Thursday, March 23, 2006

Hangin' in Hawai'i

There's something about alliteration that really, really satisifies. Yum. I'm also feeling flu-y (more!), so perhaps there's a touch of the delusional about me right now.

I am at the University of Hawai'i right now, packing up so I can move from the dorm where we've been on retreat for three days to our hotel on Waikiki. Today I officially go on leave for five whole days. And I feel sick: stuffed nose, thick head, swollen eyes, etc. Sigh. What madness. Laurence flies in this afternoon, so he's going to get a "lei" greeting by his very own gal around town, moi. I've decided a mild amount of public embarrassment is a necessary rite of passage here.

Speaking of public embarrassment, we had decided that we needed to do some sort of big team bonding/event during our retreat, so we had planned to go on a luau last Sunday. It poured -- it's been raining here for weeks now and we have had terrible, anti-Hawai'i holiday weather -- and we postponed until Tuesday. Tuesday arrives, clouds heavy in the sky, etc., etc., and we all headed down to the pick-up point at the Ala Manoa Hotel. I noticed that my colleagues seem to have a lot of extra things with them, most notably Jodie with a rather large box. As we stood on the street corner, Jodie began to pull out grass skirts for people to put on...

More anon. Breakfast and other stuff. xx

Monday, March 13, 2006

Quaking in Kabul

I forgot one thing: we had an earthquake Tuesday night! It rumbled, my tummy jumped around a little and I ran outside to check with the guard. All was well. I went back into the house -- everyone else was at dinner -- and scoped out the place for a safe place to stand in case there was another rumble. Although the house was only one story tall, I fear that concrete ceilings pretty much guarantee pancake people post-quake.

My colleague Maureen, who was staying at a local hotel, called the front desk to ask what the commotion was. They told her it was a bomb -- perhaps to ensure she would never forget her first trip to Kabul?

Boom!

An office with a view... My last gorgeous day in Kabul.

Sunday, March 12, 2006

Afghan adventures

I am now sitting in my little apartment in Adams Morgan, listening to the spring birds chirping merrily away. Two days ago I was listening to the spring birds chirping as well, but from the country director's lovely little compound in Kabul, Afghanistan. The birds chirp merrily there, too.

What a week! It was the first country visit I've made with a team before, so the entire show didn't depend on me, but rather our Vice President for Finance and Administration. This made the trip infinitely less stressful than other experiences, which gave me an opportunity to really open my eyes and take a look around. A look around from a convoy, admittedly, but a look nonetheless. They take security very seriously in Kabul!

If you're an expat in Afghanistan, you're kind of limited as to what you can do. It also depends on your organization: USG employees do not move from the American compound and live in what other expats liken to "pod living". My dear friend Amanda also says it's "shag fest", since there's nothing else to really do. (Sounds like our experience with rice mill workers in Bangladesh -- there's nothing to do but work and have sex, so the incidence of STDs in the rice areas is quite high, with local NGOs focusing on STD prevention!) For those lucky enough to be based in the town, there's eating out and eating out. We went out multiple times: French, German, Korean, Italian, and Pakistani were our cuisines of choice. And of course Afghan -- we went to a buffet at the InterContinental on Tuesday evening with our senior staff. Yummy, with a huge focus on meat. "Meat!" grinned my colleague Hashmet as the barbecue man came towards us with a massive skewer. "I love meat!"

When we did go out, it was by convoy. Admittedly, a convoy of two cars, both unarmed, but a convoy nonetheless. I think had they been armed I would have refused to go anywhere as the possibility of something going very wrong would have increased exponentially. We had a few little mishaps with cars being separated momentarily, but all went well. No western women were kidnapped during the week I was there, and that's been the standing threat since Clementina Cantoni from CARE International was kidnapped (and released unharmed!) in May 2005. And let that record continue, please.

I must take a nap. More anon.

Thursday, March 09, 2006


Bombed-out remains of the King's Palace in Kabul.

Lovely children in our Child-to-Child (CtC) programs in Kabul. In their hands are books from the CtC mobile library, ready to share at home with their families.

Wednesday, March 08, 2006


Development creeping up the mountainsides in Kabul.

Julee in Kabul on Tuesday, March 7, en route to Chicken Street.