Afghan life

Here are some pictures of when I was out in town the other day. The people live in mud huts along the mountainside, and the picture of the ruins is apparently 300 years old.

People weren’t joking when they said that this base is small! I’m already recognizing a lot of faces, and people are asking if I’m new here haha! There is a nice gym here, and I’ve already been there for a spin class, and the instructor was really good. He had so much energy! It’s definitely a laid back environment, and people have tea/coffee time at least 2x a day. There are 3 coffee shops here, while there was only one in Baghdad, and that base was 10x this size! I’m learning to be more relaxed, as other countries have different priorities. I had breakfast with a counterpart from Greece, and he talked about how he and his buddies go out to coffee in the afternoon when there’s nice weather. He made a good point about how you have to live now, not wait until you’re retired. Too often in American society I forget to live!

I learned in Bible study that out of 196 countries rated for how rich they are, the US is #6, while Afghanistan is #186! That definitely puts some things into perspective about how the people here live. Next week we’re going to an orphanage to pass out stuff, and I’m very excited to be able to go help! If any of you would like to help too, the children need socks, shoes, and school supplies. I was quite surprised to hear about the school supplies – apparently the kids just really want small notepads to write in, and manual pencils (the kind you sharpen). They don't know how to use the click pencils, and b/c they're so poor, the basics are great to them. I found out that giving out hygiene items isn’t a good idea b/c they actually don’t know how to use most of the stuff.