I missed seeing the goat heads hanging from some butcher shops as we journeyed out of town on the paved highway north. But, I saw these 'container shops.' We have container shops in the US, don't we? They sell containers. These ARE containers! And there an innumerable number of them promoting capitalism in this country. I think anyone can get one....or at least at one time they could.
Rural life appeared soon enough and behind mud walls we could see vineyards. These are not for the elixer, but for sustenance. All summer we've seen cars, carts, trucks filled with large bags of grapes...going to the city to sell. This is where they came from! Now the livestock are gleaning the remains as the growing season grinds to a halt.
Along the way, we wandered through a tidy little village.....folks chatting with one another, little children playing. We stopped to ask directions from them, also......at the butcher shop, it seems.
Finally, we gained access to the new road, beyond the machinery and were able to climb up to our destination......Estalif! It was destroyed in the years of the Taliban, but is being rebuilt slowly.
Plates and bowls in bright colors hung from walls and doors of the shops lining the only road thru town. All shopkeepers were solicitous of our affections for their dishes. We made it to nearly all........and paid too much for our wares, although they weren't that much to start with. We've heard of 'steals' others have gotten there, but really feel they deserve all they can get with a little polite, expected bartering.
Turquoise is a predominant color. I could have bought more but I kept hearing Jon say, " You bought how many to carry home on your lap?" Breakage is easy, so they do have to be hand-carried. Since we are going home on Thanksgiving for three weeks, I can do that. Hooray!
One other adventure was trying out an afghan 'loo.'
All of us women followed the nice man who had just constructed it.....and no one needed rescuing!
It's quite the gymnastic feat....that's all I will say. I can check that off my list of things to do while in Afghanistan!
We left town, looking for a nice spot to eat our lunch of hard-boiled eggs, dried apricots, and cookies. But.....something else showed up!
Down on the rocky riverbed was a group of westerners eating kabobs.....it didn't take a vote, even, for us to pull over and pile out. A make-shift kitchen was set up on the bank.....a man greeted us with his name and connection to Johns Hopkins University.....and an invitation to sit on the toshaks (ouch!) for lunch. The other group was leaving, so we accepted!
Lamb kabobs are skewered with little balls of fat, the afghans favorite part. I carefully excised mine. There
With our appetites satisfied, we were happy little campers and left for home......hopefully without a detour! Zamir sweet-talked (he's good at this) his way thru the barricade and we were on our way. By this time we had had ANSO alerts on our phones about a 'disturbance' in the city around noon. Jon texted about a suicide bomber that took out a NATO convoy vehicle with 13 servicemen on board....plus 4 civilians....and all not far from where he was attending a ceremony at a hospital. Today he finds out that one of the civilians killed was the brother of one of the nurses at the hospital nearby. The afghans we know are tired of the stress of living under this real but sporadic danger...never knowing if, and when they, or their loved ones, will be victims. Our hearts go out to them as they are becoming our dear friends, too.
Plates and bowls in bright colors hung from walls and doors of the shops lining the only road thru town. All shopkeepers were solicitous of our affections for their dishes. We made it to nearly all........and paid too much for our wares, although they weren't that much to start with. We've heard of 'steals' others have gotten there, but really feel they deserve all they can get with a little polite, expected bartering.Turquoise is a predominant color. I could have bought more but I kept hearing Jon say, " You bought how many to carry home on your lap?" Breakage is easy, so they do have to be hand-carried. Since we are going home on Thanksgiving for three weeks, I can do that. Hooray!
One other adventure was trying out an afghan 'loo.'
All of us women followed the nice man who had just constructed it.....and no one needed rescuing!
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| The 'chef' fanning the flames of the BBQ |
We left town, looking for a nice spot to eat our lunch of hard-boiled eggs, dried apricots, and cookies. But.....something else showed up!
Down on the rocky riverbed was a group of westerners eating kabobs.....it didn't take a vote, even, for us to pull over and pile out. A make-shift kitchen was set up on the bank.....a man greeted us with his name and connection to Johns Hopkins University.....and an invitation to sit on the toshaks (ouch!) for lunch. The other group was leaving, so we accepted!
Lamb kabobs are skewered with little balls of fat, the afghans favorite part. I carefully excised mine. There
were homemade yogurt and spices to top the kabob in the Nan. Exquisite! And all with running water flowing past us, over the rocks.....a rare treat for anyone. Another spectacle was the appearance on the other river bank of a man on a horse galloping. It reminded me of the sport Buzkashi, popular in the northern provinces, where men on horses specially trained for this sport, grab from each other the carcass of a goat and take whatever remains to the winners circle. Those are large and mean horses, so this pair were probably just out for a frisky time, but they sure looked good! I don't know that we'll get to see the real thing.
