Professor? Shaw

Well I am about 2.5 weeks into my return to Kabul and it has been work, work, and guess what, more work. That is good though as time flies relatively fast when you are busy. I have been working on my syllabi for fall, getting things ready in the residence halls, getting ready for orientation, and all of that. Did I say working on my syllabi for fall. Syllabi for those that do not know is the multiple of syllabus. I have said in the past that I would like to get more and more involved with teaching and I am. I have 2 sections of one course and two more courses on my plate for fall. I will be teaching Intro to Digital Photography and Intro to Leadership both of which I will schedule for Saturday. That means a 6 day work week for me in the fall. That will amp up the work but will also make time fly as the days off are the hardest, really. It also means extra pay as I have been promised overload pay for the extra hours put in. That means my vacation for the holidays is technically paid as a reward for working so hard. I can deal with that, I think. Plus, with working so hard the holidays will be just around the corner.

Just think, one month and 5 days and I am over 1/2 way done with my 18 month contract. It is hard to believe really. Seems like just yesterday I was announcing to my friends and family that I was headed to Afghanistan for an 18 month hump. Soon it will be time to think about contract negotiations. Some have asked me if I will renew. As I have said who knows at this point. It is too early to really say. Several factors among the many will come to play. The first of which is security in Afghanistan. The second is financial/job security. The third being mental state of mind. Any of those could go down the tubes, who know. Regardless, come January it will be time to throw my hat in the ring and start looking around. By then I hope that the economy has bounced back at least enough for hiring freezes at colleges and universities to be lifted. Come tough financial times often folks look to better themselves by getting of completing a degree and therefore enrollment usually goes up. January will be the perfect time to ride that wave.

Enough for now....time to get back to work.

5.5 Weeks Over In A Flash

Well my vacation is over and I am back in Kabul now. It seems like just yesterday but yet so long ago when I left Kabul for my vacation in the states. WOW. A few highlights:

New Ink

What to do in Miami, right? Well one thing I have always wanted to do, being a fan of the reality show by the same name, is to get some ink done at Miami Ink. What did I get? For some time I have been thinking of getting some ink to commemorate my time in Afghanistan. I decided long ago that I did not want anything cheesy. Well after many weeks of thought, I decided that I would do so by putting something celebrating an Afghan art form that has survived centuries. This art form is Nooristani woodworking. It is very intricate wood carving that has survived all of the conflict that has fallen on Afghanistan and still survives today.

You can see collage of pictures. To truly appreciate the intricacy and the fine work of both the woodwork and of the tattoo artist I have included the original picture that I gave them. Click for a much larger view of the piece of art that is now on my arm.

Bike Ride To Key West

While in Miami, I decided it was time to scratch something off my bucket list that has been there for a long, long time. A trip to Key West and one a bike to boot. So taking advantage of the Harley Owners Group Fly and Ride Program I rented a bike at Peterson's Harley-Davidson. It was actually pretty reasonable and not MUCH more than a car rental for a 4 day period. Before reserving it, which I had to do 6 weeks in advance, I was forced to make a choice on what model I wanted to rent as all the cruisers are about the same price. It did not take much thought though as I had been wanting to try out a large cruiser for some time. I decided on the Ultra Classic, or as we biker types call it the "Ultra Couch" which comes complete with cruise control, fairing, and stereo sound system. We hooked up the Ipod and were set for a great trip.

From Peterson's we connected down the interstate on the Southernmost portion of historic US Route 1 riding through all the Florida Keys to the Southernmost point in the U.S. The ride was very comfortable other than two factors. One, I discovered rather quickly upon arrival in the U.S. and Miami, in particular that I had acclimated to Kabul over the past 6 months. What that means is that I was used to a more dry environment that humid Florida. Was I ever hot and sweating there. The second, over the past 6 months of not riding a bike my body was not used to it at first. From my legs, my back, and more particularly my back side I was hurting after a full day's ride. I was really glad we stayed a couple days in Key West as I needed the time to recover.

