Week 3

A good indication that what I’m writing is less than inspiring is reflected by my getting so bored with it that I put it aside to wait for new inspiration. As that hasn’t happened yet I’ll just quickly publish this and post a few photos.

While I may be stuck in an office routine right now I know that more new experiences aren’t far away. Even before I left Amsterdam for Pakistan MSF-Holland recognized that additional help would be needed. Last Thursday morning Simone from Holland and Emma from Ireland arrived to provide short-term support with the financial management of the Kashmir relief effort. Although their flight got in just before 6:00 am, I was more than happy to meet them at the airport.

I did take my first day off last Sunday. I slept in, went for a run, went for a hike at Margalla Hills National Park with Emma and the happy Swedes Maria and Alexander, and watched a couple of DVDs at home in the evening. It felt like many a day off spent in Canada except that there weren’t any decent sports on TV. Thankfully, Canada is one Commonwealth country that is not cursed with a passion for cricket. The same is not true for Pakistan.

I’m getting a pretty good handle on the financial aspect of my job. The human resources side is still a bit of a mystery. I still haven’t gotten outside of Islamabad except for my helicopter ride in the Chinook. This will be changing in the near future as I’ll be traveling to Muzaffarabad in Kashmir at the end of next week to meet with Simone and Emma. I also hope to get out to one of our Afghani refugee projects. Therefore, I’m optimistic that more adventure and better blog stories are upcoming.