Sylvia's Journal

The ministry of health didn’t pay its internet bill and as a result no one has been able to connect with the internet for days now. I got to send out an email through our ISP on behalf of the office of someone high up in the government. It felt a little naughty and scary but I did hit the send button anyways.

We are all busy reading the 1001 analyses and op-eds that have flooded the web in the wake of the Obama speech. Axel had time in between his Dari lesson to find them, pdf them and send them onwards. Reading all of this could easily become a full time job. We are pleased to see that many people picked up on the absence of the civilian aid business in the speech but we are learning that we are not forgotten, just not center stage.

The nexus between civilians and military is an interesting one that probably would require the recruitment of anthropologists rather than development workers or military folks. I think that these two US tribes are further apart from each other than the Pashtuns and the Tajiks. Throw those ethnic groups into the mix and it gets even more complicated, the languages alone (military speak, aid speak, Pashto speak, Dari speak, etc.)

When I applied for my job it didn’t say anything about ‘able to work in an environment that is in constant flux.’ Now I understand why: we are in a constant holding pattern: holding for the elections, holding for the certifying of the election results, holding for the recount, holding for the runoffs, holding for the inauguration, holding for the announcement of the new cabinet….this is where we are now. The announcement of the new cabinet was supposed to have happened today but the grapevine says Tuesday. The grapevine also says that most of the ministers will be replaced (sacked?) and many will be investigated. We are wondering whether we should brace for something.

Still, we try to go on with our business as if our work is regular work with timesheets, workplans and quarterly reports. In the meantime Axel continues to learn Dari and is now able to write me short Dari email about being sick of eating lamb fat (that’s what you get for complaining about too much chicken): Nan besyar charb bud. There was (bud) too much fat (charb) and now he doesn’t feel all that well.