Ready for Kabul?

This is my long overdue first blog. I am officially blogaphobic, so please, recognize my illness and stick with me as I work through the pain. I was supposed to have posted ages ago when I was in DC, along with my brave Advocacy Project colleagues, but each time I attempted a sentence a prohibitive nausea and sweating racked by body.

After tormenting myself over my apparent writer’s block, I finally came to the conclusion that I was less stumped and more lacking something to say.

Don’t get me wrong; I have spent months planning for this summer in Afghanistan. I have read about places and researched issues that have little to do with where I will be and what I will be doing. I have emailed with everyone who knows someone who has ever thought about possibly going to Afghanistan. I signed up for so many newsgroups, list-servs and regional alerts I needed to open multiple email accounts. I packed enough Q-tips and Nyquil to ensure clean ears and restful nights for the next thirty-seven months.

The thing is, preparation and preparedness are two different animals. Gathering those supplies I imagined necessary was one thing but giving voice to my innumerable, and contradictory, emotions was quite another.

To write this blog was to imagine and to imagine was to fear.

Armed with a new passport (devoid of any evidence of my long-standing affair with Israel), a three month visa, enough headscarves to support thrice daily wardrobe changes, more cash than I have ever seen in real life, a mind free of ‘what-ifs’ and ‘imagine-thats’, I walked into Dulles Airport bound for four days of sustenance with my London lifelines - Charlotte, Dylan and Coby, two days of procurement and bonding with my journey mates Alison and Carrie (Afghan 2 and 3, respectively) in Dubai and 93 days in Kabul, Afghanistan.

There was no way to prepare for this. There were few words and even fewer pictures to guide me. However, now that the moment is really here I am honored to have you all along for the ride.