Sylvia's Journal

All through my dreams I was looking for my missing files. Surprisingly I kept finding them, yet I never acted on that knowledge. Now that I am awake again, I can’t remember how to get there. So they remain missing.

My itinerary is now hanging on the kitchen window, next to the phone, where all my itineraries have always been posted so the members of my household know when I am going and when I am coming back. This time the return date is July 17, 2010. This date is somewhat arbitrary but it does get the message across that I am packing for a long absence rather than the usual 10 days or 2 weeks. That kind of packing was easy – I have packing lists and things ready to toss in my suitcase or even in my carry-on. This kind of packing, for the long haul, is an entirely different story.

I have sorted things in piles: need right away, can wait. The ‘can wait’ bags and boxes are going to MSH where they will wait until a traveler to Kabul is willing to take some stuff along. The rest will have to fit in the two suitcases that are spread open on the bed.

An alarm went off on my computer to remind me that tomorrow is my last day in the Cambridge office of MSH – as if I might forget. This is a last chance for some of the to-dos that require my presence there. It includes a trip to the boat club across the street to empty my locker. I will also ask our IT people to try one final attempt at locating the missing files and while they do that I will say my goodbyes to colleagues who are unlikely to travel to Kabul in the foreseeable future.

Yesterday I had my last follow up with the shoulder doctor who gave me the thumbs up; I am good to go. His assistant also gave me a cortisone shot and a prescription for some strong anti-inflammatory pills for the other, the ‘good’ shoulder that has been increasingly painful. Hopefully the effect of this shot and the pills will see me through the next few months and especially the two days of travel.