here + there

an overburdened feeling to the past few days + the attitude to show for it - hoping to get some quiet time soon!


hashing earlier in the day, with a pitstop at the swank compound where those involved with the hugely important danish de-mining effort are headquartered. the highlight? this bbq pit, for certain.




oh, and meeting yet another sweetheart afghan pup! kabul zoo tomorrow, for better or for worse. xoxo

hashing, marastoon-style

last friday, the hash took place at a compound called marastoon, a bit outside of the city. beautiful views, + the hosts were wonderful people from the education/culture ngo, PARSA.



fiona + i arrived thinking that we would be setting out for another hiking adventure. instead, this "survivor hash" featured competitions. two teams were formed + given challenges, + those who did not show a winning spirit were traded with the other team or voted off entirely.

watching all of this take place was the amazing afghan fighting dog (still a puppy!), shariq. one of the people from marastoon rescued him when he was a baby. he is the most gentle dog you would ever hope to meet + a loyal best friend/protector of one of his co-habitants, a tiny kitten.



first up: catch, wash, henna, + decorate a goat. the team that finished first won, but there was a bonus for the goat voted by afghans to be the most beautiful. we won on the first count, but not the second. the goats were so patient!



here is our dear donkey unloading after he was burdened with breakable food items (eggs, tomatoes, etc.) + run through a long field (we won!).



sadly, i do not yet have photos of competition #3 (burqa races). v. v. v. difficult to run relays in a burqa, but we still triumphed.

round 4, kite flying, was a total bust. there was v. little wind + we couldn't keep the kites in air for more than a few seconds. following that debacle through which our afghan companions demonstrated smirking endurance, predictably, the kites were turned over to them + within a few minutes were high up there.



shariq was heartbroken not to be able to join us in the field.



the final round was too dumb to photograph + v. indicative of hash humor. relays with one person carrying a plunger (stick facing forward) between their legs + the other waiting with a roll of toilet paper (requiring plunging) between theirs. you get the picture. and yes, we won.

friday's hash was fiona's fifth, which meant that she had to be inducted as a hasher. the ladies argued vehemently that her hash name be "burqa down" (commemorating her spectacular burqaed fall in the relays + her valiant recovery).

one hasher went on an extended rant about the hometown of both fiona + kabubble spiritual advisor, dave mcmullin, claiming that fiona's hash name should imply a dig at her newton, massachusetts origins. however, with so few americans present, his joke fell flat. after way too much discussion, the hashers settled on "sucks him dry." poor dear.

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.

out there

first hash today,
with dana + fiona,
whoa + whoa.

nearing the summit of swimming pool hill




more soon to follow. xoxo