Two days catch up

I'm trying to think what to write about the last two days. They have been really busy, but just with boring stuff of visiting people really. I did get to drive through what I classify as "real Kabul" today where you can tell that very few foreigners come to. The last few days have been quite exhausting really, I have managed to meet a number of Afghans which has been amazing, most of whom speak quite good English, but I had a translator with me today who did some translating from Dari to English and back again. The funny thing was that when he came to pick me up from my guest house, both the chokidar (guard) and the cook stood disapprovingly in the gateway wondering who this new taxi driver person was, and not sure if they should let me go with him. I think they were definitely reassured when I returned safely in one piece. Tomorrow will be a whole new experience, I am going to dinner and a ball - we will see what this actually turns out to me, like any experience here in Afghanistan, what you think it may seem at first is not always how it turns out. This does mean I have to go shopping for a suitable dress, which I am assured I can get quite cheaply at the mall in Kote Sangi that has 6 floors in it. We shall see what actually happens. I am also allowed out of the city on Friday, and so there will be 4 of us foreigners piling into a car to go about an hour and a half out of the city, to get out and look around and then pile back into the car for the ride home. We are all looking forward to it, but it does mean that I have to have a security briefing sometime tomorrow before we can go. I need to get some sleep, as I slept badly last night with all the dogs outside barking at one another! Hopefully I'll sleep better tonight.

Happy birthday Sister!

The security guy said no to the visit I had planned out of the city, however it may be possible for me to get out, just not to my first choice. He is going to let me know. I am only here for a short time so in some ways it doesn't matter too much about me not being able to get out of the city. I am trying to pack everything and everyone in quite tightly in order to be able to visit with everyone. I met some journalists today. It was really interesting hearing their point of view on life here, in some ways a little jaded, in other ways still very open and positive. Tomorrow is a busy day and I get to have dinner with friends which is always a benefit. Wednesday is turning out to be a very busy day, but I think that's because it's so close to the weekend, right now Thursday I only have 2 visits in, but everyone should be back from breaks by tomorrow and so I may get more response from my emails than today. We shall see how it all works out, I know it will in the end. Today was my sister's birthday, and we actually managed a 3-way Skype conversation between her in London, me here and my mother in Suffolk - hooray for technology, connecting the family!!!! Anyway Happy Birthday little sis!

Foreigners

With Saturday being a day of getting to be with the Afghans, Sunday turned out to be the opposite. A group of us piled into a taxi and went over to the more expensive side of town and the Design Cafe. This is a place where all the foreigners and expats hang out, you can get pizza, burgers, wraps, cokes, milk shakes, steaks, chicken wings and other foreign types of food. For many it is like a haven after being in their compounds for a while. They are places that are considered safe for foreigners to congregate - although unlike the Flower Street Cafe that I visited last time I was here, there was no body checking for guns. We had quite a bumpy ride over though as they are digging up a lot of the streets in the area, and re-laying them, apparently for winter. They are also digging new drains on the side of the roads, which just consist of deep channels dug out for the water to drain in to. In the evening we went to a more local restaurant, mainly Afghans eating there, but it was about 4 of us foreigners in there. The place was called BBQ tonight and one of our party was quite excited about the idea of BBQ chicken, of course when it arrived she was surprised how unlike BBQ it looked. A reminder that she was in a foreign country provoked much laughter and a "I guess" from her. It wasn't that the food wasn't tasty, it was that it wasn't what she expected. That happens a lot to foreigners here, and I think it's probably true for most places people visit. What something is called on a menu isn't always the same thing that you would call it at home. The food sure is tasty here though! It is good to be back in Kabul and I have spent this morning trying to fill my days while I am here with meetings. Unfortunately it seems that there are prime times of the day that everyone wants, and of course I have to think about getting from one place to the next which is very much dependent on traffic. I am trying to see some different people from the last time I was here, although there are some old contacts that I am hoping to touch base with. I am also hoping to get out of the city at the weekend, and I have a meeting with my security guy after lunch to discuss if that is possible. I'm really hoping yes, because last time I was here every time I tried to get out I was stopped because of various issues. I'm just trying for a day trip this time instead of an overnight somewhere. I figure that bodes better for convincing the security guy....are they supposed to be this paranoid???

