Just In Case

Just in case I was starting to get the idea that maybe I’ve been unnecessarily uncomfortable and that things aren’t that bad here, I got a nice little reminder today of why that’s not true. Getting into the car to head to lunch, I saw a man out of the corner of my eye. He was driving a car, but was leaning out the driver’s side window to stare at me. Whatever – a lot of people stare, I just try to ignore it. But then, he started yelling at me. He actually stopped his car in the middle of the street to yell at me – some things were questions, some weren’t, judging by his inflection, but none of it sounded remotely pleasant. Everyone in the car was trying to ignore it, but L almost grazed the car in front of us trying to get away quickly once everyone was in. So much for trying to be positive – that kind of ruined my attempts for the day. Thank GOD I leave for Sana’a on Wednesday.

I heard from a friend in Karachi today – apparently things aren’t too great there, either. Although, as weird as this will sound, from a personal life perspective, I’d rather be there than here. At least there I had some friends, I had a kitchen, and I could get out of the house. Here, it’s the office and the hotel and that’s about it. It’s hard to say which place is more dangerous – I think that has a lot to do with the particular area of the country in question and the current political climate – it’s probably a toss-up. But the professional aspects of life here far exceed those of Pakistan – so I suppose this is better in terms of future benefits I might realize. But I have to admit, it sure would be nice to hop in a car with Lois and head down to Okra for dinner, complete with our bottle of wine that they’d serve us in a teapot.

Never really thought I’d hear myself say that I’d rather be in Pakistan. Although, that’s probably got something to do with the fact that I never thought I’d be sent to Yemen.

It’s getting to be that time, though. That time when I’m up late, getting up early, and working, working, working. Or at least trying to. Unfortunately, this “everythingneedstobedonenow” rush that tends to come shortly before departure also coincides with a major case of “oh look! A shiny object!” I will almost go out of my way to procrastinate – I swear it’s a pathological thing. I know I’m only making it harder for myself. I really, really, really do know that.

Does that change anything? Um…no.

I suppose, then, that I’ll sleep on the plane.