Sylvia's Journal

I have started to use our new exercise equipment and run elliptically for a little while each evening before bedtime. The combination of being out of shape and at an altitude of about 6000 feet produces a sorry record: 1 kilometer in 5 minutes leaving me gasping for air on the bed. The first part of my self-imposed training is discouraging but I want to give it a try.

At the same time I am struggling with the deteriorating shoulder and not sure what to do about it. I hope the military physical therapist is still embedded at the 400-bed hospital so I can show him the MRI result and see what he recommends as my current shoulder exercise regime is also a bit discouraging.

My first day back at work was long and entirely managed without a computer. Still I felt as if I was missing a limb, so much has the computer become part of my life, and more specifically an extension of my brain and my senses for both input and output.

Things are simmering at the ministry and new roles are being explored for Steve and me. There’s even talk about an embedding sort of arrangement, with each one of us assigned to the sit with the highest levels and serve as a sounding board in the midst of this tangle of political, technical and organizational forces that would overwhelm just anyone.

All of us expats came together for a farewell dinner at guesthouse zero for Kip who is leaving for good. He explained earlier today to our Afghan colleagues that not being able to engage on foot with Afghan society and never learning the language were his two big regrets and the former the reason for his premature departure. Being cooped up like we are isn’t fun, indeed, but we are trying to compensate for that by learning the language and expanding our circle of Afghan friends. Still, we all know what he meant and nodded our heads.

Axel instructed our cook this morning to make a recipe out of the Lebanese cookbook, a lentil soup that looks and smells like I imagined it should; only the serving suggestion was missing (a few dollops of yogurt). This was rather encouraging.