Strange but true… photos from around India that have made their way to my desk. What else is email for?
All aboard… yes there is room for one more..
This field used to be in a forest you know… Really?
The perfect nap stand…
Big hair truck…
Well you have to keep up with the times…
We have just come back from the Doctor who was very good and does not want to put Ben on medication as there is nothing to be conecrned about in his test results. Just to be sure though he has referred us to a Peadiatric Neurologist.
So far- good news.
Ben had his first seizure for almost 6 months on Friday night. Aaron came in a 2.00am and let us know - he s a fantastic brother. Ben is fine now.
It wasn’t a normal episode so we had to give him some Diazepan which thankfully settled it down straight away. We called the ambulance / doctor which duely arrived after I had to do a mad dash to the end of the road so they would find us. When the ambulance pulled up there must have been at least 6 people if not more inside together with the doctor.
The doctor wanted to admit Ben but as it was 3.00am by now and by the time we would have got to a hospital, checked in etc… Ben would not have had the sleep he needed so we kept him at home and had a lazy Sunday. Even so by 9.00am the next morning he was riding his scooter up and down the newly concreted drive!
We did take him to the hospital on Monday for an MRI and EEG and will see the doctor again on Thursday to see what he has to say. We are very reluctant to put him on anti convulsants again - especially since we have found out that an number of his friends have been off school too with a similar bug - they just take a bigger toll on him sadly.
Will report back after we have been to the doctor.
Don’t ask but names changed again - any way here are a couple more recent photos of Lucy. Sorry about the quality but my camera is still broken and these are from the video camera.
One two three ahhhh…
Hmm that ant looks tasty…
She is as cute as she looks - whines most times when she wants to go out. Can’t remember the last time she pooed in the house - mainly wees. The kids, especially Jessica, adore her - and I must admit she is making the place more homely and I am settling better now - coincidence?
Confined to the porch for another 5 weeks and then she’ll be able to explore the garden once she’s had all her jabs, the lucky thing.
“Sometimes girls can be a bit fussy over things just like my sister - she is especially fussy about her food and toys. I think that most girls are like that. Apart from that there isn’t really much to say about them. I think that girls are funny in one way but strange in another. In other words girls are good in their own way.
PS: I’ll never understand them.”
(Part of Aaron’s literacy homework, which hasn’t been marked yet - and no he did this without talking to me!!)
Leaving all the political stuff aside - which I don’t really have any reason to write about Aghanistan and its people are very interesting and by enlarge very friendly. Given that the have been at war for for the last 25 years this country in some respects is better than India - but I won’t dwell on that.
The people are really very happy that the Taliban are no longer in power with their draconian laws and whilst the democartic process is a bit of a mystery they are starting to build a new life. We will just have to see how the Americans will mess it up for them.
Burkas do take getting used to and do make it look like the country is full of cartoon characters. They do have their uses though as it is very dusty here and do keep your clothes clean. Depending how you interpret the Quoran depends on how you view the burka. Apparantly you don’t have to wear them but many women do feel more comfortable and safer with them on. And according to local sources you can still tell what the woman is like by looking at her shoes and ankles!
It is very very dusty and dry here, I have never washed my hands so much as they constantly feel all gritty. The day after we arrived at the Karzai rally Richard got sun burn’t and three days later we are having to wear fleeces - especially when the sun goes in. The difference between the sun and shade is amazing.
Karzai rally:
We also went out with Brit forces in Kabul on a patrol. You can see why we are much better than the yanks at this as our guys walk around in floppy hats and minimal body armour unlike the Yanks - which when they do it - are so paranoid they are fully tooled up for battle. The difference in signals given off is huge. Even as a westerner you feel more scared of the Americans than any one else.
Brits on patrol:
Half an hour after we landed in Kabul I was arrested by the American forces guarding President Karzai. Marched off at gun point whist waiting for him to leave the airport it was a bit perplexing - but I had filmed a cavalcade which I wasn’t supposed to. Secret you know - though its exactly the same as a US presidential one so the big deal? These goons - Dy-corp are renowned for being complete morons with huge guns and ignoring the law. They have annoyed everyone - including the US embassy here. A couple of weeks ago they were attacked and from what we are told they had it coming.
No visit would be complete with out entertaining the kids in the villages. I do like doing this - and with my new camera I can also very easily show them the video I have shot of them - priceless.
And of course you have to climb on a tank or two. These belong to the local war-lord in Mazar-e Sharif and have been decomissioned. The important bits have been sent 500 miles away- trashing them cant’ be done here for local reasons.
Sorry about all these pictures of my lardy bum but I tend to get annoyed if the camera is in front of me.
Muqim is our 25 year old translater who will become a good business man. He already has a fleet of cars he hires out - including Surfs, provides tours and logistics throught the country. He has big plans which I hope will be successful.
Here we are standing in front of a shop where they make kilns for baking bread - which is truely lovely. The pots are made inside and they get fired by lighting a fire inside the kiln - a practice which has been going on for hundreds of years with no change.
Its our last day today - hopefully. We have a couple of lives to do, pack and ready for the plane home tomorrow.
Its been a hard couple of weeks with Thai trip too, so it will be good to get home to the family and also see how big Sandy is.
Here we go again - this is where I am for those who don’t know- Kabul in Afghanistan.
The blue dots now show where we are and have been.
We have aslo done two trips out of town. One to a President Karzai rally in Ghazni and another up north to the Mazar-e Sharif on the edge of the hindu kush with the British Army. We flew up there on a transport plane - which was an expereince - noisy and not bumby but vibrational. You can see why the Afghans have never been conqurered because the terrain though quite stunningis really really tough to negotiate.
My camera has broken so I need to send it back to the UK to be fixed in the mean time I am reliying on photos from Richard and for this trip an Army photographer - Cpl Rob Knight.
Our plane:
The pilot:
The view:
For some reason there is a Warhammer shop in Bangkok which I stumbled across so I got a couple of models for Aaron to make as he has been missing it big time. Here he is hard at work.
And here is the finished product.
Very very good indeed.
Ooops,
Thought I had posted this already - here is a picture of Sandy… probably a bit bigger now…
