ga. I slept like a baby for hours this morning and got up and ate. NO WORK, no training, no nothing. It was bliss. Nice way to cap off the training here at Ft. Benning. I leave for Baltimore early in the morning and should be up there most of the day tomorrow. Hope it isnt too long so I can get over there and get the tour over with. Not much else to really say except that I got this stage done of deployment and Im finally going over there to do my job. Wish me luck and please keep in touch people. Im going to need it......

Day 13 of CRC @ Ft. Benning, Ga

Well good news and some bad news...I found out I have a flight to BWI this Monday morning on the 13th of December. Bad news is, I have to go to the Military Liasson or the USO to get a "Space A" flight to Germany. If its not one thing, its the other down here in Ft. Benning. I thought Ft. Meade was jacked up but man o man, Ft. Benning is much worse. Who would have thought? But I do get to get out of this area thank God. So I will be at BWI for a long layover...who knows how long its gonna last. Maybe a half day, maybe even a few days. So Ill be sure to call people to maybe do something while I wait. Thank you Vanessa for posting. Im glad Im actually thought of over there. Be sure to invite them to check out my blog? The website is http://rcortez3865.blogspot.com Ok see ya laters! Gonna go see Blade Trinity tonight

Days 11-12 of CRC @ Ft. Benning, Ga

I am finally finished with all the deployment training. Its about 1:30pm now and it feels great that the weekend is gonna start early. Dont know what Im gonna do yet. Maybe head back up to Maryland in a rental car for the weekend or just stay around the area and maybe see a few movies or just go out. The great thing is that its finally over. The last obstacle to go over is waiting for the flight to Germany to go to Afghanistan. Some say we are leaving this Monday morning and some say maybe even as late as next weekend. So between the next 3-10 days, Im leaving for sure. I dont know if I can stand this place much longer!! Going out to the city (Atlanta) is great, but here during the week on base just plain sucks. Ok, Im out of here. Please feel free to post (actually I encourage it) and talk to you all soon. Peace

Days 8-10 of CRC @ Ft. Benning, Ga

Training the last few days have been tiring and boring for the most part...but thats nothing new. You gotta do what ya gotta do ya know? :) My last day of training is this Friday (thank God!) but today was the start of our hardest days of training. Well, I wouldnt necessarily say its hard but the most grueling. Low crawling, high crawl, 3-5 second rushes, how to evacuate a humvee in direct fire/indirect fire, etc... There is alot more to it but I dont feel like explaining it haha. We have 2 more days of this and that will be it. Also found out today that I will NOT be leaving until at least the 19th of December. Yeah I know, this is getting out of control but trust me, I already had my spasm attack about it. Thanks Dyan for posting me a message! I had no idea I sent you my photo album though!! I apologize for that. I still love you though :) Tell Vanessa I said hi :) Ok ladies and gents, post me some more comments! Maybe Ill give you a shout out too :) Chow

Day 7 of CRC @ Ft. Benning, Ga

Well we ended up going to Atlanta last night and it was WELL worth it. Ended up going to some former country club turned hip hop club and it was interesting. A divided mix of hip/hop and countr(ied) out people haha...Just thought it was funny watching girls and guys with cowboy hats dancing to Jay-Z and LL Cool J. It was cool though. I got pretty toasted on Long Islands and ended up spending about $50 alone. I know, thats way too much money to spend on alcohol but when they are $6 a drink, it does get expensive. I have one more week of training left till I go to Afghanistan. Time is creeping up to go. Found out Friday that we are going through Germany for a few days before we actually touchdown in Afghanistan. Never been to Europe before. Hope to get to enjoy it going through. Ok ladies and gents, off to bed. I got NO sleep last night and I cant keep doing that!!! haha

Days 4-6 of CRC @ Ft. Benning, Ga

Wow...my first week is finally done down here in Ga. Im getting relaxed here a bit since Ive been down here. Even my roomates are getting easier to be aquainted with since we HAVE to live with each other. I got one of the bottom bunks and Ive made it my own. Got my little DVD/TV set up in my little corner of the bed, all of my army gear (ALOT OF GEAR) in a small area on the side and my alarm clock/cell/wallet, etc in a little fold out chair beside my bed. So I think its safe to say they dont give you hardly any space at all down here. But its been ok. Cant complain. Well, looks like my new friends and I are either going to Atlanta, Ga tonight or Pensacola, Fl. We havent decided which one yet. One of my friends is under 21 so we have to go to some 18+ place tonight. Which is cool. I dont mind flirting with some younger chicks ;) Ok ladies and gents, my time is up on this damn computer. It sickens me that from PVT-COL, they only give us freakin 30 min of internet a night. Post any comments you like!!! Thanks to Rachel and Vanessa that has so far ;) Feel free to post more ladies...much appreciated.

Day 3 of CRC @ Ft. Benning, Ga

I spent the whole damn day at the firing range. Did it suck? YES Did it take all day (LITARALLY ALL DAY)? YES Did I take a shower, feel real clean and got food in my system afterwards? YES. haha, just wanted to throw in the last sentence. As you can see, I can get bored but gonna go out tonight and find something to do. They have a van that goes out into the city of Columbus, Ga on the hour but our curfew is like 9pm. Treating us like little boot camp trainees. I know it sucks, but most of the worst is already over. Just a bunch of classes on weapons, security, hostage, first aid and a few other classes. Found out that my FLIGHT date to Afghanistan is 11 Dec. At least I know that now ya know? Ok, off to town! See what I can get myself into.