At home again....

Jon has a fire (wood) burning in the fireplace, the cat is sleeping on my lap, TV news is catching us up on what's been going on while we were absent.  WE arrived home yesterday, having been awake for most of 27 hours.  The north pole flight featured dinner as we approached the north pole....Jon called it a date with tight seating!    

The day of rest in Dubai was a lifesaver as we arrived there a bit weary.   Getting thru the Kabul airport

 is always a marathon of being frisked (5x) and baggage inspection (5x) plus standing in line at Passport Control for an interminable time.  I'm always aware of how outnumbered women are at the airport and on the plane......of many nationalities with attending garb. 

We always realize how plush we have it here in the US as we regain the privilege of paved roads, electricity 24/7, safe water,  a variety of foods, and our own comfy bed!   How should we live then, with so much of the world in so much need?  That is the tension we live with.  "To whom much is given....much is required."   Luke 12:48

 Drs. Jon and JErry with some of the residents of the family practice residency program.

We will be home now until April 21 when we fly to Glennallen, Alaska to relieve a vacationing

Nurse Practitioner at the clinic we served last August.  You can 'tune in' again to this blog then.

Happy Spring!!

Off to Herat....in western Afghanistan

Sunday dawned as Jon, Dr. Jerry, Dr. Rahimulah, and Dr. Rafi.            
took off for Herat.  The residency had been issued an invitation by
 Ghalib University, a private medical school to come and see what connection could be made as they are building a new hospital and need doctors as well as faculty for all the above.  They flew Kam Air, which Jon assessed as being older planes and Russian appearing......meaning the crew may have come from one of the 'stans' to the north (Tajikistan, Usbekistan, Kyrgestan).

Herat is close to the border of Iran, more of a plain with mountains on the periphery.  It was colder than Kabul, a surprise.  More than any other city, Herat speaks to the centrality of the Silk Road in Afghanistan.....at the crossroads of trade routes to the Middle East, Central Asia and India.  It has flourished as a center of  learning and commerce, giving the city a cultered air of independence.  It has a realiable power supply, street lights and public parks.  It remains a beacon of progress compared with much of the country.

Surprisingly, blossoms were appearing on fruit trees, which is not yet happening here in Kabul.
Of course, there are not the abundance of fruit trees.  Roses are the 'crop' that excels in Kabul.

 Meals are served on a 'dustacan' cloth ....

 Herat's Old city is the most complete traditional medieval city in Afghanistan.  Three focuses of the design are the commercial centre, the Royal Centre and the Religious Centre.    The Citadel, pictured on the left, is hte oldest building, standing on the foundations of a fort built by Alexander the Great.   The Blue Mosque, which Jon did not visit, is AFghanistan's finest Islamic building...and one of the greatest in Central Asia.  It has been a synagogue and a church before a mosque.

 Transportation varies from area to area in all of Asia......mutations of the two and three-wheeled
carts.  These are quite colorful cabs for a motorcycle.  Zaranges are what they call these.






                                                                                         

The Pul-e-Malan is a fine olf 22-arched bridge,
believed to have been constructed by the Seljuks in the early 12th century.   It crosses the Hari Rud river and has recently been repaired.

 

This shrine, The Gazar Gah, is one of Afghanistan's holiest sites, dedicated to the 11th-century saint and poet Khoja Abdullah Ansar.  Run by Sufis, it receives hundreds of pilgrims daily.  It is the most complete Timurid building in Herat .  The courtyard is filled with the gravestones of the many of Herat's old ruling families and poets.

Parties, Puzzles, Partnering.......

 Life in Kabul involves the fun of going to parties.  The first was this 1-year-old double party for Laila and Hannah, neighbors.  Their mothers had arranged to have US decorations brought and we had a Hungry Catapillar party and it just happened to be Hungry Catapillar Day!  Lots of people I didn't know, but the cupcake was good and Laila happy to be the recipient of some recycled gifts....an idea I think

has lots of merit.  Instead of buying brand new
gifts, regift something.  As families come and go
regularly, sales of personal goods  are frequent and popular.  Good stuff can be gotten that you can find nowhere else in the country.

Puzzles have been fun to do here, giving us something to work on together and providing a social context for visiting.  Even the children helped us find pieces.  We had no picture for this second one until Jon found the artist online and located the painting....Twilight Village.

 





Our friend and former housemate, Faith, recalled our doing this puzzle over two years ago  and I gave it to her!  It began to look familiar as we got it put together.







Jon and Mosa had lunch at The Blue Flame restaurant.....we have eaten there twice.  The choices of places to eat out are diminshed with the sad happenings recently.  Many places shutting down as people do not trust security.

