Life in the AV

Before I left Afghanistan, I said to a friend "My friends are probably up to the same stuff they were up to when I left." It turned out to be true.

I've been home for over two weeks now and back to the life I had been hoping to escape by now. Why did I come back?

I discovered that one friend is living in a women's shelter because her husband has been using her head as a punching bag. WTF?! I've met the guy and hung out with them several times and I never got the impression he was a woman beater! What a gross misjudgment on my part. They've filed for divorce. I have no idea how to get in touch with her. I just hope she and her 1-year-old son are okay.

My other friend, what can I say, she's been doing the same thing for like the last ten years. She just had another baby, her third baby with a guy who's not only shown her he doesn't want to be with her, but verbally said this to her almost ten years ago! I wish I could say she's finally seen the light but I can't. This would be one of dozens of times she's called it quits with this guy. It's a situation much like Kim Porter and Sean "P. Diddy" Combs.

I was very disappointed when she told me the news. All I could do was congratulate her. There was no point in asking her what she was thinking at the time. I already know.

I'm sad to say that I miss Afghanistan. It's been a long time since I was around people my age who weren't saddled down with responsibilities, mostly because they couldn't bring their families to Afghanistan.