Key West was everything I hoped it to be. I was afraid that the big hotel conglomerates would have come in and turned it into an Ocean City, Virginia Beach, Myrtle Beach, or the like. However, they have been shut out by the locals and thus they have succeeded in keeping Key West a small and intimate place. It still survives largely on the tourist trade but it is pleasantly small and cozy still. It was well worth the trip.

From Key West we cruised back up to Miami and this time to historic South Beach. Once again it was HOT. Not too bad in the morning but by the time we reached Miami the added heat coming from the concrete and steel was almost unbearable, especially in stop and go traffic. But we arrived in South Beach just in time for a literal monsoon. I was told at Miami Ink earlier in the week that this really was not a high tourist time as it was the beginning of Hurricane Season and thus was a wet period. They said it rained almost every afternoon and rained hard. However, they did not tell me about monsoons. They are not the norm though as this one was even featured on the news that evening. Luckily we arrived at the hotel just as it was starting to rain. It rained and it rained and it rained some more. Almost 3 hours of solid POURING rain. At one point I looked out at the bike and the water curbside was over the sidewalk and halfway up the back tire, over the tail pipe, and just at the bottom of the engine block. The streets in South Beach were not designed to withstand that much rain and as they filled the sidewalks became rivers with merchants fighting the flood waters. After 3 hours it slowed then after 4 it stopped and the skies started clearing almost as quickly as it all had started. In its wake it left very flooded streets complete with debris. This made getting around in South Beach on a bike treacherous to say the least. When I finally was able to find a road I could traverse I did so carefully and in calf high water. A real biker does not ride with his feet down for more than a foot or two but in those conditions one must just in case the water suddenly deepens and the back wheel starts to wash which felt like it happened a couple of times as the water reached mid calf or so.

After the rain though, South Beach was everything it was cracked up to be. Beautiful beaches, beauties in little clothing, unique restaurants and boutique hotels. The hotel provided a great roof with an excellent vantage for taking pictures. Even got to see a few cruise ships one of which appeared to be coming down the middle of the street. It was a wonderful stay and fun place to hang out for a few days. It was hard to get on the plane and leave even.

Back Home to D.C.

From Miami it was back home to D.C. and back home to my baby, my bike. The goal for my time in D.C. was to chill and to get some ride time in. While I did not get as many miles under my belt. for whatever reasons, I did get some chill time. Caught up with a few old friends and just enjoyed the vacation. After all I did not want to return to Kabul in need of a vacation from my vacation. I succeed in that respect 100 percent. Slap in the middle, I did have a 40 hour, 4 day work week with our board of trustees meetings but other than that all I did was chillax.

Thanks to a bunch of my online photography friends that had scheduled a meet and greet near Baltimore I was even able to get some shoot time in. I rode my bike up to it and believe or not I had never shot using my bike. I have shot on other bikes but never my own.

I was able to catch Aerosmith and ZZ Top in concert which was an unexpected treat as well. Not my typical quality concert shots but they will do. Not bad for shots from the cheap seats I must say.

Trip Back

Getting to back was a treat as I had asked our travel office for a different route and a layover. Well somehow they thought layover was only a short stay, so I had 4 hours in Zurich, Switzerland which was nice but wish I would have had a day or two to enjoy it. Then came hell on earth. I thought I had experience heat and humidity but when I got to Dubai this go around my gosh. It was miserable. It was 102 degrees with 90 percent humidity upon landing at 8:30 p.m. Even getting out to walk to go to the convenience store at eleven at night was terrible.

From Dubai the trip went even further uphill as they moved the flight up an hour so it was rush rush through the airport. Then when I got to Kabul I was pleasantly surprised that they had opened the new terminal but must say service has gone to pot. It took an hour to get the luggage to the carousels and the parking is still at the same old place so it was a mile or so to the vehicle with some heavy luggage. But I made it and I am in Kabul now. Time to go back to work uggh.

