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.