It feels good to be home and return to all that’s familiar to me. I feel fortunate to be able to return with so many new experiences and so much to tell. I wanted to kiss American soil when I got back. I love our country! I definitely want to be a world traveler and see all that the world has to offer but I think I can stay grounded here for awhile. I reflected and re-evaluated so many things on this trip and I realized I have so much to do now that I’m back.

I wanted to express my thanks to everyone for reading my blog during the time I was gone. I realized there are so many things I didn’t get a chance to write about but as I get settled in I will post up the pictures and recount everything. Thanks for all the prayers, the messages, encouragement, and L.O.V.E.

Stay tuned!

The past 3 days have been pretty relaxing. We didn’t go out on the ships after all. We stayed in our nice hotel with our great big rooms and basically had LOTS of leaisure time. It was nice but at the same time we are all getting a bit ancy to get home.

We didn’t get out to the ships because they didn’t come in but we have been playing at a Naval Support Base that has Marine security as well. The stage was called 2000 Desert Dome. It was outdoors and provided great sound and lighting. We didn’t even have to pull out our own sound, just a few instruments. Between all three nights the crowd varied. The first night which was wednesday night was probably my worst show I had the whole tour. The energy just wasn’t there and it didn’t seem like the audience was receptive no matter how hard I tried to get them into it. But once I got off stage so many people were complimenting us so maybe I was being too critical but that’s the way it felt from the stage. There was no vibe there. The Navy crowd was so much more different from the Army and Air Force crowd. Since the guys are on ships at sea for many months with no alcohol once they hit a port they are allowed to drink as much as they’d like – no limit. Unlike the Air Force and Army which impose limits on their guys. So needless to say some of them can be aggressive and belligerant which is what we dealt with on the 2nd night. There was a pack of guys that were completely wasted and they wanted to dance. They would physically grab on Tanya and I to come dance and at one point we didn’t want to be nice about it anymore. It just seemed like they were so persistent and after a show we are pretty tired and trying to hold it together just to socialize a bit but they were pretty demanding. Even when tanya was djing she was pretty frustrated with all their requests and demands. The Marines who were on-site as security had to come and break up a few fights. It got kind of bad and all this made for a really long night .We weren’t looking forward to the last show but I was positive that it would balance out between the last 2 nights.

The sound guy who was helping us, Sidney was really nice and accomodating.  Our point of contact, Hussein was also a very nice guy. He kind of just let us do whatever we wanted to these last few days especially since the ships didn’t show. When we called our main contact from the Armed Forces Entertainment he said that he was getting LOTS of good reviews on Rebel Crew. Probably the best he’d ever heard. He was very pleased and said that we are getting lots of compliments on our shows, personalities, and cooperation. Despite a few drags here and there I have to say that we have all held it together very well. Even if we were a bit irritated with one another (naturally when you spend so much time with people) we would still be professional, pull it together, and by showtime we were over it.

Last night was the last show and it proved to be much different from the first two. I can’t generalize all Navy guys to be the same. We met a Navy crew from Austrailia and they were completely awesome. Some of them pretty handsome too and we met a guy from Houston, Ben and some of his friends. They were all a nice change from what we had seen the past 2 nights. Our last two shows turned out great and had lots of energy but last night was a nice way to go out. The crowd didn’t want us to end. Suddenly it hit me that this was our last show on the entire tour and it made me a little sad but at the same time it had been such a great tour. I knew I was taking a lot from this experience – personally and professionally.

During our 3 day stay in Bahrain I noticed a few things. The people are very traditional with a little of a Western civilization adaptation. I don’t think too many people would admit it but our country has so much influence in fashion and trends. The women wore their burkas but very stylish clothes under them – especially the younger ladies. They wore make-up, nice handbags, and shades. And they go out on the town to party! I saw so many more men though. It was as if there was hardly a female population. There were plenty of mosques too. There was a uge mosque by our hotel and we could hear it sound of multiple times per day. The best way I can describe their prayers and chants is that they sound somber. I could be wrong but it sounds a bit like religious oppression and struggle. Of course I don’t understand Arabic but just by the tones in their chant. It is still very interesting though. You only see men walking in to worship at the mosques, if the women go they will attend a seperate mosque. Everything here is seperate even their bank accounts. It’s as if you marry divorced if that makes sense but it is probably the wisest thing. 

The naval base where we were performing was over-capacity so we were able to stay in the hotel for 4 nights now! It’s been so nice compared to the bunk beds on the bases with community showers. When we would go on base it would be just to have dinner and this was one of the best food selections we’d seen. They had a food court with all junk food A&W, Eddie Peppers (which is like Taco Bell), a subs place, a pizza place, an authentic Arabic food place, and a cookies place like Cinnabon. Since we had food vouchers we were able to have a good assortment of whatever we wanted. The boys have really been taking advantage of that! During our leisure time as we have gone exploring outside of the hotel we’ve seen so many American food chains here! From McDonalds, Pizza Hut, Burger King,  Popeye’s, Subway, Papa John’s, even Chili’s and they were ALL in Arabic with the same logos! Of course itv doesn’t taste like it does in the states so we have been getting more authentic food. Yesterday we ate at a small Thai place that was incredible! There were so many little sandwich shops on the streets as well as internet cafes, hypermarkets, and beauty salons. I was hoping to find a nail place…I’m in desperate need of a refill! lol

Now we are all getting ready for our last day of travel and it is going to be a long one. We are flying Bahrain to London, London to Chicago, and Chicago to home. Doesn’t sound too bad but the layovers are what will kill you with the jetlag. I think I’ll be in a coma on monday. I just wanted to touch base and let you all know I’ll be home late sunday night/monday morning. I will touch base when I arrive but I am already looking forward to seeing you and all of my loved ones! More soon…. 

