Titanic and Traffic

**Driving around Kabul: Check out the Kabul-style skyscraper outside.

It's hard to truly understand the waves of influence of James Cameron's "Titanic" (ok...bad joke.) It could be the Leonardo DiCaprio hair swoop (officially banned under the Taliban after the fad swept through the country) or Afghans' dedicated love of Celine Dion, but for whatever reason the love for Titanic in this country will go on. (Alright...I'm now officially done with the poor jokes.) The newest effect comes in the form of an ice-cream truck. The small carts which stroll around the city selling ice-cream used to play a mix of "Fur Elise" and "Happy Birthday", but have since converted to "My heart will go on."! It took a few versus and a smattering of choruses before I was convinced, but yes the old and hunched Afghan passes his work day to the tune of Celine Dion.

A first in Kabul:
I was STOPPED at a traffic light today. I saw not one, but FIVE traffic lights in the 4-way stop (you do the math), three of which were functioning. It was nearly as if time stopped; there was a moment of order on the roads. This, of course, was followed by my driver opting out of the U-turn option after seeing the bank was on the other side of the road, and making a b-line in the wrong lane of traffic for the remaining 1.5 blocks or so. So much for order...


**The first traffic light I saw in Kabul. 4+ have been added within the last month or so (that I'm aware of).



**Around the block from my house. Oh the lovely walls and razor wire of Kabul.



**Just in case you wanted to know where you can buy fried chicken and burgers in Kabul. This shop is just a few blocks away from my house (though for many reasons I haven't tried its cuisine.)

Kabul in the news

Hello all...

As many of you may have read, there was a bomb today outside of the Indian Embassy in Kabul. The numbers will change, but as of now the reports say 40 died and 100+ were wounded. This entry will be brief, but I wanted you to know that I was home and safe when the explosion occurred.

To be honest, this has not been an encouraging week. The violent deaths experienced (primarily by Afghans) far extend "terrorist" bombs which reach headline news. Just yesterday, an American air strike killed 27 civilians attending a wedding party in Nangahar, a majority of which were women and children. The bride was among the victims.

Comparing deaths and pain is never particularly helpful, and is definitely not my point. But these horrible tragedies do make me wonder that we need to think more creatively about peace in Afghanistan. These issues are difficult and it is easy to point fingers and declare "right and wrong" and proclaim "evil" versus "good." In Afghanistan, the lines are not clear. When talking about peace, a favorite writer of mine Thomas Merton requests the individual first to discover our own tendencies toward evil and destruction and recognize the confusion in that process before racing out to blame and chose evil around us.

When an Afghan friend of mine Cobra heard the news she ran out to me, eyes welled with tears and cried, "This is not my Afghanistan. No, this is not good." My guess is she has been searching for her Afghanistan for a long time. I hope to search for this for her as well, in the small small ways I can.

Peace to you....

Andrea

Kabul Embarkation: Take 4

Although it marked the end of my Junication (or June vacation), the day started off well; I was informed my seating assignment for LAX-JFK leg (flight # 2 out of 4 to Kabul) was “Economy Plus.” Well, I now type disgruntled from row 26, which should be more accurately advertised for it’s flavorful whiffs from the bathroom which my ‘economy plus’ seat sits precariously close to.

The past three weeks in the US of A have been good, and a whirlwind. My friends Jen and Aaron had a beautiful wedding overlooking the coast just north of Santa Barbara;

(Photo: My mother and me at the wedding)

Aunts, uncles, cousins, siblings, and grandparents alike convened to celebrate graduations, birthdays, and anniversaries in Northern California. Days later we celebrated my mother’s birthday in style back in Santa Barbara with Wii tennis matches which left me sore for days.

(Photo: My father and me sitting in the Stanford bleachers for Paul's graduation!)

More family flew down from Seattle to part with the rain and connect with great aunts and uncles in town from North Carolina, and I added a trip to Colorado to visit more family as well as my roommate from college, Liz (who just got married…CONGRATULATIONS!).

(Photo: My cousin Becca and me in Estes Park, CO)

The days were full, but good. It was good to be reminded of the love I come from, and how so many people have influenced who I am.

I think I successfully transitioned into vacation-mode, just soon enough for my Kabul return to be quickly approaching. Regardless, I look forward to returning and continuing this season of work. My guess is I’ll be overwhelmed with work over the next few weeks, but things always settle after a while. I left Kabul with Spring defending it’s territory over Summer, but will now likely return to a much hotter Kabul. I’ve been notified that my office is moving to the rooftop (in the same room, ironically, that I lived for part of last year) so I’m guessing the heat will provide a daily combative challenge.