[peg-image src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-e1W3NB1gEEg/TxFeVJ6kwCI/AAAAAAAABNw/HVVXEj-9RJQjTD2y90vCrTwDbAcrcWBmQCHM/s144-o/Kurdistan%2B%252842%2529.jpg" href="https://picasaweb.google.com/116037646631888832329/Kurdistan?authkey=Gv1sRgCKm3rLeyuIiRmgE#5697438721132249122" caption="Kurdistan (42).jpg" type="image" alt="Kurdistan (42).jpg" image_size="957x1600" ] In December 2011 I began working for Mercy Corps in Iraq. Having come from my only other expat posting in Afghanistan, …
he world drops twenty thousand feet from under my feet as my soul soars higher still. Euphoric, my mind reels at how brilliantly this day has become, punctuated by the …
Kabul carpet shops are all the same. Cool dark rooms, with stacks of folded carpets lining the walls. Dim fluorescent lights obscure the carpet's true color...and likely its flaws. Once you're …
Living here, there are things I consciously don’t consider. The plight of the roly-poly puppies playing on the street. Kittens play-fighting along the tops of compound walls. Children begging on …
From my bedroom window I can see the upper branches of a tall tree. Full of blackbirds, its branches waving in a gentle breeze against a pale blue winter sky, …
We were wrapping up the call when she started screaming and the line went dead. Redial. No Answer. REdial. No ANSWER. REDIAL! (Panic sets in.) "Hello." Finally, an answer! This time it's my father with terror and …
"Do you know how to get me to love you forever," he asked after staring down over his smudged glasses at a pile of unsigned documents. I glanced at the pile, …
Rang in the New Year hunkered down in my guest house afraid to drink anything because of a "credible threat." Seems to sum up the year. It's been a rough …
It is not the first time I have heard those words. It is the first time I have believed them. I'm living in Jalalabad. I moved here a week ago from …
Numb. Still. Silent. No spark to ride. No impulse drives me out my lethargy. Boredom. Have had an acute case of this since I can remember. Even when I'm out having fun, I …
Some excitement this afternoon as helicopters flew overhead, hovered and finally landed a compound away. Word on the street has it that it was Karzai and Ahmadinejad having some sort …
I've been there (Afghanistan) for two years....ok, 21 months. My family now refers to it as "home" as in "when are you going back home this time?" That's enough to …
One of the best things about the past few weeks has been watching Jack grow up. I rescued him from a torrential rainstorm when he was only a few weeks …
I've only been here for a couple of weeks...but it feels more home than the last place!
FOUR! Count them, four whole days of nearly unfettered access to the farm (thanks V)! Fresh air, sunshine and walking, lots of walking! To say nothing of the countless vendors, …
