picnic at qargha lake

A half hour from central Kabul (just past the surreal Kabul 'golf course' where the greens are 'browns' and the course notably claims to be 100% mine free) there's  a man-made lake that doubles as Kabul's water supply.  It's a pretty dusty place, and more than a few people use it  as a public car-wash, but that doesn't stop droves of families trekking out for a Friday picnic (Fridays are the weekend here).  I went with two expats from my guesthouse.  On the far side of the lake, we met this family.  The little boy had just kicked their soccer ball into the lake.  We shared our salams and they invited us to tea.  
The father works as some sort of administrator in the ministry of women's affairs. The mother is a school teacher.  
The oldest son translated from Dari-English for us.  He hopes to be a doctor someday.
His sister says she'd like to be a journalist.  But she had little interest in the BBC, preferring a local music format station.  
The youngest boy demonstrated that his oratorical skills may well exceed his football prowess.  His mother had him recite poetry from his school book.  
After some cups of green tea, pistachios, and pieces of sugar (like jaggery) we made our retreat promising to meet them sometime again.  A very pleasant Friday retreat.