A Strange Post

So this will be a strange post. As this week is winding down and I get closer and closer to coming home I have been thinking about the last 6 months and my time in Afghanistan. When the day is hectic and I get frustrated and angry with some of the stuff that I have to put up with, I can't wait to get out of here. A break, a vacation, whatever. It is beyond time and the fact that TIA, as I often here, (this is Afghanistan) just makes it worse.

However, sitting out on my porch or others rooftops as in tonight, I think to myself never have I felt more appreciated in what I do or more at home in a job. It is weird, let me tell you. For the 6 weeks I am home I will really miss this place. What they tell me is that it gets in your blood. What I can tell you all that what gets in your blood is not the dust, not the food, but the fact that these people really need us here. For once in my life I think I am really making a difference somewhere. While, I can tell you stories about making a difference in the life of people throughout my current career, now that I am here, somehow that seems very insignificant.

A great story is the difference between my day class and evening class. The day class is all made up of typical college age freshman with typical freshman attitudes. In fact about 1/3 of them are Afghan Americans who have returned for various reasons. So they are really the typical first year college students. Although, I can say that several of them grasp everything with gusto and do well, many of them like their American counterparts are there because someone tells them they should be. On the contrast though, is my night class. Any night class at any University are largely adult students. Adult students, throughout the world, have a different attitude and true appreciation for the gift that has been bestowed on them to continue their education, no matter where that gift comes from. I know, I was one of them, who returned at a later age to complete my college education therefore can relate first hand that experience. However, Afghan adult students are different. Albeit a young age for some of them, they can still remember times in Afghanistan under the Taliban, where education was not the norm. It was limited to the elite. They really truly appreciate the opportunities they now have. That is different for me. They really devour learning. That is take it in and digest it and appreciate it for the strength that it gives them in their future success.

Each semester is sad, I must say. Although I will see some of these students for quite some time to come, for many of them it will be the last one on one type relationship that I will have with them. Like a mother hen turning out their chicks to the great big wide world of education, a relationship that was developed over a period of time is now over. Wednesday night was the last night for my evening class. One student stood up and gave a speech that if I had written it, I could have not done much better. He talked about how he had learned from the class and how he had appreciated everything we had gone through. Most specifically he talked of my role in the class, not as the "sage on the stage" as we call it in education, or preacher as I refer to it often but as the coach, the leader that had brought them through this great journey that they had gone through as a class. For those of you that know me well, you know I am a pretty stoic guy. At 6'6", 275 lbs, a pretty intimidating figure that often has been characterized as showing little or no emotion. His speech though, WOW. It almost brought this big guy to tears. As I have said, I have been doing this 8 semesters now. Never in those 8 semesters have the students go it, like the students in Afghanistan. True, I have taught mostly college Freshman of traditional age, and as such it sometimes takes a bit to sink in and for them to truly appreciate an experience, never do I think they get it quite so much. Needless to say it was a very AHA moment and one that almost brought this big ol' guy to his knees. I emphasize ALMOST.

I am talking with a guy from D.C. that did a year in Afghanistan. He can't quite put a pin on what got in his blood but he is dying to return. I think I have it. It is these AHA moments and the moments in which you know that you and the work you do are truly appreciated. I mean really truly appreciated. I have had so many "thank you for what you do" statements in the last 6 months. My goodness. From students, which I truly appreciate, to fellow faculty/staff members, to really a first, Board of Trustee members, I can tell you they are no less than once a week. I cannot emphasize to you enough how rewarding this job is.

