cold and clean

Kabul—6:48pm

Room 1/5 in the Apollo building, 24 hour electricity, a clean kitchen with a working refrigerator!, central heating that’s so warm I got a window open, a huge red carpet in a room half the size of the Kandahar behemoth ties together the queen bed, two desks, a dresser, an arm chair with a floor light, it looks so nice to sit and read in and I’ll look forward to doing that but not today, a large clean bathroom and three huge built in wardrobes to hang all the clothes I haven’t worn in eight months.  Imagine. 

I could sleep now but it’s too early even with some help.  Soon after I arrived I walked to the Zoom market in the cold rain and descending darkness and picked up a box of cheerios for dinner and breakfast tomorrow and a few provisionals; sugar, salt, pepper, oil, a bag of pasta that looks really old and I may not eat because the fruit and veggie fella was closed, a couple of juices, a couple of tiny milk cartons, more cookies, two tins of potato sticks and a diet coke and I head to airport at three tomorrow. 

I saw Ian again on the campus and he walked me around and was reunited with some of the people I met in August, I got my passport back, alhumda’allah, and I told everyone how glad I was to be here and how much I looked forward to teaching here.  That’s mostly true, I don’t look forward to teaching toefl though the students I am assuming, will be of a completely kind. 

And how are you going to celebrate what’s left of today’s green holiday?  I could watch waking ned devine again I don’t think so.  If I don’t move I’m gonna crash right where I am sitting and a fatigue inducing headache encroaches.

3.18.16

Friday morning in Kabul is cold (46F) and overcast, a bowl of cereal, a milk tea, one coffee and I think I’ll have to eat plain pasta for lunch because I can’t keep eating cookies until I am in the airport and we know what the airport has to offer, nothing.

Georgia.  If the ‘alleged’ coincidence of a job opportunity and my visitation tomorrow is noble then I will keep it on the radar.  If the ‘alleged’ coincidence is a red herring to lure me away from the impossible task of getting KU paperwork in order, it’s doing a fine job.  I think I should lie down again. 

It’s kind of odd but I cannot decide whether to wear my ‘winter’ coat or if I should do layers.  Right now the former is advised but what if it gets warm and I know I’ll carry the darn thing more than I’ll wear but consider three thirty tomorrow morning when I arrive in the capital and it’s below freezing and all you’ve got on is a raincoat shell, a pashmina scarf and two or three sweaters.  Let’s do a re-pack again.

11:51am

The rain falls and I shaved off the goatee and mustache, why? It just look ragged, the Afghans in Kabul are just as likely to be clean shaven as westerners so I am clean again, wow, almost a year I had some kind of facial hair, it’s nice to look a few years younger and even though it’s not Palm Sunday in Tbilisi it will be in the west and I’d like to attend church in a few days somewhat respectable.

 
Until next time.