Coming late to the party

OK, so it's already done and put to bed, I know. But better late than never: Seamus O'Regan's six-days-in-Kandahar blog over at CTV.ca is good reading.

Here's a standout sampling for you, from his time in Kabul, before he even made it down to Kandahar:

We set out by armoured vehicles (modified SUVs) through the streets of Kabul. Dusty, crowded, and more chaos - no one pays attention to traffic lights or signs because there are none. Some cars have steering on the right, others on the left - the Afghans are happy to drive whatever manages to get into the country.

People look anxious but they all seem to be going about their business, working, going to school, doing what they need to do. This is a living, functioning city, with millions of people who have more on their minds than suicide bombers and insurgents' strikes. Sean read my thoughts as we drove on, right by a very crowded "Afghan Bodybuilding Club."

"Naturally, everyone back home concentrates on the bad news. But most people here are moving on, just trying to make do," he said.

It's good to keep things in context. There is a lot of good happening here. [Babbler's bold]

Unfortunately CTV hasn't yet figured out the concept of permalinks, so you have to start at the bottom and read your way up to the top without the normal pit-stops of each day's post. The piece I quoted above is from Seamus' Nov 5th entry.