Shopping in Kabul

Today is Friday which of course is the "day off" in Afghanistan and just like everywhere else in the world...folks have to shop. I thought I would post several pictures of what it is like to shop in Kabul.

It doesn't matter where you are in this city, there will always be stalls along the road full of merchandise for sale. Doesn't matter what you require, you can buy it on the side of the road. Everything from meat, vegetables, oil, fruit, wood, etc. Seriously...you can buy anything you would ever need. I just love watching the activity on the streets as we drive along. It is so interesting to see a small child of 5-6 walking with her parents on the side of the road, holding a chicken by the legs and it has blood still dripping from it. A couple of moments earlier the chicken was in a cage, then was butchered and handed over to the customer. "Fresh chicken" takes on a whole new meaning here...back home we would probably sent the kid for counselling.

There are several large "western style" grocery stores in the city, however most locals don't go there because the prices are higher and they tend to be targeted by the Taliban because of the western shoppers. We have had two attacks on stores over the last several days. The attacks are always the same...one or two suicide bombers will rush by the armed guards outside the store and if they are able to get inside, they will throw hand gernades and start shooting shoppers. Then the police or soldiers arrive and start shooting at the bad guy, who will then blow himself up killing everyone around him, which unfortunately is usually the police trying to stop him.

My shopping of course is much less dramatic (and perilous) as all my shopping is done inside one of the many Coalition compounds and once again, everything you could possibly need can be found at one of the camps. Yesterday myself and Wendall (our trusty Advisory NCO) went shopping for bedding for our in-coming crew. We had just found out that the camp they will be staying at doesn't issue bedding...so, we had to buy 11 sets and guess what color the sheets are?

Green of course.

A Real Kabul Winter...

Ok...this is a real Kabul winter. We had a couple days of heavy snowfall and cold tempratures. If it was a little bit colder, it would have been just like home! Unfortunately the sun came out today and the snow is already gone, turning the place into one big muddy mess.

The gal in the white coat is "MJ" who is in the CF and attached to the Embassy staff. The other lady is also attached to the Embassy in the developement portfolio...her name is Racima. They are both great ladies and true Canadians as they had to be outside playing in the snow as well.

The picture of the young Afghan is a lad who always hits us up to buy a bracelet from him. I have promised him that I will buy a couple before I head home...I give him credit, he is determined. Just like a postman he is always there...neither rain, nor snow, nor sickness...

Birthday Season

We are officially entering the Critchley family "Birthday Season" and I would like to wish three very special ladies of my family a very Happy Birthday!

Although I am a male, I am still smart enough to not publically announce the ages of these fine ladies, I will say that I have placed the photo's in chronicalogical order and I will let you figure out the order.

Kathy's special day is Feb 16th

Sue's special day is Feb 11th

Naomi's special day is Feb 17th

In celebration of your birthdays I had a Snickers Bar for breakfast this morning.....not sure why there was a huge beautiful tray of chocolate bars at the breakfast buffet this morning....but I have become very accustomed to life in Kabul and learned not to question everything and enjoy what you have in front of you and more importantly, to enjoy the moment....because it is fleeting and does not last.

So the above is my way of saying to please enjoy your birthdays and do something to make your day special and memorable!

Big hugs and kisses from your loving brother and uncle....

ps: I see on my previous post the Birthday Season extends all the way to Australia and Shell just celebrated her 24th birthday....funny, I think both Kathy and Sue are turning 24 as well.

Winter in Kabul

As you can see, winter has come to Kabul. Over the last couple of days we have had quite a rainfall which was really the first time that it has rained since I arrived almost 8 months ago. The rain was actually quite nice....it cleaned up all of the air pollution, was wonderful to listen to as I feel asleep at night and it covered the surrounding mountains with a layer of snow.

I just had to get up on one of the roofs and take these pcitures of the surrounding mountains as the sky was so clear and blue (normally you cannot see them due to the air pollution) and they were so striking. I had to crop the pictures so that I did not show the surrounding area to the Embassy but I think you will still get the sense of how Kabul is surrounded on all sides by soaring mountains.

In the one photo you can see the old Kabul Wall on the ridgeline. This was the wall built to defend Kabul from the invaders, much along the lines of the Great Wall in China, which both of course proved to be equally disasterous.

There is no snow on the ground down where we are and it was all just slushy rain. Turned the place into one big mud slick. I felt so bad for some of the young kids I saw as we moved around to various meetings in the city. For the most part they do not have proper winter clothes and wear sandals year round. These poor kids would be standing on the side of a incredibly busy road, soaking wet covered in mud, dressed in rags shivering and trying to sell everything from chewing gum to phone cards. Really something to see....