life, beauty, and colors outside of the city.

I understand why people join cults.  I know that’s a crazy statement, but I really do.  Living on a compound and sharing most of your day with a full community of friends can sometimes feel a little like living in a bird cage.  We have certain days that we can go certain places.  And the climate of the city could change at any moment, so you can plan to leave the compound and then have the whole trip cancelled in an instant.  So really, you can go weeks or months without leaving the compound just because its easier than getting your hopes up to go somewhere, and then have them crushed.

The one thing that I miss the most living on the compound is grass, trees, and gardens.  We have such limited green space on our compound that it really makes me miss nature.  So earlier in September we had the opportunity to get off the compound and travel outside of the city to a garden area.  We were invited by the president of the cell phone company in this country.  He’s kinda a big deal…he brought mobile phones to this country.  Crazy!  So he is friends with one of our language teachers and invited the whole staff to come to his gardens one Friday morning.

Everyone was SOOOO excited.  After living here for over 2 years, we have never been outside of the city.  Some people have.  Some people have been able to travel in and out of the city, but most of that travel was allowed before we arrived 3 years ago.  We’ve not really seen much of this country and haven’t really enjoyed much of its beauty.  So when given the opportunity to travel outside of the city and visit a garden…we all signed up immediately.  Which leads me to joining cults. I understand.  I really do.

We were all at a point when we wanted to see beauty.  We wanted to travel outside of our bubble and wanted to explore.  We wanted to breathe fresh air and sit outside.  We wanted to smell flowers and see the changing colors of the fall.  We wanted escape.  And none of us really knew where we were going, how we were going to get there, and how safe it was.  But there we all were, ready to go and get into our hosts cars and travel to an unknown place to experience joy.  As we stood outside of the vehicle, I said, “I know why people join cults.”  And a couple of close friends said…what are you talking about!!?  I replied with an outsiders look on our situation.  Here we were, 40 well educated professionals, all trained to be concerned for our safety, all living in a dangerous place, ready to go somewhere we’ve never been, with someone we don’t know, to do something that sounds like fun.  This is why people join cults.  They are so desperate for change.  They are yearning for something new, and they don’t care where they have to go, or who they have to follow as long as they are given a promise that what is waiting for them on the other side is better than what they currently have.  We were all desperate to get away.  So desperate we didn’t care how we got away or how safe it was to get away…we were just piling in the car and ready to go!

Living in a restricted area has taught me what I enjoy most about living.  I enjoy seeing colors.  The vibrant colors of the fall, the changing leaves that fall right into your hand, the bright flowers inviting you to photograph them.  I think I see colors better than I ever did before.  Because most of my world right now is the color of sand and dirt, so when given the opportunity to explore a world of God’s beauty, it was like I was seeing it for the first time.  It was truly a moment of happiness.

I also enjoy nature.  I enjoy sitting on the grass, under an old tree, sipping tea, and breathing fresh air.  I love moments like that.  I remember that I used to do that all the time.  I used to just sit outside, read a good book, and get some fresh sunshine.  I had forgotten how much I love being outside.

I also enjoy seeing everyone enjoying themselves.  This is a stressful place – sometimes I really think that we make it more stressful than it really is – and living here is not easy.  It is very rare that our whole team gets to relax and enjoy life together.  It is very rare that we are all just living.  But, this trip allowed us a memory of a lifetime.  We got to see the colors of the fall and travel outside of our normal bubble to enjoy God’s creation.

On our way to the gardens we got the chance to visit one of the famous lakes in this country.  We got to stop and take pictures.  Even though we have students who live near the lake, we’ll probably never get to go there again.  And right next to the lake is the K*bul Golf Course.  It was precious.  No grass.  9 holes.  Little men walking around with golf bags.  Maybe 3 trees.  Oh and some of the holes repeat themselves…so there aren’t really 9 holes.

After we enjoyed tea and breakfast at a picnic in the gardens, we traveled to our hosts home for lunch.  I DIDN’T KNOW SUCH LUXURY COULD EXIST IN THIS COUNTRY.   Seriously, it was a mansion…it was lavish…it was ridiculous.  As we walked up to the roof and gazed around the perimeter of the house, we saw a group of nomads who had set up tents next door.  If you look carefully in the pictures, you’ll see that an apartment complex is being built on the lot where the tent dwellers are currently living.  At some point the construction will force them to move, but until then, they live in a tent, wash, bathe, eat, cook, and sleep in a tent that looks onto this massive mansion that I was standing in.  I suddenly felt like I was standing in the wrong place.  I should be there with the people in the tents.  Yet, our security manager would have had a heart attack before I would have been able to go over there and meet with the tent dwellers.  That kind of connection with the people of this country is not allowed for us.  And for me, that’s sad.

So here are a few snapshots of our day trip to Paghman Gardens.  It was a day that I will never forget.

entrance to the lake

overlooking the lake

the lake

entrance to k*bul golf course

the k*bul golf course

my first feeling of fall...this is one of the first fall trees that we've seen in 3 years...it was such beautiful sight on the way to the gardens

hundreds of marigolds lined the walkway to enter the garden...its was spectacular

beautiful cosmos! oh it was gorgeous! like...we haven't seen flowers like this in this country since we moved here!

our picnic under a tree...my first outdoor picnic in this country!

tea under the tree...yes the tea was pink...and delicious!

here is a snapshot that I took from the car on the way back to the compound...this is a typical fruit stand that I shop at frequently...out on the street...in the open...only I am not wearing a burqua!

Here is a slum that we drove by on the way back to the compound...that tent has people living in it...I've never seen anything like that before in this country...it was a vivid reminder that the life I live here is vastly different from my neighbors

a camp set up next to the house where we had lunch. I took these pictures from the roof of the house

I can't describe what it was like to look at these tents with my own eyes

a shepherd and his sheep we saw walking down the street as we stood on the roof

here is a typical truck that you see tailing cars here...the trunk area is full of armed guards...these guards escorted us on our trip to the gardens


Category : daily thoughts, pictures
Tags : , , ,