Visiting

We went out on Eid visits today visiting about 4 Afghan families.  It was very interesting to see how each of them lived, and how in some places the women and the men were in different rooms and in other places we all sat together. It was such a fun and humbling experience, I drank lots of tea and ate cookies, fruit, cake and some other things which were really tasty but I have no idea what they were.  We had to drive all over the city to see all these different places and it was fascinating to see more of Kabul.  There were lots of goat pelts around, but thankfully I didn't see any of the actual slaughtered animals.  I should feel quite exhausted because we've been on the go since 9am but I actually slept quite well last night.  Tonight for dinner we have a girls night where a whole bunch of the women are getting together for supper and a movie.  Much fun today and fascinating seeing so much of the culture!  Eid Mubarak 

Arrived

I have arrived and I'm at my guesthouse, at the moment tucked up under 1 sheet, 2 thick blankets and a quilt while wearing pyjamas and bed socks....it is cold here at night.   The day seems much warmer although I still felt the need for a cardigan.  There are a number of foreigners at my guesthouse, 3 from the US, 2 from Canada and 1 from Switzerland, it certainly feels international.  Its Eid here at the moment, so some of the guests were up earlier watching the slaughter of the goats and cows next door from our roof.  I, however was still asleep having arrived quite early this morning and finding myself quite exhausted...it is both the long flight and the change in altitude.   It certainly feels different being here this time.  I have more idea where things are, I'm not worried about getting lost, or the fact that I was in the car park waiting for the driver with no number to call him on- I knew I had arrived early and so just waited..about 10 minutes later he arrived apologising profusely, while I tried my best to convince him that I was early not that he was late.   There is a different feel in the air here, I'm not sure why, maybe it's Eid, maybe I'm just more confident in my understanding of the country and the situation here but everyone is more talkative and more relaxed.  I also found out that I can go out and walk around in the local area as long as I'm with at least one other person...such freedom compared to when I was here 5 months ago.

Waiting at another airport

Im at Abu Dhabi airport, and thankfully there is free wifi, otherwise I don't know what I would do. I was quite pleased initially that I had a 4-hour layover thinking I might have to change terminals, but no, everything is in the same place, and as it isn't a very big terminal that I'm in that makes everything close by. It also means that going to the transfer desk to check in for my onward flight was really easy and no problem whatsoever, and so suddenly 20 minutes after arriving I was all ready to go, only 3 hours 40 mins to wait. I've had something to eat, wandered around a little, bought some headache tablets (ah the joys of flying) and even Skyped home to say I'm one step closer. Again, thank goodness for free wifi. I have been able to check my email, seen an amazing email from a lady I just met a few weeks ago who wrote a book on Afghanistan, and I now have a long list of people that I should get in touch with. Life is sweet (apart from this blasted headache). I'm actually quite glad that I have a few days before I really need to jump into things, because it will be great to have some rest. I used to love flying but not so much. I am about to get onto my 3rd flight of the day! It was actually (or at least it felt like) it would be a bit touch and go that I'd even make it to Abu Dhabi today. My flight leaving London was delayed by 30 mins, and I only had an hour in Amsterdam to get from one flight to the other. Thankfully I made it, and without having to run huffing and puffing like other people I saw, to my connecting flight - next time though I'm going as direct as I can!

Tomorrow I fly

Tomorrow I fly again, which means I need to start packing. Yes, I'm going back to K-town as it is called by some friends there. I'm spending 12 days there this time, and will be meeting lots of different people. Some of the people I met before, and others who are new. I'd like to say I'm excited about going and in some ways I am, but I also have a horrible cold, and frankly just want to curl up in bed and stay there for the next week. I will be keeping up this blog again while I am away, just so that people can keep track of where I am and what I'm doing. Hope you enjoy reading again.