Rock concert

Last week the Music Club held a rock concert at the University.
It was to benefit one of the local 'camps' - tent cities of displaced people from the provinces. First on the agenda was traditional music -

And traditional dancing by the young men.

Attan dancing.

The young women sat and watched.

I asked one of the female students who I see hanging out and talking with male students on campus "why don't you get up and dance?" "The boys will think differently of me," she said.

Dancing, of course, means moving your body. Sexual!

I've been told that women will dance with men at, say, a wedding where all the men are close relatives. Or they will dance in the same room with men if there's a curtain between the sexes. I'm sad for how much fun they all are missing.

Then came the rock band.

Kabul Dreams - a local group.The dancing morphed into jumping up and down...by the young men.

The young women sat and watched.

I had a good time. It's a shame western men don't do more dancing with one another -- it's a sight to behold and certainly makes my heart beat faster.

The campus that night.

children of Kabul

Walking the street outside the guesthouse.

This little girl was charming the pants off our escort and the other men in the van. She finally got in the van, making herself to home. We all had to give her money.

Story is that these young beggars have someone who's 'working' them and a portion of the money they get goes to these 'pimps.' Some of us when we see the beggar children at the vegetable/fruit stands on the street will buy them fruit, rather than give them money. Then it's theirs. What a mess.
Here's another cutey-pie - but begging.

This little girl followed the car for several blocks, perhaps offering to clean his windscreen. He wasn't interested.

I didn't understand the word 'begging' until I came here. It isn't just asking one time, or a second time, or a third time...it's begging - asking over and over and over again until finally...or you just ignore the situation entirely.

This child and his mom stood outside one of the grocery stores frequented by the foreigners (me) on the weekends.

This young man was selling a local 'what's happening guide' which is given away - for free - in the shops. Enterprising!

He's picking up trash (recycling?) along Lake Qurghur, just outside Kabul.

Hanging out.

I'm not sure what's going on here, but little brother is clearly following big brother.
These two children were outside a displaced persons camp. Many are from Helmand Province in the south, moving here to escape the Taliban. Some have been here for years. They live in tents.

The people are considered 'internally displaced' - not refugees from another country. Since they're not refugees, the United Nations isn't 'responsible' for them. They're Afghanistan's problem and Afghanistan and President Karzai are doing nothing.

The escort said the little girl wanted us to take her with us.

And here's trouble brewing!
and here.

A lot of waiting around goes on in this country - even among the young.

My kite seller.

I think they're playing the local game similar to marbles.

Something's going on here. Unusual because a girl is involved!

Kite flying.

They're on a mission of some sort.

These young girls are oblivious to the shopkeeper's leer.

Selling ice cream, maybe?

Pals.

Sister chasing little brother.

Waiting.

The Butcher

I haven't had much meat since I've been here. It's all frozen in the supermarket and not so adequately wrapped. I 'treated' myself and tried the t-bones one week. They were expensive and not good.

An aside sorta: Halal refers to what is permissible under Islam and specifically refers to the slaughtering of meat from permitted animals - not pig - by having their throat cut and being bled out. What this means to western taste is that there's no blood in halal meat which gives it a distinctive flavor. I wasn't sure I cared for it.

This weekend we're in a lockdown situation. I was told that a very very important person - VVIP was in town - and no one was allowed to go into the center of the city. As security put it 'a credible ongoing threat here...' and there were road blocks and ID checks everywhere.

To celebrate that I wouldn't be going out to dinner tonight, I decided to visit a local butcher and try some fresh meat. Lamb was what I was looking for. The 'mystery' meat at school is called 'lamb' - if it's lamb, it's an old one.


Here's the butcher. When I pointed at one slab and asked what it was. He pointed

Gospan. Sheep.

I bought some ribs for a stew. I really wanted lamb chops, but this gospan just didn't look the part... tender that is.

I cooked and ate some tonight.

I'm back on beans, rice, and canned sardines tomorrow.

winter came

and went before I had time to post some pictures. By all accounts it's been a most unusually mild winter, with only a few uncomfortably cold days. Not like the horror winters we had heard about. There was one slight snowfall - and it snowed on and off for a few days.

Here are the first flakes. We were out at the time - buying groceries and other adult beverage stuff.Leftover from the holidays, but now covered in snow. I look at this picture and I miss the US.

Here's one of the neighbors shoveling snow -- from his roof.

Me and my hearty exercise mates continued to walk and run at the 'new campus' property just below the ever-photogenic Darulaman Palace.

Me wending my way around the soccer field - and around - and around...

Saplings on a misty path.
and comings and goings.

Another wintry shot at the new campus.

The current University grounds.

Homeward bound.

And then the snow melted and the frozen ground turned to....

Mud

everywhere.

Winter's pretty much gone now - still a bit chilly at times - and rainy. But it's not bad.

I'm looking forward to spring.

So is this rosebush in the guesthouse garden.

Yesterday's bombing

I heard the boom - early in the morning. I pretended as long as I could that it was a sonic boom: that's what loud sky noises are in South Carolina. Not here. Here it's the sound of a bomb - in this case a car bomb.


Then came the ding ding of my cell phone and the text message from security:

"There has been a large explosion and gunfire heard in the Shar e naw area; all international staff are restricted to their guesthouses until further notice."

and ...

"Early reports suggest that at least three attackers stormed the Safi Landmark Hotel/Kabul City Center. It is understood that one BBIED detonated near the entrance and SAF is still being heard."

Those messages were the limit of the information that we, in this guesthouse, received all day. We had no Internet access. Our communication to the outside Kabul world was through a phone call to one of our roommates from his friends in Nigeria! I heard from an escort that it was 'very bad.' And that 'some Indians had been killed,' but that was the limit of my Dari and his English.


Today Internet back and finally some news: reports say 16 or 17 people died, mostly Indian nationals. Car bomb and suicide bomber, buildings wrecked, Another sad sad day for Afghanistan.

The Taliban have claimed responsibility for the killings.

Yesterday was the Prophet Mohammad's birthday.