Monday night, I told you about our Memorial Day BBQ. Tonight we had kind of a send off for many of us leaving, and/or, such as me, going on a bit of a holiday, as the Brits say. Both nights I sat back, looked up at the beautiful sky, breathed some great clean air, and thought to myself, David, this is what you have always worked for. This could really be home. Now the next morning, as we faced the crazy traffic, the blowing dust in the middle of the afternoon, the crappy food, the inconveniences of life here, and all the frustrations that accompany being here, I say to myself, boy you must have had a little too much fun last night, but no matter who I am with or what I am doing, it still comes back to me. This is the single most rewarding decision that I have ever made in my entire life. Maybe this really could be home. That statement may get me labeled crazy, or even anger my closest friends and family, while personally I miss you all and never stop thinking of my return to you, I can tell you that at the end of the day it feels really good to be here.

Now who knows where I will be at mentally a year from now. Who knows even what will happen in Afghanistan. Or who knows even at the University where it is rotation time and we will have a new Pres., Vice President, and many new faces. . They talk of troop surges, increased incidents of attacks, etc. etc. Who knows, what even what life will be like in Kabul, May 31, 2010 when I am at the end of my contract. Finally, me personally, I have always been a builder. One who likes to create things from the ground up, to build them inch by inch. I have been doing so, and from the comments I get, doing a great job. However, someone often calls me a rolling stone. When I start gathering moss, I roll on. This is somewhat true. I get bored and start looking. So next year I question if I have the same remarks or will be sitting in the I can't wait to get the heck out of here seat. But for now, although I miss most of you dearly, I am happy, happy, happy with where life has led me.

See you all in a while...........

Memorial Day Festivities

I must admit that I really missed Memorial Day weekend at home. Specifically it was the first among many years that I did not get to make the Rolling Thunder festivities. I hear, however, the economy has taken its toll on even this the grandest of Memorial Day events and the numbers were down greatly.

I did though have some festivities here at the guest house. I had a very traditional Memorial Day BBQ event. Yes, even after the fun of two weeks ago I am loving my smoker grill. We had about 20 folks over in the afternoon/evening for some good food and good camaraderie.

Sorry no pics folks. I was too busy cooking and no one else had a camera. However, I really wish I had at least a picture of my get up. Shorts, sandals, Harley 105th t-shirt, my cowboy hat, sunglasses, and the thing that made my outfit special my Afghanistan bbq apron. Literally, it is a khaki apron embroidered with the word "Afghanistan" and has camels embroidered as well. My guests, of course, commented but the best thing was the looks I got from the guards. Yee haw is all I can say.

As in before I do not feel comfortable giving my date of departure out for security reasons. Leave it to say though, that we are beyond months or even weeks. We are down to days and almost hours now. The first week I will be getting some much needed R&R in Miami and have even scheduled a bike trip to Key West, FL. Bucket List Time!!! However, I will see you all very soon. Lets Ride!!!

Afghan Students Helping Afghans

For those that do not know, I have been teaching a course for many years now. It is what is called an FYE (Freshman Year Experience) course or as some Universities such as ours calls it University Success. It is an intro to life in a 4-year American institution of higher education institutions. Some universities require it some don't. I have seen it as a 1, 2, or even 3 hour course. At the University here it is a 3 hour required course. Everything from time management, career choices, personality development, taking notes, taking tests, and even money management are covered in this course.

Part of my course has always been a service-learning component. What is service-learning? It is a philosophy adopted at many colleges and Universities in which students apply what they have learned by doing a community service project. Each of my 7 semesters of teaching we have done some sort of service-learning project as part of the requirements of the course. It is built into the course as part of the learning outcomes. These outcomes are getting to know oneself, getting to know those immediately around you, getting to know the University, and getting to know the community around the University. Of course the class project fits into the latter of these outcomes.

Each semester, my students research, design, and implement one project as voted on by the class. In past semesters they have done things to benefit the homeless, women shelters, and even the red cross. As I approached this project in Afghanistan I had my doubts. Community service is something that is a bit foreign to this culture. Rather than doing so themselves they tithe money to the mosque who is supposed to do the community service as it is the center of the community. I had no idea how Islamic students would react to doing hands on work within the community. Boy, was I surprised.

