Le Petit Prince...in Dari

We live "inside the wire". While my job will require some travel around Afghanistan, it's likely that my travel in Kabul will be somewhat limited. That's ok. There is a war going on. But, we miss out on learning so much of the culture so a chance to get out of the bubble is always great.

I recently went out with some friends to see a Dari production of Antoine Saint-Exupery's 'The Little Prince'. A courtyard provided the theater and the grass was covered with Afghan rugs and comfortable cushions. The air truly did seem fresher and as we waited for the sun to go down and the production to start, we chatted with those sitting around us (mostly colleagues, as it turned out, though there was a fair mix of locals and expats attending) and watched the kites fly around in the air.

'The Little Prince' was the first book that I ever read in French and I've enjoyed it in both English and Italian since. Though I don't speak a word of Dari (well, I do speak about five words), I felt reasonably confident that I could keep up with the plot and wasn't disappointed. The actors were expressive and full of enthusiasm. With the exception of a couple strange dance interludes, it was true to the original story and makes me want to pull out an old copy and read again (well, if it weren't packed away with the rest of my personal items).

And now here is my secret, a very simple secret; it is only with the heart that one can see rightly, what is essential is invisible to the eye.
The Little Prince

So this is it.

My last blog posting in America for (probably) the next year and I'm filled with random thoughts. We depart shortly for Dubai and will push onwards to Kabul from there. I've been reading some blogs by FS colleagues currently posted in Afghanistan and they're posting some cool information and photos. Probably cooler stuff than I'll ever blog about so I'll link to them on the blog page one of these days.

I've known for awhile that I'd need long tunics and scarves to wear when I'm off the compound during the next year. However, I wasn't really thinking clearly and assumed that I'd be able to buy stuff when I get to Kabul. Duh though, what will I wear off the airplane? My friend Amanda rescued me by buying me a scarf and I found a beach coverup that I can layer for length. Crisis averted and low profile maintained.

It's much easier to transfer without a dog, I'm finding. We miss Cooper SO MUCH but have Skype dates with my parents so that we can catch him there. He much prefers their swimming pool to the dusty grimy city life of Kabul, I'm sure.

I just found a bunch of pictures from Chicago and Toledo and I'm realizing that I never finished blogging about our home leave road trip. Maybe on the plane?

We've knocked off a number of food items from our DC restaurant bucket list. Zaytinya, Rosa Mexicano, Georgetown Cupcake, Honey Pig, Tacklebox, Five Guys, Bubble Tea at the Eden Center, Coco Sala, Trader Joe's (kind of a stretch but definitely on the list), and J+G Steakhouse. We have bunches more to do and are looking forward to returning to DC next year.

I sure hope that the airline will let my 'just at the limit' bags go through. Updated the ipod and Kindle. I think I'm as ready as I can be for this 13 hour flight. Yeesh.

Independence Day

Spending Independence Day in the good ole USA is really a treat. It's not just the fireworks and BBQs, it's also the fact that we don't have to work and entertain at official celebratory events. Those events really aren't so bad but it's nice to kick back and have a real American treat every couple of years. With family in town, we headed to the Mall to watch the DC fireworks.

Now, I normally HATE the Mall during the 4th and, in years past, have avoided it at all costs. This year was different. We live downtown and in easy walking distance so the dreaded packed metro was skipped. Rather than deal with the crowds, we strolled down to the Lincoln Memorial around 7.30pm (fireworks were scheduled for a little after 9) and actually managed to find a nice spot to fit the five of us on the steps.


We chatted for awhile but the time passed pretty quickly and before we knew it, the fireworks were starting. EVERYONE had cameras out, obviously I did too. However, what I wasn't doing was taking photos of the fireworks and then showing them to my companions as the fireworks were still going off. Why would you do that? Anyhow, the musical selection was odd but the show was fantastic, even though the smoke over the reflecting pool kept growing.


I've seen fireworks over lots of international monuments but there's something special about being in my nation's capitol, listening to patriotic music and surrounded by red, white, and blue. It's been 234 years since the Declaration of Independence was adopted by the Continental Congress.

Badlands National Park

Our time back in the States has been really busy. Trying to cram in visits with friends and family, trips to the beach, checking out new restaurants, and preparing for Afghanistan has been very time-consuming! Stepping back and reviewing our vacation road trip helps to slow things down. It was only a few weeks ago but seems like ages sometimes!

