Everyday a surprise

Everyday is an adventure. Everyday is surreal. Everyday I find myself both asking myself why I am here and feeling blessed that I am. Life is funny in that way, I suppose. Maybe that is how each day should be, continually challenging ourselves to step outside of our comfort zones so that we feel out of place, but also blessed.


Being here, though, in a warzone, that is, it is the little things in life that are magnetized. The goods are great and the bads are horrendous – here in Kabul we have no middle ground, that I quickly realized.

A few days, a coworker received a large box in the mail. Now normally mail day brings the good days to great. But this large box – oh, it changed the week, friends. Inside of this box was about 40 boxes of - straight from the hands of an all American, 7 year old, badge wearing, sweet and peaches, girl scout – Girl Scout Cookies. A skip in the step on the way out the door, a friendly hello and meetings even ended on time, with a pleasant “another cookie, before you go?”. Everyday brings surprises.

Yesterday, a more humorous surprise came my way - - and a bit more suddenly, which I am sure you will appreciate. Our security protocol is such that if you go to an outside building to ours, you are searched. Ok, makes sense. Well, I had traveled to an office of ours that I hadn’t been to before, from “the outside”.

“Ma’am, kindly step inside”, the nice guard asks, as the female guard is waving her baton at me. So, I step inside and hand her my purse to search. As I am unzipping my purse, I am getting more action than I have in quite some time. Now, maybe this is partially because I am in Afghanistan not allowed to really even look at men, but goodness me – this woman took her job very seriously. As I am trying to a. focus b. be a mature adult and not laugh c. figure about what the h e double hockey sticks is happening and if it is really protocol and d. no just start running, I simply look up toward to sky as she finishes my “body search” (f.u.l.l. body search, mind you), and like an obedient dog wait for her permission to leave. If TSA is looking, I suggest they give her a call.

Not only was my “search” an adventure, but it made me realize how lucky we are back in the states to not have to be searched each time we walk into work, school, etc. Sure, I think too much over here. But it is these little things that really make you think. So go out and buy some girl scout cookies and walk through those work doors with pride (no special attention for you).