Sylvia's Journal

I continue to be very disciplined about my daily exercise regime. Every other morning I do my 45 minute yoga routine and on the other days I walk about 6 kilometers (in about 30 minutes) on the elliptical machine while Dante is descending, about 2 circles every walk, deeper and deeper into hell. It makes me count my blessings.

The cook is learning to cook for one and getting a bit inventive, going beyond the green and fruit salad I had asked him to prepare (this is not considered ‘cooking’). Yesterday, when I arrived home late after teaching at SOLA, I found a dish with a handful of peas, carrots and three small pieces of breaded fried fish, a rather unusual dish for Kabul; today he made me two small triangles of Bolani, a sort of savory fried dough with tasty but not quite recognizable stuff inside.

I am getting in the bad habit of eating in the kitchen, standing at the counter. The alternative is a TV dinner but the BBC is getting a bit stale – constant repetition of yesterday’s stories. I suppose I could watch the local stations – it would be good for my Dari, but it is not relaxing and relaxation is what I need after an 11-hour day at work.