Near the end of our trip, we headed from Mount Rushmore to Badlands National Park. Passing the Black Hills along the way, we realized that we definitely hadn't budgeted enough time for South Dakota and mentally added another park to our "must visit" list (which is getting pretty long). Badlands was pretty amazing though and well worth the trip. The terrain was a mixture of the prairie grass and rugged canyons, spires, and plateaus that house fossils tens of millions of years old.
Unlike Arches and Canyonlands, Badlands has more relaxed regulations regarding backcountry hiking and camping. From the site pictured above, we saw a family of three scurry right up one of the canyon walls without any specialized equipment. Far in the distance, you could see the Badlands Wall which local Native American tribes used as a scouting location - they had been hunting there for nearly 11,000 years.

Of course Badlands has had some controversy in its past due to the struggles between the Native Americans and incoming homesteaders. The Stronghold table was the site of the last Ghost Dance conducted by followers of the Lakota prophet Wovoka who believed that they would overcome the "white man". Of course, the massacre at Wounded Knee, 45 miles from the park, unfortunately said otherwise.

Wildlife is plentiful in the Badlands - bison and prairie dogs are most common. We didn't see any but the park's official literature and all the DANGER signs around the park tell me that rattlesnakes are also pretty common. Also unseen - bobcats, bighorn sheep, and coyotes. However, the most surprising threat was from the ubiquitous prairie dog (can you see it popping into the foreground in the above photo) who, as pictured below, have PLAGUE!

Arches National Park

After a wonderful couple of days in Santa Fe, we climbed back into the car and headed to Moab, Utah. Moab is in a really special location, near to both Arches and Canyonlands National Parks. We elected to go to Arches first during our three and a half day stay and it was a good thing as the weather just got windier and windier.


Located within the park's boundries are over 2000 natural sandstone arches along with quite a few other rock formations. It's in the "high desert" which means the altitude is high but not high enough to cause any sickness. The landscape was incredible - I've been to a lot of places but Arches might be the most beautiful in the world. We did the 32 mile drive through the park, stopping at overlooks for photos and pulling into the trailheads for various hikes. Balanced Rock (see below) was one of the easier ones - just a short trail around the base of the rock. Nearby were views of Park Avenue (called that due to the tall formations that appear like New York skyscrapers) and the Three Gossips. With a little imagination, you can easily pictures all kinds of other figures and shapes built into the canyons and out of rocks.

Our favorite hike was between the Sand Dune and Broken Arches. Sand Dune Arch was incredible, tucked inside quite a few other rocks and well-shaded, the sand beneath our feet was cool and fine. My shoes have mesh along the outside and was letting in quite a bit of sand so I ended up going barefoot as I walked around. The downside was that the wind had been picking up and with the shape of the rocks, really whipped the sand around. We headed to the Broken Arch from there. Usually a pretty each walk (it was under 2 miles), it became a bit tougher by the fact that we'd forgotten water and that the wind was blowing sand into our faces.

When we made it to the Broken Arch, we crawled up the rocks to hit the other side (my hiking partner is pictured below) and made our way through the last part of the trail. This is when the need for water really kicked in but we hit the local campground (and water fountain) right in town. The wind started to pick up again as we left but we weren't quite ready to call it quits yet.

We drove around the park, trying to decide where to return to for sunset. We'd picked up some sandwiches in town and were planning on a picnic. Since we'd decided to do Delicate Arch the last day, we headed back to the Double Arch you see below. You can't really tell from that photo but you can actually climb all up and down the rocks between the arches quite easily and find the perfect spot to watch the sun set.

When we returned to Arches two days later, the wind was worse than ever. The sky in Moab was red and sandy when we woke up and the sand gusts were painfully strong. With our sunglasses, baseball caps, and jackets zipped up to our chin, we looked like celebrities dodging paparazzi! We made it out to Landscape Arch (below) where, in 1991, a chunk 60 feet long feel from the top. No need to dodge debris that day, just the sand. Unfortunately, it was a little to tough to make the longer hike to Delicate Arch. We vowed to make it back sometime soon - no light promise since the three and a half days we spent wasn't nearly enough.

Austin - Why yes, we are enjoying home leave.

In our empty apartment in Milan, we noticed a coupon deal on Living Social for a discount speedboat rental at Just For Fun on Lake Travis. We LOVE boats and the water so the 50% off discount was a no-brainer.

Spending a couple of sunny hours on the water with my parents and husband was lots of fun. We rented the tube and ripped all around the water for a couple of hours. I learned quickly that there's a LOT more bounce when there are two people on the tube! So since cold brews, fresh pedicures, and warm breezes on the water make me happy, I'd say that home leave is going swell.

