It rained again last night. The drain outside my room rattled like a tin drum and took me back to the flat in Beijing - no not the one with the hose pipe for a shower the one with the rattling tin drain pipe! This morning, the garden was a brilliant green and I noticed that in my absence, the  roses had flowered. Afghanistan may not be known for its roses, but it should be. A housemate has a project in eastern Afghanistan in which farmers give up poppies to grow roses, the petals of which are then distilled into rose oil which is marketed and sold in Europe. A purchase for peace, perhaps.

I found another flatmate (the Candian lawyer) examining a sprig of parsley in the garden and he showed me the biggest rose in the world (see pictures attached). Unfortunately they seem to be roses without a scent.

This morning, I set myself a challenge. I would walk to the supermarket. Yes, it's not exactly jumping out of a plane, or saving the planet, but it is the first step, I think, to feeling comfortable in this country. Yes, Kabul is dangerous, but not everywhere and not everyone. And to be honest, as lovely as my house is I do need to start exploring. So I wrapped up well, texted a flatmate to let them know what i was doing (most still being asleep) hid my camera in the folds of my scarf and set off.  It was a beautiful sunny day, and outside people were walking, pushing carts, driving horse and carts and cars. A woman striding down the street in front of me was dressed in a full burqa. People looked and stared, at me, not the woman in the burqa. I waved and salaamed the security guards at the end of our road, hoping that if they got to know me, it would add that little bit of extra protection. The guard who saalmed back, had the bushiest of beards. The most difficult aspect of my 10 minute jaunt was trying to avoid the slimey mud puddles caused by the rain. Kabul is a city of mud - many of the houses are still built of mud and it lines the streets, turning to sludge when it rains.

But while Kabul is poor .. dirt poor ... there is also a tremendous amount of wealth. Much of it is drug and mafia money. Money that buys nice houses and apartments in blocks that would not look out of place in any city ... and while some of the warlords have paved the roads on which  they live - the rest of us having to suffer bumpy, potholed dirt tracks -  even their wealth is not enough to improve the elecricity grid. Brownouts are common. And everyone who can afford it has a generator.

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4555333&l=2382b31473&id=598031808