Name: Vicel H Nationality: Filipino Languages Spoken Fluently: Tagalog Cebuano English Current Location: Afghanistan Herat City Date Moved to this Location: January 2005 Other Countries Lived In: The Philippines Type of Expat Woman: Partner Professional

I am Vicel and I’m originally from the Philippines. I am married to an American who works for a US international non-government organization. I moved to Afghanistan with him after we got married.

Before moving to Afghanistan, I lived in Davao City and was teaching pharmacy in a University to graduate and undergraduate students. During the evenings, I worked as a personal trainer and taught yoga in a fitness center as a fun job. I swim, run, kayak and scuba dive during the weekends. It was life as I knew it. I moved to Afghanistan, my first home abroad, with no friends, no work, can’t speak the language, with my husband working long and hard, and knew nobody who reassured me that what I was going through was a process that a lot of expat women also go through.

Luckily life is dynamic and I now do consultancy work for the organization that my husband is with to do training and capacity building for the local staff. I’ve also set up a yoga studio and teach yoga to expats. I’ve also told myself that no women should go through what I went through alone. If only they have access to the right support group, building a life in a different and difficult culture doesn’t have to be so heart-wrenching.

1. Be mentally prepared that things can go wrong – and because it is a stressful environment to live and work in, make sure your partner’s contract gives sufficient provisions for taking frequent, quality breaks.
   
   
2. Bring long-sleeved tops that cover your behind. During the summer it gets miserably hot (especially in Herat) so bring clothes made of light, breathable (non-sheer) material. During Winter make sure you are sufficiently bundled because it can get miserably cold. Buildings here have no central heating.
   
   
3. Stock up on panty liners and tampons…you won’t find them here.
    
4. Bring books or magazines to read…bookstores here sell only Dari, Arabic, or Persian materials. What we do is we have a subscription and we have it sent to our HQ. They send it every two months or so. Albeit some of the magazines don’t get to us in time, but it is better than nothing.
   
   
5. Learn Dari the moment you are settled. It will make your life so much more pleasant and your relationship with your local staff more engaging.

For general information on the country this page is a good place to start: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghanistan

For great photos of the country from the 1970s to the present this page is the best site to check out: http://avalon.unomaha.edu/afghan/index.htm