You had me at hello!

So there we were, 150 tired guys in a room awaiting 8 hours of computer and live teaching on Dari, Afghanistan's primary language. We all start on this 4 hour computer module to learn more about the history as well as words and phrases pertinent to specific situations that soldiers may run into. About 2 hours into it an elderly gentleman comes in to teach the course. We're all expecting to start out with the basics. You know, a little review on sentence structure, maybe start with simple phrases and words.....NO, we go into conjugation etc.... I don't even remember English that well to start out with that!!! So, about an hour later, after break, he decides to break into writing Dari. Ha! About 5 minutes and 150 confused guys later I said "Hold up, sir. You had us at hello!" Squiggly lines were flying everywhere all over my note pad. It looked more like a set of my orders that my favorite unit secretary would challenge me on than Arabic writing. At least it got the teacher laughing!
Beyond the joy of Dari, the camp is catching a cold. I'm starting to give out enough pseudophed to warrant looking over my shoulder for meth producers.
Have I told that Kansas is cold and windy yet!!
Good Lord!