Second day at work, on the other end of the project, at the border area of Pakistan. It was bloody hot, especially under my 50 pounds of body amour, fully loaded magazines, and of course my AK on top of that. I trained some of the local national guys in the basics; e.g., close protection escort drills, how to hold the weapon, how to seek cover under fire, and so on. During the day we heard a blast from the city. At the time, I was in position on one of the rooftops beside a machine gunner with the other team leaders. As soon as we heard the blast everybody got into position, but our local guards told us, “It’s OK! No problem.” I went to try to find out what happened but they said that it was nothing, so I went back to our site. Later on, our interpreter told me there was a suicide attack on a police station or some foreigner agencies in the city, nearby the airport, and 2 people were killed.
Later in the day I spoke with some of our clients from India, and the brief conversation in Hindi made them happy. Then, at lunchtime, I had to eat my lunch on site, so someone brought it for every team leader. Obviously you have no chance to choose, so today’s meal was a huge beef burger with chips and salad. I prayed for the spirits of that poor animal to forgive me, but I was starved so I had to try and eat it. One of the dogs got half of the burger; to eat a burger was almost torture for me. Eight years in the vegetarian industry suddenly gone...I was pretty upset, so I made up my mind to find a solution, so I’ll probably survive.
Many things have happened, and I learned a lot about my new job...really enjoy it, too, as there are lots of things to do, and a steady stream of work: IEDs, Taliban offensive, gangsters, kidnappers. I have to be aware all the time
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