Saturday morning Fareed rushed us back to Al-Dahfra base to meet up with Lieutenant Nuila and Sargeant Perez. Lt. Nuila was the lady I spoke about earlier that was from Guatemala. She greeted us warmly as we arrived. She was such a sweetheart. Both her and Sargeant Perez impressed me a lot for being so professional, established, and YOUNG Latinas. They were only 25 years old and had already achieved a high rank in the Air Force. They enjoy what they do and it shows plus they had a career in the Air Force and could retire very early. One thing I’ve learned while visiting all these bases and meeting all of these soldiers and officers is that they started really young…at 18-years of age. That means that in 20-25 years they were SET and would have permanent medical benefits and a good savings to live off if they were smart about their spendings. On base you really have nothing to spend on. Your accomodations and food are taken care of, your medical attention is taken care of so there is no reason not to save your money. I definitely see the security of being in the military and why people do it.

Back to Al Dahfra! Lt. Nuila told us she had a “long day” for us with a tour that included meeting “the General”. I was really out of it because I had developed a really nasty eye infection overnight I could not stop getting sick and it was frustrating! I was wearing my glasses and was feeling like a complete dork with pink-eye. I knew it was going to be a really great tour but I just wasn’t feeling it and was ready to just get through it. She offered for me to go back to the doctor. It was definitely a good suggestion. She took me to the doctor and some of the boys needed to see him too. Rick was having serious lower backpain from all the lifting and Jon Durbin was still having upper respiratory problems so we all went and got labled the “sick band” by one of the clinic interns (lol) at some point I did have to laugh at it. I would never have this many doctor visits at home so I was grateful it was all taken care of by Uncle Sam. The doctor was another big sweetheart, Dr. Accola. He had a witty but dry sense of humor and he was sort of a charming geek (if that makes sense.) If you ever watch Beauty and the Geek he would totally be on there and he would sweep up the “beauty”. He was a great doctor though and defintely knew what he was doing. He gave me some eyedrops that would go with my current selection of drugs – mucinex, sudafed, claritin, and the inhaler. My upper respiratory problem was clearing up and he said I sounded much better. He commented, “We need to get you all better! We don’t get that many bands around here!”

After we left the clinic our tour began. Sgt. Perez and Lt. Nuila took us to meet General Wells who gave us an overview of the entire base. He sat us down in a conference room where we all had table tags and asked us some questons about Rebel Crew. He’d really done his research! He told us about all the aircrafts on base and what they did. It was really impressive. After the presentation he took us outside to take a picture. It was so bright and hot we could hardly keep our eyes open. He shook our hands and we were off to meet the “bomb squad” who showed us and explained the bombs they use and diffuse. It was really interesting. Jon Durbin (our guinea pig) tried on a bomb diffusing outfit. It was like a really gigantic space suit that weighs 80 lbs and costs $18,000 dollars. $9,000 just for the helmet. Next they took us to the Fire Department where we met some of the firefighters and saw a bit of what they did. They had a monumental rememberance circle for all of the people lost in 9/11. Did you know that 343 NY firefighters perished? The impact of looking at all of the names on the monument struck me hard and made me feel so emotional. I was glad I wore my glasses because I could not stop crying for about half an hour. It made me so sad to be reminded of such a tragedy. The guys were trying to cheer me up and called me “Emo”. That’s our big joke when someone is drifting off and being a loner for the day. We took a picture by the monument and moved to the flight lines.

We were stoked about the flight lines because we had the overview on all the aircrafts and wanted to see them and take pictures by them. There were 5 total. Most of them were fuel aircrafts and not to underestimate their jobs because they are all important but the one that impressed me the most was the A-WACK which has a satellite on top it of that rotates the entire time. There were about 24 computer systems inside which track any kind of suspicious activity by satellite. I will post up pics of all of these aircrafts – they were all amazing and as the General explained, that was the only base that carried the most aircrafts on top of providing the most fuel to all of our military branches.

The following day was our show and there were a lot of people on the base that were pumped up about it. The next day would be the anniversary of the wing which basically means that that particular wing #380 would be commemorated. The base itself had been active since 1992 but the wing had been passed on from a classified location in the US. UAE was definitely a great location for this base. With temperatures as high as 130 degrees, they said they only see rain once or twice a year. As hot as 106 degrees was, it sounded nice to never have to see a cloudy day.

They were planning a big fajita party on base the next day in honor of the anniversary and they would have sporting events and activities throughout the day to make it fun for everyone on base. We chilled out and mentally prepared for the show for most of the day. We hadn’t had a show since thursday at the Starlight Lounge so we were definitely prepared after a few days of rest. Soundcheck was at 3pm and after soundcheck I went back to the room to get ready for the show. The show ended up being our best one yet. It seemed like the whole base was buzzing about it. It made my day to hear them tell me, “This is the BEST show we’ve had so far. Thank you for coming.” The line grew long for cd’s, autographs, and pictures. That is always a great feeling. We even had to ask to burn cd’s because we were running out so quickly and had to be mindful about the last few shows. It was definitely a good feeling. It’s also nice to welcome up some soldiers who play music and like to jam. We made fast friends with the bartender, Rob Padilla who was an excellent drummer. He made some really good drinks too! We were on the 3-drink restriction and lucky for me that was all I needed to have me feeling woozy in the morning.

The next day was another off day. The lieutenant and sargeant were kind enough to ask permission to take us off base to Abu-Dhabi which was the nearby city. They said they knew a really good authentic Indian restaurant and we of course love to eat! It was a nice city. Not as commercial as Dubai but still very beautiful. First they took us to a gold shopping mall which had sooo much gold and jewelry you would not believe. It was like being in a fortress. That could be the playground for any big chain baller! We walked around there for awhile then went to another mall across the street. As we walked we heard the nearby mosque making a call. It is absolutely prohibited to take pictures of mosques but everyone that heard the call (oddly it was mostly males on the street) turned to face the mosque. For anyone who doesn’t know, Muslims pray 7 times per day. That’s when I started to notice…where are the women? The few I saw were very traditional. THey walked completely covered from head to toe where all you could see was their eyes. THeir outfits mostly in black varied from plain black to black with gold sequence and black with lace. That was the extent of their fashion. It made me feel grateful that I don’t live in such a controlled environment. It made me grateful to have my freedoms as a women and thankfully I didn’t have to walk 30 paces behind a man. Of course I respect all religions and cultures but I was glad to live the way I wanted to live.

