Culture Differences #2

6/28/12 

Culture Differences  

Hello, all!  Welcome to those new additions to the weekly (or whenever

it comes) edition of the life and times of...well, me!

Many of you have asked what life is like here; what I do all day, that

kind of thing.  I will lay out a typical (as in the schedule rarely

varies, even weekends) day here.  I will use a 24 hour clock for

simplicity...

0500-0515:  Wake up, get dressed

0515-0600ish:  Run

0600ish-0630ish:  Skype with Carrie and the kids

0630ish-0715:  Shower and dress

0715-0745:  Breakfast

0800-1700:   Clinic time with lunch thrown in somewhere in the middle

1700-1755ish:  Skype with Carrie and the kids

1800-1900:  Dinner

1900-2000:  ????

2000-2100:  Gym

2100-2200:  Shower and get ready for bed

That about takes care of the schedule.  Occasionally we will be called

in to treat a patient after hours...but that is literally the schedule

I keep.  Every day.  Day and night.  over and over and over...just

kidding.  It's not bad.  The schedule gives you something to look

forward too.  ("Ooohh, it's 1900!  Now I get to do ????  That sort of

looking forward.)

That leads me to the second picture I've attached.  Those of you with

weak stomachs might want to skip that picture!  With a nice schedule,

I tend to stick to going to the same places all the time.  I have my

favorite route to the dfac (pronounced d-fac...short for dining

facility).  I use the same Port-A-Johns.  You know, that sort of

thing.  Well, having watched the movie "Groundhog Day" numerous times,

I knew I had to mix it up occasionally...  Well, on my way to the dfac

one day, I decided to stop in at a new set of Port-A-Johns, just for

funsies.  I opened the door, and to my surprise, I saw nothing.

Nothing but a hole that is!  Nowhere to sit.  No urinal.  Nothing.

Now, having lived in Mexico, I've seen my fair share of holes...but I

had no idea that a company would actually fabricate a "Port-A-Hole"!

I was so...uh, impressed, that I decided it would be the picture to

send this week!  Apparently, that is the way things are done among the

Afghan people, so that is your culture lesson for the day!

The other picture is of us running the half marathon.  Some of you may

have seen pictures on Facebook, but I saved this one for the email.

It captures the essence of the race.  In the background, you can see

the town of Sharan.  I'll try to get some pictures of the town close

up for next week.  It's actually pretty cool.  Another thing you can

appreciate is the steepness of the terrain.  We started down near the

town.  This is the highest point of the race at about 8 miles in.  I

would not recommend beginning training for a half marathon with only 2

weeks to go, all while gaining 7500 ft in elevation from home...but it

was fun.  Another thing you can appreciate is the guy in front of me.

We started out as a group of 30 and there were about 6-7 guys in front

of us.  The group you see in the picture is how we finished the

race...he was in front of me by a few paces at the end, too.  I made

no efforts to pass, as I was just trying to finish with both lungs in

my chest, and I thought there was no way we would be placing.  It

turns out that pretty much everyone ahead of us quit.  He came in

second, me third.  We had no idea we were winning!  (Admittedly, I

wanted to quit at the 11.5 mile mark...)  Of course, by winning I mean

surviving.  That is about all I did.  I came in at 1:53.  My goal was

under 2 hours, so I was happy.

Anyway, I believe I have rambled on long enough.  I'm writing down all

the good stories so I can pass them on one at a time, but I've been

gathering them faster than I'm writing, so I may have to double up on

the good ones like I did in this weeks edition.  Until next week, I

love you all and I'll talk to you soon!