I have a few moments before i go to work this Monday, so i wanted to write an entry. I awoke with the 5 AM call to prayer sounding in the background, decided it was too cold, went back to sleep for another hour. I work a Sunday through Thursday work schedule, with Friday and Saturdays being my weekend, a common work schedule in Muslim countries. Generally, on work days i am up early, call for a driver to pick me up around 8 AM and open the library at 8:30. I think i will have to change that soon because many students take evening classes and cannot make it in early...we'll see.
I went shopping on Friday to get some basic food stuffs. We round up staff from the various guest houses and head downtown to the A-One, a small store carrying some of the basics: canned food, milk(refrigeration not necessary), nuts, teas, etc, nothing fancy. There are always these two tiny little boys outside begging for money or trying to sell you an old worn out pack of gum for a dollar - they are very persistent! After shopping for groceries, we head over to the shopping district at the corners of Chicken Street and Flower Street, a famous shopping district. There i am specifically looking for a book store at the intersection of the two streets. I have heard of a book called An Historical Guide to Afghanistan by Nancy Hatch Dupree, written in 1977, and i want to get a copy for the library. One of my colleagues, Joyce, helps me spot it. Along with a wall map of Afghanistan, i get away with spending ten bucks. Not bad. I will come back here to look for other books in the future.
On the way home we have the driver stop at one of the ubiquitous roadside naan bread stands. If we're lucky it will be piping hot. No it's not, but warm and tasty, a nice treat.
