We had our first 2 beers a few days ago! Ah, there's nothing better than drinking cold beer on a nice hot day. After a whole month of no alcohol, every sip felt like the first. I saved my second beer and the next day I went on the roof by myself. I drank my beer with the Arabic nuts I received from back home. It sure felt like home.

It's sure getting hot here. During the walks, you will be soaking wet no matter what. So every shadow we are under is a plus, every small breeze we get is refreshing. We have two options when it comes to which path we take. Main roads or Cross country. First one is obvious. Cross country is exceptional. Going over walls, walking on walls, walking through marshy fields is not so fun, especially at night time when you can't make out the distance over a waterway. The only fun we get out of this is watching buddy fall. Igor who is behind me had many laughs. I fell so many times in so many ways that I started laugihng too. Falling down walls, falling face first in muddy water is something. When you come out muddy and sweaty on the other side, you say you've been through Vietnam.

We have two K9 handlers with us. They both come form 2 different countries, one from the Philippines and the other from Tanzania. Both have backgrounds so different from one another and yet they both ended up having similar jobs. It's funny in a way how people who come from struggling countries have no choice, but to come to Warstan to get a well paid job to support their families back home. And on the other hand, most of us NATO soldiers choose to come play in the sandbox. We have so many choices back home, yet we chose differently. What drives us to come halfway around the world into the unknown is a question I will not answer, because there are many reasons behind it and I'm not a good debater.

About a month ago, a friend went to the laundry room and opened the drying machine to find an explosive inside. this created havoc in the base. It didn't last long before they found out that it was only a training explosive used by one of the K9 handlers to train his dog.

What drives a trained dog to do his job, to risk his life searching for real explosives? A Biscuit. If only our reasons were as simple as the dogs'.

I'm out now. Next time you hear from me will be from Thailand!

It has been almost a month I’m in Warstan and in a country so far away and unknown for most people, every day is a different day. Every day I wake up not knowing what I will see on the job, who I will meet, what news I will hear from the outside world. It’s the not knowing that thrills me and scares me at the same time.

The walks in the villages have become frequent. Most of these villagers live off their crop and their lifestyle has been the same for hundreds maybe even thousands of years. You take a walk in these villages and look at these simple people who are working in their fields and minding their business in their own bubble. It doesn’t look like a warzone; instead it looks so peaceful… until shit hits the fan just like when an unexpected rain falls on a clear sunny day. My sergeant always tells us, we don’t decide when the rain falls, they do.

Who are they?

I like to express them as the Lost Cause group. From my understanding, these people; these combatants; these jihadists; these freedom fighters; these insurgents… that fight us are lost in their cause. They are illiterate, uneducated and lost souls who fight for their property, their family and their belief. They are only chess pieces to someone’s agenda. This someone makes his pieces believe that whatever they are fighting for is really fundamental on a bigger scale and their evidently righteous path will take them to absolution.

It is true that you get to meet new people here almost every day. Yesterday I was playing volleyball with Warstani soldiers. To my surprise, they were playing like pros. I thought my days of volleyball playing back in Canada would help me, but I was wrong. I came out to be the weakest link in my team. After the game, the Warstani soldiers invited me for tea. I gladly accepted the invite. I brought an interpreter with me because of the language barrier. As I got into their barrack, curious faces turned towards me. Instead of tea, they had supper set up, Warstani style. They insisted me to eat with them. Out of respect, I had to accept even though I had supper an hour before. I sat down on the carpet, refusing the fork they were offering. I told them I would be one of them tonight, sitting and eating like them. Being a lefty, the first mistake I did was eating with my left hand. I corrected that quickly. After supper, we had tea. We told stories about our countries, our lives, our differences.

All these curious tired faces were all staring at me, listening carefully to my stories. Usually I’m the quiet shy person when I’m surrounded by a group of people. But here I was the center of attention. The leader of this group asked me a question. What of the future of our country? I thought for awhile. Tough question. Then in a few words, I explained to them. Warstan had peaceful times, and with help from outside, this country will see the light of day again, on a longer term. I wasn’t so sure about the longer term part...