2 very strange days..

i try to make it short, it is already 7.30 and i am working now since 12h.. uploading the missing pictures tomorrow morning..

that the last days before you finish a project or leave a country is nothing new.. but this last 2 days are just hilarious.. worse than the last 2 month in afghanistan.. but i seem to have already such an elephant skin that i am just laughing about it..

so it all started with this bloody attack yesterday.. for the first time i am here i decided to go to the office on a saturday.. so much to do and i planned a pizza with the doctor (he never had pizza before).. so anyway after 3 very loud explosions it was clear that the city is white again (no movement).. well time for washing hairs and having a coffee with my house mate..

just when i learned from my doctor that the rockets hit directly in front of our office i didn't feel like washing hairs any more.. and the coffee with the house mate became an inquiry to find out what exactly happened and how the f# 3 rockets are ending up in the middle of the city directly into my little second hand and apple market..

so with mixed feelings i finally started working and went to nabils office.. they have internet and are always a fantastic companions to hang out with.. their office is also very close to my house so i don't have to move too much.. at their office is a guy who has the oldest german schlager and fun german music.. i found this on an AFGHAN computer.. how funny..

the next less funny surprise comes in the middle of the night.. my house mate decided after a drink in l'atmo to finish her soup.. she wasn't sober anymore so fell asleep while the soup was boiling on the stove.. unfortunately she had big fat brigs of meet and bones in there.. yum when this is burning.. but the best was the PLASTIC cutting board that covered the whole mess.. when i woke up from the "smell" the whole house was already under smog..
of course i thought it was a fire in the house.. i couldn't see a meter through this stinky mess.. so i ran out and screamed.. the house mate (her room is right next to the kitchen) was still SLEEPING.. and when she heard my fire serene she jumps out of her room "my soup my soup".. arrggg.. a bloody soup is just poisoning the whole house.. so we spend a couple of hours trying to get the smoke out of the house..
the guard had a very good sleep too.. just half an hour after we started screaming and rescuing the house he came out of his little hut and says: "oh miss rita, do you have guests?" turns around and goes back to sleep..
well since that i am locking my door upstairs!! jihaaa..

and of course it must be after such a night that we decided to leave to the office before the city is white.. so we start working now at 7 in the morning.. yep.. you wake up in the dark at 6 am in a deep frozen stinking house.. but you keep your good spirit and go to work..

the next surprise comes in the ded office.. my wonderful leather coat was in the dry cleaning for almost a week now and i am checking what happened to it.. "well you have to go to the dry cleaner by yourself, there is a little problem" is the answer.. mhmm.. little problem in afghanistan means basically a catastrophe..

last memory of a fine coat

so i go there and find the coat washed but the back is totally ripped of.. the owner of the shop smiles and says "machine".. ok the machine ate my coat..
he argues that he will get the same leather and fix the entire back.. in 10 days maybe..
well my friend i am leaving in 3 days.. his second try is that i should show him where i bought the coat and he will buy the same one for me.. well my friend this is from my favorite second hand market that just got blown away yesterday morning.. so thank you..

pity i didn't make a picture of this mess.. i bet they had a fight over it and one afghan grabbed one arm and the other grabbed the hut and the third was hanging on the second arm.. and than schwupps the leather broke under so much afghan testosterones.. poor jacket.. i loved it honestly..

the rest of the day goes by without any catastrophe.. and the ded offered me to keep the coat that i found in the office and nobody claimed ownership.. it's a black, way to big mans coat.. sorry honey i will look funny when i am promenading with you through New York..

the best part of today was the workshop.. i was so not sure if i could ever reach my goal of really educating theater trainers in such a short time.. but woohooo.. i think i did it..
we had the most interesting workshop on conflict transformation today.. these people have all the theory now so deep under their skin that we could do ANY theatre exercise today and they got it and had brilliant ideas!!
WONDERFUL..

my first movie..