As always I divide my class up into groups and each group proposes a service-learning project. At the end the class votes on the project and the groups are brought back together for implementation of the winning project. The groups here in Afghanistan blew me away with their project proposals. From building a road to improve road conditions, to helping schools, and to the winning proposal, helping Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), otherwise known as refugees, in one of the camps around Kabul.

If you have not read of the plight of IDPs in Afghanistan you really should. Sanitation and hygiene is a major issue in the camps. It is an issue country wide, I would say, but a very big issue in the camps. In fact as the students were proposing this project the issue of such hit the news. http://www.rawa.org/temp/runews/2009/04/23/afghanistan-sanitation-woes-in-makeshift-idp-camps.html. This is just one of many articles you can find on the net. So the students proposed that they raise money to provide the families in these camps hygiene kits and a modicum of education to assist in these woes.

The students went to work. To raise money they proposed a "fun fair day" in which the campus would be turned into a carnival. Live music, a mini circus, vendor stalls, games, etc. On top of that they started hitting up major donors for support. They raised quite a bit of money on the outset. However, one of the students works at the Ministry of Public Health who happened to have a stockpile of premade hygiene kits. GOLD! The Ministry donated these kits, valued at about 55,000 USD to the students in one fail swoop. They had proposed one kit per family but this donation gave them 6 times that amount. Although the end goal was accomplished with this, they still had to to through with their fundraising as they proposed. In addition to the kits they raised almost $2000 in cash, which was their original goal. Instead of using this money for the kits they will be able to use it to assist with getting the camp some clean water trucks in and to help with waste water evacuation.

So needless to say my doubts about community service in an Islamic country have been decimated. By far, even without the donated kits, this has been the most successful project in 7 semesters of my classes. I can tell you the students here are amazing. They not only grasp concepts you give them they actually run with them. This is just one example of many I could give you.

So as to the Spring Fling Fun Fair, it was not only a success monetarily it was a success in general. Lots of folks on campus on a Saturday which is great. Although today my feet hurt, I am sunburned, and my body is sore from 9 hours of hard work, I am proud that it was such an overwhelming success. Unfortunately, I was too busy to take photos. However, my students have all promised me some CDs of the festivities to share later. So I promise that will happen soon!

Semester Winding Down

So the semester is winding down here. In fact, less than a week in the term. It is time to have some events commemorating a great school year. The first on tap was the Staff Appreciation BBQ. It can best be described by saying loads of food and lots of fun.

One thing I missed in Northern Virginia was being able to have good grill or even a smoker. Well such is not true here. I was able to go to the local market and have one built from scratch for a great price using some plans I downloaded off the Internet. Since most barrels here have petroleum products, and you do not want that in your food, the double barrel smoker is made from the ground up, including the barrels. I can say one thing though, I will never smoke food for 150 people again. 90 Kilos of meat (almost 200 lbs). WOW. However the smoker outperformed my general expectations and is still in great shape. The BBQ it produced...yummy. This thing is going to make for some awesome summer BBQs at the guest house! The first of these will be a traditional Memorial Day BBQ on Monday. But that is another Blog!!!

Dubai

Photos from the Dubai trip. Yes that is a real ski slope in the Mall of the Emirates also a life size stuffed Giraffe. Needless to say, as you can see from the pictures, in my free time I shopped until I dropped several times over.

Dubai The City That Comes Alive at Night

So I am in Dubai for a conference. I left Kabul this morning at 40 degrees and landed in Dubai at 10:30 to 104 degrees. High temp today 108. What a big difference to the system. It is no wonder that this city comes alive after dark. Even though it is still in the 90's it is much more bearable than 108.

Pictures to come later.....

Rain...Rain....Rain.... And Snow Too

Well April has been a rainy month thus far. Rain almost everyday. Occassional we are treated to a thunderstorm. Of course being where I am, I always have to confirm that it was thunder and not an explosion somewhere. One evening I swear it sounded like mortar fire as it echoed through the valley that is Kabul.

