Professor? Shaw

Well I am about 2.5 weeks into my return to Kabul and it has been work, work, and guess what, more work. That is good though as time flies relatively fast when you are busy. I have been working on my syllabi for fall, getting things ready in the residence halls, getting ready for orientation, and all of that. Did I say working on my syllabi for fall. Syllabi for those that do not know is the multiple of syllabus. I have said in the past that I would like to get more and more involved with teaching and I am. I have 2 sections of one course and two more courses on my plate for fall. I will be teaching Intro to Digital Photography and Intro to Leadership both of which I will schedule for Saturday. That means a 6 day work week for me in the fall. That will amp up the work but will also make time fly as the days off are the hardest, really. It also means extra pay as I have been promised overload pay for the extra hours put in. That means my vacation for the holidays is technically paid as a reward for working so hard. I can deal with that, I think. Plus, with working so hard the holidays will be just around the corner.

Just think, one month and 5 days and I am over 1/2 way done with my 18 month contract. It is hard to believe really. Seems like just yesterday I was announcing to my friends and family that I was headed to Afghanistan for an 18 month hump. Soon it will be time to think about contract negotiations. Some have asked me if I will renew. As I have said who knows at this point. It is too early to really say. Several factors among the many will come to play. The first of which is security in Afghanistan. The second is financial/job security. The third being mental state of mind. Any of those could go down the tubes, who know. Regardless, come January it will be time to throw my hat in the ring and start looking around. By then I hope that the economy has bounced back at least enough for hiring freezes at colleges and universities to be lifted. Come tough financial times often folks look to better themselves by getting of completing a degree and therefore enrollment usually goes up. January will be the perfect time to ride that wave.

Enough for now....time to get back to work.

5.5 Weeks Over In A Flash

Well my vacation is over and I am back in Kabul now. It seems like just yesterday but yet so long ago when I left Kabul for my vacation in the states. WOW. A few highlights:

New Ink

What to do in Miami, right? Well one thing I have always wanted to do, being a fan of the reality show by the same name, is to get some ink done at Miami Ink. What did I get? For some time I have been thinking of getting some ink to commemorate my time in Afghanistan. I decided long ago that I did not want anything cheesy. Well after many weeks of thought, I decided that I would do so by putting something celebrating an Afghan art form that has survived centuries. This art form is Nooristani woodworking. It is very intricate wood carving that has survived all of the conflict that has fallen on Afghanistan and still survives today.

You can see collage of pictures. To truly appreciate the intricacy and the fine work of both the woodwork and of the tattoo artist I have included the original picture that I gave them. Click for a much larger view of the piece of art that is now on my arm.

Bike Ride To Key West

While in Miami, I decided it was time to scratch something off my bucket list that has been there for a long, long time. A trip to Key West and one a bike to boot. So taking advantage of the Harley Owners Group Fly and Ride Program I rented a bike at Peterson's Harley-Davidson. It was actually pretty reasonable and not MUCH more than a car rental for a 4 day period. Before reserving it, which I had to do 6 weeks in advance, I was forced to make a choice on what model I wanted to rent as all the cruisers are about the same price. It did not take much thought though as I had been wanting to try out a large cruiser for some time. I decided on the Ultra Classic, or as we biker types call it the "Ultra Couch" which comes complete with cruise control, fairing, and stereo sound system. We hooked up the Ipod and were set for a great trip.

From Peterson's we connected down the interstate on the Southernmost portion of historic US Route 1 riding through all the Florida Keys to the Southernmost point in the U.S. The ride was very comfortable other than two factors. One, I discovered rather quickly upon arrival in the U.S. and Miami, in particular that I had acclimated to Kabul over the past 6 months. What that means is that I was used to a more dry environment that humid Florida. Was I ever hot and sweating there. The second, over the past 6 months of not riding a bike my body was not used to it at first. From my legs, my back, and more particularly my back side I was hurting after a full day's ride. I was really glad we stayed a couple days in Key West as I needed the time to recover.

