From palace to fortress...

This week I will leave the decadence of Kabul's Park Palace guesthouse...
The Park Palace is the happy home mostly of consultants on 3 to 6 month contracts, with the occasional volunteer and even a woman who claims to be on holiday and enjoys reading in the garden.  These people have the ears of Afghan government, influence over its airports, hydroelectric projects, and mines.  They are picked up by SUVs in the morning, dropped off at night, and do radio checks to confirm their safety.  Some are not allowed to leave except to go to the office.  But they make the best of it, a group of Japanese workers had a fine game of badminton going in the courtyard yesterday.  And up until recently there were weekly barbecues--strangely last week a can of silly string was brandished at once such festivity (how it found its way to Afghan shops I'm not entirely clear... many joyful things seem to trickle out of the stocks for US military sale, including girl scout cookies)

But, alas, I've grown tired of guesthouse environment.  So instead I am moving to a room within a house where several UN folks stay.  It's in one of the fancy neighborhoods where the streets have gates on them at nights, and every house has high walls and armed guards.  It would not have been my first choice as far as neighborhood ambience, but there are limited options as far as where security people want foreigners living.  The house meets the UN standards for security, with these friendly security guards stationed outside the door...

Really they are pretty friendly.  And the house has a nice garden and a dog.  
And even some grapes growing... 
So from one walled compound to another... *sigh*... such is life in Kabul.