The weather otherwise has been a bit cool for the region. Just as the snow was leaving the mountains they are again capped in white. We even awoke to some snow falling on Wednesday morning early even at Kabul elevation. Of course there was no accumulation. However, I had planned a trip to Mazar for the weekend that got cancelled due to the pass over the mountains being closed and poor road conditions.

Despite the rain we have a few really nice days here and there. Last Saturday, April 3, was one such day. Shear luck for us as we had planned a kite day on campus for that day. Students, faculty, and staff were treated with a seminar on kite making and flying from one of Kabul's famous kite makers. This guy was great. He made the kites and trained the folks for The Kite Runner one of the most recent famous moves about Afghanistan. Check it out, it is a good movie. I don't need to go into the kite stories again, I do not think. Refer to older posts if you want info. However, enjoy the slide show from Kite Day last weekend.

Spring Break Trip

In all my years in school and in working in higher ed I have never taken a Spring Break trip. This year would be different. Although, not the typical Spring Break hoorah drunk fest it was a great break from Kabul thanks to one of my benifits, a 6 day all expenses paid R&R trip. One of my colleagues, Lee, and myself met up in Dubai and we were off to points unknown to me. The first stop was Ras Al-Khaimah and the George Mason campus. I had worked for a few years with the folks there but had never met them. Dubai is about an hour and a half from RAK so off we went. There we toured the campus and had lunch at a seaside resort.

From RAK we decided to head north into Oman. Our destination Khasab, Oman on the Mussandam penninsula which is just off the famous Strait of Hormuz stopping for a rest stop in Bukha, Oman. The following morning we took a half day dhow trip through the nearby Fjords visiting Telegraph Island, playing with fish and with dolphins.

Although there was an easier route we figured out from Khasab we traced back our original route crossing back into the UAE and Ras Al-Khamiah and then heading east to the Indian Ocean and Fujairah in the UAE where we stayed at a wonderful beachfront resort. Fro Fujairah we were off the next morning back out of the UAE to the lower section of Oman. Oman is actually divided in three sections, Mussandam, Madha, both detached from the main body of Oman and the lower sections made up of several other governates the largest of which is Muscat where the capital is. We stayed the night in yet another beach front resort at Al Sawadi Beach just outside Barka, Oman. Yes again the next morning we were up and outa there for a long 7.5 hour treck back to Dubai, through Rustaq, Oman where we visited an ancient fort. From Rustaq it was through the Ad Dhahirah desert region near the foot the Al Hajr AI Gharbi Mountains of the toward the Empty Quarter or Rub' al Khali back into UAE to Al Ain and back to Dubai. The first couple of days of driving were great. No driver no escort but 4 days and several border crossing, thus passport stamps, later upon our return we were glad to be done with driving/riding in the car.

Our visit to the remainder of the break consisted of shopping, shopping, more shopping which we do not get a chance to do a lot in Kabul. Including in which was a visit to the worlds largest Dubai mall which among every store you can think of features also a full size aquarium complete with sharks and large sting rays. Yes those small things standing outside the pictures of the aquarium are people. It also featured a lot of good American fast food, one of the things I miss most in Kabul. KFC (real KFC not Kabul Fried Chicken as in my earlier posts), Pizza Hut, McDonalds, Hardees, Burger King, and even TGIFridays. Stepping on the scale before leaving, I discovered I gained 5 pounds while in Dubai. Oh well I have lost 30 while here so that is o.k.

Being the biker, one of the best things of the stay in Dubai is that just by chance it feel on the weekend of Dubai Bike Week. Although I did not stick around for the Deep Purple concert because of the eighty seven u.s. dollar ticket price, it was enjoyable. It featured all of the worlds most well known manufacturers including even Dyersburg, TN based Boss Hoss. Yes Boss Hoss was there. However, the Boss Hoss bikes in Dubai feature european specs which make them even faster. Others included, of course, Harley but also Triumph, Kawasaki, Honda, Suzuki, and even American Made Victory. Also present were several custom builders mostly from the UAE. Included in which, to my surprise, was a bike based on the General Lee including tank covering rebel flag. All in all it was a pretty big deal and a good show. Even MTV Arabia was present covering some of the bands.

