Bpeace in Afghanistan (Again)

Visitors to Kabul City Centre, which features Afghanistan's only escalator, gingerly negotiate their first trip up the moving stairs.


Paula -- (low context)
I started off yesterday standing next to dusty exhaust ridden traffic circles, recording audio and traffic noice and taking pictures of all manner of vehicles at rush hour in good light. It was a blast!! The object is to show that Kabul is a bustling city these days and not the quiet place with more creaking donkey carts than cars that it was under the Taliban.

This morning our guide Najib and I went to various bustling markets for more audio and pictures. Midday found us at the posh Kabul City Centre -- Afghanistan's answer to Houston's Galleria, Boston's Copley Place and New York's Fifth Avenue -- well you get the gist. Imagine the only escalator in Afghanistan and photographing the Afghans gingerly trying out this new mode of transportation. Later in the afternoon photographed locations were construction sites which contrasted with destroyed buildings. Extraordinary for me was to see the vast changes since the fall of the Taliban -- Kabul is indeed rising from the ashes.

Wendy -- (high context)
I boarded the Indian Airlines flight to Kabul and was wedged between 2 men in the middle seat in the last row of the plane. The ratio of men to women was at least 15 to 1. Towards the end of the flight, I moved up front and discovered an empty seat, which I immediately commandeered. As we passed the majestic snow covered peaks I took out my camera and started snapping photos. A woman seated behind me asked me in English what work I was doing in Kabul. I told her about BPeace. Well it turns out that many of the women on the plane were BPeace associates returning home from an exhibition where Afghani embroidery and handicrafts amongst many other things were showcased. I recognized our associates from their photos!

When the plane landed, we were so busy hugging and kissing each other that we held up the disembarking passengers!! This was my introduction to my mentee, Bakhtnazira (BN). Had we not met I honestly do not know how I would have made my way through the maze of Kabul’s airport! Eventually we made our way outside where BN had to call Laila on the cell to find out where she was. All worked out and Laila and her driver took me to the Ottawa Resorts where I unpacked and then went out again to check out the shops with Laila. Back to the hotel where I collapsed and experienced my first Kabul blackout – the electricity sporadically goes out. Paula knocked on my door and we went downstairs where I met Najib, our trusty and trusted guide. Dinner at the Ottawa. Tomorrow the rest of the group arrives and then the fun really begins!!!