It was 8:00AM and I was in a convoy leaving the Embassy to go on my first trip with the Ambassador. Joe calls to tell me that my sister is on her way to the hospital in labor. I almost fell out of my seat. Seriously Mel, you had to pick the one day that I couldn't be in phone contact???
For anyone who has not heard, Mel had a beautiful baby girl - Guinevere Rose (Gwen).
So the trip... Traveling with the Ambassador actually sounds more important than it is. He travels with a gaggle of people, I went as the Press Officer. What that means is I had to try to have the press that traveled with us in beneficial places to catch the action. It is a virtually impossible job. They are never in the right place - sometimes because I don't know what I'm doing, sometimes because journalism is new here so they haven't honed their instincts, and sometimes because the Ambassador is a machine and he just keeps going, finds new things to do, makes unexpected stops, etc.
The real reason I went was that we did the Grand Opening of one of my Lincoln Centers that day. Kunduz is not the most cosmopolitan place, so it was a big accomplishment opening something up there. I can't take any credit for it, the team before me did everything, but it was fun to be a part of. The picture is of local journalists interviewing people who use the center.
The other really cool thing we did that day was visit a women's cooperative that makes clothes, has a vocational school, AND a daycare/kindergarten for the kids of the women who work there. I loved the place. The women created it out of almost nothing, run it themselves, market their goods themselves, in short everything you would hope women here could do. And the kids.... too cute. The picture of the little one and the soldier was possibly my favorite moment. This little boy was maybe 4 and he wanted to talk to EVERYONE. He was just babbling on to Eric (the soldier) who was saying "Wow. That's a great story." Of course none of us had any idea what he was saying, but it didn't matter at all.
More pictures - the really tall gentleman is AMB Eikenberry
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