This would be a big day for us because we were going combat shopping. The battalion was going to buy food from the local vendors for the first time. Our first stop was the joint operations center secured by Marines (they also provided security with two Light Armored Vehicles parked outside the building). There was supposed to be a city council meeting but it was postponed. So we walked to main street from the building. The first store we walked in reminded me of an old general store in Eustis, Neb., when I was a kid. Very quaint. I also couldn’t help notice that the battalion commander had his AK-47 with magazine inserted strapped to his body armor by a carabiner. Also on a table was some kind of candy with powdered sugar on it. It was some kind of date dessert and it wasn’t bad (just chewy). I also noticed Chiquita banannas for sale at a vegetable stand. Several children also appeared from the heavy metal doors a few feet back from the shops. I also noticed one of the interpreters give a pen to a child. The boy was so scared or shy that the interpeter had to leave the pen on a table. The boy picked it up then. Another funny thing was a variety of shoes that looked like they were used were sitting on the curb all lined up in somewhat of an orderly fashion.
