Two Days Off

I have had two days off since I arrived in Kabul on the 6th. There is no school on Fridays and today is a national holiday for the military and political leader Ahmad Shah Massoud. In preparation for "Massoud Day," flags banners and posters with his face are put up literally everywhere. He is a fascinating, controversial figure and definitely worth reading up on.

A view from a Kabul street

Yesterday I went out with two wonderful colleagues from the school, Derek Beckvold, the saxophone teacher, and James Herzog, the trumpet teacher. We visited an expat cafe/restaurant for brunch then did a little shopping. On the way home we met a young Afghan girl from the school. She reported to James that her fifteen year old sister was soon to be married. We were all quite stunned by the news. The young girl, on the other hand, nonchalantly accepted the fact. We mentioned it later to some Afghan security guys at the guesthouse and they said, "Yes, well why not?"

The interior of a famous bookshop in Kabul

This morning we got news of an attack. The reports started pouring in. Each source offered a different account of the event. The body count, the details about the attacker and his methods, it all varied from source to source. I could hear sirens in the distance and the sound of helicopters. In fact, we had been warned the day before, that due to the controversial nature of "Massoud Day," there might be a Taliban strike. Needless to say, the rest of the day was spent inside. I attempted to practice to get my mind off the events of the day, but the thunder of helicopters eventually drowned out my attempts to play.

My first real day of work is tomorrow. I need to lose myself in my work at school so that the chaos of Kabul will become background noise. All I can do is teach, everything else is out of my control. More about the school and my young cellists soon!