I'm safe and sound in Kabul. In route, I stopped for a night in Dubai. Though I didn't have much time to get out and see the city, I got a comfortable night in the five star Intercontinental Festival City. I just wish I would have had more time to go and see the world's tallest building up close.
Flying into Kabul the next day, we flew directly over Kandahar, the area where I will be working. The whole south of Afghanistan was a large sand patch with a vertical green swath of agricultural land surrounding the winding Helmand River. The closer we got to Kabul the taller the mountains were and the more snow there was on the mountains. On our final approach into Kabul we were on the edge of the Hindu Kush Mountains which were blanketed in solid snow. The highest mountain in Afghanistan is well over 18,000 feet tall, though it is quite far from Kabul.
We were picked up at the airport and deposited at our compound where I'm undergoing some more training. Since housing is tight and there hasn't been time to build physical structures, I'm living in a shipping container. It isn't as bad as it sounds. It is quite similar to living in a mobile home. The containers are prefabricated as homes with two rooms in each container. I share my half of the container (a single room) with Doug, who I've been training with since February. We have a bunk bed and a bathroom, as well as 2 chest-o-drawers, a desk, a tv, and other important stuff. Put it this way. My living conditions are much better here than when I was living in the dorms as an undergraduate. Overall life is a little boring as we are restricted to the compound except if we are out on official business. The excitement revolves around the dining halls, the lone bar (The Duck and Cover), the gyms, and trying to figure out who might be in the many helicopters landing on the sports field.
As you may have guessed, I haven't seen much of Kabul. I've been out all of two times, though I do have to admit that I'm already forming some opinions. The traffic may be the craziest I have ever seen. Pedestrians are constantly running out in front of the vehicles without looking, cars are cutting you off. Everything from donkey carts to big trucks are using the roads. Making the matters even worse there are many blocked roads and check points, though this is presumably good for safety. Houses are almost universally made out of mud with walls around them. There are very few structures of more than two stories that I have seen in the city. The best part is the beautiful and cool mornings as I have dramatic views of snow capped mountains. But my mid-morning the temperature is up over 90 and the view has smogged over with the smoke from dung fueled fires and automobiles.
