Kabul, Afghanistan: and a tale of the Taliban

It was Monday.  It was Kabul.

A day, perhaps, like other Mondays.  Except the Taliban came to town.

20 suicide bombers were said to be on the prowl. 

I heard a rocket go by.  I heard an explosion.  I heard the sirens. I heard the helicopters.

Buildings burning.  Smoke unfurling.  Stomachs churning.

6 hours of fighting. 5 dead. 72 wounded. 

But I was the lucky one.  Because I would get on the plane and fly away.  Leaving behind, the others.... waiting, waiting....

for the Taliban's next visit... 

He was waiting.

And so was he. 

He was waiting. 

As was he.

They were waiting.

 And oh, so was he.

And sadly, she was waiting, too.

Yes, she was waiting, too.

Pictures of Afghanistan: and a tale of Afghan men

Quietly imposing.

Unusually striking.

Impossibly elegant.

The men, yes the men.  Of Afghanistan.

Afghanistan: a tale of an image of an image of beauty

Afghanistan.  A place far more multi-dimensional than the news might have you believe.

In contrast, here for your viewing pleasure....idealized images of images of beauty........

In a burqa shop in Herat. 

In a burqa shop in Herat.

In a burqa shop in Kabul.

In a...yes, burqa shop in Afghanistan.

Indian beauty queen, Aishwarya Rai, photoshopped to "acceptable levels of modesty".  On the side of an Afghan taxi.

In an Afghan grocery store.

In a bar in Kabul. 

In a hotel lobby in Herat.  (A recreation of the enormous sculpture in Bamiyan destroyed by the Taliban. )

Afghanistan burqa fashion: a tale of a blue mood (?)

Once in a blue moon.  The song of a blue bird.  The scent of a bluebell.

But the blue, yes the blue,  Oh the blue......... of the women

of Afghanistan.