Nothing much to say – same old same old.
The frozen pipes under our patio thawed last week. Now we can pump water onto the tank on our roof and usually have flowing water in the house. I celebrated by shaving off my winter beard. Having electricity available is the norm, and we rarely run the generator. The ground is bone dry (unless irrigated) and the desert sun rules the day. Spring has sprung and done backflips.
Our boarders have all moved out. We rejoice in the guests that visit us from all levels of this society. We also rejoice when we get a night alone. So much is happening in our home – it’s a sort of weary rejoicing. Hamroz is preparing the garden, which is still giving the eerie illusion of being dead. The 2008 marriage season approaches and we have some brands in the fire…
The school is bursting at the seams. ISK was envisioned as a top- notch International School that would grow to accommodate 100 students. Two months later, ISK had over 150 students enrolled (over 250 today). School “property” is contiguous, but rented from several different landlords. Sports and activities happen in open garden areas that pass for fields. An accreditation team will be here next month. Documents are close to being in order. We are on the verge of getting a hold of a (much bigger) property on the north side of the neighborhood mountain for a permanent site starting in 2009-2010. Things are moving, so fast that it gives the sensation of vertigo.
Yet it all seems like old news (I’ve posted all of this before, haven’t I?) - nothing much to say.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Happily Ever After
“Desperaux had a sudden, chilling thought: Had some other mouse eaten the words that spoke the truth? Did the knight and the fair maiden really not live happily ever after?
Reader, do you believe that there is such a thing as happily ever after? Or, like Despereaux, have you, too, begun to question the possibility of happy endings?”
From “The Tale of Desperaux” Kate DiCamillo
Our happy ending can be kind of hard to believe in.
On the one hand, there are all sorts of light afflictions. The police station is close to us, but that is not necessarily a good thing. It makes our area a suicide bomb target. Also, we know that well trained security guards are trained to raise their weapons when a uniformed police officer approaches – men in police uniforms perform all sorts of nefarious deeds, and the “good guys” understand that they should not approach uninvited. Police proximity does not equal security. We trust in God alone.
On the other hand, there is a feeling that we have already entered into that happy-ever-after ending. All the dragons (light afflictions) in the world do not mitigate against it; indeed, they only add sparkle and wonder. We thank God from the heart for every day we wake up into. Our every interaction with the community is infused with potentially historic meaning. The moments we can steal to be alone are particularly precious. It would be sweet to think that this is the end. In fact, we are not the end but the beginning. If only it ends like this, too!
Reader, do you believe that there is such a thing as happily ever after? Or, like Despereaux, have you, too, begun to question the possibility of happy endings?”
From “The Tale of Desperaux” Kate DiCamillo
Our happy ending can be kind of hard to believe in.
On the one hand, there are all sorts of light afflictions. The police station is close to us, but that is not necessarily a good thing. It makes our area a suicide bomb target. Also, we know that well trained security guards are trained to raise their weapons when a uniformed police officer approaches – men in police uniforms perform all sorts of nefarious deeds, and the “good guys” understand that they should not approach uninvited. Police proximity does not equal security. We trust in God alone.
On the other hand, there is a feeling that we have already entered into that happy-ever-after ending. All the dragons (light afflictions) in the world do not mitigate against it; indeed, they only add sparkle and wonder. We thank God from the heart for every day we wake up into. Our every interaction with the community is infused with potentially historic meaning. The moments we can steal to be alone are particularly precious. It would be sweet to think that this is the end. In fact, we are not the end but the beginning. If only it ends like this, too!
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Typical Day
Frozen morning. Time to get out of bed. But the electricity went off at about 3:00, so the room is cool. Getting dressed, singing that I don’t believe in cold. Breakfast together, home made oat flakes (better and cheaper than cereal), protein powder, tea. Overnight guest still rolling around on the couch. Hamroz starts the fire. We’re rolling!
