Kabul Morning

Salam! (That means - Hello!)  Salam, Isabelle!

In this video, you'll meet Arzu, the black and white dog who lives here in Kabul and likes to eat grass.  You know what else she likes to do?  Actually LOVES to do?  She loves to sleep all day and stay up all night!  There are other dogs in the neighborhood who like to stay up all night, too, and when the moon comes out and the stars begin twinkling, Arzu's furry, noisy friends come to visit her.

The other dogs don't have a home like Arzu does.  They are wild dogs that roam the streets, dodging bicycles, motorcycles, cars, donkey carts, buses and horses - all the while trying to find something to eat and a comfortable place to rest.  I don't know where they sleep or what they eat, but I do know where they come to play!  There's a pack of them - probably 5 or 6 - who come to visit Arzu every night just as I am trying to go to sleep.  That's when their party - and the barking - begins!  The dogs on the street stick their wet noses under our big, red gate, trying to get closer to Arzu; and Arzu sticks her wet nose right back under the gate at them.  They play like this for hours... sticking their noses under the gate, jumping up on the gate with their front paws, and - of course - barking.  This canine symphony makes it very hard for me to sleep!

Arzu stays outside in the yard so that she can help protect the house.  She has her own dog house, and isn't allowed in the house where we are staying.  But she has a trick!  She learned how to open the front door, and last night while we were eating dinner she pranced right in and started chasing her tail in the middle of the dining room.  This inside adventure was very exciting for her, and she was fascinated by everything she saw...and smelled.  She ran around the room sniffing everything - the tray of ripe oranges, my laptop, the napkins, a tupperware filled with almonds...even the garbage can got a whiff!  It took a while to get her back outside, and no sooner did we sit back down at the table to finish dinner, then she opened the front door again and reappeared in the dining room ready to play!  This time when we put her back outside, we locked the door.

As I mentioned in the little video, Arzu means "Hope" in Dari which makes it a very beautiful and meaningful name.  And it's an especially fitting name for her.  Arzu didn't always have a home. Once upon a time, she was a stray dog living on the streets of Kabul with no one to feed her and no safe place to go to sleep at night.  But there was hope for her, and one day she was rescued and given a new life with a home and a yard and a family.  She's a lucky doggie! Now, if I could just find a way to keep her awake during the day and asleep at night, I'd be a lucky doggie, too!

Kindergarten Hello!

Isabelle Watching...

I sent Isabelle my first video message from Afghanistan, and her reaction to watching it brought me to tears...

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

Ho Ho Ho-ng Kong Christmas Begins

Auntie Bri lives in Hong Kong!  (How cool is she?! Yeah, super cool!)  And that means one thing - Ho Ho Ho-ng Kong Christmas!  With 6 bags and 3 knapsacks in tow, we navigated from the airport to the city center on the train where Bri met us and then had to endure the painstaking indecision and inertia of 5 exhausted humans!  She treated us to a delicious Thai dinner (during which Isabelle slept)

The jet lag awakening happened at 1am, and now, 15 hours later, we're just beginning to feel a bit weary.  Isabelle spent the wee hours hugging Horton the kitty (the non-shy kitty, she calls him), drawing, eating oatmeal, and waiting for Nana and Grampy to awaken in order to deliver the newspaper.  "Grampy loves the news paper! He's retired! So he can read all the words on all the pages!"

We're staying in two 3-bedroom apartments on Robinson Road - high up on The Peak, an incredibly posh address in town, we quickly learned.  "This is a great place.  I think we should live here," Isabelle announced moments after arriving and discovering the playroom (filled with bean bag chairs, art supplies, a trampoline, scooter and panda bear iPod speaker) and 5-year-old Katie's bedroom (complete with a 3-story dollhouse and special note from Katie herself directing Isabelle to a secret cubby stuffed with stuffed animals). Before leaving for Christmas in Vermont, Katie and her parents (amazing mom Jen went to college with Dennis), thought up - and wrapped up - more goodies for us than we can believe.

Our out-and-about part of the day started at 8am with a walk down The Peak, past the Foreign Correspondents' Club, through Central's elevated walkway to Victoria Harbor where we boarded the Star Ferry for Kowloon.

On our first full day in Hong Kong, over a dim sum breakfast in Kowloon, Isabelle tells us, "I'm getting my world confused.  I thought we were in Abu Dhabi.  Or Africa."  We were surrounded by locals eating congee (rice porridge) and sipping tea, and indulged in Sui Mai (pork dumplings), Har Cheung Fun (shrimp rolls), and - as a special treat inspired by the table next to us - Ma Lai Go (steamed sponge cake).

