Another Friday, another Funday

As you are all aware by now, Friday is our day off and it is generally a day of non-stop fun and frivolity as we rampage the streets of Kabul, partying and; just going crazeee (as Noddy Holder would have said).

Yesterday was no different. I awoke at 8am, obviously no electric and no running water and laid in bed to read my book for a while. (I am sure you can feel the intensity of the day growing, even from thousands of miles away). I had breakfast (it is friday/funday so I go crazeee and cook an omelette). By 9.30 the others are awake and I can turn on the generator and get some power. Things are now happening at a pace, already I am struggling to control the excitement and anticipation.

With electricity the possibilities are endless, now the radio works, the TV works and even the internet connection is up and running.

But today is going to be a shopping day. Me and Mathew are going to ISAF HQ, where they have a bazaar on Fridays. So we call Zabi, he comes and gets us and off we go.

ISAF HQ is the HQ for the International Security Assistance Force, ie the coalition. There are soldiers here from about 20 different countries. It really is quite weird being in the midst of this Tower of Babel, here in Kabul.

"The sun has got his hat on, hip hip hip hooray" and is giving us a fine and delightful autumn day. In the car park are set up about a hundred local trader stalls selling everything from carpets to sunglasses (the Oakley copies have Okley on the box, a bit of a giveaway, methinks). There are stalls with scarves, DVDs, coats, in fact almost everything; and a large number of stalls with the strangest military memorabilia including swords, daggers, huge old padlocks!! and lots of 19th century British equipment like compasses etc. Presumably trophies from the last British retreat from Afghanistan, as well as lots of old Soviet Army memorabilia. I buy a couple of presents and Mathew gets measured up for a made-to-measure full length black leather coat a la Matrix.

Now I have to say, he is tall and thin. I am short and fat, otherwise I too would be adorned as a Neo lookalike this winter (although I expect I would be more Herr Flick than Neo, sorry Keanu).

We are breathless from the thrills and spills of it all and head back to the house after an hour or so to recharge our batteries. I came within a gnats whisker of buying a silk carpet. They are beautiful and change colour depending on the angle of the light etc. I haggle down from €320 ($450) to just $220 (106 pounds), a pretty good discount, but this particular carpet does not light my fire. One I saw at another stall was $400 which I would not have hesitated for at $220 for a silk carpet is a bargain. So I come away carpetless.

I spend the afternoon, trying out my "Teach yourself Dari" book. I thought I would start with a bit of writing. It is really strange at first to be writing right to left and your hand instantly wants to move left to right. You consciously have to make yourself write the letters "backwards" which is so difficult at first. Control is everything!!!! It is a bit like trying to write left handed as it just seems wrong!! I eventually get to write the alphabet and have written my first 2 words. Ab which is "water" and asan which is "easy". If only you could see my attempts, they are quite funny, and if you think Persian looks like squiggles, wait till you see my attempts, I am rubbish, but things can only get better!!!

In the evening I have a headache (is all this excitement tiring you out reading this?) so I go to bed early, about 8pm. At 1am I am woken by the man who lives in the house opposite. Every night he comes home at 1am and then sits outside with his hand on the car horn blaring out to get the someone to come out and open the garage door. Now I am used to this and have learnt to handle it, BUT at 5.30am this morning a delivery lorry arrived (they have building works going on) and proceeded to hammer the horn mercilessly to signal his arrival - at 5.30am!!! Now this was the last straw, I opened my window and, using a variety of Anglo-Saxon terms, requested that he may desist from this practice as soon as possible, please. This may not have done Anglo-Afghan relations much good, but I sure felt better. Incredibly the driver got out of the cab, walked over to the house and knocked on the door.

You see, you only have to ask!!