Foxholes and Dogtags

Letnica MEDCAP: Take 3

Letnica has an old catholic church located there that's called the Church of the Black Madonna. It's world famous, as Mother Theresa started her nunnary there. I had the opportunity to go inside of it, but missed my chance due to circumstances that I can't describe here.

Ok, that likely perked up some people's curiosity.

Anyway, the streets were pretty narrow, we had to park at the base of the hill and walk to the school on narrow streets, following the HMMW-Vs which were moving very carefully around. On the way back down, a couple horses ran one of the Colonols off the road.

I don't think the rider meant to do it, the horses proved to be rather finicky. But I got some good pictures regardless.

Whenever we have MEDCAPS, generally the Kosovar Police Force (they're correct name escapes me at present) comes along because if Kosovo gains its independence, they will likely become the military force and they are trying to build relations with its people. Kosovo is a province of Serbia, however due to the fact that most of Kosovo is Albanian and Albanians and Serbs don't always get along. Anyway, Kosovo is an international Protecterate until they can decide whether to give it independence, give it back to Serbia, or just keep it in the same state as it has been. Regardless, none of the answers will please everybody.

Anyway, this is one of the Kosovar Military guys in his uniform. I asked if I could get a picture with him, he was more then happy to oblige.

I'm taking far to long to get this all posted. . .

Army Times Plugs

Internet Military Goodness knows no bounds. Which is a good thing.

I've heard a lot about this army times article titled "blogs of war" because people keep talking to me like I'm saying something I shouldn't be. My response is, "Well, I want to talk about something, and unfortunately Iraq is stealing all of the glory of war right now, and Kosovo isn't really that exciting military wise, in regards to getting shot up at least. Which is a good thing, but a bad thing when it comes to drama."

I'm riding a fine line of trying to give a detailed account on what life is like in today's army on a deployment that is a far cry from the hazards of war but still considered a technical hostile fire zone. And I think an online journal has a lot of people questioning me in what I say, which is a pity, because I want to say more. I want to blog more then I do, but I feel like I'm going to get called in the commander's office and told to 'watch it'.

Apparently I need to dig up this issue, as there is a lot about Milbloggers in it.

Meanwhile, just learned about this website, called Faces of the Fallen, which I think should be heavily plugged as it is an amazing idea, I wish I would have been able to contribute, being an artist myself. (or at least a wannabe artist) That is one exhibit I would love to be able to see in person. Maybe by the time I get back home, it will be making the rounds touring the country.

Maybe I should work on getting back into drawing while I'm here. I feel like I'm missing out.

Meanwhile, I've found another project I might consider getting into, if I had something to write about that is.

Letnica MEDCAP: Take 2

The good Captain had a bunch of people send us personal hygiene, toys, clothes and goodies to give to the people of Kosovo that we ended up giving out at the Letnica MEDCAP, as previously mentioned. If you want to get an office pool going, you can send us stuff too, we do MEDCAPS monthly, and you can send items to this address.

Kami Erickson, SGT
ATTN: MEDCAP
Task Force Med Falcon
Camp Bondsteel Kosovo
APO AE 09340, USA

(it should cost the same as sending it in states)

The kids here are rather precocious little rascals, but generally good humored and don't take it personally when we tell them "no more!" They just keep coming back. We learned our lesson this time, we'll make sure they don't do anything to us the next time we're in town giving away free goodies. Like swarm us in great numbers as soon as our interpreter leaves for a quick bite to eat.

We got really good at speaking the universal language (which is depicted through stern looking features and pointing at the door, usually accompanied by a heavy grunt), considering very few people spoke much english.

We gave every kid a sack with a bar of soap, some toothpaste, and other things such as toothbrushes, mirrors, chapstick, lotion, shampoo, etc, depending on what we could get in what sack. We generally gave the younger ones a toy and we gave out clothes as we found kids who could fit into them. People also donated scarves, hats, and so on and so forth. Shoes were popular, but they also proved to be a pain in the butt. Every kid wanted a pair of shoes, and were resiliant on taking them even if they didn't fit their feet. It was a good thing when they were finally gone.

When all the healthy things were given out, we also gave the kids candy that had been donated, which was a good way to make sure the dentists had something to do. The dentists were pulling teeth. Ouch.

Maybe we should give out something like granola bars and fruit juice drinks next time? Well, at least something healthy to go with the toothpaste instead of pure unadultarated sugar. The Toothpaste was a popular item, by the way, we had gobs of it and people were frequently asking for it.

Letnica MEDCAP

Went on my first ever MEDCAP since I've been here and had an absolute blast! Letnica is nestled in the mountains in Kosovo close to the FYROM/Kosovo border.

