Weekend "fun" in Kabul

This has been my first and, for a while, my only full weekend in Kabul. And I feel like I've had a well-rounded experience of what an expat does during the Friday/Saturday weekend.

Thursday night people generally go out, and often go out drinking. In our dull MC way, we stayed in at the "frat" guesthouse, played some pool, had a drink on the upstairs patio and ate apple pie. Yes, wild and crazy we are. The cook at my guesthouse used to work in a bakery in Pakistan and since I had the feeling he was itching to bake, I wrote that morning on the kitchen whiteboard "apple pie" and came home at lunch to fabulous crusty-bakery smells and the most beautiful sugary glazed, double-crusted apple pie. It looked store bought complete with an extra apple shaped piece of crust baked on top. And better yet, it tasted as good as it looked.

Saturday several of us ventured across town to a school to the weekly expat ultimate frisbee game. It was hot with no shade but a nice way to get outside and meet some new people. Very interesting to hear why people are in Kabul: former bureau chief for Washington Post, 1st grade school teacher at the international school, urban-planner in the mayor's office and mine NGO. I tried playing for 10 mins and reconfirmed, yet again, that I don't enjoy team sports.

In the afternoon, two colleagues and I went to the new western grocery store called "Finest". Not one to mince words around here. And it was pretty fine. Amongst other things, I am now the proud owner of a very large, albeit overly fragrant, bottle of lotion. Pretty exciting.

Saturday morning was spent in the office, using the internet to make Skype calls and check email. After which, my coworker Heidi took me to Kabul City Center, a little mini mall of sorts with toiletry, clothing, electronic, appliance and jewelry stores, to look at DVDs. There is an armed guard out front, and a metal detector and a bag check lady at the entrance. As she rifled through my bag she said "No gun? No knife?" And we told her, nope, not today. I don't think I will be going back. It was just a little too much controlled chaos out front for my taste. Though you never know, the need for DVDs may outweigh the hassle but I doubt it. Afterwards, we took refuge and lunch at Cabul Cafe in our quiet neighborhood. And tonight, it looks like I'll be accompanying an acquaintance and coworker as the uninvited guest to a housewarming.

And that is a weekend in the life of a Kabul expat.