Takeoffs and Landings

The title says it all. Today was a straight forward day in the Army, wake up, get ready, tons of formations and then cram into some sort of vehicle with all your buddies. Except today had a slight twist. Instead of going to some range or briefing we hopped on a plane and took off. First landing, somerandomtown, Maine, where we got greeted like conquering heroes, only thing was, we hadn't conquered anything... yet. From there, Turkey. We didnt leave the plane but still got to see the town we were in. Looked a lot like a scene from Black Hawk Down. Lots of shanties and busted down clay buildings. From there we flew another few hours untill we hit the beautiful town of Mana (I think), Kyrgyzstan. But minutes before we landed the pilot came over the speaker and said, "We are about to touch down in a few minutes and I just wanted to let everyone know that the runway here isn't of the best quality, so expect a rough landing." A sentence he finished with a laugh... And he wasn't lying, the plane actually bounced off the runway completely like a basketball before coming to a smooth drive. It was nuts. So now I sit at a internet cafe waiting for the morning to come so I can partake in the fun about to take place. So i leave you with this. Dont come to Kyrgyzstan... its not a lot of fun.