Hello from Kosovo!

Hey there,
To my dear friends and family and fans- just wanted to email you and let you know how things here are going.
We are in Kosovo right now, and have been incredibly busy these past few days on tour. We arrived here on Thursday, and played a few shows in Germany at Ramstein and another base close to it. Did you know that Germany (Ramstein) has the largest population of Americans outside of the USA? It was strange being at a base that really felt like anywhere in the states. We had some time to go out into town and explore, and that was great. We are really having a fun time and our group is great. We have played several shows at this point- we even played in a country bar where people line danced to "How they do it in Dixie" when the DJ played it- they didn't know that Josh had written the song- it was really cool. They had an electric bull and everything- it was crazy. no, none of us rode it- we were all too concerned about hurting ourselves.

We are encountering many people and hearing their stories and connecting with them too, and that is great. Aside from checking out Kaiserslautern, Germany and watching the boys drink beer and all of us eating cheese and chocolate, yum!- we have spent time on the banks of the Rhine too- in little villages that seemed like they were right out of the middle ages- it is wonderful to see that so many people have been here for so long. It is really amazing. Europeans seem to value their land more, and it is just gorgeous. There are huge windmills everywhere for wind power too! so big that the central inside pivot point is the size of a school bus.

So, yesterday we took a 3 hour plane ride from Germany and arrived in Kosovo. When we landed, many of the people in line at customs were from the UN. The land here is baren and there are hundreds of half built houses that people are living in because they don't have to pay property taxes until they are complete. It is like life stopped half way here in general. Everyone is unemployed. There is nothing to buy. Everything is corrupt. We went into town last night and went in with 5 armed guards- I'm talking walking around with 5 guys with m-16s in US military garb. stopping traffic and everything- it was bizarre. It felt like we would have been safe walking around- but there is a lot of human trafficing here, and they wanted to make sure that we were protected and safe. We walked into a bar and everyone just stopped talking while gaping at us. I get it- I can't imagine being at a bar in the US and having anything like that happen. The things that are normal here are qui te different than anything we experience on a daily basis.
The base that we are staying on reminds me a lot of Iraq. We are staying in 8x16 trailers and although it is somewhat nice, these people have been deployed here for a year and many of them head back home to the states for only a few months before heading to Iraq a few months later. Their stories are incredible, as usual. Last night, we sat around a table with the MPs that were protecting us in town and our band, and we just talked to these guys. Many of them are our age- although most of them are younger. We met one guy who smoked one cigarette after another- his name is James and he is 19 years old- and he told us he was upset because the last few months have just been incredibly rough. He told us his girlfriend dumped him, and is brother just died in Iraq- so he is going home to raise his neice and nephew. His story was like so many others- it is just incredible to see what war can do to people. I think what shocks us the most about this base is that these people are all Nation al Guard- they never anticipated leaving the USA, let alone going to war or being deployed to a different country for a year at a time. I understand that the US needs a military, but it is hard to see what being in the military can do to someone. These guys are so young and have already seen so much.
I am grateful to be an American, but I think it is important to remember that our way of life is something to be valued and that the things we take for granted are in question in so many parts of the world. Celebrate your life! It is the 5th Anniversary of 9/11 today. I remember 5 years ago. I never would have anticipated being here 5 years later. If there is one thing that I have learned from all of this, it is that we should teach peace and promote peace and do all we can to keep peace throughout the world through kindness rather than forcing peace through greed, death and destruction.
Thank you for being in my life and for your support.
With love and gratitude,
Carly