Friday morning

Good morning, it is Friday and our normal day off. This follows on from the Afghan New Year so again all is quiet. Made even quieter by the city power being off and there being no electricity. In the background there is the hum of generators in the distance, but not ours, so we have no power, no water (the pump is off when the leccy is off) and the house is silent. In fact, I am the only one awake.

It is again a lovely sunny day, but rain is forecast, so I shall take the opportunity to wander round to the Kabul Coffee House for a Latte (yes they have, what appears to be, the ONLY proper Italian coffee machine in Kabul) and a Greek Salad. The KCH is in the next street so we always take a short stroll round the corner. They also have a wireless Internet connection so I can talk to the outside world (which I can't do here, at the moment). They have one of those signs that we Brits find rather funny when abroad. It is supposed to say "Wireless Internet now here" but they have run two words into one and it actually says "Wireless Internet nowhere".
I have my book, laptop and specs in my bag and off I stroll. Of course, I have had to change from my shorts to my trousers. Even men are not allowed to show that much flesh on the streets of Kabul.
Today the children are out in force. Outside our house are the kids from our street playing cricket, they have a chair as a wicket, a tennis ball and a small, children's bat. The rules seem a bit loose and flexible depending on your idea of bowling, but they are certainly having a great time. As always they offer to let me play and I stay and watch (field) for few minutes before carrying on. Further up the street some younger boys (only boys come out to play) have a make shift kite and are flying this high, high above the streets. These kites are basically made from a plastic bag and a wooden frame, but from somewhere they seem to get miles of nylon "string" and they fly the kits so high you can barely see them.

The KCH is a really nice little oasis of pleasure here which serves real Italian coffee and reasonable snack type food (salads, omelettes etc.) and has a pleasant garden to sit in, as you can see above (sorry about the quality of the picture but it was taken with the computer webcam!). It used to be a great little secret that was frequented mainly by Afghans and a few, select Ex-Pats, but since the Serena attack and the latest threats from our "Bearded Friends" it has grown in popularity with Ex-Pats as the more high profile haunts have closed. Anyway there is no parade of foreigner's Land Cruisers outside today and it is pretty empty inside.
It too has beefed up security and also has a series of doors, armed guards and searches but hey-ho this is Kabul life.
So, for a pleasant couple of hours I drink Caramel Latte, eat "Greek" salad and work and read. The "Greek" salad is actually a lot of lettuce, two olives, some tomato and cheese that only has colour as its tenuous link to feta, the taste, smell and texture are a far cry from the original, but it tastes good in its own way and that is all that matters, really.
On the way back I drop into a small shop to buy a can of mango drink and a large tub of yoghurt for dinner this evening. The drink is 25Afs and the yoghurt 50Afs (1Af = 1p), so i suspect the prices have been doubled for me, but 75p is not a bad deal.
As I get back I can begin to hear thunder rumbling on the other side of the mountains that surround Kabul and slowly a large black cloud is working its way over the peaks.
15 minutes after getting back and changing into my shorts, the cloud and thunder has arrived and it is now snowing!! If only the human attitudes could change as quickly as the weather!!!!