If you need me, I will be on my mattress

Now I will describe Afghanistan. I’ve been told that it is the 2nd poorest nation on earth, and you can tell. Very few roads are paved, and most are nearly impassable. The road our house is on has huge mounds of dirt and gravel, massive potholes and trenches, trash and puddles of sewage. I can’t imagine what it will be like in the rainy season. The streets are constantly full of people, and the way they drive is insane (I would also like to mention that 95% of the cars in Mazar are Toyota Corollas. I finally saw my first Camry today and did a little fist pump. Gotta represent the Camry love, right Mike?) I was surprised to find that most women still choose to wear the burqa-while it’s not required, I’d say that 75% of woman still wear them. We went to the market today to get some food and proper clothes for me so I got to get a good look at the people. I also picked up a really nice dress-type coat, it’s black with blue beading and makes me look snazzy.

All houses here are behind high walls, and you get in through a main gate that opens into a central courtyard area. Because of construction on our house, I’m currently on a mattress in the living room with two other girls, one from Bolivia and one from Brazil. It’s not all that bad, we have a tv and dvd player, and as I type we’re watching Sense and Sensibility (I haven’t seen this one before. Geez Jane Austin, lay off the drama and emotional angst). Our shower consists of a single cement room that also hosts a “squatty”, which is your standard hole in the floor covered by a toilet seat. It’s also really easy to lock yourself in. Did that on my first squatty usage and had to be rescued by our Afghan houseman CoCo. I’m soooo excited to get pictures of all this good stuff on here.

Along with the girls’ house there is also the main house down the road where we eat our meals and have classes and glorious wireless internet. Last night at dinner (which was chili-our cook is Brazilian) I learned that the bread here, called nan, is considered holy-you’re not allowed to throw it away or even lay it upside down. I’m not looking forward to my first dinner party in an Afghan home, because there are a million social customs and rules like that which govern your every move and word as a guest in someone’s home. But I’m sure that after a while all this stuff will sink in and won’t be so overwhelming. Classes start tomorrow, so hopefully I’ll get a good idea of what this next year will look like. In the meantime, I miss you all back home and hope everyone is doing great, and as always, feel free to send out a prayer for me and Afghanistan.