The Chianti Festival

While the cantinas in Montepulciano were plentiful, the various wine regions in Tuscany were begging to be tasted by Mark and I. Luckily for us, the 19th Rassegna del Chianti Classico (Chianti wine festival) in Greve-in-Chianti was taking place and offered us the opportunity to taste various Tuscan and Chianti wines from all over the region - all in one place! For 10 euro, we purchased a "commemorative" wine glass and a punch card that entitled us to 10 different tastings - not a bad deal!Some of us (ahem ahem, me, unfortunately) had to drive back to Montepulciano that night but an early start enabled me to taste a few as well. Mark's strategy was to pick the most expensive wines around (which ended up being the Super Tuscans, for the most part) and get "the most for his money". Some of them were particularly tasty and we walked away with a few bottles so that I could do a little more tasting at home.

Books 48, 49, and 50

If you've been paying attention, you'd notice that I've completed my New Year's resolution of reading 50 books in 2009. Yay! This is probably one of the most enjoyable resolutions I could've made and it should be no surprise that I've already made it to number 56 and plan to keep going.

The official 50th book was 'Case Histories', by Kate Atkinson. 'Case Histories' is the first of what is currently a three-book mystery series 'starring' private detective Jackson Brodie. While the Sookie Stackhouse series would be my first pick for 'most entertaining series of the year', this set is a close second.

Based on the recommendation of a friend, I also rounded out the last few with 'Interred With Their Bones', a sort of literary/Shakespeare version of the DaVinci Code. While that may be a turn-off for some, I should definitely assure you that Jennifer Lee Carrell is a MUCH better writer than Dan Brown. I'm saving her first book, 'The Speckled Monster', on the Kindle for my next plane trip.

'Year of Wonders' is probably one of my favorites though and I have Geraldine Brooks to thank for that. A fictional account of the 17th century plague that attacked an English village, the story of 18-year-old Anna Frith is compelling.

One last note, I purchased Pat Conroy's latest book 'South of Broad' and was really excited to read it. 'The Water is Wide' was one of my high school English assignments and I fell in love with the author's depictions of southern life and drama in both that book and in the 'Prince of Tides'. I was really disappointed by 'South of Broad'. Set in Charleston and spanning the youth through adulthood of a group of friends, I felt like the story was so....generic. It was still an ok read (and probably perfect for summer on the beach) but it was definitely a let-down compared to Conroy's other works.

Bellagio: Pearl of the Lake

Despite basically living in Como for several weeks last summer, we never got the chance to visit Bellagio. So when our friends from London came to town we picked them up at the airport and headed straight for Lake Como to soak up some sun.

We took in the scenery from the "fast" ferry en route to Bellagio. The villas and towns scattered along the lake were beautiful but sadly, no Clooney sightings.


Once in Bellagio, we had a leisurely lunch and then strolled around town. At the San Giacomo church, the art works dates from various periods between the 15th and 17th centuries. Since it's still summer, we didn't quite catch the sunset on our hydrofoil return but the changing light off the water made for a sight unto itself.

Edinburgh Military Tattoo

With a 700 year old castle as the backdrop, the Edinburgh Tattoo takes place each year in the Scottish capital. This year, we were lucky enough to score some tickets from a friend and enjoy the Saturday evening performance. It's called the 'Tattoo' because the word derives from from 'tap toe', a signal that the drum corps would play to close the ale taps and send the soldiers home...i.e. last call for alcohol.


The Tattoo is the second largest festival in Edinburgh, second only to the Fringe festival, and attracts nearly 8000 each night throughout the month of August. In 2009, we saw various Highland performances (pipes, drums, and dance) as well as the UK 1st Royal Tank Regiment, the Tongan Royal Corps of Musicians (immediately above), the Chinese She Huo Dance Troupe (immediately below), and the Swiss Top Secret Drum Corps.


A light show played concurrently with the performers, lighting up the Edinburgh Castle in all kinds of colors and designs. The grand finale brings out all the performers, nearly 1000 of them, for some classic Scottish songs and the lowering of the flags. Right before the fireworks start, the Lone Piper plays one last mournful song.


The fireworks show at the end was spectacular. All of my favorite types shot across the sky and twinkled as they came down. Since this is the U.K. a drizzle of rain helped to finish off the end of the night. However, it was well-worth it for such an entertaining show.

Edinburgh and Festivals

On Saturday morning in Edinburgh, we woke to another brilliant blue sky. To improve further on the day, our friends from London met us in the breakfast room so that we could all start the day together!

When we booked our tickets for Edinburgh, the only thing we'd planned on was attending the Military Tattoo. We soon found out that August was basically the season of festivals in the Scottish city. Everywhere we walked, we ran into another event - festivals for books, politics, foods, the arts....even a festival for stone-carving (ok, that was just an exhibit at the arts college).

