Other side of the world

"Remember those times on the telephone line,

trying to break through to you.

I'm on the other side of this world,

I wish I was there with you.

All these days and all these nights,

thinking about you my friend,

I can't wait to get back home..."

- Donavon Frankenreiter, So Far Away

Until I do get back home, I will do my best to record and share some of my experiences on this journey. I have recently returned from a trip that I will remember for a lifetime. I spent some time at the old Taliban barracks in the picture, above, which is now a coalition medical facility. The operating room is the first door to the right, the trauma room is the first door on the left. This is one of the two or three busiest trauma stabilization sites in Afghanistan. The site is guarded by some Hazaris (like in Kite Runner), which is a good thing because they really hate the Taliban and seem to have an uncanny ability to sniff them out.

My interactions with the Polish Army at this site were moving and memorable. I know that I am completely biased, but I am left with an incredible fondness for the people with whom I worked and interacted. I am fortunate to have worked with some fantastic people, both Polish and American, and I take away memories of laughter echoing off of walls that formerly encompassed scenes of tragedy and terror. I will also remember the sound and feeling of the mournful hymns of a Polish Sunday mass, filled with words that I couldn't understand but a message that was clear.

During the trip, I spent a good deal of time with two American surgeons, a trauma surgeon from the University of Pittsburgh and an orthopod from east Tennessee, about 30 miles from where I grew up. What a small world it is here on the other side of the world.