Frozen classroom. Light up the classroom heaters, turn on the computer, check the e-mail. Write the principal. Go to the High School building and pick up materials for the science demonstration. Kids piling into the warm classroom, five minutes early. Grammar review!! Have a contest to find all the compound whatevers. Graphing equations. The weird measurements you can take while boiling water!
Frozen lunch duty. But it’s warm enough to eat outside. We played basketball for the last 15 minutes. It was starting to warm up! I played with my hands in my pockets after my team went up 3-0. We won 3-2, when the clock graciously ran out.
Remembering everything can be a small problem; remembered to get the change from the coal the chokedur bought for us (now we should have enough heat to last the winter), remembered to get the money we will need for the next few weeks, remembered to get the washer that we need to fix our vacuum cleaner. Now back to class. Cup of coffee, end of the day parent conference, and it’s four o’clock. Time to begin the day! I forgot to get my passport back from the office, and forgot one of the messages for my wife. Nobody is perfect.
Not everyone we were expecting showed up, so there was a chance to catch up on the house chores. Our lone guest was content to watch, “McGee and Me” clips while I brought water from the well into our upstairs bathroom. Since I've not been out running lately, I had the energy to bring a substantial ammount of water in. I’ve put aside my memory project to read (as I do every year) the bible from cover to cover. This year it’s a slow challenge – the first year reading in my new language. The English version is on hot standby whenever there is a comprehension issue. Good cold night in a warm room for reading and McGee.
Frozen classroom. Light up the classroom heaters, turn on the computer, check the e-mail. Write the principal. Go to the High School building and pick up materials for the science demonstration. Kids piling into the warm classroom, five minutes early. Grammar review!! Have a contest to find all the compound whatevers. Graphing equations. The weird measurements you can take while boiling water!
Frozen lunch duty. But it’s warm enough to eat outside. We played basketball for the last 15 minutes. It was starting to warm up! I played with my hands in my pockets after my team went up 3-0. We won 3-2, when the clock graciously ran out.
Remembering everything can be a small problem; remembered to get the change from the coal the chokedur bought for us (now we should have enough heat to last the winter), remembered to get the money we will need for the next few weeks, remembered to get the washer that we need to fix our vacuum cleaner. Now back to class. Cup of coffee, end of the day parent conference, and it’s four o’clock. Time to begin the day! I forgot to get my passport back from the office, and forgot one of the messages for my wife. Nobody is perfect.
Not everyone we were expecting showed up, so there was a chance to catch up on the house chores. Our lone guest was content to watch, “McGee and Me” clips while I brought water from the well into our upstairs bathroom. Since I've not been out running lately, I had the energy to bring a substantial ammount of water in. I’ve put aside my memory project to read (as I do every year) the bible from cover to cover. This year it’s a slow challenge – the first year reading in my new language. The English version is on hot standby whenever there is a comprehension issue. Good cold night in a warm room for reading and McGee.
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Cold Description
We have been tremendously blessed by God this winter. We have a house that warms up and holds the heat, (in the room where the wood fire is burning). Hamroz can arrange the wood, throw in a match, close the lid and half an hour later, the big logs on top are flaming. I can arrange the wood, care for it intensely for half an hour and burn all of the kindling without starting a fire of any appreciable magnitude. Each one is gifted in our own way.
We hold water on our roof in a big tank. The tank can be filled from the well, through the pump we operate in our front yard, or from water when it is provided from the municipality which happens for 3 or 4 hours at a time, several times per week. But now, our pipes are frozen. I went out with a torch to unfreeze them and ran out of fuel without thawing any pipes – really a special talent of mine. Neighbors told me it is not worth it – unfreezing pipes just ensures that they will freeze again the first night.
The warm room is necessary for Hamroz’ new project. She invented a business that has never existed before in Afghanistan – we call it daycare. The children are already coming. The local government can not quite understand the concept, but I’m sure she’ll get it registered soon.
We hand pump water from our well to use for flushing toilets, washing, etc. We boil water for drinking and an occasional shower. Cold well water is kept in buckets in the bathrooms and kitchen. Now, it is freezing in the buckets.
