I've recently been offered a position at the NATO base/air field in Kandahar and am considering it (civilian). Anyone been? Anyone with experience on military bases in the Middle East?
Gonna get paid at least $100,000 tax free with two week trip with airfare to anywhere in the world? That the minimum I hear for working in Iraq as an interpreter (I have family in Iraq and ones that recently moved away)
A buddy of mine just finished a contract there. Not a lot to do, but not unliveable. You can earn an assload of money, so go for it if you want to take the risk. My friend who was there sandbagged the whole top of the trailer he was living in in case of mortar fire.
DaRizzle- Something like that but a lot more vacation time, about two months, including a couple of round trips as well as bonuses for vacation expenses.
I know there have been some rocket attacks on the base but so far no Canadians have been killed (or injured, IIRC). I dunno where they house the civilian tents compared to the military ones.
"Dude, hanging out in Khandahar is so beat. I hear there's a kick ass kegger going on in Waziristan and the chicks are SO hot..."
Literally. Actually the weather is cool there right now, about 54 deg, headed into rainy season (Jan-Feb., IIRC). I suppose I could cool off beside Emerald Lake.
man, that sounds so not-so-fresh. I think I'll cross that base off my must-visit list. It was all the way up to 13,234th on the list before I read that. barfo
I have been next door to Turkmenistan. I hated it. I just felt too vulnerable, too much a western target. Nothing bad happened, but I sure was happy when I left after a week.
You are really rolling the dice on this one. Unless you can retire off it, I would think twice before thinking another 1,000 times until deciding not to do it. Short of maybe Pakistan in the tribal areas, Afghanistan is pretty much dead last on my list of places to be. It's sad really, my father went there in the early 1960's and said Kandahar was amazing. When I was growing up my dad's favorite cat (we had a few) was named Kandahar. He really loved the place. He had gone there to see the Buddha statues and travel on to India. He wasn't able to achieve either goal. When the Taliban blew up the statues my father was incandescent with rage. It wasn't the time to point out that it's really perfect in it's Buddhist symbolism. Impermanence. Impermanence in all things.
"...you've got to ask yourself one question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?" Seriously, there are so many absolutely beautiful places in the world to see, and a few dozen to be avoided at all costs.
