38. Finding my groove

Well, its been two weeks since I've been back. I've lost two good friends who decided to leave Afghanistan, Shafiq and Sarah. I miss them a lot and now I have no one to vent or complain to. But that's the nature of living here in Afghanistan. People come and go. You build friendships that last forever but people move on to conquer other territories. I wish them well on their journeys but I just want to say on record that I'm mad at them for leaving me. Now, I have to actually spend time and find new friends or at least revisit the old ones and work on rebuilding them. Its been great catching up with everyone. 

Shafiq's goodbye lunch.

Sarah's goodbye dinner. 

So much can change in 3 weeks in this country...

- we are moving to a new office

- I have new co-workers

- the sun has decided to stay and skorch us to death

- the whole nation has been bit by the campaigning bug (it seems like I'm the only person not running)

- people seem a tad bit more productive (I emphasize "tad")

- I found a great new place to dine at (the Intercontinental Hotel)

- watermelons are finally in season!!! 

But on the flip side... 

- food still sucks

- traffic is a mess

- nothing gets done fast enough

- restaurants are being raided left and right

- no one can get visas

- the Government is still inadequate to say the least. 

Nevertheless, its been good to be back. Now that I have a TV and can watch Dulhan religiously again, I don't have much to complain about.