A lot of my friends and colleagues have departed over the past 2 weeks and there's a whole new crew of people who have arrived to fill their vacancies. Including a new Protocol Specialist who is my #2. Her name starts with a Z, so we've bonded already. She's a competent young lady, a year older than me, who has a lot of experience in the U.S. and abroad and it is so nice to have some help!
Work is consuming here. It's hard to mentally check out. I constantly have this panic feeling that if I'm away from the office something is going to catch fire and it will be my head if I'm not here to put it out. This exacerbates stress, as you can imagine, and I hit my limit when Thursday I started feeling under the weather. On Saturday when I was sure something was eating me from the inside out I went to the health unit where I was diagnosed with the "baghdad crud". I felt as disgusting as it sounds. The only prescribeable medicine is Tylenol3 to alleviate discomfort while the body acclimates.
This is something many catch when they first arrive to Baghdad dealing with the climate/country change. My friend suggests that since I am in 7 months into a 6 month contract my body hates me for staying longer.
How long am I staying? This is the question of the day for the past 2 weeks, I might as well have still been at the WHO with everyone asking "what are you doing next"...the answer is question mark.
?
I will excitedly update you all when I know. I'm going to wait until the dust settles after the Obama Countdown, pray, and see who the new COM is here and what leadership changes bring to life here before making any decisions. Though I am looking forward to the BIG Miller homecoming, so I won't stay away so long Dicky forgets about me!
Also, I have a new address starting February 1, so all postcards should be adressed to
Beth Zentmeyer
Protocol
Unit 2008 Box 66
APO AE 09870-2008
