"As the only woman, I was able to sit with the officers in front, with a glass of vodka in one hand and a cucumber in the other. That's how I went to my first war"

In this quote, the speaker, Åsne Seierstad, is assessing her experience as the only woman in a group of officers during a war. She explains how she was able to sit with them in the front, which recommends a position of power and value. The truth that she had a glass of vodka in one hand and a cucumber in the other includes a sense of nonchalance and casualness to the circumstance. It might also represent the contrast in between the strength of war and the ordinary act of eating a cucumber. This quote highlights the distinct and non-traditional function that Seierstad played in the war, and how she approached it with a mix of self-confidence and nonchalance.