Camel Market

Camel Market

Sunday, July 15, 2012

General Update...

     Well, another weekend in Kabul has come and gone. I did my usual grocery shopping at Finest and Spinneys with an added stop at a street vegetable stand to get some radishes. My classes at the British Embassy and the other NGO where I teach are going well. I'm finally used to the early schedule and am appreciating the couple hour break I give myself from about ten o'clock til noon when I go to campus to prepare for my evening courses.

   I found out last week that there is a possibility to go work in another city here in Afghanistan for two weeks every month. It's called, Herat, and is near the Iranian border in the far west of Afghanistan. I have spoken my interest in giving it a try and look forward to possibly going to another place.

   Another fellow I met, Dr. Rod, who teaches business here at AUAF, is encouraging me to travel outside of Kabul if I get the chance. This past weekend he went to some pristine valley north of Kabul by two or three hours. Apparently, the security is really strict there and it is very safe. To my parents and/or my sister's ire, I thin I'll do that come September when more people show up who want to do things.

   The air in Kabul today was horrible. The plume of smog on the street was so thick, I couldn't see the large Afghan palace that lies directly at the end of Darul Aman road, a major street in Kabul. I'm surprised to say that I'm not coughing like I though I would; although the rumor is that after awhile you get 'Kabul cough' from here for too long. Knock on wood!

   I'm started to feel a it cooped up in the house,  nowadays. I think this upcoming weekend I'll venture out into the center of town to do some exploring. At the very least, I want to go get a beer with some of the other foreign teachers here who seem to know different places.

  Today, I had a nice lunch with a couple of Afghan coworkers in the cafeteria. We had an interesting conversation about their lives in Iran during the Taliban era. I found it intriguing. The lunch today was rice, chicken, salad, and more Nan. Nan here is the staple food and it only costs twenty cents for a nice, hot piece of bread measuring more than one foot in circumference. Apparently, the price of it is subsidized by the Afghan Government.

  The talk on the street today is all about a suicide bombing that took place yesterday in the north part of the country. Some imbecile blew himself up at a wedding reception of a prominent politicians daughter's wedding. The MP who was killed was a political ally of Hamid Karzai and a former commander during Afghanistan's Civil War in the 1980's. Around twenty people were killed. The Taliban did not claim responsibility and it is thought that a personal enemy of the MP may have arranged this to happen, but who knows?

 Well, that's all I have today.

 

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