Moving

I’m writing this entry from my new home, just a few blocks from the old staff house. I’m currently sitting on the floor between two heaters (rotisserie Sahar, anyone?) trying to get warm – it seems like I haven’t been warm in days, although even I know that’s an exaggeration. I haven’t showered in four days, which is NOT an exaggeration, although I wish it was…My personal hygiene has consisted of brushing my teeth and rinsing my face with bottled water.

At first the move really didn’t seem like it was going to be bad. After all, there were at least six men moving the stuff, so I didn’t have to do that, which was nice (the power just went out, btw) and everything seemed to be in order. When we arrived at the new house it was freezing cold, as a concrete house that has been empty for months would be. I spent the morning settling into my new room then my boss and I ate lunch before I headed over to the office. While we were eating, Tashi and Heida (dogs) were hanging out with us, in my new room. Then Heida jumps up onto my bed, stands on top of my pillow, and pees all over it and the bed. Now, I like dogs, and I wasn’t too upset by this because I knew the washer and dryer were being delivered that afternoon, so I just stripped the bed and went to work. I wasn’t too concerned about the lack of power and water because I knew our Admin officer was working on it – that was Sunday.

Today is Tuesday. Since Sunday we’ve had spotty electricity, no food (no fridge), some water, but no hot (or even not freezing cold) water. To add insult to injury, on Monday I left my cold house and walked across the street to the office, thinking at least there would be heat there. HA. The office generator went down, so I spent the first 3 hours of the day sitting in a freezing concrete office with no heat, no light and a dead laptop battery. (power came back)

Now, I realize that I am working in the field, and this is part of the territory. This lack of heat situation worries me because I have lupus, and any extended exposure to cold can make me very sick. I get symptoms every winter in the US, but they don’t usually get serious until late January or early February. Spring starts in DC in March, so it usually isn’t too big of a deal. Unfortunately, my symptoms are already starting, and it is only December. From what I’ve heard, winter hasn’t even started in Afghanistan, and January and February are brutally cold. I should be okay if I can stay in warm places, but if the house and the office aren’t warm, I’m going to have some serious problems. For now I’m playing the wait and see game, but I will be terribly disappointed if I can’t fulfill my contract because of the weather. I try not to let the lupus control, or even really influence my life – but this may be out of my hands. (power just went out, came back, and went out again)

On a more upbeat note, the water heater has supposedly been fixed, so I’m looking forward to taking a shower in the very near future. We don’t have hot water yet, but it isn’t freezing cold, so hopefully we’ll have enough warm water for showers soon. Of course, the electricity has to stay on for the water to run, and for it to heat up, so I guess I’ll have to wait and see.