Doset daram!

Soub baKhayr!  Good Morning, Sweetie!

Today, Uncle Kevin and I traveled from Kabul, the capitol of Afghanistan to Deh Subz, a little village outside of Kabul.  Deh means village, and Subz means green.  So, this is Green Village!  Just like we live in North Falmouth, the families here live in Deh Subz.

Since we drove to Deh Subz, I should tell you about the crazy roads here!  They are very, very bumpy!  You know when you sit on Daddy's knee and he bounces you up and down?  That's what it feels like when you're in a car here.  We call it moonscape driving since we imagine this is what it would feel like to drive on the moon and in and out of all the craters.

We went to Deh Subz today to do some filming at the school... the name of the school is The Zabuli School.  It's a very special place where only girls come to learn. There are no boys here; the boys go to a different school.  In Afghanistan boys and girls don't go to school together.  In the Zabuli School there are kindergarteners, first graders, second graders, third graders, fourth graders, fifth graders, sixth graders, seventh graders, eighth graders and ninth graders.

The other day I met a kindergartener who was only 3 years old!  She was too little to be in school.  She even wet her pants in class!  Poor thing! Her Mom had to come and get her and take her home.  The principal told her mother, "Your daughter is too young to come to Kindergarten.  Please wait until next year to bring her back.  Then she will be ready."   The mother tried to argue with the principal, "No," she said.  "My daughter is ready now!"  But the principal put her foot down, and said that she needs to learn how to go potty before she can come to kindergarten.

Right now there are so many girls who want to come to school here that there isn't enough room for all the classrooms.  In fact, the 8th grade class is in the hallway!  That's why they're making the school bigger.  Today is Wednesday, and normally the girls would be in school today - just like you - but because all the workers are here doing the construction, the girls had the day off.  Even though it snows a lot here during the winter, they never have snow days.  So, today is like a construction/snow day!

When the girls talk to their Moms and Dads, Gramis and Grampis, aunts and uncles, and cousins and friends, they speak a language called Dari.  It's a very beautiful language.  In school, they are also learning to speak two more languages:  Pashto and... can you guess?...English!  If they learn some English words, and you learn some Dari words, you can talk to them!

Let's start with:  I love you!
Doset daram!  (It sounds like dhostet durum - with a very soft rolling "r")

XOXO