Here is Dr. Jerry checking on a newborn (I think).....sure is tiny anyway.  Jerry is a pediatrician from Chicago who works here about half the year and home the other half.  He and Jon and two Afghan doctors from the residency are in HErat today looking at possibilities of helping set up a Family Practice Residency there in the future.   Now you know what our next, and last, blog will be about.   I need to go downstairs for movie night with our other guests.  Shalom.

Music, Henna, and Zohra

   Since we have returned from the north, Faith, our roommate of two years ago, has returned from the US.  We met up yesterday at the gate to Kabul University and she took me to office in the Fine Arts Building.  She is in her third year of volunteering in the music department.  Her many talents and much expertise and experience in the music field, as well as business and people skills, have made her a very integral part of the development of the department.  She works 





with the Afghan Music Dept. Dean, and the 
faculty, two of which gave me personal concerts!  Here at the piano is Fawad, piano instructor.  Below is Moshen, guitar instructor.  Two of her graduates are away on scholarships, studying abroad.  The dept. is small, but growing.  

 I was invited to a Henna Party in the afternoon.  Theresa's language helper from Pakistan does this for brides, etc. primarily.  It last for about 4 days on the skin, so it won't last for my trip home, I guess!

Can you guess which hand is mine?

AFter the party, Zohra came to visit.  She is an english student of mine from 2011 who became my seamstress .... and is now sewing for other expats.  She worked for an NGO that downsized and lost her job.  HEr husband is not working either, so supporting 4 children (and another on the way) is daunting.  Needless to say, I purchased quite a few items from her bag of handwork.  She does the same embroidery work that many women do....beautiful.  The pink top I'm wearing here is one I ordered from her ahead of my visit.  It is always a joy to see her.  Wish we could bring these wonderful friends more stability in their country.  We are doing what we can, as are hundreds, if not thousands  of others still laboring in Afghanistan.  Lots of love being given and received here.

Sunny day to fly!

The heavy rain of Monday turned to sunshine and we were able to fly on Tuesday.  Pactec flew the Kodiak today.  Marita's cousin, Terry Hibbs, as a retired MAF pilot, helped develop this particular plane for use in hard-to-reach areas with short runways, etc.  
http://www.pactec.org/

 You can see Faizabad wrapping around these mts., following the Kokcha River.  This is the route of the Silk Road and the town has been the capital of the Badakhshan Province since the 17th century.
In the map below you will find it in the upper right hand corner near Tajikistan. As a result, most the the people are Tajiks.  We flew first to Eshkashem, which is east of Fayzabad in the curve of the thumb.  It is said that this mountainous 'thumb' was given to Afghanistan as a buffer between Russia and Britain who ruled the lands on either side.  A woman doctor was on our plane, returning from Kabul to her family and work in the Wakhan.  12,000 people live in the Wakhan Corridor formed by the Panj River and the Wakhan tributary where they farm grain crops, potatoes, peas, etc.  This doctor had a 7-hour ride by vehicle to get to her village!  That is dedication.  The Afghan Pamir are grazing lands, higher and roadless, where the Hindu Kush, Karakoram and Pamir mountain ranges converge.
Trekking is possible with proper permits and preparations.  I think much of Greg Mortenson's schools were built in this hard-to-reach area (Three Cups of Tea).

Checkered fields will turn to green soon as crops are planted.  This area is also a main grower of opium.

 

 Small villages were spotted high in the mountains and alongside the steep cliffs.  Here we are at the Tajik border, dropping off the doctor and picking up an Afghan who works for Pactec in building and maintaining runways.  There is one in process up the valley where the doctor works.   We
noticed there were nice highways on the Tajik
side of the river....Russian influence?






Our flightpath took us over the 14,000 ft. range and into some turbulance....not enough to worry about.  It was good to land in a sunny Kabul.
We missed 3 days of no running water and electricity here at the Team House....good thing we went 'up-country!'

Daily life......

 A couple more things I saw in the bazaar that would interest you:  babies are cradled in these ornate little beds for the first year or more.  You may notice the hole in the bottom of the cradle....that's because they leave the baby's bottom bare, wrap tightly the rest and lay them on their back.  They nurse the baby by leaning over them, and clean up what comes thru the hole.  Their heads are often flat on the back.  I wonder why they do this?  Seems to be this area of the country......

Donkeys are force-fed.  Bags of food are hung around their necks with all but their eyes immersed in the foodbag.  I don't know how long they leave them there, but I saw lots of donkeys standing around with their head up and still in the bag.












This is the ladder Jon built, with the help of the chaukedor, for the play platform.  Of course, the boys were carrying it around like a weapon or shield.......versatile toy.

