Kite flying in Kabul.

Brenda with Sayer, kite flying. It’s harder than it looks.

Getting ready to fly kites.

Man, Sayer, man and Dr. Rolfe getting ready to fly kites.

Kids surrounding Paul (center) and John at the car.

Kite flying. Everyone crowded around the car, asking if they could have a kite or string.

Ahkmed and Sayer preparing kites.

Young goat herder.

Kids feeding their goats from the dumpster. They come by almost every morning.

John and Sheila, his beloved EX-1 working hard.

Dr. Rolfe climbing up to the roof.

Woman in burka walking down the street.

Brenda in action on the roof.

View of street looking left from house.

A mosque under construction.

Woman walking in street in the morning.

Houses on the hill. Don’t ask me how they get up there.

Three boys on a bike. It’s amazing how comfortable they make it look.

Hey everyone!  Thanks for all your comments.

Yesterday was yet another amazing day in Kabul.  We couldn’t do too much because it was Friday, a holy day, so we woke up at 4:30 am and climbed on the roof to get shots of the sunrise and streets below.  It was so amazing hearing the call to prayer echoing throughout the city. 

We had a bit of a scare at the airport when we tried to retrieve our lost baggage.  We got stopped by the security at the entrance and thought they were going to take away our equipment.  They made us get out of the car and frisked the men and sent Brenda into a some “building” with a curtain as the door.  Inside was a sad looking woman watching TV.  She frisked her and sent her back to the car.  Thankfully we were able to keep our equipment and everything was okay.

Traffic here is ridiculous!  It is one of the most caotic scenes I have witnessed.  But it’s amazing how everyone seems works together to not hit eachother.  There’s a certain flow to it. It’s not uncommon  to drive on the wrong side of the road and there are no rules to anything.   But apparently it’s improved-there are now a total of 10 traffic lights in a city of 4 million people.  A truck carrying a massive load of bricks nearly dumped half of them on our car and I’m suprised we didn’t get in an accident.   

It’s so dusty and dirty and we have to constantly clean our equipment.  The air is horrible.  We have all developed a cough and the sniffles. The shower situation is less than ideal.  There is no tub, just a shower head coming out from the wall onto a floor with a drain, next to the toilet and sink.  You have to be careful where you put your things so they don’t get wet. We have a trcikle of water to shower from, but at least it’s not a bucket! (which we have, just in case.)

There are dogs in the street that keep us all up at night and Dr. Rolfe has come up with a temporary solution: a slingshot.  He made out of a rubber band, duct tape and a coat hanger.  He gets up in the middle of the night and shoots bolts at them with it. It helps some, but they still yelp.  I guess we’ll see.

There are two volunteers here right now, a Russian dental hygenist from Boston named Julia and a 61 year old dentist from Tulsa, Oklahoma named Paul.  I don’t know too many other 61 year olds quite like Paul.  He has so much energy and wit.  He climbs over walls and gets on the roof with us and doesn’t seem to be afraid of anything.

The people are overwhelmingly nice and friendly and are trying to do everything to help us out.  Neither of us have ever felt unsafe or threatened, just welcomed.  Everyone here is just trying to live their lives, make an honest living and survive.  

We went kite flying at the top of this hill, overlooking the city.  It was beautiful and an incredible experience.  All the boys immediately surrounded us and tried to speak English to us.  “Mister, one dollar?” and “Hello, you are beautiful” ”You are my best friend”  Brenda was pretty much the only girl in a park of about 400 men and boys and definitely the only girl to fly a kite.  I think it was a sight for them to see. 

There’s an astonishing amount of people crowded in the streets, going about their business and doing their shopping.  They must have so much endurance and stamina to survive.  Although we haven’t felt any personal danger yet, we do see the shadow of war everywhere. We saw movie theatres that were destroyed by the Taliban and and houses riddled with bullet and mortar markings.  I can’t imagine what it must have been like.  We hear gunshots every once in a while, but it’s probably some kid target practicing. 

We’re so excited to shoot today because the clinic is now open and hopefully we will be able to find someone to let us into their lives.