The MEDCAP was sponsored by TASK FORCE TORNADO, who it appears has their own weblog (and will likely have pictures posted from the MEDCAP). Since I've been tasked to do the TASK FORCE MED FALCON website, I might be setting up a blog for our purposes too.

I think I've been recruited to play Co-ed soccer with their otherwise all male battalion.

Anyway, we got up bright and early on Sunday to head over to Letnica for an all day Medical Support Mission. The purpose of the MEDCAPs are to provide medical support for the community and to build rapore with people of Kosovo. It also provides us with medical training and an excuse to visit communities outside the wire.

This was a Kodak Moment. I took a lot of pictures, but I think I will post them in several blog posts.

Anyway, the community of Letnica is one of the oldest in Kosovo. It was actually a rather picturesque little village set within the mountains in the South. The roads were narrow and we had to walk up to the school where the MEDCAP was being held.

The school was in pretty decent repair considering across the way was the old school which was busted up pretty good. Our section had the task of giving away stuff to people to help with Morale, such as clothes, toys, personal Hygiene and so on and so forth. We mostly catered to kids (who turns out are particularly stubborn and want a lot from you) and ended up depending greatly on our interpreter to handle the mob. However, the moment she left, they were on us like wolves on prey.

Ah well, I had a blast. Afterward, we got together in a circle and played Soccer with some of the kids, kicking the ball back and forth. HOwever, a couple of times it got kicked into the water, which had questionable contents. After that, I stopped playing.

Apparently, this is just one MEDCAP of many. So far it has been a true highlight of my trip here. I'll be sure to get more pictures posted. The Captain had people from his home town send us stuff and he wanted to send them something back to show the people who recieved their goodwill. I didn't want to let him down. More to come over the next few days.

That, and I got some great pictures of some horses!

Getting Around

People are pretty creative here in regards to their transportation. If it has three wheels and a motor (or four feet), they will use it. In fact, getting around has proven to be rather entertaining in a certain degree, especially some of the vehicles people use.

I don't know what this is, I can't say for sure myself, but I found it amusing, and resourceful. You don't see things like that running around the states.

I think this is the same thing, but you can't tell.

This is the first ox drawn cart I've seen.

We see horses everywhere, but always pulling things, never actually being ridden. These horse drawn carts are very common, they are usually around pulling wooden logs around. They either use these logs to heat the house or to prop up cement floors, because they sure don't build with them.

The Kosovar usually decorate their animals such as shown above. These horses definitely put their work in.

You come across people in the road quite frequently. Everything is on the road and using them. The danger here is not IEDs and being shot at, it's getting from point A to Point B. People can drive like Maniacs here.

Sometimes, the transportation just doesn't go anymore. . .

That's a tractor. Pulling a cow.

DOn't ask what this is. We're not exactly sure, but they are everywhere. It's a rotatiller pulling a wagon, or something. But whatever it is, we've come up with a name for them.

We call them Kosovo Harley's.

This is the repair shop I was telling you about. I didn't realize they actually dealt in this vehicle, but they are in deed quite common.

Dad, do you think you want one?

Proof that the American culture has seaped into third world countries. What astounded me was the time I saw the Hummer. No, not a military HMMW-V. This was an H2, bright red. In KOSOVO! What was that doing here?

Structures of Kosovo

So this week, I took my camera out and started taking pictures of the surrounding area on our way to other basecamps or whatever. Considering all of these pictures are being taken from a moving vehicle, there is only so much you can do.

Proof of a war torn country, exhibit A. A brick house on stilts.

Most of the houses here are made with brick foundation, they have a rich red soil here and very scrawny trees, so wooden houses are kind of unheard of. The European Union came in and built a whole bunch of houses by starting the brick foundations and letting the Kosovar come back and finish them. A lot of these houses are unfinished and empty because a lot of people have left for good. A lot of them remain unfinished also because they can't get taxed on the house if it has no windows.

This seems like a metal dumping ground or something.

This is a Serbian Orthodox church. KFOR soldiers are not supposed to go inside of them, but it is part of our job to protect them. Many of these structures are hundreds of years old.

I don't know what it is about this quiet little building on the side of the creek, but I really like it. You can't really see it by the picture, but there is trash littering that creek bed.

This is a broken and battered wall along the road of one of the Kosovar villages. many of the villages look very much the same, this is a structure that is very common.

Right along the side of the road, this road is about the best you'll get here. Two lane highways everywhere you go. It kind of gives you a good idea of the standard scene in any given village.

Ruins from '99.

More Ruins. . .

This is a typical street off the beaten path.

Not an uncommon sight on the road, passing up our fellow HMMW-V's in a convoy.

Tomorrow, I think i'll show some of the vehicles people use around here. They get pretty creative with what they drive.

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