Back in Kabul

I haven't been able to access blogspot from Pakistan, hence the lack of recent posts. However, I'm in Afghanistan for the next week and a half and enjoying myself immensely.

This morning I was woken up by a large explosion. I was too tired to figure out it was an explosion at the time -- I thought someone was rattling my door (it was the window rattling), cursed, and rolled over. Then my colleague called to tell me there had been a car bomb near the Serena. It turned out to be four gunpowder shops suddenly and unexpectedly going out of business in the old city, which I guess is a relief but at least 13 people were killed in the explosion. And if you're like me, you're thinking, "gunpowder shops?" Okaaaaaay.

Once it was clear that it was safe to leave the hotel, I went to my security debriefing, and the statistics were utterly depressing. Attacks in Afghanistan more than doubled in 2006, and it looks like they'll be worse in 2007 if the trend continues.

Then work (yes, I do work), then off to Camp Phoenix to drop off the funds my company raised for Help Afghan Kids, a project run by the US soldiers there. What a great bunch of guys. You can read more about their humanitarian projects at: http://www.taskforcewarrior.org. Or, check out one of their blogs at: http://www.taskforcephoenix5.blogspot.com. How great were they? They let us shop at the PX! Nutter Butters and Enduring Freedom t-shirts! Whoo hoo!