La Chute des villes
Nicolas Lim
France / 2007 / Fiction / 18'30 / Digital Betacam

Synopsis

Long after the collapse of cities, a lone woman reaches an abandoned city, where no trace of human life remains. Nature has already reclaimed its territory. Writing in her diary, this sole survivor shares with us her torment and her quest.

Credits

Director : Nicolas Lim
Script : Nicolas Lim
Camera : Nicolas Lim
Music : Giani Caserotto
Editing : Nicolas Lim
Cast : Rita Stockhowe
Sound Editing : Vincent Hazard
Sound Mixing : Philippe Lauliac

another ugly morning..

I woke up at 8.00 to have a saturday in office.. since i have so much to do and only 3 more working days i thought i would sacrifice my saturday in l'atmo to get things done together with my doctor.
On my way to the kitchen i hear the first bang.. loud this time.. so i say good morning to my new wonderful house mate and we are sure to have time for a coffee together before the curview is lifted again.. usually you have to stay at least 2 more hours at home after an explosion..
but than the second explosion is surprising us and the 3rd one makes clear that this are bad once..
so i call my driver to stay home and my doctor to check on him..
he is already on the street and out of breath.. telling me that he almost reached the office but then the rockets hit into our little market.. the one were i got my second hand coat and shoes and were we get the apples and the bread every morning..
he tells me that it is impossible to reach the office and i should stay home for the rest of the day.. the doctor himself goes back home..

a rocket attack in the middle of the city.. right in front of my office.. jeeeezzzusss i really want to get out of here..

anyways now i am at nabils office.. around the corner from my house.. with internet and electricity it is more likely for me to get some work done..

here are the news of today.. not a happy day..


Five dead in Kabul rocket attack

The rockets were smuggled into the city under a load of hay

A rocket attack near the Kabul governor's residence has killed five people and injured five more.

The blast, which happened at 0820 (0350GMT) on Saturday, was heard throughout the Afghan capital.

A car parked near the house, contained five rockets, but only two detonated, firing up to 20 metres across the street and falling short of buildings.

The governor was unhurt. Initially officials had said the incident was a suicide car bomb attack.

One rocket was apparently fired by remote control, a press officer for the Ministry of Interior said.

The rockets had been smuggled into the city under a load of hay.

Earlier in December, the Taliban carried out two suicide bombings in Kabul, killing 13 people in one attack.

In September, 30 Afghan soldiers were killed when their bus was attacked in Kabul.

some happy pics

on the way to the office



so happy because that day i didn't had to go with my usual driver who drives "maybe" and gives me lessons on the "right" timing for my trips..
so this one here is wonderful and always in a good mood..
and besides the only afghan who shares my feeling of COLD..
see his great cap.. i am jalouse..



and when i said the winter is arriving.. i meant it.. that is my new view into the neighbors garden..

some good news..

Afghan women make call for peace

By Pam O'Toole BBC News

Many women say they are fed up with violence

Women across Afghanistan have been holding meetings to call for peace in their country.

Organisers say that at least 1,000 women turned out to hold prayer meetings in six main provinces and share their experiences.

The event - called the Women's National Peace Prayer - was held in the southern provinces of Kandahar and Helmand, and at other locations across the country.

Such events are highly unusual in war-torn Afghanistan.

The country remains deeply conservative and patriarchal, particularly in the south.

When several hundred women were allowed to pray for peace publicly in Kandahar earlier this year, it was said to be the first event of its kind.

Now, with violence spreading across the country, women from five other provinces have joined those in Kandahar to raise their voices for peace.

"This is very unusual," said Rangina Hamidi one of the organisers, who argues that the event shows the unity of Afghan women.

"I don't think this has happened in the history of Afghanistan - first of all the fact that six different provinces organised themselves together, for no purpose other than peace.

"They made the same loud cry - that women are sick and tired of killing and the deaths that come."

'Risking their lives'
Organisers say some Afghan women were clearly worried about getting involved in such events.

The Kandahar mother whose idea sparked these meetings had asked that her name not be revealed because her family would not approve.

Rangina Hamidi said those attending the event in the violence-torn province of Kandahar were particularly happy and relieved that their public meeting passed off without threats or violence.

