Day 76

Another day down.  Phew.

So I went to work, made myself a hot chocolate, and did some minimal work.  There wasn't much for me to do, because I'm waiting on the Afghan government offices to get back to me.  Ehh.

After lunch, a couple of us from the office walked to one of the Afghan shops on our compound.  It actually had the best stuff I'd seen to date.  Clothing, back packs, shoes, etc.  I even found lots of Arc'teryx gear, or so I thought.  There was a jacket that looked sort of like an outer shell, with a fleece that zipped inside.  I tried it on, and it felt ok.  It would definitely keep me warm.  The shop owner wanted $85, and I offered $50.  He came down to $80, so I moved on.  Only upon doing my research later did I discover that it couldn't have been an Arc'teryx jacket.  Some of the features just weren't right.  So I'm sure it was just embroidered properly.  So that was interesting.  Even though it's a knock-off, it's probably worth $40 or $50.  So we'll see how the negotiating goes in the future.

But eventually I found myself back in my room because I needed to change into PT gear for volleyball.  However, a local Afghan cleaning guy asked me if I'd help him (this is what I assumed his gesturing and Afghan-speak meant).  Apparently, the middle bathroom stall was locked, but no one was in it.  Because the walls go all the way to the floor, going over the top was the only options.  So I scaled the stop of the toilet stalls, dropped down into the center stall, and turned the lock.  And again.  The lock just spun around and around.  So I was stuck in there for a second.  Another Afghan asked me for a knife, and he jimmied the door open.  So I don't think I'll be using that stall anytime soon.

Volleyball wasn't nearly as fun as it had been the last couple times.  Basically everyone sucked but me.  And if your teammate doesn't read you well, and does his own thing, it just isn't fun.  So I don't know who won how many games or anything, but I guess it was exercise.  In fact, my shoulder hurts pretty bad right now, so I took a motrin.  My serve is powerful!  It even made people yelp when it hits them!  Ha ha.

I had one Afghan engagement firm up today, and it unfortunately conflicted with another meeting.  So I had to scramble to find a new idea, but I solved the problem quite masterfully, if I do say so myself.  Well, I hope everyone at home is enjoying these posts!  I am excited because I can sleep in a bit tomorrow and relax for the morning.  Good Night!