 This is the only room heated on the main floor.  The kids play in there and we ate our meals there on the floor cloth.  Claudia cooked Singapore chicken for us our last night.  She is from Singapore.  I sewed up the red curtains behind Chase that look into the living area.

Sammuel is 7, Josiah,4 and Mia (napping) is almost 2.  

This is the warm room they are playing in.

We enjoyed our week with Chas and Claudia and family.  They are from Waco, Texas and have been in F-town for 7 years.  They love the Afghan people and enjoy watching them learn and grow in character thru the Institute for  Leadership Development.  Jon was privileged to team-teach three times, and I sat in on two classes.  What stimulating discussions were had!

Day 6

I'm at the office of the Leadership Course here, waiting for Jon to teach another one...on courage this time.  The internet works here, so I will dash off a quick update.  
Friday was the relgious sabbath here and we observed it with our friends, and meals together seem to happen often.   Friday afternoon was a special women's tea which celebrated birthdays of two special women.....Debra and Natalie.  Claudia entertained in her upstairs sun room and about 4 desserts were brought to highlight the event.  Desserts are not an everyday thing here, so it was nice to indulge in scones, peanut butter-choc. chip bars, chocolate volcano cake and angel food cake I helped make from scratch.  Yum.
Affirmations also blessed the women, and I knew both of them from two years ago!

On Saturday we went on an outing to the Men's Park down by the river with Corey and Natalie and Micah. We had dined at their home on Friday night....Jamaican chicken and rice.  Us women were allowed to walk with the men amongst the orchards, but they would not be allowed to go with us to the Women's Park.  It was nice to be outside, walking without people and cars.  The weather is warming up this week, but no blossoms yet.  We've had rain for a few days now.

Jon painted a wall in Claudia's Afghan room for her and I will be sewing curtains tonight when the power comes on.  She's talented with paint and color, which makes for a cheerful glow on the mud and plaster walls.

Jon made rounds with the local Dr. Chip this morning.  His days have been full.  I've been reading and helping Claudia watch kids at the house.  


One more day and we can fly back to Kabul for another week.  This country requires more agile (younger?) bodies than mine.  I'm sore, but glad I came.

Day 3

Here we are in Faizabad (town of grace), beginning a third sunny day.  Chas and Claudia are our hosts, with their 3 beautiful children.  They live along the river that runs thru town, and their neighborhood has been paved in recent years.  Until a couple years ago they lived in Old Town, with no running water or electricity.  So this home is an upgrade!  The ‘running’ water is a small tank by the sink, and there’s no hot water.  The only bathroom (at least they have an indoor one here) is in the annex where our guest room is above it.  No central heating either, so we turn on the propane heaters to take off the chill and take hot water bottles to bed.  The covers are thick and heavy, making turning over an exercise.  The extra tall steps on stairways here are strengthening my legs....a built-in physical therapy course.  They have no refrigerator, so we eat up what can’t be stored, or the dog gets it. The dishes are washed and then put on the front porch in the sun for drying and sanitizing.

  It is interesting how basic needs can really be simpler than we think.  The chaukedor just brought in four buckets of water from the tank outside, which will be used drinking (in the filter tank)cleaning and cooking.  Claudia says this is bath day when they build a fire under the water tank in the bathroom and washtub baths can be had.  Something to look forward to!

Jon has taught the Leadership Training classes with Chas the last two nights.  The topic was Teamwork. His power point used the examples of teamwork in medicine as well as the crew team from UW in the book The Boys in the Boat.  He and Chas enjoyed working together on this. Students are adults and usually professionals from the area. 

Claudia took me to the bazaar in town yesterday.  It is NOT paved.  At least I can safely walk in this town.  We found a few things to purchase, for which she bargained:  fabric for curtains I can sew up for her, and a few trinkets. 

Today Chas took us and another guest on a tour of the city, along the original Silk Road

that turned north toward China.  Animals were being auctioned in the river bed and lots of construction  is changing the ‘face’ of the city.  We drove by the bushkazi  field, which will be in use after the New Year...it is  a ‘game’ of ‘grabbing the goat’....which is headless and the players are on horseback.  It is THE tradition of yesteryear which still gathers all men (no women allowed) to attend.

We ended up the morning by finding an area by the river to walk among the trees.  The children loved running and climbing.  It is nice to see a bit of beauty here. Jon and Chas had gone to purchase 3 trees earlier for a barrier between them and the new neighbor.

We found out last night that we either had to leave on a plane this morning or wait until next Tuesday as the Saturday flight is cancelled.  Weather is going to be bad in Kabul over the weekend.  We decided to stay.  It’s a good thing I brought extra of my prescription meds.  Flexibility is the key here!