training

Talking for multiple hours in a row is tiring.

Beloved joins the first two thirds of Mantel's Cromwell trilogy among the best novels I've ever read.

The third volume of the trilogy, The Mirror and the Light, is coming out next year. I am beside myself. Also, this book will join my list of things with awesome names.

My training today at Focus is going well so far, I think. People were really engaged this morning, asking lots of questions, cross-talking about specific problems or examples, good stuff like that. The contrast with the mostly glassy eyes I addressed in Tajikistan is pretty striking.

Today is the last real working day of my trip. I'll have plenty to do tomorrow, including crashing Focus's board meeting, but the biggest milestones from the trip will all be complete as of tonight. Feels good, this has been a really productive trip. Lots more to do, but that's okay.

Just had pizza from Afghan Fried Chicken, the makers of the worst cheeseburger I have ever eaten. It (the pizza) was actually pretty good. A bit spicy, even!

Part two of the training, commence.

two hours...nine hours

The Dushanbe-Kabul trip is brutal, mostly because you have to wake up at 2:20 AM to make the flight to Dubai. And then it's six hours in the air, plus layover, for what should be a one-hour flight. The car wasn't at the airport to pick me up and my supposedly universal SIM wasn't working, despite showing full bars and the name of one of the local MNOs. But it was okay, I got a driver from Save to lend me his phone and then to call our dispatch, and then the car came in 15 minutes. 

Security at the hotel is notably beefed up. And it's not like it was easy to get in before, even in a diplomatic car. It's also pretty empty compared to last year, when there was lots of bustle and many guests. 

Last night I grabbed an early dinner with LG, who's halfway through a month-long trip, and then fought to stay awake until 9:30 or so. I was wiped out and nursing a headache but I was also gonna be damned if I fell asleep too early to wake up at a reasonable time. As it was I got up at 6:30, plenty of time to shower and chat briefly with C before heading down to breakfast with the head of our unit out here. Nine hours of sleep -- and I slept like the dead -- was so necessary after just two the night before.

The two were because we got taken out by the PE crew for our last night in Dushanbe, to a night club called (in Persian) the Hunting Lodge. Lots of taxidermy, lots of fake trees, a TV showing an Animal Planet special on African big cats. And that apparently typical Central Asian mixed dinner entertainment: belly dancers, a singer, a band, traditional dancers, a pair doing weird duets. The volume during the performances is ear-splitting and actually really unpleasant. But I learned that the reason they do it that way is so that you'll eat and drink more, because you can't talk. Not my cup of tea. The breaks were nice enough, though, good conversation in bits and chunks. Food bad. Oh well. We got home late and then I had to pack. Et voila, two hours of sleep.

Breakfast with MB this morning was good, she's nice and I appreciated her taking the time because she is totally swamped and most certainly does not have time for me during working hours. She wanted to get a bit of a rundown on the DC office, and also to talk about jobs. They don't have anything open right now that's terribly interesting to me, I think to MB's disappointment because they need help, but they might mid-next-year. I've got to get overseas eventually, damn it, and so it's good to start putting those feelers out in person. 

Today and most of the week I'm with my humanitarian/DRR colleagues at Focus. And honestly their Executive Officer made a soft pitch to me on coming out to work with them next year as Deputy EO. Unexpected. Many of the readers of this blog may not enjoy hearing me say it but I'm seriously considering a couple of these options. Would be silly not to. 

Readers may also not like hearing that I'm more glad to be back in Kabul than I expected to be. Doesn't mean I'll move here necessarily but it's a good reminder that I do like it out here. 

This blog is blocked in the hotel (for adult content?) and it's shaping up to be a busy week so I'm not sure how many entries I'll get down. I'll try to write a few around lunchtimes, like this one. Lunch was delicious, by the way: a thick rice and beans concoction and fresh bread. Hopefully it'll all sit well, knock on wood.