Kabul weekend

Our weekend at the hospital is Friday-Saturday. Friday morning we piled in a car to go to "large group" where I saw several friends from my last time in Kabul. A friend of a friend dropped by later in the afternoon to pick up a few things from her mom that I'd carried over. For dinner we went out to a Korean restaurant with a Swiss friend who has a car. Like many "safe" places in the city, you have to know where it is. We pulled up to an unmarked gate, asked "Korean restaurant?", had several security guards peer into the car to make sure we were all foreigners, then the gate was opened. And past that gate we came to another barrier that was also rolled away for us. And inside we got kalbi and bulgogi and kimchi. Delightful.

When I got back, I was told I was supposed to be at a meeting the next day with the Afghan Surgeon General and people from the hospital. So this morning I dutifully woke up early, put on a long green silk top over grey pants, threw a black chador around my shoulders, and went next door to figure out exactly what was happening. Then we got a call saying that they meeting had been postponed because the Surgeon General had to meet with the head of the Afghan Army instead. Okay, whatever.

So I had our driver take me over to a nearby guesthouse where I dropped off money that I had carried over from friends of the hosts. Stayed for tea and fruit with them, sitting on floor cushions in the one room heated by a wood stove. Then had their chaokidar walk me home. This was the first time I'd really walked on the street in a week, and it felt glorious. After lunch I walked with housemates to the language school where I had my first Dari lesson. I now know how to say useful things like, "Give me the cauliflower" and "The old man likes bananas." Awesome.

Highlight of the weekend was probably the amazing chocolate mousse we had for dessert tonight.