The state of things

I've gotten some comments off-line, and I thought my response might be of interest to the wider audience..... Btw, is anyone actually reading this? Leave comments!

"Yes, the villa is pretty nice. For now I'm sharing a room, but all things considered it's fine. Yes, I'm comfortable, and I feel very safe. I thing we've got a great security team handling things for us.

Work is good, and very interesting right now. I always love having new challenges, and I've got a huge amount of learning to do right now, so I'm enjoying the process.

Fun & relaxation? Well, there's not much of that. In theory, our work day is 11 hours Saturday through Thursday, with 6 hours on Friday (which is the holy day here, and the afghanis aren't working) - in practice, I can see that I'll often be working much more. Still, I have the internet to surf and my websites to read, plus books to read (there's a good-sized library left by other folks). Thursday night is a bit of a party night - we'll often do a cookout, and I've been told of a standing Thursday-night poker game.

I see a limited selection of Afghani people. We've got a number of them working with us at the villa - including housekeeping, admin, security, and technical staff. Some women, but mostly men. I work directly with a handful - they seem like really great, talented people. I can't really tell much about their customs or lifestyle - I've only been here for a bit over a week, and tend to interact with them on a professional level. Give me a few months, and I'll probably be able to tell you more."