Almost the Fourth of July

Today is July 1, also a Friday - our one day off. I slept in a bit, got up, had coffee, took a nap, worked out, took a shower, grabbed lunch, etc. Nothing terribly significant or important. The wind is howling, and it is hot out so the cool cave of our room is soothing.

yesterday Susanne and I ventured over to another base - Camp Arena - run by the Italians and Spaniards. We had appointments with the massage ladies and so that was nice. Now we know (sort of) how to get there. After that, we had food in the cantina and then walked down through the Italian quarter to get picked up and taken back to Stone. I went back to my room and then went with Jeannette over to Alex and Dan's and sat around and watched pictures, listened to some music (Dan plays guitar and sings a bit), and then rewatched (for me) two episodes of Mad Men, Season 3. It was quite nice. When we left, the stars were out in full force - and it was about 11:30. As those of you who know me, I'm not a late night person - but it was fun to be up and to have had a social evening.

Tomorrow is the holiday for July 4th. Most likely everyone in the office will be there - my goal is to only go for an hour or so - my boss returns from Kabul on Sunday.

It seems strange to think that I'll be leaving in about 3 weeks from now - again there is the feeling that I have been here a long time, yet I have barely scratched the surface. I miss very much seeing animals, children, being able to walk around and go to a store on my own (we do have our own little bazaar here, but it has a certain specific audience in mind (19-25 year old soldiers) and so I don't really want much of what is offered and definitely not at the prices offered. My goal is to buy a prayer rug for Sofia. To this end, I hope that I will be able to go into the old city in Herat on Sunday after lunch and find something and bargain a bit and then send it off to Illinois so that I don't have to carry it back. Seems attainable...

The hormonally induced blues of a couple weeks ago have faded - health has been restored pretty much and I'm eating less, exercising more and feeling pretty chipper. I have also booked most of my vacation in Croatia and Bosnia for the last two weeks and 2 days of August...am definitely looking forward to a nice laidback week in Dubrovnik and then a nice time riding every morning and "surprises" in the afternoon in Bosnia. I'll finish it off with two nights in Zagreb and then back to DC and maybe by then, I'll find out if I get to return to sana'a or not.