Animal Shelter and Istalif Village

Several days ago, we visited a very interesting shelter for cats and dogs. We heard about the place, apparently founded by an American woman, in an ad in an ex-pat magazine, and so decided we should take a look and see what the organization did. We walked to the address given, and found no markings on the gate with the name of the organization, Tigger House. However, a little boy approached us and told us that this was the house for cats and dogs. We rang the bell, and as the gate opened we were greeted by a chorus of barking-clearly the right place! Several Pashtun men were working there, and showed us around. Andrea spoke to them in Pashto, which was very nice practice for him as so many in Kabul use Dari to communicate. We started by viewing the veterinary surgery, where a sick dog that had been turned in to the shelter was receiving an I. V. We then looked at the cages holding what must have been over twenty cats and kittens, all meowing loudly and seeming to fight for our attention. These were all apparently up for adoption. We then went outside and looked at the dogs. Apparently, most of the dogs belonged to Americans, for the most part soldiers, and this organization was preparing their needed documents and vaccines for their trip to America. The dogs jumped around their pen and barked happily for our attention. They seemed to know that they would soon be in a more dog-friendly environment. Of course, I thought of dear Gizmo, the dog I managed to bring back from Kyrgyzstan. It made me so happy to see that these dogs would also not be separated from their owners. There were also several dogs up for adoption. One, a black female, had been peeking in the windows while we looked at the cats. She was very submissive when we approached her, and yet sought our attention. I really hope she finds a home as the guys working there told us that no one seemed to want her. There were also several cute puppies and other dogs, all very friendly, awaiting adoption. There was one dog, Foxy, who had clearly been mistreated, and yet who seemed to have a very good relationship with one of the guys working there. He was very patient with her. I have to say, I was fairly surprised to find how dedicated these Pashtun men seemed to be towards the dogs. I have generally found in Muslim countries that dogs are not valued very much, and yet these men really did seem to care for these dogs, beyond simply doing their job.
The next day, we took a trip to a village called Istalif not far outside of Kabul. We first traveled to the taxi and bus station in the north part of Kabul, where we asked about cars to Istalif. We were sent on several wild-goose chases before we figured out that we had to first travel to the town of Karabogh, and from there head up the hills into Istalif. We found a car going there, already crammed with people, and squeezed in. Two men in addition to the driver sat in the front seat. In the back seat was a woman wearing a burka with two children, one about one year old and the other about three. I sat in between her and Andrea and chatted with her for a bit. She told me that her husband was away, working in Iran, and that she was going to visit her mother.
We came to Karabogh and were left near the bazaar to await a car going to Istalif. A car finally came, and we started up the mountain towards the village. We passed several tents belonging to nomadic Kuchis in the lower fields. Their livestock, including camels, were grazing outside of the tents. The road then started to wind up the hills into the mountains. The walls of the village on the way rose up directly on either side of the road. In other areas, we passed cultivated fields. We came to the village, where we found beautiful views of the valley and mountains on the opposite side. We left the car in the bazaar. Istalif is famous for its pottery, and we browsed in several shops looking for souvenirs. Many of the shops were closed, but I suspect they would have sold the same types of pottery. One boy, whose English seemed to be limited to “How are you?” seemed to be watching several shops, as he ran with us from one to the other repeating this phrase only. We made several purchases, and then walked up the hill a little ways into the village. Several houses could be seen behind some orchards. We saw some women walking up the hill in burkas, carrying children piggy-back. We then decided to walk back down the hill towards Karabogh, both because we wanted to take in the views and because there were really no cars available. We passed by many destroyed houses as we went. We later found out that the Taliban were responsible for this, as they targeted Tajik villages for destruction as they took control of the country. As we walked past the village walls, we passed several shops. Many people asked us in for lunch, and had we not been rushing to make a later appointment in Kabul, we would have gladly taken them up on the offer. We made it all the way down the hill on foot before a car passed us and offered a ride. One of the passengers spoke a little English, and seemed surprised that we chose to travel to Afghanistan when so many Afghans were trying to get out. The occupants of this car also tried to take us to lunch, but once again we had to refuse. We found a mini-bus heading towards Kabul, and crammed in. The entire back was filled with men, so Andrea and I squeezed into the front seat. I felt a bit strange in a bus only with men, even with my “husband.” On the way to Kabul we passed several cows that were decorated with fake flowers. I am not sure why this was. But, we made it back to Kabul uneventfully. It was a very nice trip out of the city.