This trip was another last-minute decision and I wasn’t sure what to expect. It was monsoon season so I got a pretty good deal at a nice hotel on the southern coast near Galle, an area recommended by friend who was there a few months prior. I am told however, that the downside of monsoon season are the…monsoons. I figured it was worth a shot though and if it rained the whole time it would still be a change of pace from the hot and dry of the Kabul summer.

I got lucky. There were a couple late afternoon showers that lasted for about 20 minutes, but sunny and 85F otherwise. I spent the week mostly surfing and laying in the sun, with a couple tuk-tuk outings to fort village of Galle and Koggola Lake to satisfy my touristic obligations. It was a short trip, only about a week, but exactly what I had hoped for. A low-key distraction from work and a lot of time on a surf board and in the sun.

Highs: Seafood curry, surfing, spectacular beaches

Lows: Being the only tourist around and getting singled-out by aggressive vendors and tuk-tuk drivers

Next time: Spend more time and go from place-to-place. Visit the ruins of the central highlands, surf in Arugam Bay, explore Yala national park.

Chronic Exposure: A weekend picnic in “Flower Canyon” just north of Kabul city.

Chronic Exposure: Traveling across the high deserts of the central highlands on the road to Band-e-Amir.

I’ve been ready for spring since January, but only in the past week or two have the inklings of spring finally come to light. Practically overnight the cold and gray of winter gave way to sunlight, balmy evenings and tree blossoms. And all just in time for Nawruz, the Persian New Year.

In good holiday spirit, I’ve committed to a few Nawruz resolutions:

1. Be better about studying Dari – After almost 20 months in country, I really should be able to speak Dari better than I can.
2. Try not to work as much evenings and weekends – This will be a tough one.
3. Spend more time in the sun – …or just outside in general. I’ve got a couple summer projects in mind to help me on this one. One of which was planting an apricot tree in the yard. Check.
4. Call home more often – Family, I know I need to be better about this. In my defense however, time zones are a bitch and communication isn’t a one-way street. Just sayin’.

Sal-e-naw mubarak! (Happy New Year!)

Chronic Exposure: Kabul during a February snow storm.

I should know better; it’s always the same. I leave giddy with anticipation and extravagant plans of how to spend those two precious weeks at home: skiing every day, eating home-cooked feasts every night, finally sorting through my crap packed haphazardly in my parents basement, working out the little quirks of my old Land Cruiser that have been irking me since the last trip home, flying out west to visit some friends who couldn’t make it home for Christmas, and of course, saving the last, dwindling days to do absolutely nothing. Oh yes, and working in the time for the stuff I need to do to stay in good favor with VT and the US of A.

Perfect.

It’s day one and I wake up feeling fresh, the excitement of being home delaying the onset of about 8000 miles of jet lag. I spend the day getting reacquainted with the smells and reveling in the novelty of being home. I wake up on day two feeling like I never left only it’s 3am and I can’t fall back asleep and the rest of the day passes in a blur of narcolepsy narrowly averted by an 18 hour coffee binge. Day three, the jet lag starts to subside except it’s actually day 13, I’ve done none of things I said I would do and before I can figure what the hell happened, I’m back on a plane.

Though, despite the cursory attempt at the to-do list and all of the plans that just didn’t work out, I don’t leave feeling frustrated or regretful and it’s always the small things overlooked in anticipation that makes the trip so special: the cold nose and lick on the cheek from the dog waking me up in the morning, the frozen-pizza family dinners when we realize we’d much rather catch up in front of the fireplace than over the stove, the impromptu visits or phone calls with friends where the discussion just picks up where it left off undeterred by the fact that we haven’t talked in 6 months, and realizing again that doing nothing is never as good as it sounds.

I was very fortunate to again spend Thanksgiving in with some close American friends in Germany and, thanks to an Afghan holiday, I was able to stretch my R&R and go to both London, to visit extended family, and Vienna, just because. First up was Vienna.

I don’t know anyone in Vienna and knew very little about the city itself, so I treated myself to a nice hotel in a good location and spent the few days I had there doing what I love to do in Europe: just walk around taking frequent stops for good coffee and good food. I was cold and it rained, but both were welcome with a good coat and a cheap umbrella. London was much of the same, but with better conversation shared with the warm company of my adopted godmother and friends.

My stay in London was much too short, but I was due in Munich to meet more friends for the holiday, which, like last year, we spent in Frasdorf about an hour and half south of Munich near the boarder with Austria. Highlights of the weekend include the food (obviously), sledding with the kids, and catching up with friends by the bonfire in the middle of a blizzard.

Golden poplars and snowy peaks of Bamyan in November.