Looking around made everything feel so surreal…I was halfway across the world in Arabia! It was beautiful, amazing, mysterious….but made me feel a little homesick. I missed my mom, dad, friends, and loved ones. I knew I would be enjoying the last few days but I am looking forward to coming home.

We drove to Indian Palace which was a traditional and classy Indian restaurant. Alsmot immediately I was drawn to this vendor inside the restaurant that made bracelets as you watched. He would stretch the clay, burn it, shape it, add color, glitter, and then you would have a beautiful stylish bracelet. I couldn’t resist and bought three Our dinner was soooo delicious and inexpensive. Everyone ordered something different and we all picked and shared. The spice reminded me of Mexican food…well, similar…but I am not a picky eater at all and enjoy trying new things all the time. Finally it was late and we had curfew by midnight. You don’t ever want to cut it that close because according to the Lt., you can be reprimanded harshly. We headed back through all the checkpoints at the base….one of them which requires a drug canine to search the vehicle for anything suspicious so this was definitely a process.

The next day we were supposed to fly out to our last stop – Bahrain! We took another miltary flight and like everything else this was a process. Thankfully we didn’t have to be up early but our “short half hour flight” turned into another wasteful day where we found ourselves doing the simplest and most silliest things to entertain ourselves. This had become a regular occurence and the boys were always up to something. I was looking for the internet but was unsuccessful We had to stop back in Qatar because the airfield in Bahrain was too full and they couldn’t take anymore flights PLUS our airplane was leaking oil. The guys assured us not to worry and once we stopped there would be some flight technicians that would be able to get this resolved. They made me feel more confident. Thankfully we don’t have a show til the next day so we’re okay with the schedule. It was now Tuesday and I knew in one week I would be back at work. I think I am abiout ready to get back I do miss some of my coworkers and colleagues.

We finally landed in Bahrain and had to go through customs etc. Another long process. The long process can get so tiring. Bahrain was beautiful and reminded me a little of Mexico with their architecture. Mexico with Arabic signs! We arrived at our hotel and it was beautiful! This would be the first time we would all have our own rooms and they were so big and spacious I didn’t know what to do with myself and started to feel lonely without my roomy, Tanya! Just as I was going to her room she came to my door and said, “Dude can you believe these rooms!?? Kitchen, Bathroom, Room, Lounge, Balcony!?” We loved it but agreed we should be sharing so much space. However the price was so cheap, we didn’t mind at all.

It’s now wednesday and we would have a show with the Navy today on one of their ships. Out itinerary keeps changing but if it stays the same, I may not be able to blog til about saturday or sunday we are supposed to be on ships til the weekend. I will be taking a detailed account of everything that goes on and I will blog asap! We were told we may stay in the hotel one more night if the ships do not arrive and that is likely. The shows with the Navy have been unpredictable because  of the ships not landing on schedule. Thank you all for being patient and continuing to read. I still have lots more pictures to post and will do so as soon as time allows.

Lots of L.O.V.E and have a safe and Happy Halloween!

It’s been hard to get on these past few days because all of the computer stations  I’ve been to have blocked all the sites I needed to get on. Thanks for being patient. I have also added a few pictures in previous blogs…whatever time allows. It feels like I’m so limited to online access everywhere but I am in good health and spirits so please don’t worry

Friday evening will go down in my history book as one of the best days I’ve ever lived. The beach in Dubai was amazing. Just to be able to say that I’ve been to the beach in Dubai was a big deal to me. After the beach we headed back to the hotel to clean up a bit then we headed to the sunset safari. This was something we had been looking forward to since the trip began! We met  our driver “Sunil” who is originally from southern India. He reminded me of our good Rebel Crew friend named Wazulu. He produced the song on my album “Back to Bombay” which has a Banghara Hip Hop sound to it. Sunil drives a Toyota Landcruiser and lucky for us he turned out to be a pretty awesome stunt driver Fareed hooked up a super rate for us to go to the safari – 200 dirhams which  converts to $55 American dollars. The money exchange has been a little confusing but in U.A.E. dirhams our dollar is 3.67 of theirs…yikes!

Sunil said we had some time to kill before the safari so he took us to the “Dragon Market” which was on the way to the safari. The Dragon Market was an enormous shopping place where vendors (mostly Asian) sold lots of knock-off designer stuff – watches, purses, clothing, bedding, sunglasses, and so much more! The knock-off’s actually looked real too! Some of the best I’ve ever seen. We spend half an hour there then Sunil rounded us up to get to the desert!

Half an hour later we were arrived at our destination! Sunil zipped through the desert like it was his home. We saw more vehicles there with the same “Planet Tours” signs on their SUV’s. There were about 15 SUV’s which would make this a sort of caravan safari. All of the drivers got out of their vehicles to take the pressure out of their tires. This made it easier to slip and slide through the sand and your tires would not get stuck on the dunes. We could not believe we were finally going to experience the desert! We got back in the Landcruiser and our joyride began. Sunil told us to buckle up. He had rollover bars and he said he had actually turned over once in the past. Wooo scary! He said he had been driving for 10-years so I wasn’t too concerned. We love an adventure! He had it on a local Dubai radio station that had a really good mix show of hip hop and dance music. This is the kind of selection none of the stations play back home so we were all getting into it! Sunil sped through sand dunes and slid his Landcruiser up and down the desert. We went up, down, around, back up again. It was so topsy turvy, I had knots in my stomach! But it was soooo fun! He had really good control of his ride too. You can tell he had been driving for a long time and he had gotten used to all the controls on the vehicle. There’s nothing like a good stunt driver! Our reactions were “Ahhhhh!” and we could not stop laughing and giggling the whole time from Sunil’s fun ride. He would speed up and slow down over a sand dune then he would pick up the speed as we went down. We saw a few SUV’s from the caravan get stuck at the top of the sand dunes! Too bad for them…designated vehicles would come to their aid while we kept rolling! This was definitely the highlight of our trip and we hadn’t even gotten to the half of the safari!

