Here we go

So today was our first official day and I desperately wanted to share all the things I saw today. Things may ramble because there are so many thoughts and observations running through my mind.

After a breakfast of pancakes and Nutella, we all boarded a bus for our ride out to the clinic. Through over-crowded streets full of cars puffing black, exhaust and people crossing the streets at undesignated spots; we accelerated and slammed on our brakes through the streets of Kabul. So many things reminded me of my time in the Congo. The military presence is everywhere, almost to a point where I felt scared. I think the difference here is the overall tone is a general hostility toward the West that can feel a bit personally threatening. In the Congo there was also a military presence, but I never like I was the bad one.

On our drive we passed through a graveyard of large equipment. The number of cranes, forklifts, bull dozers, dump trucks, front-end loaders and containers was innumerable. What does one need with so many pieces of equipment? There certainly is current construction happening, but not enough to keep all the machinery working. We went through a section of Russian-influenced concrete high rises that were stippled with bullet holes. I can’t imagine what living in a war zone must have been like. A bit outside of the city were skeletons of buildings from when Kabul was under siege. The recent years of fighting are evidenced everywhere.

Once the city was behind us, all we had ahead of us was wide open plains with jagged mountains making a 360 degree border in the distance. No forests or trees like the Rockies, but arid, barren dirt with an occasional blade of green grass. The Kuchi, an Afghani people group which live a life like nomadic Bedouin herding sheep and goats, were scattered over the dusty plains. At one point I saw an image that I so wish I had been able to capture. Picture this, blue sky in the back then the hazy triangle of a snow-capped mountain. In front of it were the black silhouette of a tent and a camel. Another thing that struck me was color of the sheep. Maybe they were goats, but I have no idea. My only frames of references are the white sheep we are all familiar with. Here all the sheep had dirty-looking wool. I guess if the dust and dirt is always blowing, the wool coats must be like a sponge. I wonder what a good hose down would do for brightening up the picture. It was also interesting to see the men herding the sheep. Just like you picture from the Bible, a lone man squatting on tip of hill with the perfect vantage point of his flock.

I will leave you will a picture of my THREE CUPS OF TEA.