"Area fifty poo"

“Area fifty poo”, “The shit lake”, “Willy Wonka and the chocolate factory”, "Area fifty poo"

…Or “The Poo Pond,” as the servicemen affectionately call the place, is an enormous liquid pit for all the human waste at the airfield. That’s not a small amount: The airfield is a small city, with over 20,000 men and woman at the moment, oh yeah…it is pretty big, although there is nothing, I repeat nothing pretty about it.
Normally back home you don’t think about these things. Like I’ve said “Normally” you have your toilet-sewage that takes care of stuff and you never stop to think where does it go…but…  avoiding the lake-sized pool of human excrement that fills a section of the sprawling American and NATO base known as Kandahar Air Field is something else. Avoid it you cannot.

The first time I’ve passed by it, I almost gaged. I covered my nose and mouth as I was mentally debating should I endure the smell or breathe to my mouth (but hell, I don’t want this shitty air in my mouth!!!Ijuuu!!!). My new friend Jelena, from Macedonia still gags and almost throws up when we pass by it. Pour thing…but it is very entertaining for the rest of us.


This place is so bad it is a source of lot of jokes and funny signs and mascots. The following pictures pretty much explain everything:

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Watching these funny captions, I told one of my friends that these are cool and that “ I need to contribute with something” , and he laughed and said: “Oh Maja, don’t worry, you already are “Contributing” !

Hehehehe…

Also, somebody told me that during one attack, a Taliban rocket struck the pond and disappeared inside. It hasn’t been heard from since. So you see it’s not all bad… it serves other “pooposes” too. (…pun intended! hehehe)  

This brings me to another question. Bottled water!

I avoid drinking the tap water here, just because I’m not comfortable in knowing how it is filtered or God knows what chemicals they use to clean it. So, I drink the bottled water. Being curious by nature, I actually read the label and what do you know, it is produced right here in Kandahar Airfield…so…where do they get this water from???

This is the part of the story where I ask myself, do I really want to know? Maybe, this is the part where that saying: “Ignorance is bliss” kind of thing. So, I will investigate this, no more.
So, enjoy your bathrooms you privileged people!

Enjoy the fact is in your apartment/ house and that you don’t have to go out to use it…Enjoy the nice smelling soaps, hair products and those triple layer toilet papers that smell like lavender. Enjoy the fact that you don’t have to share your toilet/shower with another 5 more people… listening to weird people singing in the shower (Oh, wait that would be me).

So yes, just be happy you are living a privileged life.