36. Back to Kabul jan

Ahhhh....that smell. The crisp, cold morning air filled with the aroma's of diesel fumes, burning trash and fresh baked bread. There is no where else in this world that has such an aroma. And as bad as it sounds, it's exactly what I had been waiting to smell for the last 36 hours. I finally made it back to Kabul. 

After spending the next 2 hours clearing immigration (where there were only 3 booths to process passengers passports from 4 arriving flights), witnessing a massive brawl that shut the whole airport down (welcome to Afghanistan), retrieving my bags from what looked like the site of ground zero and exiting the airport through a crowd of men that looked like they were representatives of the Taliban, I finally made it out. 

I found my driver and body guard and didn't realize until then how much I had missed them. I quickly fell into my old ways and got into the back seat of the car behind the driver and the guard and we were on our way out of the airport. On the ride home, I couldn't help but notice that the roads looked cleaner and less crowded. But I was very quickly informed that I shouldn't get my hopes up because it just looked like that since it was Friday morning (the only weekend day off) and that no one was up yet and out on the streets. After a short 10 minute ride, I was home. I opened the door and entered my house only to be greeted by a site I was not expecting. The house looked like a dust storm had come through it. I spent the next hour cleaning and finally passed out for the next 8 hours. I don't know what tomorrow is going to be like back at work or how soon I will feel tired of being here again. But for the moment, I am very happy to be back am looking forward to enjoying the rest of the summer in my life here in Kabul.

Some shots of Kabul mornings... that magical time of the day before the city wakes up.  The sun is rising, the air is cold and crisp, the smells of last nights diesel fumes, burning trash and the bakeries fresh baked bread fills the air.  The city has not yet waken up.  Its inhabitants have not filled its silence and serenity with the sound of life. It's beautiful Kabul.