Busy times....

It has been a rather busy two to three weeks with no respite in sight until about the 20th of this month, but so far I still am able to stand it. I came back down to Kqin a couple of days ago to basically soak up of all the knowledge from my departing co-worker, whose office I will now be helping to manage. It's a huge leap in responsibility from what I've been doing (mainly reporting and tracking our projects), but definitely a step in the right direction. The management challenges here are enormous, but at least every day in Iraq still feels like a learning experience.

It's been good to be back in Kqin - although the place has sort of a ghost town feel now that many of the expats have been temporarily moved to Suli. It feels like I've been gone for a very long time, despite it only having been a month since my last stay. However, it's the first time I've been here since the suicide bomb - and the changes feel more dramatic. We can't go out of the compound at all - only to cross the street. F-16s fly overhead night and day - probably to check on Iran which is essentially "next door" to Kqin. The dogs have grown an enormous amount and have discovered they not only like to bark, but they like to fight with each other all night long - LOUDLY. We're probably going to move a couple of them to Suli, and a couple to the other house across the street, which in theory will help reduce the conflict and noise. Finally, the presence of a new sandwich maker/grill in the house has made all of us crazy for hot sandwiches at nearly every meal. I can't believe I have lived so long without such a fantastic appliance - truly I think the sandwich maker will play an essential role in whatever kitchen I have in the future.

Despite my plans to "soak up knowledge," I actually have spent the bulk of my time here over the last three days going through old project files to check them for completion. Unfortunately - despite this being at least the 3rd time we've reviewed these since August - there are STILL documents missing. I'm getting exhausted of looking for contractor payments, tendering documents and bid comparisons. The main problem is that we are trying to reconcile and close files for a lot of old projects - from back in the day when documentation didn't play quite the role it does now - meaning now we keep track of documents in one place. Before - not so much.

So, I have another day or so here before heading back up North for meetings galore with the national staff, farewell parties for two of my co-workers, and a big office/house move to take part in. The good news? After 6 months, I will FINALLY have a room of my own here. With a lovely view of the mountains. Of course, before that happy day, I will have another 3-4 days of camping out in the living room of our office with 3 other people - one of whom is an exceptionally loud snorer, requiring the use of earplugs if I want to sleep. My tolerance level is at an all-time high...