Not much time to write this evening - our drivers break fast between 6:15 and 7:30 for Ramadan so you either stay before or go and tonight will be my second evening in a row of stepping out in the "night life" that is Kabul - this evening with my MC colleagues.
Yesterday evening I accompanied a friend of a friend to a neighborhood bar/cafe to visit. The logistics of doing this was a bit more tricky than I had anticipated. I ended up calling a coworker to ask her "how to I leave the guesthouse?" Because I didn't know how tell this friend how to locate me, explain to the guards who was picking me up and then I needed to tell our radio room where I was going so they could track my movements. And I got practice calling the radio room to send a car to pick me up and take me back to the guesthouse.
At the cafe, there were two armed guards patrolling the street out front and you pass through two doors with speak-easy type sliding peek-holes. And the obligatory bag inspection. Then you pass into a very nice garden where numerous expats were relaxing having drinks, eating and visiting. It was a little surreal. We ended up chatting with some folks he knew who worked at UNDP and Oxfam. It was an okay evening but since I've been at the mercy of jet lag, I made my excuses and left early.
Saturday morning my boss and I are taking a UN flight up to Badakhshan to visit our field off. I'm back on Weds and am not sure if I'll have time to post while there. But I will take more pictures for sure.
No comments:
Post a Comment