Blogs from East, Kosovo, Europe - page 2

Just another little adventure with Dave and Davina. All the soldiers had completed the out-processing at Camp Atterbury, been flown home to their families and there they were. Two tired soldiers just waiting to return to Kosovo the next day. So what do they do? They go to the races!! I couldn’t believe it. The races, yup, officially we headed out to experience THE GREATEST RACE COURSE IN THE WORLD! Neither had been to the race course that played host to the Indianapolis 500 and the Brickyard 400, and Dave was so excited that at the crack of dawn he was up and rearing to go. We got to the race track so early we were able to have biscuits and gravy for breakfast. It was to be a simple day, just spend a couple of ... read more

This could be a really exciting trip and I’m so excited that Dobie and Davina asked me to travel with them. We are going back to the United States! If you remember I’m from Hawaii so a trip to the mainland is a pretty big deal. I’ve only read about where we are going through previous blogs so now I get to experience the adventure myself. Our journey started at a crazy hour, I never dreamed I would have to get up at 0300 in the morning and to be honest I never want to do it again. Why does the army seem to think that we have to do everything so early? I suppose if there has been one thing I have learned from those two…It doesn’t help anything to complain. Seriously though, we ... read more

It’s days like today that can challenge the best of us. It has been rainy and drizzly all week. The clouds are so low that there are times that Camp Bondsteel is actually a part of the low lying clouds. Not unlike the Seasonal Affective Disorder, appropriately referred to by the acronym "S.A.D", here in Kosovo it feels like if only the weather could change we could be done with these feelings. In many instances we seem to be experiencing “winter depression”, and between the endless challenges with weather and just the normal tirades with a deployment, this can be challenging. This winter depression has grabbed ahold of me recently and I seem to be exhibiting all the normal symptoms to include: trying to over-sleep and having the overwhelming urge to "hibernate", serious cravings for carbohydrate ... read more

It isn’t everyday in Kosovo that I wake up, stumble out onto the deck and marvel at the beauty of my surroundings. It wasn’t just the perfect sight of Mount Duke, which appeared to be so close that I could reach out and touch it. It wasn’t that the temperature was 50 degrees at 10:00 in the morning which was so warm that I didn’t even put my jacket on. It wasn’t even the friendliness of the little orange kitten that was rubbing up against my leg begging for some attention. I think maybe I was having some serious spring fever symptoms! I didn’t have any inside wallowing thoughts about how much time we still had left to endure the Kosovo experience. Rather, I was all excited about what today might bring. It had indeed been ... read more

There I was, standing tall at mail call and it must have been my lucky day because the mail clerk called my name. “Dobie, you got you a small package, looks like it’s from Hawaii,” she hollered out. I was running fast trying to get to my very first package here in Kosovo. On the outside of the package there was a contents listing and it read “Coconut”. Now why in the world would anybody send me a coconut over here in the Balkans? I was so excited I ripped into it like it was Christmas all over again! Much to my surprise inside the box contained “Coconut”, not a coconut… Oh my gosh, was she ever cute! Her eyes were so big and round and she had this smile that was sweet and sincere. I ... read more