The Transition Back

I've been home a little over a week and its strange to be back. I'm glad to be home and need the rest but it's strange.

I've enjoyed getting my haircut, going out to dinner in restaurants where there aren't armed guards and seeing all the choices in the grocery store. Being able to drive, walking outside and being able to make eye contact again with people on the street was something I didn't realize I missed so much. The color here is amazing and its not even autumn. Kabul is brown, year round. When we drive, I can see houses; in Kabul all the houses are surrounded by 12 foot high walls and barb wire. Did I mention how much I enjoy the lack of dust? The simple things that I used to take for granted, all have new meaning. For example, I really enjoy not having to brush my teeth with bottled water!

Being home has brought some challenges as well. I'm not the same person I was when I left a year ago. Its hard to quantify the ways I've changed, just like it's hard for my friends and family to tell me how they have changed over the year. Its easy to talk about the new technology and fashion trends but on the inside I feel different.

It's like I have two separate lives both with equally important aspects to it. My friends in Kabul became my family, there is a closeness in our relationship because no one else experienced what we did. I miss them. I can't wait until their home and we can joke about how bazaar it is to transition back to civilization because I feel like an alien in my own country.

Keep Smiling!

Reflections

I'm getting ready to head home for my annual leave, after 11 months we get 30 vacations days. I am so excited to get home for such a long period of time. I cannot articulate the feelings; its both exciting and a little intimidating. Exciting because it will be so wonderful to be with friends and family, intimidating because life here is different - like being on another planet kind of different. Either way, I am looking forward to being on vacation and being home. Hope coming back isn't hard.

When I look back, in some ways, it feels like I arrived yesterday. Yet in other ways I feel like I have been here for a life time. We've been talking these last few weeks about lists -"to-do lists", "bucket lists" and lists of joys. In the spirit of knocking things off my to-do list, I decided to list my blog entry this week would be reflections of the year.

• Aug - 3 weeks of training, say good-bye to friends and family. Crazy man on plane who yelled at me b/c I took his overhead compartment, leave my pictures in Heathrow.
• Sept – US army arrive at the house, start to decorate my new apartment. First time on Cipro. Begin to learn the names of the 100 staffers who report to me.
• Oct – 7.2 earth quake, UN guest House attacked, kangaroo room incident. Tense situation at a checkpoint. Trip to Istaliff, CNN visits hospital
• Nov - Explosion on my birthday, can't go for brunch. Meet new people at weekly BBQ's. Thanksgiving at Army base, no power for 4 days, up late writing a proposal with the team.
• Dec – 4 of us have to go to Dubai to get a visa, 2 weeks of running the hospital by myself because everyone else was on leave, had a skype Christmas, learned how to play poker, vacationed in Dubai, moved
• Jan – spend New Years in the dessert, have to get another visa in Dubai, had vertigo and passed out in the shower.
• Feb – Move, freezing cold, begged for a cook, got over my fear of lighting gas things, basking lunches at the French Cafe.
• March – NICU overflows, weather changes, team members back, different team member leaves, surprise friendships
• April – volcano, surprise trip home, find grenade at hospital, roses blooming in the garden
• May – Explosion 200 yards away, new volunteer arrives, dollar decreases, networking dinner for Fistula
• June – more visa issues, unusual staff requests, advocate for raises, peace Jirrga, ring of steel signs, ants in the kitchen
• July - 4th of July in Dubai, new visa, Fistula Hostile almost completed, new boundaries, Kabul Conference...a time of reflection.

See ya soon.

Keep Smiling!

Lady Taxi

I'm in Dubai to try and renew my visa. The contrast between Dubai and Kabul always amazes me. Its going from one extreme to another; extreme poverty to extreme wealth.

Getting off the plane and leaving the airport the humidity slaps you across the face. By this time I have already stuffed my headscarf deep in my bag and am thankful I opted to wear linen pants. I may look like a wrinkled mess but they aren't sticking to me.

Getting a taxi at the airport in Dubai is one of the most organized processes that I have ever observed/participated in. As you walk out the exit for taxi's, you are ushered into a well formed line. There are line markers which prevent crowding, like in an amusement park. As you look ahead you can see dozens of taxis all in a line waiting. When you reach the front of the line, a uniformed man directs you to your taxi. As one taxi pulls away the next one drives up to take the next person. It really is efficient and moves pretty quickly. Which is nice because this time of year, standing outside side feels a little like you are melting.

This time we were directed to a "Ladies Taxi." It was the cutest thing. I've never seen this before. The lady taxi driver, was standing near her taxi talking with another women who worked for this cab company. Both were wearing a pink and white uniform. The cab instead of being like a yellow cab in the States, was pink and white. It was adorable.

The women explained that the company has been around for the last several years and is now up to fifteen drivers. It wasn't clear from her explanation (I had a hard time understanding her accent) but I think the cars are only used to transport women. It's an interesting concept. I remember when I was in Egypt there were women only subway cars. It seems like a safer way to travel but I wonder if feminists all over the world will think this is a set back for women's rights. But I can tell you, this service would be a hit in Kabul.

Keep Smiling!