Spring Days

Spring Days

We caught a few days of beautiful weather. It was spoiled today though. The weather evolved from cold snow and rain to lots of sunshine and people running around in shorts. Today, the wind stirred up the dirt and other matter into the air. I heard from a colleague that he heard there was 20% fecal material in the air. Needless to say I had my face covered as I ran from tent to office and elsewhere.

 Homes destroyed during wars.

Lovely sheep herders.

I was finally approved for a female interpreter. Now, the civilians who manage the office say it is impossible because I have to have a room for her separate from the men. Another detail and Germans are wonderful with details. The other bit of nice news is that I have been invited by the German Commander here to represent the PRT at an upcoming women's shura. It is quite funny because they are willing to send me with one of the officer interpreters which is awesome, but I have only spoken with her in Dari. I am not even sure if she speaks English.

viktor (colleague) and parviz (german-dari interpreter)

Yo momma packing an armor-piercing weapon.

The officer interpreters here are very nice to me. When I need to get an interpreter from the Germans, I go into their office and in Dari, ask them to interpret in German to make arrangements for me to have a Dari interpreter.

We finished up interviewing all the Dutch police trainers. German police trainers are next. I like interviewing people, it is just the hard work afterward that is tedious: organizing all the information into a format that makes sense. Robbert came by to see what kind of results I have come up with. I present tomorrow to the Dutch Commander and Rule of Law people. We are having a few more Americans move in here too, including another female. She is another amazing young woman. She is in her mid thirties, and an accomplished lawyer. She is training elements of the judicial system here to do their jobs better. When she is finished, she will be going back to the states and defending detainees from Guantanamo.

One of the Dutch intelligence officers has been so curious about making contact and speaking to Afghans. I think this sort of curiousity should be fulfilled. I told him I would show him how easy it is to speak to Afghans. Being a woman doesn't put me necessarily at a disadvantage either. I am treated with a lot of respect. It is so funny that people are afraid of people from other cultures. There is a fear. I suppose to some degree the fear is healthy, but it not only prevents from getting to know unlikeable characters, it also prevents from getting to know very sweet people too. Since there are a number of locals working here on the base, many of whom I have never spoken with, I was delighted to show him how simple it is.

Civil Affairs and Movie Maker extraordinaire; Anosha--the jewel of Kunduz (or Afghanistan for that matter); and Jay and "Saui" Bob (play on Jay and Silent Bob) senior special projects officers

We went up to stranger after stranger and had delightful conversations. After we asked the Afghans a few questions, I asked them if there was anything they wanted to know. They wanted to know how old we both were. When they found out my colleague was 31, they then asked if he was married. He is not yet married, but his newfound Afghan friends told him that they would be happy to help him with that situation.

I know where the Afghan security guards live here on base, so I then took my friend there. There were about 10 guys out either playing volleyball or sitting on the bench watching. I asked to join in and we were placed on opposite teams. I think we played for about an hour. It was great! They let me serve almost the whole time. I think it has been more than 20 years since I have played volleyball, but it was very fun. We were invited to come back any time and play. I know I will be back. I told my colleague that what we did today, probably 99.9% of the others here have never done.

My colleague Viktor paid me a huge compliment today. He is so sweet. He said that I need to be cloned and if he was a team leader, he would fight tooth and nail not to let me be placed anywhere else. The senior state department representative here hasn't had a lot to do with our program because of difficulties with previous members. However, today he came over and asked me for some help to review a research proposal and to participate and mentor the local Afghans. I am busy, but happy busy.

"Heads" and "Tails" the American "COIN" (Counterinsurgency Trainers) here on camp went home a couple of days ago. They had a nice party in COPLand, where the military police live. Has to be some of the nicest quarters on base.

I continue to smile and laugh too much to be fair. I am enjoying my work and sharing my few talents to help make this place a little more stable or healthier before everyone leaves.

Until then, I love you all.

Sandy

PS—I don't carry a weapon, but sometimes I might need to. The one in the photo is something I had to turn in for a LARGER weapon. Someone somewhere thought that having a larger sniper weapon would be less intimidating than the small, light, Gucci-bag sized weapon in the photos. Some things I just will never figure out.

XO again