Sylvia's Journal

Some of Kabul went to work today but most people took a day off, bridging from holiday to weekend. As a result traffic was easy today and it took me less than 30 minutes to get to my lunch appointment with Denise, in the Flower Street Cafe which isn’t on Flower Street. It’s the place where young good looking expats are hanging out. If I were single and much younger, that’s where I would go to check out who’s in Kabul.

Denise heads up one of our sister projects that complements ours by focusing on strengthening the NGOs that deliver the health services. Her project has recently been asked to provide more support to one of the departments of the ministry we are also supporting; and so we got together to make sure we are aligned.

We have more experience in working with the ministry than her team has. We are used to working in this extremely difficult environment and have developed a considerable degree of frustration tolerance. One of our dilemmas is how to respond to the numerous requests for this and for that, as if we are a supermarket for whatever makes offices work (people, equipment, internet, etc.). We are navigating these treacherous waters with sometimes a ‘no’ and sometimes a ‘yes.’

After lunch I stopped at one of the supermarkets that caters to expats to stock up on the things we foreigners cannot do without (like very dark chocolate and cold medicine). I spotted a laminated chart with the Dari alphabet. The shopkeeper proudly pointed out that he also had the English one but I told him I knew that alphabet already and preferred the Dari one. It now hangs in the hallway so we can practice each time we walk to the kitchen.

Axel’s employment prospects are growing by the day. There is much paperwork to be completed before the final go-ahead. We suspect this may come the day before we leave for Holland, next week.