kabul, at last!

we are here! finally! after 36 hours of travel we descended into kabul. i was gaping out the window at the stunning hindu kush mountains. what a beautiful, rugged land...truly puts me in awe of God.

our flights all went well. i didn't sleep much on our long 13 hour one, but caught a great nap on the deck of a boat as we toured the khan dubai (dubai creek) and another great one while curled up in a sofa chair at the dubai airport. gotta get rest when you can! it's hard to believe that our time here is only beginning. i feel our team has already bonded so much...while standing in the back of our plane en route to dubai, laughing it up in our layover spots (DC, dubai), and sweating profusely together in the midnight heat of the united arab emirates! :)

as we originally began our descent to kabul, we suddenly got word that kabul airport was temporarily closed due to "lack of parking". random! it was kinda cool, though, because we had to take a last minute redirect to mazar-a-sharif to refuel and wait for kabul airport to clear out. welcome to afghanistan. ;) none of our team had ever been to mazar-a-sharif, so we still enjoyed the view...even if we didn't get to leave the plane. some US military guys were out on top of the "terminal" (the size of a large house) took some pictures of our plane hanging out and hogging the tarmac.

now in kabul, some observations:
*military guards behind barbed wire fences leaving the airport
*the lack of driving lanes. it's a free for all. literally. people, bikes, buses, cars...free for all!
*the isolated feeling of the land. these mountains surrounding kabul are passable, but still impressive
* our host and the director of the NGO is every bit as welcoming, amicable, and knowledgeable as i had expected!

while we were fighting hard to stay awake after our delayed arrival, wakil and waheed took us on a driving tour of kabul. i tried to include a pic of the team at the remnants (thanks to civil war) of the old king's palace...but it was taking too long! maybe tomorrow! :)

we just finished a light dinner and are all ready to pass out (it's just after 9p here). i'm off to sleep in a bed for the first time in three "days". night!