Marjah blog 1: One more Pop Tart into the breech?

I moved to my new home in the district of Marjah last week and am now working with the US Marines. This is a very different set-up to Patrol Base (PB) Shazad and working with a British battalion HQ.  My new base, "Marjah District Centre", is manned by around 45 Marines who have the job of protecting the District Governor, the District Centre - the local centre of governance - and my colleagues and I in the District Stabilisation Team.

Small is definitely beautiful. Our home here is, compared to the monastic Spartandom life of Shazad, really well-equipped. I even have a shower and hot water in my room. For those of you who have followed my adventures with outdoor cold showers in the middle of last winter, you will know that this is a MAJOR bonus.  And Marjah DC does not have the same frantic tempo of a battalion HQ. It's all a lot more leisurely and calm. My US Marine colleagues are excellent. Nothing is too much trouble, they are relaxed, easy-going and easy to get on with. I sometimes get out of bed about 8am. Wow!

So, you ask, were is the "but"? And, yeah, there is one: food.  How does the US expect its finest warriors to live on a diet of Coke, caffeine-enriched drinks (the new Coke) and Pop Tarts. After only one week I've had more than enough of them and crave for something that grew on a plant or tree and doesn't have the label "now with extra caffeine" and contains "added maltodextrin". Man, it's like living on intravenous Red Bull. Does anyone ever sleep? CAN anyone ever sleep??

Thankfully I still have kilos of Lavazza. Offering him a fresh coffee, the excellent US Marines Commanding Officer wryly commented that you could always rely on the Brits to produce something with style and taste - while the US produce it quickly and in a can...... 'nuff said.

Marjah district is making good progress in terms of the services it can provide its 60,000 or so citizens. The US Marines have largely driven the Taliban out and have them pinned down in the fringes. Schools are springing up and I was at the ground-breaking ceremony a couple of days ago for the building of a Comprehensive Health Care centre. With assistance from the US Marines, the Afghan National Army has even established a community ambulance service here. That's pretty amazing for Afghanistan.

So lots of adventures ahead and this promises to be a fascinating 6 months. As long as I can find something to eat other than Pop Tarts.