Saturday it was time to pack it up and head back home where we arrived in Kabul just in time for the first day of Spring which is also the Persian new year. The streets were packed with folks out in their finest for the celebration. Sunday, however, it was back to work and it was a very busy week for me, thus, the delay in getting this info up.

A year ago had you told me I would be in Kabul I would have said maybe but had you told me I would spend Spring Break 2009 crossing a lot of the Arabian Penninsula I would have laughed at you. I did it though and it was a great time. Hope you have enjoyed the blog and ALL the pictures from the week.

Spring Has Sprung --- Almost

So spring, I think, has sprung in Kabul. While we still have a bit of snow on the mountains surrounding us, the highs here are now steadily in the mid 60's. It still gets a bit chilly at night so the blankets are still on the bed and the heater still runs during the night. However, today I was out in shirt sleeves and returned home to slide on a tank and some shorts to lounge the day away.

Spring Break has officially started. I hate early flights but I am on one tomorrow. Dubai and beyond....... While searching for things to do in Dubai, I first located the Harley dealer and that is on my list of things to do for sure. Next I went to their H.O.G. (Harley Owners Group) site and discovered that the last two days of my visit to Dubai are the beginning of Dubai Bike Week. http://www.dubaibikeweek.com/. Needless to say you know where I will be winding up my Spring Break trip. I am looking forward to it. Too bad I do not have my bike here though. It will still be fun.

Since is really my first adventure out in Dubai I will be sure and snap a lot of pics of the city and also of Bike Week, The Harley Dealer, etc. etc. Until then...........

One More Week

In academia the pay sure does not match up but the benefits are great. Less than one week and we are on Spring Break. For me that means a week long all expense paid trip to Dubai. I am looking forward to it even though I am doing it alone which will get a bit boring but a week out of here is a good thing none the less. I will be sure and take tons of photos to share!


As I have said before we observe both U.S. and Muslim holidays. Today was the prophets birthday so a day off after just starting the week yesterday. It afforded, Tony, my housemate and myself a little photo safari about town. Some times we go around T.V. mountain, the mountain with all of the T.V. towers that you have seen in some of my trips. However, today we had a special treat and went over the west end tip of the mountain. Quite the little adventure. When we got to the top we found a group of kids playing. Tony is great with kids. It is amazing that despite the language barrier he gets along so well with them.

Enjoy the slide show of our little adventure today. By the way several of the photos are of the blown out Russian Cultural Center. The place is a bit dangerous as it is home now by heroin addicts. Therefore, we did not go in as it is considered a very dangerous place.

A Special Treat

This past Sunday I had a special treat. I was invited to my first Afghan wedding party. A faculty member's brother was getting married. So off I went to the Intercontinental Hotel here in Kabul. Of course I had my full kit of camera gear in hand. What a special treat. Great food, dancing, music, and to witness a wedding Persian style was amazing.

What was it like? I can say it was very ceremonial. The funny thing was that many of the same things done in a Western wedding are included in a Persian wedding. You ethnocentric folks might say they copied it from us. Considering which culture is the oldest one can only conclude where the origination of those traditions came from. Certainly not from Western culture. From exchanging of the rings, to feeding each other cake and even smashing it a bit in the face, to the first dance as a married couple. These things have been tradition for thousands of years. It was certainly eye opening for a Westerner.

The kids at the wedding were great. They would play shy but they really love their photos taken. Especially when I would show them the LCD and they could see themselves right there on the spot.

Enjoy the pics. I think this was one of my best wedding efforts. though I have to share that I was scared. I showed up and my batteries were dead so I had to go mostly flash less. Thank goodness they had two videographers going with full lights. Thus some wonderful shots if I do say so myself.