The Fringe Festival was the most obvious and popular of them all. Created in 1947 when eight theater groups showed up uninvited to the arts festival and took to performing in the streets, today's Fringe is organized enough to close down part of the Royal Mile and play host to hundreds of groups from all over the world. Nearly 250 Edinburgh venues play host to 2000 theater and musical performances. Performers spend their days in the streets of the Royal Mile, handing out advertisements for their show and re-enacting scenes in the street.

Also along the Royal Mile (and beyond) were scores of shops, selling Scottish cashmere, kilts, shortbread...just about anything you can think of - including tartan formal ware!

We were able to attend the Foodies at the Festival event twice during our trip - the first time on Friday when we popped in, soaking wet, for a chef's demonstration and some hot soup. On Saturday, we sampled Scottish whisky and cheeses while one of our friends hunted down local oysters.

Popping into the Parliament building (with its contemporary architecture, pictured above), we viewed the media photography exhibit while the Politics Festival went on. It wasn't all festivals and food though. We went into Holyrood Palace (photo at top), the Queen's Gallery and the Camera Obscura museum and enjoyed not only the illusions inside but the amazing views of Edinburgh from the roof.

Arthur's Seat, hiking in the center of Edinburgh

After weeks of 90+ degree temperature here in Milan, we were looking forward to the cool climate of the United Kingdom. We were not disappointed as a nice breeze greeted us immediately after stepping off our EasyJet flight. Despite the warnings we'd received of the terrible Scottish rain, we were so lucky (as our taxi driver told us, over and over) to have bright blue skys straight away!

While our friends from London would be meeting us that evening to explore the city for the weekend, we decided to make the most of the weather and after depositing our suitcases at our hotel, we headed straight for Holyrood Park. Our stroll along the Royal Mile was full of interesting sights and sounds since the Fringe Festival was going on right under our noses but more about that later.

Like Rome, Edinburgh is a city built on hills and Arthur's Seat is the highest at a little over 800 feet. It's not a particularly difficult hike though some of the parts on our path were pretty steep. However, the peak provides some spectacular views of the city once you make it up the scraggly rocks. The way up is very highland-esque, a comforting thought since we'd regretting not extending our vacation to allow for a trip to the Highlands.

350 million years ago, Arthur's Seat was an active volcano. Long extinct, it's now the home of lots of native flora and fauna, including some lovely lavender.

From the top, we enjoyed the amazing panorama views but quickly noticed the storm clouds approaching. It was super windy and we had to pull the sweaters out once we reached the top but apparently we dawdled too long.

That strong wind pulled the storm close quickly and we ended up SOAKED as we much more carefully made our way down from the peak. My talented husband managed to negotiate the least muddy path and soon we had a crowd following us down to avoid slipping! A foodie festival taking place at the base of the extinct volcano provided us with whisky and dry tents to warm up - too bad every rainy day doesn't end that way!

Home, Sweet Paris (Part 2)

I woke up last Saturday to another sunny blue day in Paris. While the day before had been spent revisiting some of my favorite shops and cafes on the Left Bank, my friend and I decided to explore the Right a little bit.

Since we were staying in the 17eme arrondissement, we headed over to Montmartre and the Sacre Coeur for croissants and coffee. We popped inside the church for a bit but felt shuffled along by the ginormous crowds. There was no room to deviate from the roped off walk but since it was free to get in, it wasn't too much of a loss. The view is best enjoyed from the exterior anyways.


We took a look at some of the art on display nearby but I think the scene itself was more picturesque than any of the artwork.


By the time we made it back to the river, it was midday and the sun was out in full force. We decided to find some shade in the park behind the Notre Dame but got distracted by the cathedral itself. So, why the distraction of this church I've seen and been in a million times? NO SCAFFOLDING! For the first time ever, I got to see the magnificant cathedral in a 360 view without any wire or beams set up in front. The renovation looks spectacular.

My friend needed to find some shoes so we headed over to Chatelet/Les Halles for her shopping needs. En route, we paused near the Pompidou Center to dip our feet in this Contemporary fountain.


Wrapping up our Right Bank day, we had dinner at Havanita, a delicious Cuban restaurant in the Bastille. Wonderful way to wrap up the day spent on my second favorite Parisan riverbank.

Gone Hiking

Marco went hiking a couple of weekends ago back to Piano di Bobbio (I blogged about it last month). This time, the guys took the funicular all the way to the top of the lift and went hiking through the top ranges.


The lift itself only went halfway up the mountain so there was lots to keep them busy up there. Cooper particularly enjoyed the cold mountain lakes.


This is NOT the trip where the guys went mountain biking in Piano di Bobbio and Marco came back with a gigantic red scrap on his neck. No pictures from that trip, I feel certain that had photography come into play then broken bones would've surely followed.