"They were indeed risking their lives," she said, because we really did not know how we would be received.

"And to be honest, we hadn't informed any of the security forces to protect us. We wanted to be as natural as possible.

"So when women take such an action on themselves, they felt proud of themselves and felt proud of their sisters."

Organisers say that Wednesday's meetings marked the beginning of a movement.

The goal now is to spread such events across all 34 provinces.

.

more fat under the skin..

the doctor told me that i put on weight from all the beans.. i didn't take it too serious since he is never very charming.. but the german coordinator told me the same today.. that made me worried..

i still do morning sport every morning.. but it seems not to be enough..
but well, the doctor also said it is good for a woman to have more fat under her skin.. one of the reasons why women can never be as fit as men..
his logic is just fabulous..

the funny thing is that i am weiring so much layers everyday i couldn't even say if i really put on pounds.. so i can only find out when back to sarah.. she is gonna check it out..

but here is already the first proof.. no fat under my skin!!

good buy to the kindergarten girls..

this was such a great workshop.. not sure where i am getting my energy from in the next two weeks..

these women are just amazing, funny, smart and each of them has a f* up story to tell.. they developed in this last couple of weeks a great sense of playing and forgetting about life outside.. in one game we were looking for things that one would like to do and can not anymore..

..playing football, being a kite runner, driving a car or going on bicycle are the big wishes of women between 22 and 50 in afghanistan today..

one of the teachers is working in a mental hospital.. this is going to be my next target.. doing workshops with my young trainers in a mental hospital..
with the train the trainer workshop people it takes much more effort to get them together as a group.. the diversity of age, experience and educational background couldn't be bigger..

i started with the very basics of peace building and theatre work.. slowly we are coming to some actual theatre training.. maybe two or three of them will be able to actually conduct a participatory theatre workshop on conflict transformation after my time here.. but this would be almost 50% outcome.. this might be too much rita.. way to optimistic.. since there are obstacles that can blow you up, marry you away or pushing you out of the country..

there was a poll conducted by several media agencies.. BBC published it under the headline: "Afghans still hopeful on future" .. i asked around and couldn't find any hopeful afghan in my surrounding.. my doctor said got to the point and said: "there is no such thing as hopeful afghans".. but there are also those intellectuals, who spent most of the talib and russian time outside of the country.. in germany or the states they stayed for more than 20 years, learned a little bit of the language and are now back.. basically to show those village people are occupying kabul how the world is functioning..

bombing in the morning..

At least 13 people have been killed by a suicide car bomb attack in the Afghan capital, Kabul, the defense ministry has said.

The bomber hit a bus carrying Afghan soldiers during morning rush hour in the south-west of Kabul.

The defense ministry said six soldiers and seven civilians were killed and a dozen other people were injured.

The blast comes one day after a similar attack on a Nato convoy close to Kabul airport injured 22 Afghans.

The number of dead is expected to rise as several of the wounded have been severely injured.

Witnesses said the bomb was in a small car that drew up close to the bus before exploding shortly early on Wednesday.

The bus carrying the soldiers was destroyed in the explosion.

Target

The BBC's David Loyn in Kabul says buses carrying soldiers and police have increasingly been the target of suicide bombers in recent weeks.

The bombing is the third suicide attack in the city in the last eight days.

US Defence Secretary Robert Gates is in Kabul assessing an increase in violence in Afghanistan.

He said the increase was partially due to an offensive against Taleban militants by international troops from the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf).

Afghan military officials say they need more training and equipment to fight the growing Taleban insurgency.

winter arrived..

the mountains are already full of snow..

I had to realize that this is the end of the spring outfit..

now it is time for several layers.. onion style.. and the new jacket.. it took forever to wash and is already more dirty than when i bought it from the second hand stand.. but it is warm and looks not too bad..

a friend said yesterday i am looking like taking off to a polar expedition.. exactly how i feel every morning when i have to leave my bed to reach the oven and than go downstairs to make coffee.. an expedition in the antarctic!!