CONTACT		BIO		PHOTOS		VIDEOS		FASHION POLICE		MYSPACE  FACEBOOK

Kyrgyzstan ‘08- Days 1-5

Our stop at Manas Air Base in Kyrgyzstan was supposed to be a brief one. We arrived after midnight and thought we’d be on a plane back to Germany the next day. No such luck. We weren’t greeted by MWR people so we handled the lodging arrangements on our own. There was a problem involving Ira’s Visa that I was stuck dealing with and it got me to bed quite late. I finally crashed in my windowless room, figuring someone would wake me when it was time to go. After almost three days with little more than cat naps, I slept until after noon then tried to figure out what the situation was. The situation was Ira managed to book a flight back to the U.S. (via Ireland) later in the afternoon and I think there might have been a chance for me to get on that had someone notified me (and I’m not sure why that didn’t happen since my room was right next to the terminal).

I spoke to the flight agents and learned there weren’t any flights going anywhere for four days.

With four days to kill, I spent that time trying to find other travel options, taking advantage of the cheap beauty salon and hanging out at Pete’s Place, the rec. center/bar- yes bar! Beer and wine were served at Manas but there was a limit of two drinks per 24 hours, which they were very strict about. But at least they had 7% beer in 24 oz bottles so it was probably the equivalent of 4-5 American beers with which to drown my sorrows.

Manas serves as a sort of transitional spot between US bases in Europe and the Middle East so there’s a lot of traffic going through there. During my stay I met two other entertainment acts passing through on their way in. The first was a group of NFL football players. One thing I’ve learned from seeing them and from living in Hawaii during the Pro Bowl is that if you want to gather a bunch of black women in one spot, advertise NFL football players. In Hawaii, I’d see a handful of black women throughout the year but Pro Bowl week bunches of them suddenly appeared like snails in the rain. I don’t know where they were hiding in Manas but they came out in full force for the NFL.

This hottie with me is Luis Castillo from the San Diego Chargers. His group was about to do roughly the same tour I did so I gave him the lowdown on what to expect and he was pretty freaked about the possibility of going on a convoy (I love it when I can incite a little fear in a 250 pound tank). When he expressed his anxiety it was the first time I realized I hadn’t been scared or nervous for even a second of my trip- which has to mean something is seriously wrong with me- but I think it allowed me to enjoy the whole trip all the more.

The second group of entertainers I met was a country band called Pete Ford and Texas Hold ‘Em. The manager of the rec. center had asked me to perform and I gladly accepted so I did a 30 minute show in between the band’s sets. Afterward I hit it off with the band and we seriously discussed the possibility of me joining them for their tour, which was taking them to Kuwait and United Arab Emirates. The idea of a last-minute road trip through the Middle East amused me and I definitely would have done it if we’d been able to coordinate it in time but when my flight on day five wasn’t further delayed I had to take it and settle for Paris instead. Finally!

Copyright © 1999-2008 Jenée.net. All rights reserved. Any jokes attempted in this blog are done so under the supervision of a professional. Do not try these on your own blog.