These are not complaints, but descriptions. If I didn’t describe these things, you wouldn’t know what Hamroz was talking about when she tells stories of how much she hates winter and dreads the cold. Ten degrees Fahrenheit in Philly does not equal ten degrees Fahrenheit in Kabul. We are being blessed and protected; we would not want to be anywhere else. And we are looking forward to seeing you all. In summer, when it is warmer.
We hold water on our roof in a big tank. The tank can be filled from the well, through the pump we operate in our front yard, or from water when it is provided from the municipality which happens for 3 or 4 hours at a time, several times per week. But now, our pipes are frozen. I went out with a torch to unfreeze them and ran out of fuel without thawing any pipes – really a special talent of mine. Neighbors told me it is not worth it – unfreezing pipes just ensures that they will freeze again the first night.
The warm room is necessary for Hamroz’ new project. She invented a business that has never existed before in Afghanistan – we call it daycare. The children are already coming. The local government can not quite understand the concept, but I’m sure she’ll get it registered soon.
We hand pump water from our well to use for flushing toilets, washing, etc. We boil water for drinking and an occasional shower. Cold well water is kept in buckets in the bathrooms and kitchen. Now, it is freezing in the buckets.
These are not complaints, but descriptions. If I didn’t describe these things, you wouldn’t know what Hamroz was talking about when she tells stories of how much she hates winter and dreads the cold. Ten degrees Fahrenheit in Philly does not equal ten degrees Fahrenheit in Kabul. We are being blessed and protected; we would not want to be anywhere else. And we are looking forward to seeing you all. In summer, when it is warmer.
Monday, January 21, 2008
Counsel
There is no market for counselors or psychologists in these parts. It is a disgrace to mention personal matters outside the family. Period. After years of war that demolished almost every livable structure, killing was not limited to the battlefields, but was a tribal, even personal, every day occurrence. More than three out of four people living in the city are returning refugees. Without grief counseling.
You can see why my wife was not super excited about pre-marital counseling. Nor did I find anyone in Kabul with the ministry of counseling. There are qualified people, but each one was here for a reason other than to offer counsel. If God wanted us to receive counseling, He would have to send someone special. And He did not. So, we are winging it.
And winging well. Loving my wife is one of the greatest privileges that I have ever had. We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to live one another. We both feel blessed to have been joined together. Blessed by the many friends God has given us. Blessed to be living at this time, in this place. Life is good.
You can see why my wife was not super excited about pre-marital counseling. Nor did I find anyone in Kabul with the ministry of counseling. There are qualified people, but each one was here for a reason other than to offer counsel. If God wanted us to receive counseling, He would have to send someone special. And He did not. So, we are winging it.
And winging well. Loving my wife is one of the greatest privileges that I have ever had. We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to live one another. We both feel blessed to have been joined together. Blessed by the many friends God has given us. Blessed to be living at this time, in this place. Life is good.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Learning
A few sharp Costa Rican boys in their last year of High School became my cultural guides. It was a dynamic relationship; I was twelve years older and the foreigner. They were a close-knit group who reveled in the novelty of my joining them. Together, we wreaked light havoc on the capitol area and beyond.
Some establishments that were glad to accomodate a browsing foreigner would not have been so patient with a group of teenage boys. My guides knew the people of their country well and were the ones who usually understood what was happening around us. But we succeeded in generating the appearance that I was the one in charge of the group and leading. Their language and so much more became clear to me. And they listened to and came to a deep understanding of the gospel. They eventually became a strong wing of our College age discipleship groups, and years later (though they had graduated) were still leading others.
All of which explains one aspect of my relationship with my wife. She knows the people of the region well and understands what is happening around us so much better than I. We maintain the appearance that I am leading, though she is the one who understands the people and their culture so much better. I follow her from in front when we shop; the high pressure shop keepers waste their energy trying to interest me, opening up space for her to quietly buy.
