On Friday (Holy Day), Elizabeth arranged for Paul, Galeb, Arzi, and I to go out to brunch and shopping at a local women’s artisan market in Kabul. As usual, the entrance to security approved locations required a wanding, walk through a metal detector and a hand search through my purse. Apparently, sometimes you are required to show your ID/passport, particularly where alcohol is served since special licenses limit the Afghans from serving alcohol to anyone who is Afghani.
At the artisan market, called Ganjina, the work is prepared by widows and is marked for non-negotiable pricing, which, of course, one is happy to pay. The shop is behind walls and security, and unless you knew where you were going, you would never know how to find this special place. The shopping experience is much less pressured than that on Chicken Street, and the prices reflect that consideration. However, since Holy Day is also the guys day to play basketball here at the compound, Elizabeth and I had to rush through the shopping. Nevertheless I managed to find some lovely textiles, jewelry and Afghan sling shot for my grandson!
The best think about the excursion was visiting a new part of town. Elizabeth told me that some of the streets that looked particularly nice were rehabilitated by the Japanese development team. Though as you can tell from a couple of pictures, the money didn’t always extend to to full length of the street, given the mud that we experienced!
