sunny day by the pool

After skyping a friend and my parents using the computer (the wonders of technology!) I headed out to the pool with some friends. Today is the first day of the weekend for me here and considering it is 37 degrees today (the forecast is for even hotter weather coming...), the pool is THE place you want to be. There are a couple of pools here for foreigners to enjoy, but the one we went to is at a French restaurant and it’s free. It was kind of weird to go there.. we walk in the gate and there are tables all set for dining, couches under trees were there to relax on and then behind a kind of bamboo fence there was a pool. The water was really cold, but after your face stopped being numb it was great.

Considering there is a major 'cover up' policy in this country for men and women, it felt strange to strip down to a bikini! There was a power point by the pool and wireless internet access so a few people were using their laptops, drinking bacardi breezers and enjoying the sun (- alcohol is only sold to foreigners, they had a sign saying they won’t serve it to Afghan nationals). I had a few swims, hung out in the shade at first and also braved some sun action... got a bit of a red face to show for it.

When we left we were all covered up again and it felt like stepping back into another world as goats and sheep were being herded past the entrance to the restaurant/ pool. On the way home we drove past the place where a bomb went off yesterday. It was on a cart and was intended to blow up a bus carrying government or military people I am not sure… Anyway the bus had swerved and crashed into some shops which sold engines or something so there was some fire and damage done to the buildings. No one was killed, a few people were injured. (I have had several ppl asking me about this as the stories of bombings here seem to have made the news in the West… must have been a quiet news day…) Life goes on as normal here…