Some establishments that were glad to accomodate a browsing foreigner would not have been so patient with a group of teenage boys. My guides knew the people of their country well and were the ones who usually understood what was happening around us. But we succeeded in generating the appearance that I was the one in charge of the group and leading. Their language and so much more became clear to me. And they listened to and came to a deep understanding of the gospel. They eventually became a strong wing of our College age discipleship groups, and years later (though they had graduated) were still leading others.
All of which explains one aspect of my relationship with my wife. She knows the people of the region well and understands what is happening around us so much better than I. We maintain the appearance that I am leading, though she is the one who understands the people and their culture so much better. I follow her from in front when we shop; the high pressure shop keepers waste their energy trying to interest me, opening up space for her to quietly buy.
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Light Afflictions
In the summer, we would occasionally lose electrical power. Food in the refrigerator might spoil. As the weather got colder, we get less and less power. After Thanksgiving, we were down to about four hours of electricity, every other night.
So we adjusted. We bought and connected a generator that will run most of our appliances, though none but the smallest of heaters. But the noise (and expense) of the generator really bothers Hamroz. So we have wood stoves and lanterns. Hot water for showers is available from the pipes every two days (unless someone has to wash clothes in hot water), but you can always bring up some boiled water from the kitchen and pour it over yourself. We would generally run the generator for guests, but wait for, “city power” for our own enjoyment. Recently, we missed, “city power night” every night for two weeks. Finally, last night, we declined going to an ISK staff party at the Director’s house to stay home and enjoy electricity.
I found the refrigerator door wide opened the other day. I left it opened, thinking that perhaps someone was cooling the food with room temperature instead of waiting for electricity.
They are constructing a power line, coming down from energy-rich Khazakstan through Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan and on into the lucrative energy market in India. Some day. It will provide 24 hour/7 day per week power to Kabul. Some day.
Last night we invited a guest over (one of my friends) to enjoy the electricity with us. We even watched a movie. At ten o’clock, as usual, the power was cut. Then it came back!! It stayed all night!!! It was still on this afternoon!! I got a hot shower this morning, and can get one again tomorrow!! And the clothes are washed!! And ironed!!
Some say it is the legendary power line, finally in place. Some say it is a three day gift from the government to celebrate the upcoming holiday of Eid-al-Qurban. Only time will tell.
I told Hamroz that it made national news when a few states in the US lost power for a few hours, back in 2003. They called it a blackout. There is no translation for the word, “Blackout” in the Dari language. Yet.
So we adjusted. We bought and connected a generator that will run most of our appliances, though none but the smallest of heaters. But the noise (and expense) of the generator really bothers Hamroz. So we have wood stoves and lanterns. Hot water for showers is available from the pipes every two days (unless someone has to wash clothes in hot water), but you can always bring up some boiled water from the kitchen and pour it over yourself. We would generally run the generator for guests, but wait for, “city power” for our own enjoyment. Recently, we missed, “city power night” every night for two weeks. Finally, last night, we declined going to an ISK staff party at the Director’s house to stay home and enjoy electricity.
I found the refrigerator door wide opened the other day. I left it opened, thinking that perhaps someone was cooling the food with room temperature instead of waiting for electricity.
They are constructing a power line, coming down from energy-rich Khazakstan through Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan and on into the lucrative energy market in India. Some day. It will provide 24 hour/7 day per week power to Kabul. Some day.
Last night we invited a guest over (one of my friends) to enjoy the electricity with us. We even watched a movie. At ten o’clock, as usual, the power was cut. Then it came back!! It stayed all night!!! It was still on this afternoon!! I got a hot shower this morning, and can get one again tomorrow!! And the clothes are washed!! And ironed!!
Some say it is the legendary power line, finally in place. Some say it is a three day gift from the government to celebrate the upcoming holiday of Eid-al-Qurban. Only time will tell.
I told Hamroz that it made national news when a few states in the US lost power for a few hours, back in 2003. They called it a blackout. There is no translation for the word, “Blackout” in the Dari language. Yet.
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