Our drive lasted for over an hour then he drove us to a tropical oasis looking location where there were little huts and camels! We would finally get our camel ride! We tried to take pictures with them at first and the flash must’ve alarmed them because one of them hopped on all fours and went chasing after Cruz who took the picture. We could not stop laughing! Jon Durbin and I were the first ones to hop on a camel  since it had to be two at a time. He laid on his belly so we could mount on his saddle then suddenly he picks his body up onto his legs. The shock made me do a high pitched squeal. You don’t realize how long their legs are until you’re actually sitting on one! My expression in the pictures is priceless! The camel took us in a big circle then brought us back. It was a lot like riding a tall horse but this ride was a little smoother and his “hump” didn’t make a difference. I had the same shock as he dropped on his belly so we could jump off. I will be sure to post hte pictures asap.

We headed inside the tropical area and drank some Arabic coffee which was sort of like bland tea. You’re supposed to eat a small sweet fruit with a seed when you sip the coffee and this adds just the right amount of sweetness with every sip. After that we smoked some apple flavored hooka then we headed to the sand skiiing. At first I didn’t think I could do it but then i saw little kids doing it and it looked sooo fun! It was hard to push off the slope but it turned out to be like skateboarding until I got to the bottom and flopped on my back. There’s nothing worse then wearing a halter-top and having sand get all the way down your backside! The next station we went to had the Arabic clothing where we all got dressed up. I put on a burka that covered me entirely except for my eyes. You could tell by my eyes I was not am authentic Muslim woman.

Finally we got to the dinner porition and we were so hungry! We ate some Arabic food that included salad, rice, beef/chicken kebabs, curry, goat and possibly camel! It was really good too! Last but not least we watched a really exotic belly dancer which made the boys enchanted   Then it was time to go! The safari was a great treat that we all had been looking forward to.  It definitely made up for the last 2 weeks of hustle and bustle. The next day we had to be up early to get back to Al-Dahfra Air Force base to take a tour all day saturday then perform on sunday.  Check out my next blog for more details

Last night was another successful show. I truly feel so blessed to continue on with this experience. Thank you all so much for reading and commenting on what I’ve been writing. I have soooo many pictures too and video but itv takes forever to load up! Right now I only get to log on for an hour so I’d rather pain a picture with words than nothing at all.

We played for the NAVY last night at our hotel in the Starlight Club. It was a very swank, lo-key, intimate setting and I felt like they were into the show more than ever. I feel like the stage is my home and I am getting more comfortable with every show – as if I wasn’t comfortable before. Some nights are harder than others especially since I’ve been combatting this gunk is my system. I sat d0wn and talked to a few male and female sailors after the show. They were really sweet and outgoing. They love to tell about their stops and experiences. Two sailors I met one male, Pedro (I won’t forget cause that’s my dad and brother’s name) and Brenda were telling me about the safaris and swimming at the beach! I absolutely cannot wait. I really hope I get to ride a camel in the next few days. Today Fareed has promised to take us to the world’s 1st 7-star hotel. Pictures are promised.

It was nice to get compliments as well as criticisms on the show. Everyone loves the show but says my vocals are getting drowned out at times. SOund is such a tough issue because we’re visiting a new venue daily so it’s hard to adjust the levels everytime and the acoustics at every place is different. Not to mention sound check can run up to 2 hours trying to figure this out. I think more than any show, the NAVY were the most complimentary. We had another picture and autograph session then we ate a nice dinner compliments of USO. The sailors said that it was a nice change from the regular Russian/Phillipino dance girl group routine. They said in their own words, “the dancing is lame.” It became such a repetitive comment I just laughed. By the end of the show, one of the head guys came up to coin us again. It always feels like such an honor when they do this. Now I have 3 coins! I can’t wait to show them to you!

We have to check out of this lovely hotel now so I will send more updates soon! Lots of love to everyone!

We had another great show monday night which resulted in another 30-45 minute autograph and pictures session. I could really get used to this even though posing and smiling gets tiring, I know these people are returning the appreciation for what we do the same way we’re showing appreciation for what they do for us. Here’s Cruz’s joke, “stop givin them that fake smile girl” but I’m not tryin to be fake at all…holding a smile gets tiring but who wouldn’t rather be smiling?

BTW, the catch phrase of the entire trip is “Now that’s hip hop!” when something goes really good. If something goes wrong or not up to our standards we say, “That’s NOT Hip Hop!” It’s just a little silly phrase that keeps us going and makes us laugh if things are or panning out. Yesterday we headed to a new base on the military flight. Our POC – Kevin (who took everyone partying the night before to a club called “Oasis”) told us we had to be up at 3:30am :O We were completely spent and exhausted but all managed to get up because we were looking forward to our next stop – UAE (United Arab Emirates.) The next base we were going to is called Al-Dafra and it’s an Air Force Base. We had a day off from playing gigs so Cruz and I hit up the gym. Later on we all got together to play bingo. We called it an early night. The next day we got our stuff together again and were taken by our two POC’s to meet our tour guide,Fareed. The two POC’s we had at Al-Dafra were Latinas. Very lovely girls…one of them was from Guatemala and she had very beautiful eyes. She reminded me of my friend Karla at work also from Guatemala and has beautiful eyes. SHe turned out to be just as sweet as Karla. Right before we left the base to meet Fareed, I had to go back to the military doctor. My “bad allergies” had developed into a bronchial cough and it was starting to worry me a bit. This doctor gave me sudafed, mucinex, and an inhaler for my wheezing. Even though I don’t have asthma, he said this would be a good idea to dry out all the mucus in my lungs.

