Y’know how, in the the temperate forest biome in which most of us live, before and after it rains, there’s that “rain smell”? The one that smells all fresh and full of life? In Afghanistan, that smell smells like dirt.

I’m all packed and ready for my move to Camp Phoenix, but can’t leave Salerno until Shpetim, my replacement, gets here. He left Kabul today, but he’ll probably get stuck at Bagram like I did, so I don’t really know when he’ll get here. I’m anxious to get to Camp Phoenix to meet up with my new Macbook Pro and, allegedly, my very own shipping container in which to live.

There are was an article about Dean Ween and his love of fishing in the Stars & Stripes this week. I thought that was odd. I wonder if my mom still mows the yard in my old homemade Ween t-shirt. Mom?

Another month! We made it through Ramadan and Eid without anything too dramatic happening here. Some folks expected a major attack. But it was pretty quiet.

I’ll be heading to Camp Phoenix on October 20th, which is pretty exciting. The bad news is that it’s not actually inside Kabul. It’s a few miles outside of the city, and it looks just like Salerno. And I doubt I’ll be able to actually get into Kabul proper. But it’s still a break in the monotony. And apparently I’ll have my very own shipping container to live in. I just realized I haven’t posted any photos of my living quarters here. I’ll get on that.

I’m a little bummed that I’m missing out on a proper Fall. It’s still a balmy 95 degrees or so during the day. Apparently it’s much colder in Kabul. It’s supposed to snow and everything. That might make getting out in December a little challenging.