Arrival in Kabul

After a six hour flight from NY to Amsterdam followed by another six hour flight that took me to Dubai, I have finally arrived in Kabul.

The flight from Dubai to Kabul was interesting. I was scheduled to fly in on a United Nations flight and had no idea what to expect (a common theme throughout this trip so far) regarding the size of the plane and the number of passengers, etc. To my surprise, my flight was on an older 737 and I was accompanied by about 125 other passengers. Almost all of these people were Europeans and seemed to be returning to Kabul for work after the holidays. As we waited to board the plane, I felt like a new kid starting school on the first day of the second semester. I was definitely one of the few people taking the trip to Kabul for the first time. As I curiously looked over the scene feeling slightly anxious about the whole thing, everyone else was casually chatting about their recent holiday travels, duty free purchases, and the merits of 50 Cent with regards to his "tonal versatility" (true story: I overheard 4 Brits talking about how they felt 50 was a new breed of rapper. it was pretty funny.)

Seeing all of these foreigners flying in definitely calmed whatever nerves I was feeling. The fact this this many people were treating this flight like a typical SF-LA flight put me at ease.

The flight was three hours long and was pretty non-descipt expect for the meal which included two ice cold beef patties with rice that broke my plastic fork and knife after two cuts. I have a feeling I'll be pretty hungry over the next three weeks.

The flight from Dubai to Kabul was predominatly flown over snow capped mountains. The view from my aisle seat was pretty striking, and I wanted to take some photos of the scene, but I had a bad angle and felt pretty self-conscious about pulling out my camera at that point. Hopefully on the way out of here, I have a window seat to take some shots.

I was picked up by office staff at the airport by local staff which was a great relief after a bit of confusion about where to head after customs and picking up my luggage. I had spoken to the guy that picked me up via email before the trip, so it was good to finally meet someone that knew me. One of the first things, he said to me after handing me a folder with a number of documents including security briefing materials, and local etiquettes, was how I am fortunate to have dark hair and dark eyes, which allowed me to not stand out as much as other foreigners visiting Afghanistan. This was good to hear although I don't think this means I will be cruising freely through the local markets, as I quickly learned that security will not allow me to walk anywhere. I will be accompanied by a driver everywhere.

I'm still pretty out of it, so I think that's all I have to offer for now. I do want to post something about my indoor skiing experience in Dubai and my impressions of the culture I gained in my 36 hours there. All is well though. Kabul is chilly, but I am in a warm hotel that has internet access and cable which allowed me to catch the Colts- Chiefs rerun.