Finally, we’re off to meet Fareed who will be our guide through tonight’s show and Dubai. We are so excited about finally being able to get off base. It felt liberating! Within a matter of 2 hours we went through desert, a series of large developments, and mountains. It was beautiful and extremely surreal to enjoy such a bright, sunny day with foreign surroundings. We had not seen anything but military bases the entire trip! Fareed told us there would be many developments in the desert…from the largest Disneyland in the world to underwater hotels and restaurants. UAE was surely to become the largest most tourist friendly city in the entire world. THey were building a massive sports colliseum where the Olympics would be held in the near future and there is also an Autobahn style racetrack. The rest of the developments would take place within the next 5 years! All this on the way to our 5-star hotel where we will be playing tonight. Coincidentally, it’s called Starlight just like our label

We made a stop on the way over  and it was a gas station that had a domino’s, baskin robbins, and POPEYES! Now, anyone who knows me knows I loooove Popeyes and even though I knew it wasn’t going to be the same, I HAD TO try it. It wasn’t bad at all and even though there was no bbq or honey mustard, the buttermilk sauce was pretty good. The only thing that tasted close to anything back home was the biscuit. We got back in the van and Fareed was zippin in and out of cars spewing obscenities to anyone he had to….I like this guy! He was actually super cool. Originally from Pakistan, he has lived in UAE for 19 years and works for USO – Navy branch. He says he *loves* his job – driving and escorting bands around. We pull up to our hotel and it’s really elegant. We check-in and make our way to the venue which is in the hotel. We get to play for the “sea-men” tonight! As soon as we walk into this upscale lounge club, we see why it’s called “Starlight”. There are twinkles of light all over the top portions of the walls and as soon as we look towards the stage we all “Wow-ed!” Right there on the velvet curtain it read, “Welcome Rebel Crew Band”! How’s that for a nice welcome!? We are super stoked about the show tonight! Actually at 5pm so I have to get going…

Finally our tour load is starting to lighten up. We are about half-way through our tour now and even though it’s SUPER HARD WORK and I’m starting to get a little homesick, I don’t want this adventure to end!

So it’s been a few days but let me tell ya…it was * really* hard gettin out of Afghanistan! Thank goodness the great Cheif Lateste hung out with us that entire day. He really brought some good vibes and enlightening to our trip. We were in Kaia airport the whole day just waiting for our flight to take us to Qatar. That seemed like it would never happen. We were all ready to leave Afghanistan at that point with the worst of our allergies, sinus, and sniffles. Outside the airport it looked like the desert was blowin around. That worried me because if there was “low-visibility” the plane wouldn’t take off and that’s why we had such a delay. Finally we had to say goodbye to our dear friend Cheif Lateste. That was hard. He had been such  bright spot on our trip. We offered to bring him on as our mascot but he declined. At least now we have a good friend in Belgium We walked outside and got caught in the sandstorm…WHY on earth are they trying to get us on this plane right now? They drove us to the plane and the wind was so harsh and cold then we ran in the plane and waited for the low-visibility to ease up so we could take off. We finally arrived in Qatar at 10:30pm. Now only 8hrs ahead of Central time wooo hoooo!

As soon as we landed in Qatar and took the first few steps off the plane I started to feel better. Even though it was still desert, it wasn’t nearly as bad as Afghanistan. My sinus pressure felt better and my eyes didn’t burn. Thank God for relief! And guess what!? It was actually WARM! It felt like Texas weather….yaay! We went through customs and waited for our next POC (point of contact.) A few minutes later a pretty smiling face walks through the door. She introduced herself as “Serria” our POC for Camp Al-Uedid (pronounced Al-yoo-deed.) We finished going through customs and told Serria we were all starved. Our last meal had been several hours before when Cheif Lateste bought us pizzas. She said we were just in time for the “Midnight Chow”. First she took us through a sandwich-snack line. The military does not hesitate to feed their men. We all got 2 cibatta sandwiches, 2 drinks, 2 chips, and 2 snacks. That was food to store to our fridge when we got into our accomodations. We went to midnight chow and ate like royalty then Serria gave us a tour of the camp and took us to our bunks. Our bunks were extremely cold. The a/c unit was not one that we could turn off or turn down because it was a unit that was outside and had HUGE airducts coming in. We had extra linens and made ourselves a cubby hole. It was still really cold.

The next day I tried to blog but all of the sites I wanted to access were blocked. This is a huge base so to try to get anywhere is a half a mile walk. Talk about gettin your workout. I’m obsessed with blogging now and got kind of bummed I couldn’t do it. Instead we all put on our bathingsuits and went to the pool. It was our first base that actually had a pool so we could go swimming and get some rays. The weather was so warm and nice. It seemed like most of the camp was out there. Al-Udeid had about 8,000-12,000 people between soldiers and civilian workers. There was probably about 200 people at the pool…athletic, muscular, hard-body soldiers! Hey, a girl can admire!

After that we went to the DFAC (chow hall), got some food, then headed to soundcheck. The stage where we were performing was HUGE. It reminded me a little of Woodlands Pavilian in Houston. Since this was a recreational base for soldiers we were allowed to have 3 drinks. The performance setup was really nice and probably the biggest stage we had thus far. We were all really excited about it.

Showtime was at 8pm. Soulfree was already out there Djing some R&B and ol’skool. They seemed like a really chill crowd the whole time but at the end of the show we had a long line for cd’s and autographs. Sort of surprised me because reading the crowd from the stage I didn’t think they were really into it. I didn’t think I did my best singing either. I was starting to get all that congestion out and it was ugly so I was straining to produce a nice sound or even stay on-key. I didn’t like the way I sounded but then again I am my biggest critic.

