Raisins like your eyes

The last two evenings we were sitting with the whole family (some 10-15 people) to separate raisins which had come from their own gardens somewhere in the southeast of Afghanistan (unfortunately one of the places were it is still very unsafe – especially for foreigners – otherwise I would join them once there – should be an amazing place) and which had dried in the windows for the last weeks.

The work itself is not the nicest: first taking out the most beautiful light green ones (for guests) – Javed’s fathers called them: “Doris eyes” J - and then separating the rest from the spoiled ones, wood and other dirt. I enjoyed the atmosphere so much though, as I do all the evenings here. We generally do not have power, mostly just for some hours a day, and it’s getting really cold. Without heating-system you are shivering even inside the houses. The only way to keep you warm then is to sit all close together under huge blankets. We have some kind of petroleum lamps which gives us a little light and loads of time to discuss, to philosophise, to cite poems ;-) and to learn each-others languages (Dari, Pashto, and GermanJ)…

After one week living with an afghan family I start understanding the people here more and more. Getting more and more used to everything here and feeling more and more safe.