Always on the to-do-list in a new country is finding a globe in the local language for Isabelle's globe collection.  Success comes quickly on this trip thanks to the Yue Hwa Chinese Products Emporium (MTR Jordan stop).

Back to HK Island for lunch with Aunti Bri! Her Wyndham Street work address is described as HK's hottest new social strip.  Taped on her office walls are two fantastic quotes:  "Ships in the harbor are safe.  But that's not what ships are for."  And my favorite:  "If things don't feel out of control, you're not moving fast enough."  Thank you Mario Andretti.

Lunch next to "our" gym - PURE - on the Central-Mid-levels escalators in the SoHo district.  The escalator system is AWESOME!  It is the longest (outdoor, covered - always love the qualifiers) escalator system in the world.  It has 20 escalators and 3 moving sidewalks.  It is without a doubt one of the most creative transportation solutions I've ever seen.

Grocery store adventures ensue - chickens with the head and feet attached are a big hit with me, but not with Grampy who is unable to down the dinner after catching a glimpse of the whole, dead bird.  More adventures post-dinner as Auntie Bri and I hit The Fong - the city's big party area.  Details withheld.  Isabelle was up at 3am,  and ready to leave for Hong Kong Disneyland!

Ukelele Girl

Isabelle came home from ukelele lessons playing "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer."  This was a truly great day.

Polar Express

Before we boarded the Polar Express, we didn't know much about the story. We'd never seen the movie, and although we own the book, it only came out at Christmastime, and wasn't nearly as popular as The Nutcracker or How The Grinch Stole Christmas.

For this ride, we were focused on the magic of belief and wonder - we were after all, traveling from Buzzard's Bay direct to the North Pole in less than an hour!  What we discovered, though, was something even more beautiful:  Compassion.

The hobo who features prominently in Polar Express became the pivotal character in our adventure.  More interesting, even, than Santa and his elves.

Before taking our tickets, the Conductor told us to be on the lookout for this hobo, and to be able to provide him with details about the hobo's looks and whereabouts.  Was the Conductor trying to help us empathize with this man who was so clearly down on his luck?  No, it became clear - the Conductor wanted to catch him and reprimand him for not having a ticket.

The hobo was dirty from head to toe.  His clothes were tattered - tape held his coat together, while patches covered the holes in his jeans.  With a handkerchief sack tied to a stick and slung over his shoulder, he was quite a sad sight walking through the train.

After being caught, the hobo sat far from everyone else - alone.  Until Isabelle insisted on going to talk with him.  If he needed a ticket, maybe she could get him one for Christmas.  And she had lots of questions:  Do you live on the train? (I am trying to) Were you on the roof of the train? (Yes) Where were you living before you got on the train? (In the woods)  Are you able to eat?  (Sometimes)  Where were you living before living in the woods? (With my mother) Where does your mother live? (Boston)


Later, he told us:  When she writes her book, I want to read it.

When you ask most parents what they want for their children, the answer is often - happiness.  But how exactly is happiness achieved?  And what kind of guidebook are we as parents supposed to provide for attaining it?

I recently read the Dalai Lama's book, Beyond Religion, in which he talks about the kind of happiness that comes from empathy and compassion.

Empathizing with someone in distress, he writes, shows courage, and courage imparts confidence.

It is through giving warmth and affection, through being genuinely concerned for others - in other words, through compassion - that we gain the conditions for genuine happiness.  For this reason, loving is of even greater importance than being loved.

The Dalai Lama continues, When compassion, or warmheartedness, arises in us and shifts our focus away from our own narrow self-interest, it is as if we open an inner door.  Compassion reduces fear, boosts our confidence, and brings us inner strength.  By reducing distrust, it opens us to others and brings a sense of connection with them and a sense of purpose and meaning in life.  Compassion also gives us respite from our own difficulties.

If in the film, the hobo represents doubt of the Christmas spirit, on our train he came to epitomize the Christmas spirit.

Compassion, the Dalai Lama writes, means wanting to do something to relieve the hardships of others, and this desire to help, far from dragging us further into suffering ourselves, actually gives us energy and a sense of purpose and direction.  

I like the direction Isabelle is heading, and the sense of purpose that moved her to the back of the train to reach out to - not an actor - but an impoverished elderly man who was alone at Christmas.