Bail Out

"Today marks exactly a year in Not-worth-it-stan, and that is plenty. I will be wheels up and out of here in less than 36 hours, probably never to return. As bad as this place is, working for a floundering startup is what has finally worn me down, but I will skip the boring business details.

I meet many expats who have spent years here and in other war zones or have renewed long-term contracts, and seem quite comfortable. I meet others who self-medicate, get way out of balance, and come unglued. I have watched them age in dog-years. Some people deal with it better than others, but I might be a little too tightly wound to handle all of this downtime and isolation. Ninety-nine percent of the people I have ever known would not even choose to fly over this country. I am out, at least until my employer stabilizes, improves our security, and finally taps into this $65,000,000,000 war effort. I have had enough, and that reveals the truth in what the Taliban say: “The Americans have the watches, but we have the time.”"
Housefly