After the show while everyone was trying to max out on their limit of drinks, we met a few soldiers that had been injured and they told us their stories. Two guys both named Nathan – one was a Marine and one was in the Army had been “blown up”. Their stories were so amazing. They truly were lucky they even survived especially with all their limbs. They were both in good spirits and still found humor in their situations. They are to remain at Al-Udeid until they are both well enough to return. Not a bad spot to be either – this camp had a bar, media center, activity center, theatre, Dairy Queen, Pizza Hut, pool…one of the nicest ones I’d been to. It was nice to hang out with some of the soldiers after the show and hear their stories. We loved hearing them as much as they enjoyed sharing them.

Today we’re at a new base…Camp Al-Salliyah and we’re in the middle of soundcheck. We go on in about an hour and a half so I need to go get ready! I’ll fill you guys in on more later!

Well, we left Camp Eggers yesterday and just before we did I went to the bazaar to see what good deals I could find. We ran into Cheif Molina took us to a bootleg dvd vendor. It was 2 brothers running the booth Mufaza & Muhammed. Once the Cheif told him who we were and what we were there to do they gave us a stack of bootlegs for FREE! Wooo hooo! It’s pretty cool because it’s about 12-16 movies on one disc (even if the subtitles are in Chinese lol) from one main actor like Wesley Snipes, Sylvester Stallone, Wil Smith, Antonio Banderas, or Brad Pitt. They *love* American movies here and it serves as a good leisure for the military personnel when they’re not working. We had to get over to ISAF quick which was the next base where we were performing that evening. The British soldiers took us over this time so instead of our cool Humvee rides we took an armoured van….booo hooo….we were gettin spoiled. So we put on the bulletproof vests and helmets and rode out. ISAF was only 10 minutes away and we had heard it was mostly a European Forces base so I liked the idea that the Spanish soldiers would understand my songs.

Here are my British military friends who almost swooped me away after we took this pic! lol

I had been feeling really stuffy and runny all day plus my sinus was kickin in bad. There is so much dust flying around that my poor respiratory system was really starting to suffer. Once we got to ISAF, we met with another Sargeant who would be our point of contact and he took us on a tour, Sargeant Becker. He said the bazaar was also being held on that base too so I was looking forward to shopping more deals since I didn’t have enough time on the last one. Along the tour we passed the clinic which was closed. I needed some kind of quick fix before the show or I wasn’t going to be able to sing. Sargeant Becker told the Doctor my situation and she saw me quickly. Now that’s what I call service! She was a very pretty British lady-doctor and very sweet. After a brief check-up she gave me lozenges, some German type Vicks Vapo-rub, nose spray, drowsy Benadryl (so I could sleep better) and some other oil I’m supposed to use to inhale before I sing. This was the first time in my entire life I saw a doctor without having to pay even a copay

After the doctors visit we went to the next bazaar. These guys were super aggressive. Even the kids….man, I’m *such* a sucker! They got me as soon as I walked in. “Ma’am! Ma’am! Pretty lady….” then “please buy this” and they practically shove it in your hand. Oh well, I was only out $5 but still I had to raise my guard up a bit so I didn’t lose all my money in a matter of minutes. I haven’t even met grown people who are hustlers the way those kids are! The bazaar was like a flea market where local Afghans had booths set us with everything from jewelry, blankets, scarfs, rugs, instruments, bootleg DVD’s, traditional dresses, and much more. Mark actually bought a really neat instrument at the first bazaar. It’s an Afghan guitar called the Rohbab (pronounced row-bob.)  He’s been strumming it and it has a really traditional sound to it. He says they are about $500 in the States. He got it for $120 and you can tell it’s handmade. It’s absolutely beautiful and he got a steal for it. He will have to ship it back home.

After the bazaar madness, I remembered I had some laundry to do as well as soundcheck. We were playing on site in a club called “the Palace”. It didn’t necessarily look like a palace but it did have a cool Euro feel to it. They served some really good coffee too. All the boys could think about was gettin a beer but they don’t start serving til 7pm. We took care of soundcheck and got ready for the show. By 8:30pm we were on. This was a pretty chill crowd despite the drinking. I really thought they’d be a little more rowdy but I was still feelin under the weather so that may have played a big part in me getting them pumped up. Here are a few pics with a few friends we made:

Even though we met some nice people, there was something a little bit different about this crowd. A few of these guys were really trying to score afterwards…lol I guess I can’t blame them but Tanya and I were a little creeped out about it. Our bunk roomy for the night named “Cazz” was a cool chick. She likes to get out and party. Tanya and I were so tired we went back to the room and passed out. She came in about midnight and told us to come get a drink with her and her friends but we were so exhausted we passed on it. We knew we were flying out to Qatar today so we wanted to be well rested.

I forgot to mention we had a really good meal last night. It was snapper and it was soo good! This morning we woke up and had to get going to the airport to fly to Qatar. Today is the first day in 3 days that we weren’t performing. Maybe we can all get over our sniffles. The soldiers were telling us that Qatar is a place for “holiday” or R&R so we are really looking forward to it. The Brits brought us to the airport again. I know a few of my girlfriends who would go crazy over these British military boys. They were pretty hot! Again we put on our vests, helmets, and rode in the armoured van….no longer an adventure after it goes from being a Humvee to a van…pfft!

On the way to the airport I saw more of the Afghan civilization. I could describe it the best way I can but it won’t paint a pretty picture. Kabul seems like it’s about a century behind. I don’t want to judge anyone’s simpler way of life but I felt so fortunate. Here are a few images from Kabul:

A man and his son:

One lady-soldier even told me that they didn’t have concrete roads til the American forces came. I believe that because you do see a lot of dirt roads and loose gravel on the way to Kabul and some parts inside the city. Also something I failed to mention before.. they sell slabs of raw meat on the side of the road and they are swarmed with mosquitoes! UGH! There should be some kind of Health and Food Services Dept regulation against that but I know that doesn’t exist here We really are so fortunate. The women are completely covered with not even their eyes showing. They have some kind of transparent material on their eyes so they can see but you can’t see not one part of them. 

