Today started early... about 1:25am in fact, Kabul time. That's when "it" happened.
The "it" was another senseless attack by an extremist group in Kabul. The loss of life was small considering the magnitude of the blast, but still tragic to the families and friends of those lost, as well as the residents of Kabul and the entire nation of Afghanistan.
We were far away from the blast and any danger, but it did take a while for us to all calm down and get back to sleep. Everyone on the team very much appreciates the hundreds of emails, texts, and Tweets asking how we're doing and sending love and support.
This morning, due to ongoing investigation and response throughout Kabul, our hosts advised that we should spend the day within the walls of our guest house rather than travel to a remote village we had planned to visit. We were disappointed to not be able to leave our compound, but also reassured by the knowledge that our hosts have our safety and best interests at heart.
First, our hosts arranged to have a few of the staff and teachers from the schools come over. As soon as the staff women arrived they grabbed our team women, closed the living room door, and undertook a "no boys allowed" time of games, hair braiding and henna decoration. Since the men were effectively kicked out of the house, we headed for the courtyard for some great conversation and fellowship.
Later we arranged for a local kabob vendor to come to the guest house and we were all treated to a classic Afghan lunch of freshly grilled kabobs, just-baked naan, Shorwa (sheep fat soup... it's much tastier than it sounds), and fresh melon, all livened up with some traditional Afghan music.
"It" was a tragic event, but it also made for a very special time together with our Afghan family.
Throughout our training we were constantly reminded about Afghan resilience throughout history. Today we saw it first-hand as our hosts put the events of the night behind them and the residents of Kabul is getting back up to speed quickly. We're hoping and planning to resume our normal activities tomorrow.
God promises to use even the worst circumstances of life for good and this would be no exception.
The "it" was another senseless attack by an extremist group in Kabul. The loss of life was small considering the magnitude of the blast, but still tragic to the families and friends of those lost, as well as the residents of Kabul and the entire nation of Afghanistan.
We were far away from the blast and any danger, but it did take a while for us to all calm down and get back to sleep. Everyone on the team very much appreciates the hundreds of emails, texts, and Tweets asking how we're doing and sending love and support.
This morning, due to ongoing investigation and response throughout Kabul, our hosts advised that we should spend the day within the walls of our guest house rather than travel to a remote village we had planned to visit. We were disappointed to not be able to leave our compound, but also reassured by the knowledge that our hosts have our safety and best interests at heart.
First, our hosts arranged to have a few of the staff and teachers from the schools come over. As soon as the staff women arrived they grabbed our team women, closed the living room door, and undertook a "no boys allowed" time of games, hair braiding and henna decoration. Since the men were effectively kicked out of the house, we headed for the courtyard for some great conversation and fellowship.
Later we arranged for a local kabob vendor to come to the guest house and we were all treated to a classic Afghan lunch of freshly grilled kabobs, just-baked naan, Shorwa (sheep fat soup... it's much tastier than it sounds), and fresh melon, all livened up with some traditional Afghan music.
"It" was a tragic event, but it also made for a very special time together with our Afghan family.
Throughout our training we were constantly reminded about Afghan resilience throughout history. Today we saw it first-hand as our hosts put the events of the night behind them and the residents of Kabul is getting back up to speed quickly. We're hoping and planning to resume our normal activities tomorrow.
God promises to use even the worst circumstances of life for good and this would be no exception.