Well, it is now Friday afternoon, our day of rest here. I have been in Kabul for two full weeks and much has happened. First, the travel. The trip was long but smooth. I sold my car to my mechanic on the way to the airport for cash and Mike got me to the airport in ample time to make my flight. I had to shift some things around between my two cases, but British Airways allows two checked bags so that left me with far less to carry. I managed to get some good naps in on a couple of legs of the journey, so was in pretty decent shape when I arrived at almost 7 am on Thursday morning, Kabul time. Since my luggage was so heavy (yes, I had to pay some overage charges!) I had decided to take advantage of one of the helpful men at the Kabul airport. I think the luggage carts are free, but it is difficult to find one without someone already "attached". But my helper was indeed a help, hefting the heavy bags, helping me get my ID card filled out, then accompanying me through the baggage security check and walking me the half mile out to the area where pickup is possible, so I was glad to tip him. Ken and Debbie were there, with Zamir driving (those of you who have seen my pictures will remember all the pictures he took in the apple orchard last fall!) The guesthouse was quite full with groups, including, to everyone's amazement, my cousin Beverly's daughter-in-law Natalie, who was with a group of doctors from Tulsa visiting the Hope Family Residency Training Program, which is affiliated with Morningstar. I moved into a room with Diane (a nurse on a team from Colorado Springs), Joyce (a retired ESL teacher from Liverpool visiting an Afghani "son" and attending the wedding of a friend from Liverpool), and Mindy (a reporter from the east coast.) Friday was a day of rest, and on Saturday I received an email from the head of the School of Music, Eslamuddin Faroz, inviting me to come on Sunday. So off I went, walking over with a group of guests who were planning to spend a few hours at the medical clinic on the campus, also operated by Morningstar. It was delightful to see so many of the students that I had met on my visit last fall and they gave me a warm welcome. Also visiting at the school was a German professor who is just beginning a two-year project to help refine the curriculum and bring more depth into the music school. He was also teaching some cello students at the Music Institute. (A percussion ensemble from the Music Institute came on Wednesday morning to perform during the regular "recital" hour, so I was able to meet many of the teachers.) Now at the end of my two weeks here, my schedule has firmed up somewhat. Three mornings a week, one of the university Dari teachers comes over to the office I share with a couple of contract teachers to give me a Dari lesson for an hour. I usually spend 3 - 4 hours more at my desk there practicing writing and having sporadic visits from students and teachers all anxious to help me learn Dari quickly and comprehensively. On Saturday morning (the first day of the week), I have a choral class which was created just for me to teach with all the students of the 3rd and 4th year, 24 young men in all. Tomorrow will be my second meeting with them. It will be interesting to see how much we accomplish in the remaining two months of the school year. I'll be sure to make a recording! There are three young women in the first class who meet with me three times a week for piano class in the early afternoon. Eslamuddin is so proud to have these three women in the music school (there is a fourth in the night school, but she works in an office and can't make it to our class.) The tradition here seems to be long lessons with teachers several times per week. Students do very little practicing outside of these lessons. I'm not sure how much of this is cultural and how much is simply the lack of practice instruments. There are only two accoustic pianos at the school of music, one is very old and battered and doesn't hold a tune adequately, located in the large classroom. The other is a 5' grand in a smaller classroom and was a recent gift from the government of Italy. There are also three keyboards, one of which is kept in our office but they do not have a "piano touch". Finally, I am teaching piano to two contract teachers, Ghafar and Ebrahimi, and one fourth year student, Fawad, who are the most advanced. Those lessons seem to happen sporadically, but at least these learners practice on their own time quite a bit. The students have heard so little western music that I have the opportunity to play pieces just for exposure. Imagine never having heard the first prelude of Bach in C Major (the basis of the Ave Maria) or Debussy's Clair de lune! Last Saturday morning, the orchestration class showed off three pieces they have been working on. The instrumentation in the orchestra consisted of two rebab players, three guitars, a violin, a saxophone, a recorder, two keyboards, one piano, three tabla players, four percussionists (one on a trap set, one playing congas, two playing various shakers), and ten singers. I loved it! This past Wednesday, the recital hour featured: a violinist and tabla (Afghani drums sort of like bongos but much more melodic) playing two pieces, a guitar duet of a classical piece, Fawad on piano (the horrible one!), a rebab (Afghani guitar) and tabla piece, and a prepared piece on one of the keyboards - a synthesizer composition. Well, I hope this is enough to give you a flavor of my life here. The weather so far has been lovely and the people friendly and helpful. Next time I'll post more about my living situation and how that is evolving.