Sylvia's Journal

We sent the progeny off by car to see the southern coastline and visit Tyr while we spent the day by foot in West Beirut.

We picked up the CD with the results of my MRI at the American University Hospital. It came with a diagnosis from Dr.El Merhi who mentions a gap filled with fluid, signal intensity, atrophy and shoulder joint effusion. I don’t understand what it means but it sounds a little ominous. We are sending it off to Boston with Tessa and wait for instructions on what next.

We walked around for hours in the city, looking for things that cannot be easily found in Kabul, or can only be found in places that are off limits, like the bazaar. This included buttons, espresso cups, a map of the region we live in and a cookbook to teach our cook how to reproduce the fantastic Lebanese meals we have had here.

We also each had a haircut. I had the fastest haircut ever. In the 15 minutes I was in the salon I never got to find out whether my coiffeur was indeed named Jacques (I assume all male hairdressers go by the name of Jacques). He complimented me on my hair. I told him it was my father’s and sent a quick thank you to the heavens.

Axel went to the barbershop around the corner. It was the same he frequented 30 years ago. It had not changed a bit. Only Jack, the then barber had gone and now lives in Torrence, CA. It was Mr. Philippe who cut his hair. And not only his hair, also his beard, eyebrows, nose hair, neck hair, everything!

At the end of the day all of us, including Alistair and Birgit, went out for Sushi in Achrafiyeh and enjoyed a great meal together. I paid the bill out of the pot of money that is replenished every week I am in Kabul with ‘danger pay.’ That’s what it is for.