There are little dust covered shops and even their homes look like they’re made out of mud or clay. Everything is covered in dirt and the village is along the mountain and the desert. The British military really know how to drive that little armoured van too. They kept sounding the sirens to get everyone to move. I felt like the President! We were whizzing in and out of cars and at one point they hit the brakes so hard we all went flying forward! (Mental Note: ALWAYS wear a seatbelt)

Now we’re back at Kaia airport. That’s the location were we stayed a few nights ago - remember the filthy prison-like accomodations I was describing? Well, thank goodness we’re not staying here tonight. Don’t get me wrong, at least we had somewhere to stay that night! Our flight for Qatar takes off in a few hours so here we are hanging out in the same cafe where they had the good food. It’s going to be an 8-hour wait for our flight to Qatar so we are mentally preparing ourselves for that. We’re taking a military flight so here comes the fun roller-coaster ride with the straps & earplugs! And guess who we ran into!?? The same Belgian officer from last time. He is *such* a sweetheart! I mentioned him before but didn’t give you his name, Cheif Henry Lateste. He has been hangin out with us this morning.  Just a big sweet giant! If he wasn’t married, I’d hook my mom up! He said he is really enjoying my cd too. Yaaay!

Here are pictures of Tanya and I with Cheif Lateste:

Anyway, I will catch up more later…just wanted to give you my update for the day! We’ve been gone for about a week now and even though we’re tired, sick, and gettin on each other’s nerves (lol) I am really thankful for this experience. Because of this trip my life will never be the same again. Oh! And we got coined again at ISAF! Woo hoo! Add to the collection! Thanks Sargeant Becker!

(Pictured right to left: Cruz, Durbin, Rick, *myself*, Sargeant Becker, Tanya, Mark + his Rohbab

First of all I’d like to start by saying I *really* appreciate all of the comments on the blogs. It feels good to know you guys are reading and actually interested

I have so much to tell everyone about Camp Eggers (pronounced Ay-gers.) I’ve met some really amazing people here just as I have at every location. To start Major Pigg and Capt Mack have been wonderful to us. We have a contact point at every base we attend. Since Major Pigg is stepping down in a few weeks, Capt Mack who will fill her spot has also assisted us. She even gave me her cellphone to hang on to which is a HUGE help with the time. I’d say for the past week I have had no concept of time whatsoever. I think my body is starting to adjust. I’ve been waking up at 5:30am the last 3 mornings. The cellphone carrier here is called Roshan which I think is equivalent to our T-Mobile. I don’t know why but I find that interesting. Yesterday when they drove us through the city trying to get us here I noticed their advertisements in Arabic. There’s a beautiful male or female model in the ad and a very modern design, almost American. They are smiling and holding up the product they are trying to sell to consumers. Goes to show in any culture only what’s most attractive holds appeal.

We had an interesting day at Camp Eggers…everyone is giving me static for being such a “communication addict”. I can’t help it! I am having so much fun writing these blogs and keeping you guys posted….I think I am becoming a junkie. I lay in my bunk thinking, “What will I write next?”

Yesterday was interesting because Major Pigg said that one of the Generals wanted to meet us. This is a HUGE deal because the Generals are so busy that if they make time in their schedules for you it’s an honor. We rounded up the crew and 2 of us were missing. Jon Durbin and Mark who we later learned were in the theatre on base watching movies. Pfffft! Our meeting was scheduled at 15:30 (notice the military time) and it was brief. The General basically thanked us for being there and expressed how much he admired what we were doing. He extended a token of appreciation – a GIANT gold coin. It was indeed an honor. This gold coin had our eagle and flag on one side and the country of Afghanistan on the other. He explained that these coins are only given to a soldier who does a big act and makes an impact on base. That made me feel really important! And since our show was that evening and he hadn’t even seen us play yet – NO PRESSURE! lol

We did have an amazing show though – our 3rd one. I feel like we are getting better and more in tune with one another everytime. I love my crew. Tanya (Soulfree) started the set Djing. That is usually how we start all our sets. She gets the crowd warmed up playing everything from Latin breaks to “Last Night a DJ saved my life” and “Crank Dat (Soldier boy)”. Typically the audience gets into her selection. We played outside too which was a nice change but it got really cooooold.

I didn’t bring enough warm clothes but thank God for my 3-sunz hoodie and gear. I have been representing my hip hop gear to the fullest out here  (thanks to Craig) I’m hip and cute

The crowd started to build. Major Pigg said she sent out 3 reminder emails so people would not forget to come. At 20:00 she introduces us and ON WITH THE SHOW! There were some really active participants this time. One of my favorites was Ray Carr who did the best rendition of the “Trabajalo” dance I have ever seen. Dropped it, popped it, raised it up, and dropped it again. WOW! So much for my little swing….lol he really got the crowd into it and they went crazy cheering and clapping over our interaction. I ran through my set with ease…I’d say their favorites are “La Fuente de Juventud” which Mark, Durbin, and I start acapella. It sounds folkloric at first then we break out the reggaeton beat. That usually gets them to the dancefloor. The soldiers were drinking non-alcoholic St. Pauly’s last night (go placebo) and smoking hooka. I hit the hooka pipe a bit even though I’m not too fond of tobacco. I did it for our boys!

After the set, Tanya, Jon C., and Rick switched turns Djing while the dance party kept going. We took lots of pics again and signed lots of autographs.  Here are a few pictures:

When I see the joy and appreciation on their faces it makes doing what I do so worth it.

Here is Mark Sound playing a jam session with an Army Sargeant after the show. Mark Sound on guitar while the sargeant was on bass! 

I met two service people who were very inspiring last night. The first,  Sargeant Tapia is a Medic. Here is the band pictured with her:

(Left to right: Cruz, Tanya aka DJ Soulfree, Sgt. Tapia, Mark Sound, *myself*, Jon Durbin, and Rick aka 808)

She is an amazing pilar of strength. She told me they really needed this kind of distraction on base because they lost someone 12 days ago. My heart sank as I listened. She told me her story and how she doesn’t have a husband or any kids so the military is her family. She is very dedicated to what she does. She told me that lots of people back home don’t understand. The soldiers do not want to come home. Someone has to be there to maintain the order and she doesn’t have a problem doing it. I really admire her comradery. As a matter of fact, these last few days that I’ve seen military women I have to say I admire any female in the service. I know personally, I couldn’t do it but I am more than happy providing my entertainment to them.

