Capuraginga in Kapisa!!!

After a number of weeks I get bored with a usual workout...so I change it up every six weeks or so.  Muscle confusion is definitely the best way to workout.  I am starting to get back into Capoeira shape.  I tried a little bit and it was very tiring.  Unfortunately I fell down some stairs (if you know me that's just a usually part of life)...well not really down if you fall at the last step, but nonetheless I feel when my foot hit the giant rocks that prevent mud.  The downside of preventing mud means that if a mortar comes raining hate and discontent down on us there will be plenty of shrapnel and flaming debris to say hello, but I digress.

 

New Update: I actually wrote this blog four days ago, and I did Capoeira yesterday with no pain in my ankle.  Thank you Wolverine-like healing capability!

Capoeira is a martial art that originated out of Brazil.  If you have played Tekken 3 and beyond than you have seen the character Eddie Gordo, or (if you have been so lucky in life) if you have seen the cinematic masterpiece Only The Strong, then you have seen this style of martial arts.  To the bystander capoeira looks like break-dance fighting, but it is so much more.

 

Capoeira was developed by the Angolan slaves in Brazil.  They were not allowed to practice self-defense so they adapted their techniques to look as if they were dancing.  This is called the "roda".  There are three essential elements to Capoeira: 1) the roda 2) the music 3) the food.  Capoeira is one of the only martial arts that immerses the student completely into the culture.  This is the main reason that I LOVE this sport.  If you have ever had BBQ'ed pineapple Brazilian style, then you know what I am talking about. 

 

Since practicing capoeira is basically swimming in the air.  Meaning, that muscle you do not regularly use through normal motions.  I started off slow, with the ginga (fighting stance) some kicks, and other basic moves.  It is definitely a great workout, and I have a lot of fun doing it.  For the first time in about a month my legs are  sore. 

 

Stay Frosty,

 

JoJo

Technical Difficulties

I had a post about two days ago about Capoeira, but it didn't post...sorry sports fans, believe me I am just as irritated as anyone......that one will come soon after I re-do it.  I do have a book review in my pocket, so why not......

How I Met Your Mother is Legen...wait for it...dary!

I guess that some of you are tired of reading about my reading.  So I am adding a new section to my blog repertoire: TV Series.  I have watched numerous TV Show while deployed over here.  It has actually raised up my Pop Culture Awareness.  TV Series I have watched thus far: Terminator the Sarah Connor Chronicles, Weeds, Heroes, and How I Met Your Mother.  I think when I started this blog a couple of months ago I intended to do this...(hmmm???)

Well I am going to start with my most recent TV Series, How I Met Your Mother.  This show is Legendary!  (that's what one of the main characters says all the time)  In the Afghan Bazaar, we can get the whole series on DVD for a cheap price (hmmm....I plead the fifth) so I have this show from Season 1-6.  When this show started, I really had no interest in watching this show due to the title.  I mean it is kind of a lame a title....

Basically, this show is about a dude feeling like he has to get his act together after his roommate gets engaged.  The show revolves around several college grads going through the turmoils of life and relationships.  It sounds like Friends (even though I have never seen the show), but it has a lot of funny stories that a twenty-something in the new millennium will encounter.  This show really is THAT funny. It sometimes seems like the story of my life like Blink 182 was the soundtrack to my high school years.   I have not yet met anyone who doesn't like it.  Neil Patrick Harris' character steals the show with his comedic genius.  Just google "Bro Code" and you will find that his character reaches out to reading public.  The 6th season just finished, but I will lend anyone who wants to watch it.  That way you won't be the "Blitz". (Inside joke from the show) 

Stay Frosty,

JoJo

Hooray a Humidifier!

So my humidifier came in the mail today.  I never thought that I would really need one, but it is so dry and cold here.  I am so excited that I am blogging about it!  Afghanistan besides being the darkest place on earth is really dry during the winter. I mean I don't want to be San Antonio humid, but enough to not feel like I have been sunburned!  Is it pathetic that a small thing like a humidifier can make my day?  Rule #32 Enjoy the little things.

This humidifier is going to be a lifesaver!  I know that sounds a little dramatic, but I feel like I am being prepped to be skinned by Buffalo Bill everyday (its puts the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again)  I am so glad that I got the electricity working in my room.  It is kinda funny that I lacked so much confidence in the craftsmanship of the people making the PRT village that I accepted the electrical flaw in my room.  Not a dangerous one, but the electricity was configured in a series setting when it should have been a parallel.  That means that the lights need to be turned on to have the electricity work.  Turns out I was the only one in the whole village like that (woe is me)  Anydangways, I get to try out this sweet set up tonight.  Maybe I won't be JoJo Jerky anymore. 

                                                      Stay Frosty and Moist,

                                                      JoJo

Book Review: The Girl Who Played With Fire

I know, I know another Book Review.  I  finished this book a week and a half ago...its better than three weeks.  Can you believe that I am actually already half way through another book by the time that I post this blog?  But this post is about Steigg Larson's second book The Girl Who Played with Fire  I was a little overwhelmed by how this book started (due to the violence) but this book really impressed me.

