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.

A Hectic Two Weeks -

Wow it has been a hectic two weeks. Where do I begin? I guess I will begin in reverse chronological order; today to my previous entry.

It is a three day weekend here as it is in the U.S. However, we are celebrating President's Day on Sunday which is our first work day of the week as opposed to Monday. It is proving to be a white weekend. Yesterday evening it started snowing about 4:30 and did not stop until this evening about the same time. It was only heavy on and off. All total about 12-14 inches of accumulation. It has been a long time since I have seen this much snow. It is absolutely beautiful! As you can see from the pictures below my housemates Justin and Mohib decided to get out and have a bit of fun in the snow and make a snowman Afghanistan style.

This week was not a lot of fun in Kabul. In case you have not seen it all hell broke loose on Wendesday. The Taliban, upset about Taliban prisoner treatment, attacked in retaliation in a Mumbai style coordinated effort. As the results came in, people were in a state of shock. The result absolutely shut down the city including classes for the rest of the day. Not a good way to begin the ending of the second week of school and go into a three day weekend.

Classes began on February 1 so needless to say work has been hectic. Between Orientation, teaching two classes, and coordinating 3 more the two weeks leeding up to the big Taliban attach are quite the blur. However, I did take a bit of time off. The results are in the photos below.

We did get a special treat. What started as a simple trip to the Kabul Museum turned out to be a special treat. Durul-Aman Palace is right across the road and we decided to take a walk across. It so happened that they allowed us to cross the wire and go inside. The results you can see below.

The weekend prior we ventured to Chicken Street to grab some goodies. Lots of good pictures there as well as you can see. That was also my birthday weekend and we had a great time. We started on Thursday, my birthday, with a group dinner out and continued throughout. Fun times!

So I guess now we are all caught up. Thanks for standing by.

Photos Only .....

Back In Kabul

Well I talked with many of you during my visit home. Thanks for the inspiration to continue on with the blog. You never know how many folks are actually reading, getting information, and/or enjoying until you can touch base in one way or another.

I arrived unscathed safely a couple of days ago. What a change in Kabul. I left a dry Kabul to return to a messy one. It has rained and snowed often this month and you can definately see it. In fact we landed in the rain. My first night, still being on a much different time zone internally, I woke up a few times and actually witnessed the rain turn to a wintery mix and soon thereafter large flakes of accumulating snow. We awoke the next day to a good inch or so of snow on the ground in Kabul and much more in the mountains. Of course, with poor drainage, as it melted it turned into more and more of a muddy mess. However, as a colleague was stating though they depend on their winter to survive many months of limited precipitation. Without a good wet winter it really hurts the Spring. So it is good even though it is quite the mess.

Vacations are great but often when you return from even a few days off work piles on top of work. You can imagine what the first week has been like after a month. It has been busy. That is good though when trying to readjust. I can't believe my first week back is almost done already.
A few pictures are included of a changed look on campus and in Kabul all from my new camera. I love this little point and shoot although it is a big change from my great pro camera. Hope you enjoy as well.