Key West was everything I hoped it to be. I was afraid that the big hotel conglomerates would have come in and turned it into an Ocean City, Virginia Beach, Myrtle Beach, or the like. However, they have been shut out by the locals and thus they have succeeded in keeping Key West a small and intimate place. It still survives largely on the tourist trade but it is pleasantly small and cozy still. It was well worth the trip.

From Key West we cruised back up to Miami and this time to historic South Beach. Once again it was HOT. Not too bad in the morning but by the time we reached Miami the added heat coming from the concrete and steel was almost unbearable, especially in stop and go traffic. But we arrived in South Beach just in time for a literal monsoon. I was told at Miami Ink earlier in the week that this really was not a high tourist time as it was the beginning of Hurricane Season and thus was a wet period. They said it rained almost every afternoon and rained hard. However, they did not tell me about monsoons. They are not the norm though as this one was even featured on the news that evening. Luckily we arrived at the hotel just as it was starting to rain. It rained and it rained and it rained some more. Almost 3 hours of solid POURING rain. At one point I looked out at the bike and the water curbside was over the sidewalk and halfway up the back tire, over the tail pipe, and just at the bottom of the engine block. The streets in South Beach were not designed to withstand that much rain and as they filled the sidewalks became rivers with merchants fighting the flood waters. After 3 hours it slowed then after 4 it stopped and the skies started clearing almost as quickly as it all had started. In its wake it left very flooded streets complete with debris. This made getting around in South Beach on a bike treacherous to say the least. When I finally was able to find a road I could traverse I did so carefully and in calf high water. A real biker does not ride with his feet down for more than a foot or two but in those conditions one must just in case the water suddenly deepens and the back wheel starts to wash which felt like it happened a couple of times as the water reached mid calf or so.

After the rain though, South Beach was everything it was cracked up to be. Beautiful beaches, beauties in little clothing, unique restaurants and boutique hotels. The hotel provided a great roof with an excellent vantage for taking pictures. Even got to see a few cruise ships one of which appeared to be coming down the middle of the street. It was a wonderful stay and fun place to hang out for a few days. It was hard to get on the plane and leave even.

Back Home to D.C.

From Miami it was back home to D.C. and back home to my baby, my bike. The goal for my time in D.C. was to chill and to get some ride time in. While I did not get as many miles under my belt. for whatever reasons, I did get some chill time. Caught up with a few old friends and just enjoyed the vacation. After all I did not want to return to Kabul in need of a vacation from my vacation. I succeed in that respect 100 percent. Slap in the middle, I did have a 40 hour, 4 day work week with our board of trustees meetings but other than that all I did was chillax.

Thanks to a bunch of my online photography friends that had scheduled a meet and greet near Baltimore I was even able to get some shoot time in. I rode my bike up to it and believe or not I had never shot using my bike. I have shot on other bikes but never my own.

I was able to catch Aerosmith and ZZ Top in concert which was an unexpected treat as well. Not my typical quality concert shots but they will do. Not bad for shots from the cheap seats I must say.

Trip Back

Getting to back was a treat as I had asked our travel office for a different route and a layover. Well somehow they thought layover was only a short stay, so I had 4 hours in Zurich, Switzerland which was nice but wish I would have had a day or two to enjoy it. Then came hell on earth. I thought I had experience heat and humidity but when I got to Dubai this go around my gosh. It was miserable. It was 102 degrees with 90 percent humidity upon landing at 8:30 p.m. Even getting out to walk to go to the convenience store at eleven at night was terrible.

From Dubai the trip went even further uphill as they moved the flight up an hour so it was rush rush through the airport. Then when I got to Kabul I was pleasantly surprised that they had opened the new terminal but must say service has gone to pot. It took an hour to get the luggage to the carousels and the parking is still at the same old place so it was a mile or so to the vehicle with some heavy luggage. But I made it and I am in Kabul now. Time to go back to work uggh.