I am not going to go into too many details because I want ya'll to enjoy the book, but I can at least give a basic premise.  This book continues pretty much where the last one left off.  Most of the original characters are back and the new topic is human sex trafficking in Sweden and scum that proliferates it.  Several new characters are introduced in the story to include detectives.  These new characters added a new flow to the story, where in the The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo told the story from Blomkvist's and Salander's perspective, this book adds a third perspective through the investigation of the detectives.   At times throughout the book, two paths may cross and they combine for a couple of chapters.

This book was more action oriented than the last book, and spent less time with the graphic details of human trafficking.  As stated earlier, the book did start out harsh in the first chapter, but the pace quickly changed.  These books (The Millenium Series) are definitely among my favorite books.  Some books I pick up and flat out refuse to read.  I definitely can't wait for these books to be made into the films (they already are in Sweden) by my favorite director David Fincher.  Lisbeth Salander in my opinion is the Clarice Starling of the last decade (wow one more decade down).  This is a must read for fans of thrillers and suspense. 

Air Force Appreciation Tour

Hey there true believers!

I am sorry that I have neglected this post, but I have been really busy and starving....more on that later.  So I am going to start off this post with some good 'ole fashioned complaining.  (Does my  blog seem like a bunch of book reviews and complaints?)  Well that seems like all there is over here.  I guess if you count my training (4 months in Indiana AHHHHHHH!!!!!)and all that I guess I have been deployed for about 6 months now which is about a normal Air Force deployment for my career field (note that I said career field because some pukes deploy for only four months), but I am about ready to get back to my real life again.  In all reality I have been here a little over 3.75 months here and I have become a little bored.  Nothing really happens here and that is boring.  The Nine Inch Nails song "Every Day is Exactly the Same".

For about 3 1/2 days we had no food...I mean a lot of people complain about how the food lacks nutrition, but people really blew their lid when the kitchen was out of service.  I just walk over to either the bazaar or French Dining hall to eat because sometimes you just don't feel like eating breakfast foods for dinner.  Occassionally with the bazaar you found a hair in your food, and you can taste what the local feed their animals (it begins with a "P" and ends with "OOP")  and sometimes the French Dining Hall has mysterious European things, but the desert rocks my face OFF!  My time is limited so I have to time manage like a MOFO, and thus I am working out or reading (if you didn't guess) in the time I get off of 10hrs of work. Thanks to everyone for the care packages, because they sustain me in times like these. 

There really isn't much job satisfaction with my job.  I really get no feedback if I do a good job, and I get STOMPED on the rare occasions I mess up.  I am basically accepted to perform at a Captain's level, but still treated like a stupid Lieutenant...which I still am for another 7 months, but who is counting.  There really isn't anyone around here to vent to because the other lieutenant in the other unit with my same job is a giant DOUCHE. 

Okay, so I let this sit for about a week and my mood has changed from pissed to merely irritated.  There is a difference believe me.  Through out this week of me trying to calm down, the door to the barracks hallway has broken leaving only one way of escape (how safe is that?), and it has been non-stop raining.  Normally this wouldn't be such a problem, but in the land of moon dust this is really really really bad.  Raining is an overarching term for precipitation.  It has transitioned from raining Cats and Dogs, to Bulls and Hippos, to sleet, to snow that doesn't stick.  It's not really the precipitation that bothers me.  It is more the 1/2 mile walk in the rocks and mud to get to the latrines and showers that bothers me.  I will be so happy for the sun to come out and dry the mud so that walk to get clean doesn't feel like that scene in T2 (shame on you if you haven't seen it) where the T-1000 is frozen by Nitrogen and the T-800 shatters him with a bullet (Hasta La Vista Baby!) There were also wonderful sinkholes in this journey where you take the wrong step and for .008 seconds you think that you might fall through the earth back to America (hmmm maybe I should try that).  When the ground is dry you are only at risk of rolling your ankles....so its a lose-lose situation (kinda like having the first Superbowl in Jerryland be between the Packers and Steelers)

I know that my family in El Paso is under siege due to the weather over there, but it is a similar case over here (except for the snow....for which I am jealous).  After your long journey to the showers, you might find that A) They are all occupied, B) One of the showerheads is broken, or (the worst one of all, but El Pasoans can relate now) C) The pipes are frozen and you have absolutely no water to conduct your Triple S routine.  So after trekking down the deadly path to get clean you are dealt your first disappointment of the day.  The second being chow.  So stay strong El Pasoans, while you may be on water restrictions at least you don't have to check the toilet seat before you lay down for fear that an Afghan pee'd all over the seat (psst They squat to pee. Ewwwwwww) 

A fellow Airmen, a senior NCO, stated how everyone feels.  "A PRT is the Air Force Appreciation Tour" Whether is be the length of the deployment, the shitty living conditions, or (gasp) dealing with our Army brothers on a daily basis.  Before this deployment I was really considering switching to the Army, but my Squadron commander back home, the wise man that he is who has in fact deployed with a PRT too, told me that this would be the best taste the Army.  They can keep their Army.  I know that Shamy's have a four generations stemming back to the Army, but my Dad made sure that I joined the Air Force.  Thank God I listened to him.  I think I will only do one more assignment after I get back from this deployment.  After working toward getting in the military for 8 years of my life, I am not sad to say that after 3.5 years of being Active Duty I am not really impressed.  This is supposed to be the greatest adventure of my life and I am stuck on a base most of the time.  All I can say is at least I am not a BAFFIT (someone who stays on Bagram Airfield there whole tour).

Stay Frosty, (No pun intended)

JoJo