Day 7 in Kabul Part 2

Well the teaching day started with no electricity again but then it came on about 30 minutes into the class time. I have discovered some interesting things teaching here. I hate to generalize but Afghans tend to want to get to the answer very quickly without thinking through the problem. I know that is a broad statement and I apologize for that but it is consistent throughout my class. If I am walking around, they will ask very simple questions that they can answer themselves if they would think through it. So now I won’t answer the question right away. I ask them to tell me and if they really have problems then I answer it other wise I make them think through it and most of the time they know or can figure it out. The class went the rest of the day without a hitch once the electricity came on. As a matter of fact, I had to leave before many of them. At 5:30, they were all still working but I had to be back at my guesthouse by 6:00 to move to my new housing.

The hard sided car showed up at 6:00 to move me. There was a driver and Jeremy, who had a pistol on his side. They loaded my stuff in the land cruiser and headed for the new hotel. These guys don’t mess around driving. The swerve around folks….on either side and push their way to the front. I almost miss the sportage….Jim’s car. Jim’s car has very little for shocks so you feel every bump and the power steering squeals like a pig caught in the fence (for you Nebraska folks that have heard a pig squeal when it is caught in the fence you know what I mean…for you others folks…..it is loud..and annoying). The AC and fan didn’t work so you have to keep the windows down to keep from burning up. The land cruiser rides smoothly, even going over bumps, has AC and doesn’t squeal. It is a whole new experience. Kind of like borrowing mom and dad’s car on a date when you are growing up instead of using your old beater…..you feel…..fancy.

So I moved from an area that is considered to be in the Red Zone but the folks there say that the area that I am moving to is the Red Zone since it is in town where all the embassies and foreigners are located. The manager of the hotel where I moved to, told me that the place that I moved from is very safe….but oh well, I am moved now.

The place that I am at is heavily guarded. It is surrounded by a huge concrete wall and it has armed guards out front. When you walk in, you have to stand in a cage thing until the door behind you closes and then you exit out of the cage door and enter the court yard for the hotel. Immediately in from of that door is a sand bag fortification with a guy with a machine gun and there are other guards around the courtyard. The hotel is large, not a big Hilton, but large. It has a restaurant, bar, pool, and tennis courts. In the states it wouldn’t rate very high, kind of like a Motel 6 that was really nice in the 60’s when the town had tourists, so it is a little run down but it is still nice. Unfortunately all the rooms are smoking. I asked the guy at the desk if there are any no smoking rooms and he told me yes….I didn’t have to smoke in my room. I said no, do you have rooms that people are not allowed to smoke in them and he replied no, but there is AC. I am not sure how the AC will fix the smoke smell problem but fine. The AC units are in the rooms so it just circulates air in the room. My rooms reeks of smoke…enough that it makes my skin tingle but I will just have to deal with it for a week.

I am a little disappointed that I had to move. I liked the guest house. It is like a home…nothing fancy. Dinner is at 7 and you get whatever Afghan meal is made….and it is good food. Each night I would have dinner with the other two guests, a married couple doing volunteer work here. We would talk about the day and other stuff. I got to know the staff and they were teaching me Dari. Now I am in a hotel with lots of other folks. You go to the restaurant and order whatever food you want. It is nice is some ways and not in others. I like the guesthouse for the cultural experience but the hotel for the security and conveniences. I have my own bath room, TV, and dorm frig….where at the guest house I had my own…..bed.