Not much news, but...

Well, I don't have a lot of news to pass, but felt like posting tonight so I'll keep it simple.

Just a couple of pics tonight. My boss and I went over to another base in the area and looked around while we were there. Apparently we're at the wrong base - we don't have anything this nice where we are! :)



We also ran into some dog handlers with their charges. Some handlers are a little stand-offish and would prefer that you not interact with their dogs - I can understand that. They are working dogs after all. But these particular handlers were only too eager to let us get to know "Getta" - she's 5 years old and absolutely adorable.


Some people have asked what it is exactly that I'm doing over here. That's a little difficult to answer, as our jobs are pretty broadly defined and we have some leeway as to where we apply our efforts. The basic description would be that we mentor two individuals in the Ministry of Interior that both have legal responsibilities. One is a lawyer, one is not. We assist with whatever projects they have going on and whatever else we can do to make their jobs a little easier. Both of them are great individuals (although very different from each other!) and they really want to see Afghanistan succeed. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for all government officials.

I'm getting to do things over here that I never would have imagined. The people I work with (on the American, Afghan, and coalition sides) each bring their own stories and backgrounds to the table and make life very interesting. I'm playing a small part in drafting the personnel law for the ANP (Afghan National Police) and just a few days ago was lucky enough to observe a United Nations meeting for donor countries involved with justice programs in Afghanistan. There were easily a dozen countries represented there and it was an eye-opening experience to say the least. We are given a lot of opportunities here to really make a difference. Not too long ago I was involved in an assessment of the detainee operations within Afghanistan - again, something I never thought I'd be doing, but it was fascinating and I learned a lot (although it was a lot of work!).

So I'll wrap it up for tonight. I noticed in the blog counter that I now have hits from South Africa, Jordan, and several European countries. Feel free to forward the link if you know of anyone who might be interested in reading - I'd love to have hits from every continent! :)