International Day 2009

Hello from Kosovo...it keeps coming up so i think i will address it now...Where the hell is Kosovo? Well, kosovo is located in between Serbian and Albania...north of Greece, south of Yugaslovia...basically find a map, put your finger on Italy and head east (thats to the RIGHT)...most likely your map will not have Kosovo on it since it declared its independance 17 Feb 2008 , nine years after NATO led 78 bombing campaign which ended the war of 1999 between KLA forces and Serbian forces...lets not get caught up in the hype...both sides were/are guilty of terrible things...simple as that...but now, regardless of the rhertoric, Kosovo is a country...
I have been on deployment now for roughly 165 days, but whose counting...i've seen a lot here...

Today i attended International Day...a day for all the countries participating in this thing we call a Kosovo Deployment to come together, get some equipment, gear and food and stuff em into a booth and run around and check each other out...this event included live music, awards ceremony for US Volleyball and Basketball champs and plenty of time to run around and talk with our fellow allies about whatever you can without the help of a translator...things were interesting, fun, unforgettable all roled into one...i got to see some old faces and new faces, met some folks who had interesting and meaningful things say as well as the ever so awkward conversation with someone who speaks no english and i dont speak (insert language-Slovenian, French, Italian, Greek, etc). Old faces: The Irish, Slovenians, Italians, Germans. New Faces: Portugese, Latvians and Polish. The ever popluar exchanging of email address in hopes of establishing a long term or at least deployment long friendship via the ever so personal internet...a time to kick back and let the HOOAH/Squared away Army culture down for a bit and relax in a semi-informal enviroment...a chance for folks to talk, walk and just be themselves (to an extent) with out fear of reprisal via counceling statements/lectures or any other form of military punishment..i mean "corrective training".

I got to talk with my old friend Zhelka, a female Slovenian Infantry LT. We worked together many times in Germany as well as see each other at events like the CRC training event, Camp Bondsteel PX or pretty much any time i end up in Pristina...her face has become a welcome site at events...its always a fun time talking to her since i know about 40 words in Slovean and she speaks "okay" english...we spend about half the time we talk trying to work our way out of awkward silence and on to a slightly meaningful conversation...regardless of the language barrier, we are never short of shit to talk about...whether its patrols, life deployed or life back home, we always seem to find a new topic of conversation to battle our way through limited shared vocabulary...its fun...shes as cold hearted, unpolished and vulgar as I which is probably the main reason we are able to carry on conversations...i seem to keep offending foreign soldiers with the language, though it should come to no suprise...Infantry is known for its lack of tact in pretty much any and ever situation...

I also got the chance to talk with my many Irish friends (no translator needed). Their hospitality and ever cheerful attitude is a much welcome change to the normal greeting i recieve far to frequently hear at Bondsteel. I had the pleasure of spending a day at Camp Clarke with them, touring their base, learning about their weapon systems, touring there Area of Responsability (AOR) as well as sit in their bar and watch as the Irish Soccer team played Bulgaria for spot in the world cup. Gift of the Gab does these men little justice...there stories and manorisms are far more entertaining then anything i have seen so far deployed...the relative joy and constant smiles as we went about the day were ... almost inspiring...my morale was lifted ten fold just by sitting in there "rec-room" drinking coffee and commenting on the days events...everyone we met wanted to know where we were from, what we did before we came to kosovo, ever detail of our lives were set out on a table...it was great...there chaplain, what can you say about an Irish Priest...hes an Irish Priest...his very presence was uplifting and brought a smile to your face...

All in all today was a good day...lots to think about...plenty happened i didnt mention, plenty happened i sadly dont remember...but alas...life goes on...tomorrow, God willing, i will wake up...and will continue doing what i do hear in Kosovo...rest assured there will be plenty of drama, events, topics and randomness in the near future for me to write/blog/bitch about...until then...

"To do what ought to be done, but would not have been done unless I did it, I thought to be my Duty" -Phi Delta Theta