Sylvia's Journal

We are four days into our Ayurvedic spring cleaning and I am feeling great. Except for the lengthy morning preparations it has not been very difficult. I imagine that my cold and sinus congestion, which started on day two and left me feeling poorly and tired, was over in two days because of my clean living.

My trip to Afghanistan has been cancelled, and with that my chances of going back there reduced to close to zero, at least for the foreseeable future. Some people would think that this is cause for relief and joy but for me it is disappointing. I had looked forward to seeing friends and colleagues. I also had wanted to do a final distribution of clothing and packing up what I left behind. I was in the budget for four trips – hence the stuff I left behind. I had imagined travelling with carryon only.

Within hours of this cancellation a replacement trip offered itself, this time to Kenya for some HR work.  I said yes as long as I would be back a good 10 days before our grandson is expected to arrive. That could be arranged. And so, in the end my travel schedule has not changed, just one of the destinations.

And now we are getting ready for our annual spring ritual, our Greek Easter celebration, where we enjoy the company of our best friends against the backdrop of new green and flowering trees. We celebrate many things at this time of year: our 32 years of marriage, the lucky circumstance of our meeting (35 years ago) and new beginnings, especially the imminent arrival of Sita and Jim’s son.