burst

yesterday was v. special. as part of the kabul hash house harriers, i ventured on foot into the city for the first time since my arrival. hashers were divided into runners + walkers, guided by dedicated + safety-oriented leaders. many of the folks are in the security industry here in some capacity. they scout the routes ahead of time + carry concealed weapons. each friday, another adventure!













i cannot adequately express the thrill of being out on the streets with friends, scurrying along small dirt pathways through neighborhood locales, followed by hordes of kids alternately taunting us + asking us to take their photos for $1. the air was v. clear yesterday + the winds were good, so there was a lot of kite flying. in fact, we were perched on amir + hassan (the kite runner)'s hill above wazir akbar khan.





despite my pride in exploration, i was immediately reminded of the thread of brutality that runs through the fabric of everyday life here. our hiking up + down swimming pool hill took us through a few small graveyards, where we were saddened to see many large (presumably human) bones scattered under our feet.

(with jo + dana, wearing baseballcaps for the sun + headscarves for the locals)

i posted a link yesterday to an article about swimming pool hill, but in case you missed it: this olympic-sized pool was built by the russians atop a large hill in the middle of kabul to train their solders to swim in high-altitude conditions. the taliban made sickening use of it during its reign, forcing people off the high dive + into the empty pool below. now, it's about half-full of stagnant water + attracts unsupervised children, who play there.






little ones are everywhere. these boys had a v. sweet donkey, whose chest area they had henna'ed orange. many kids tend sheep + goats here + are v. creative about decorating them with henna -- it is wonderful to see multicolored flock scampering by -- esp. popular are posterior + billygoat-beard color modifications.









post-hash involves elaborate rituals -- code names, spoken + sung word games, + tons of drinking. 5 hashes makes you official. then, you must undergo a nasty hazing, after which you are branded with your sexually-oriented codename. while i'd like to think that's not something i would need to endure, i suspect that i will, as there's no getting around how unique this group is in such a closed-down place + how much it matters to have fresh air + adventures + to meet folks you may never encounter in business-as-usual kabubble reality.