While Sita is radicalizing in Copenhagen and demanding a different kind of Christmas, Tessa is busy preparing for an old-fashioned Christmas for this family that she thinks hates Christmas (not true), and we live amidst diesel fumes contributing to Afghanistan’s carbon footprint in exchange for staying warm.
Watching Copenhagen from here is a different experience altogether. Given what is happening (or not happening) in Afghanistan, global climate problems are conceptually remote when you wonder about when things will blow up again, try to stay warm or recognize that there is only one way to get home for Christmas.
Consultant Ankie has left and we are home alone again; the next consultant who will be rooming with us, Susan, won’t be here until early January after our return. Ankie has left us a ‘kaasschaaf’ (cheese slicer) and a huge chunk of Dutch cheese. It was nice having her here and speaking Dutch again. I already miss her.
In the meantime Axel is beginning to build up a network of contacts on his own which includes a surprising number of Dutch people. Tonight he is dining with Martijn and/or Mathijs in their heavily fortified compound in a part of Kabul where many foreign contractors hunker down as if under constant siege.
We are still waiting for the announcement of cabinet positions and hear rumors of tense conversations behind the scenes. Although most people believe the minister of health will remain, nothing can be taken for granted. Whether he leaves or stays we think that there will be occasions for using words such as ‘new beginnings.’ I also hope that one of such new beginnings will be a focus on senior leadership work after I get back – one area I am very keen on because, as one of my staff said earlier, ‘we are busy painting the ceiling under a leaky roof.’
Sylvia's Journal 
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