15 August is the day I realized that Afghanistan can be a tough place to live. This is the day my shower was interrupted by a large, "Kabooooom", I ran out in to the hallway and noticed the ceiling tiles were falling down, lights exploded and smoke in the air. What a freakin' morning! Well, a girl in the hallway noticed my terrycloth attire and recommended I put on more clothing before running out of the building to the bunker. After slipping on a t-shirt, shorts and flip flops, we were off to hide out in a metal bunker only 100 m or less from the explosion! Sirens, people yelling and lots of smoke filled the air as we sat quietly...or I sat quietly wondering why they attacked our base. Smirks and jokes started to come out from some of the people but all I wanted was silence...
Within an hour I returned to the building to put on my uniform and I found a sweet Afghan woman that cleans our building walking up and down crying in the hallway. A few of us decided to get her out of the damaged area so she grabbed her bag and I walked with her to a safe location on the other side of base. As we slowly left the building, we noticed emergency vehicles speeding past as well as footprints on the ground, outlined in blood. Both of us were a little shocked from the blast but we held hands all the way. I returned to the building soon after to help with clean up and the brevity of the explosion finally hit me pretty hard. We all worked quickly to clean up the damage so ladies could come back in to get their belongings. By evening we all had new rooms to sleep in and most of us were exhausted.
So, I'm okay now. After speaking with several local Afghans and asking about attacks and explosions, they told me that the best thing they can do is just keep living and praying they will not be close to the next blast. Most of my Afghan co-workers were not very concerned about the car bomb..almost as if they have become desensitized to the violence.
Has this bombing changed me? Yes. Do I still believe we should be here in Afghanistan? Definitely. Why? Because Afghans are human beings that deserve peace just like we have in the United States...nothing's ever perfect.
On 16 Aug 09, the sun came up as I glanced at the ceiling wondering what else I can do to help end the violence and hatred. No thoughts of leaving or giving up. My determination is stronger than ever.