The 2nd key individual I met is Cheif Molina. Here are a few pictures with Cheif Molina:

(Mary is also pictured here to the far right. The boys thought she was cute!)

(Pictured left to Right: Cruz – notice the hooka*, Durbin, Mary, and Rick)

Back to Cheif Molina…he is orginally from Brownsville, TX and based in Alaska. He is serving his 12 months here as the person in charge of all outside vendors. What a neat hookup too! He took us to his office and gave Durbin and I a bag full of deodorant, liquid soap, tissue, hand sanitizer gel, snacks, magazines, and MUCH MORE. While I was in his office I noticed pictures of his family. He has a lovely wife and 2 beautiful little girls ages 4 and 6. There were cards and drawings from them all over his office saying, “I love you daddy”. He said it’s so hard because he feels like he’s missing the best ages in their lives. Before we left his office he played a few recordings that his wife sent him of the girls. Just simple conversation type stuff and a bunch of “I miss you’s”. He had some amazing art on his walls. He said a 12-year old boy painted them. For the longest time the Afghan govt prohibited art to their citizens but slowly art is making a string comeback. The young man’s paintings are very impressive. There is a bazaar on base today and he said we could meet him if we wanted to. He also said he could score us some deals with the shopowners if we were interested in buying anything. Now THAT’S a hookup!

What has stood out to me about most of these stories is that we are here for a big reason. Our military is training the Afghans. That is their sole purpose here besides restoring order.

Today we’re off to ISAF which is another base about 40kilometers away to play for more soldiers. Lots of the guys from last night said they would take the short walk to hear us play again. They really know how to stroke an ego I’m gettin a little sick now so I need to go spoil myself for awhile….tea with honey, lozenges, and a little more rest. I’ll catch up with you guys a little later!

So…we left Camp Pheonix this morning. That was where we played last night. We were kind of sad to leave Capt. McLeod (he was awesome) and now we’re at a new camp inside the city of Kabul. I have been neglecting to mention that our allergies are SO BAD here from the high altitude and dust. I keep looking at the mountains wondering if that’s where the terrorists, Taliban, or even Osama himself are. Despite how demolished and destroyed the city looks, it really does seem like it could be such a beautiful place.

We had another adventurous ride in the armoured Hum-V’s. It’s like an adrenaline rush everytime. We put on our borrowed bulletproof vests and helmets and took a series of pictures with a few soldiers.

We got briefed about the ride we were going to take by one of the lieutenants. He said it would be very dangerous and gave us a few tips to keep our eyes peeled for. He mentioned a Toyota Corolla with a shooter and 2 possible suicide bombers. That put me in a slight panic. Tanya and I said a quick prayer and finally the convoy took off. We were going the opposite way from where we came in with the last hummer ride. Going towards town things looked a little less demolished. There were lots of vendors along the way which made the highway look like a dusty flea market. Lots of wide open fields and it was so bright and sunny.

We drove through town and along the way you could hear our protective shooters riding in the top portion of the Hummer yelling at the civilians to, “Get out of the way!!!” The city was very busy like any city. There were traditionally dressed people with the long-sleeved, button-up gowns and pants then there were the kids, teenagers, and a few middle aged people who wore modern clothing modeling after western civilization. There were people walking, riding bikes, even poor horse carriages pulling wooden crates.

The base we’re at now is almost like a resort to some of the previous bases we’ve been on. It almost feels like we’re in the Carribbean somewhere. We grabbed lunch, ate outside, and they were playing salsa.

Now I realize I haven’t mentioned food much….that means I’m eatin GOOD. The military eats 3 times a day. I know regular people who don’t eat that much. Breakfast consists of everything – eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes, waffles, hashbrowns, biscuits, omelettes, you name it! Lunch consists of hot dishes like pasta, seafood, fried rice, chicken & gravy, steak & vegetables (it’s all actually kinda good) and there’s even a JUNK line where you can eat chicken nuggets, pizza, cheeseburgers, fries, corndogs, hotdogs, polish sausage…whatever! And you can go back for seconds…lol

KBR (Kellogg, Brown & Root aka Halliburton – sound familiar?) are the vendors providing the food. We were informed that it’s about $35/meal everytime someone eats…WHOA! Thus we have to sign in EVERYTIME we step into a “chow hall” which they call DFAC here. We have to write our name, rank (ours is GS-14 as military entertainers) and the last 4 digits of our social. OH, and it is MANDATORY to wash your hands everytime and you cannot bring a bag. Bags actually are not allowed in any military buildings. One last thing about the “chow halls”. There are snacks as you leave the doors and everyone is allowed to take 2. There are granola bars, trail mix, chocolates, and any kind of candy. I’ve been really hooked on skittles lately. There is always water inside your accomodations…cases and cases of it because the water is “not potable” which means you cannot/should not drink it or even brush your teeth with it. The water around here smells like sewer…ugh! But the shower situation has been ok. They are Community showers and the water is filtered but at least there aren’t the time constraints I thought there would be.

During lunch today we were sitting down with our point of contact for this base. Her name is Major Pigg. She is a very nice lady who will be stepping down in about 2 weeks to go back to the States. She stressed that they NEVER get entertainment here so everyone is REALLY looking forward to it. In so many words she mentioned that we are guinea pigs for the Armed Forces Entertainment so we happen to be one of the very first bands to have ever done this kind of tour. They have had a little bit of entertainment here and there but nothing like us so everyone is really excited about seeing us play this evening.

And on that note, I’m going to retire to a disco nap so I can be ready for sound check this afternoon. More soon and I know I am b/sing on the pictures. I will have some up really soon! Sorry