Barf!

It's been a slow couple of days in Kabul between the regular Friday holiday and the Prophet's birthday (finally determined to be today by the Supreme Court), so I will catch up with myself and cover two days in one here.

I woke up yesterday (Friday) morning to a steady snow that had already dropped several white inches on Kabul, making even the concrete barriers and razor wire that characterize most of the landscape of Kabul a little bit less forbidding. The snow continued through midday today, eventually dropping around 10 inches-- I'm told the heaviest snowfall here in 20 years! The Dari word for "snow" is "barf" (برف). You can imagine the pleasure we English speakers get from telling each other "I love the look of newly fallen barf", or "Kabul looks so scenic covered in barf."

Kabul is not terribly well set up to handle snow, so the already chaotic streets are now icy and slippery. We did see one plow and sander hard at work although mostly the Kabulis were shoveling by hand, and building elaborate snowmen and other snow sculptures from the resulting mountains.

William Harvey kindly invited cellist Leo Eguchi and me to lunch with him at the Serena Hotel, one of the classier establishments in Kabul catering to foreigners and Afghans. They had an elaborate multi-ethnic lunch buffet including such exotics as Caesar salad with real romaine, barbecue chicken, French pastries and more. It was very tasty although Leo and I agreed that you shouldn't come to Kabul for the sushi. It was a nice treat and good company, but honestly part of me just wanted some of that hearty naan and shish kebab.

After lunch William took us on a shopping excursion to Chicken Street where shops sell quite a bit more than the name implies. We first went to a store selling handmade scarves. The workmanship and materials here are absolutely gorgeous and we each emerged with an armload. Then we went in search of lapis lazuli. Afghanistan is the only source of lapis in the Old World (it is also found in Chile) so all the lapis mentioned in the bible and the lapis artifacts found across the Middle East and Egypt had their origins here. I bargained hard for a few pairs of cufflinks, but I met my match when I found a beautiful plate made entirely of lapis. I tried my best, but the young English-speaking shopkeeper could see how much I wanted it and I paid a price! However, it is absolutely gorgeous and would cost far more anywhere else in the world, so I have few regrets.

After that trip to the markets (I hope not our last) we returned to the hotel and relaxed. I have taken to practicing horn in the bomb shelter in the basement. It is obviously pretty well soundproof, and it also doubles as an exercise room. Long tones--bench press. Etudes-- pull ups. A horn player's dream!

Today was another day of inactivity. Leo and I were getting stir crazy--and hungry-- at the hotel so we decided to brave the streets of Kabul on our own to find the Western supermarket that is supposed to be nearby. We remembered some verbal instructions from James, and I periodically tried out my basic Dari on passersby. We thought we were getting close but came on a group of Canadian soldiers as we passed near the secure areas. The Canadians told us there was no such market nearby, so back to the hotel we went to consult maps. The maps told us we had been correct so we retraced our steps and sure enough found the market. Lesson learned--never trust Canadians! (I jest, dear Canadian readers!) We loaded up on such goodies as ramen and fruit juice and treated ourselves back at the hotel.

This evening was supposed to be a welcome dinner with our director, Ahmad Sarmast, but unfortunately he had been stuck in Dubai for 2 days and needed to rest. Still, most of the crew went--the Boggess sisters, James, William, Leo, Norma Ferreira, the percussion instructor, and me. We were joined by other young expats working for various governments and NGOs. We had a pleasant meal at a restaurant called Table Talk, which served presentable pizza and fresh pomegranate juice, as well as Starbucks Coffee!

Tomorrow is very much back to work at the Institute and I am ready! Two days away from the kids is too long when my visit is so short. Already I'm almost half done!