15 July, 1978 We went to camping Hellas. At 5 P.M. we came to Yugoslavia. We stayed at Camping Varda at 9 P.M. On the morning of the 16th of July it was very windy. We left for Skopia then Beograg, and then we camped again in our big green tent. I have gotten really good at rolling sleeping bags, since that is one of my jobs. We slept really well, it was so comfortable.
18 July, 1978 We left and drove to Hungary. The border check was difficult. We camped at a petrol station, we were the only ones there. Then when my big brother had put up our tent, we had hot dogs at the restaurant. (Drawing in journal of us eating).
19 July, 1978 We rolled our mattresses and my big brother took down the tent. We saw old buildings and nice bridges. This town looked like it was buit a long time ago, like Stockholm in the 1200's. The ladies had short skirts. We saw an old fortress by the Donau river. It is called the Sittadel. The city is named Budapest. There were large holes in the walls of the fortress where they put cannons through a long time ago. (Note from the present: The river I'm referring to which is misspelled in my journal is the Danube River, in Hungary. Here thousands of Hungarian Jews were marched to their death, shot and thrown into the Danube River during the last part of World War Two. Raoul Wahlenberg, who was a Swedish diplomat working secretly with the Americans, was able to save 10,000 Hungarian Jews from the Nazis, right at the location I visited in my journal).
AUSTRIA (Osterike) Later on we arrived in Austria. A kind old lady and man said we could spend the night in their house. All the hotels were too expensive. And we could not find the camping place we were looking for. July 20th in the morning we had breakfast. Then the lady went to a school where she was a teacher teaching people French. In the afternoon there were no people around. All the restaurants were closed. All but one we found! We ate there. Then we found a camping place for the next night.
21 July, 1978 Mammi, my little brother and I we all went to take showers. If you wanted warm water you had to put in 5 Shillings in a machine. But there was only a little luke warm water that came out, and just as I had shampoo all over my hair, out comes freezing cold water!!! It was also very cold outside. It was aweful! Then it started to rain all day. On July 22nd we left the camping place and arrived in Wien. (Vienna) Mammi and Baba (my parents) made us lunch. Then my three brothers and I picked raspberries, but then Mammi said we were not allowed to, they belonged to someone else. We went to a small play ground instead. On July 24th we went on a walk and we saw thousands of fruit trees. They all looked so good. Apple trees, pears, cherries, red berry trees, olives, peaches, apricots and plumb trees. (Journal shows drawings).
25 July, 1978 We all went on a railway car. When we were in town we met Ibrahim and Chantall. They were going out for a drive in their car. Then we went back on the rail way car to Camping West number one, and we went to sleep. On July 26th we went to one of the world's biggest built churches and we listened to the organ music. It was really beautiful. (Years later in 1980 and again in 2009, I would be in Seoul, South Korea where the biggest church in world is today, with the largest congregation). When we had finished listening to the organ music, we met Ibrahim and Chantall and their sister. We were invited to have coffee and tea with them. When it was all over we took the rail way car home (sparvagn). Chantall's sister was engaged with a man from Sweden. Baba was going to help Ibrahim get a U.N. job. He found a job he could do. He had to fill out three yellow forms.
27 July, 1978 Praten, Austria. We went to Praten, which is like Gronalund! (An amusement park). We rode on the world's biggest ferry wheel. My big brother and I went on a roller coaster. It was terribly scary! I pulled my whole neck muscle (sendrag) and could not straighten it for hours. When we were going to go home, there were no more rail cars, we had gotten there too late. (I'm not sure what we did, the journal doesn't say).
28 July, 1978 We went to a restaurant. Baba ordered a dish he didn't know what it was. Then Mammi ordered something that looked like sweet pallt with powder sugar on. (Pallt is a traditional northern Swedish dish that you either love like me, or hate). On July 29th we drove into Germany (Tyskland). We had to drive quickily through Germany. (I'm not sure why, unless we were in East Germany perhaps, and my parents did not want trouble there). We stopped at a place and bought some bread and something to drink. By July 30th we drove into Denmark. We got a new license plate for the car. There was a nice man there that gave us ice cream. We drove all the way to the harbor and by 4 A.M. we were on the ferry to Sweden. We arrived in Goteborg, Sweden at 7 in the morning. (Since I mentioned about World War Two earlier, I want to point out that the trip from Denmark to Sweden, three hour boat ride, was also the escape route for thousands of Danish Jews. They would be hidden on Danish fishing boats and taken to Sweden and taken refuge in Sweden until WW II was over).
31 July, 1978 We are at Goteborg's harbor, back home in Sweden. The vet checked out our parrot Efraim who had been traveling with us the whole time. The vet said he was healthy and we were allowed to bring him into Sweden. We drove in our car all the way home to our house in Balsta. My grandparents met us there. They had been taking care of our house while we were in Afghanistan. It was still summer in Sweden and warm.
Notes from the present: This is where my first journal ends. The second one picks up when I am in school in Sweden. I am still trying to put photos on the blog. Technical difficulties.
Friday, December 25, 2009
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Eleventh entry. Traveling through Greece 1978
June 29, 1978 Greece (Grekland)
My brothers and I, we went to collect stones by the sea. We found many nice stones. I found a white one I put in my pocket to keep forever.
July 1, 1978
We went to a Greek theater. It was called Philiperna (The Philippians). I saw a snake skin. And we saw some ruins that were left over from the palace and the city.
July 4, 1978
Little brother had lost his shoes so we bought some plastic shoes. Then we went to the ruins from the Greek times. When they had the Olympic games. A long time ago in Greece.
July 5, 1978
We camped at a little place. And we went and ate at a restaurant. We saw a little kitten there. We called her White Nose (Vit nos). I asked the waiter how to say "thank you very much" in Greek. He taught it to me. I practiced and practiced and practiced. I finally learned it. Ephkaristoparapoli. Long word.
(Note from the present: I remember that word to this day. Remember I am writing as an eleven year old. The sentences are brief, to the point and short. The place we visited with the ruins were in Olympia, and you could see where ancient Olympic games had been held once a long time ago. As a young girl I loved to run really fast. So did my three brothers. So we all raced each other on the old ruins, and it was quite an experience. Now back to my journal).
July 6, 1978
We left Trippoli, but when we were in the Greek mountains and driving, the car stopped all of a sudden. There wasn't any gasoline left. (bensine) So Mammi and I had to walk to go get gas. But we got very thirsty and tired. A big truck stopped and gave us a ride to the gas station. Then we went with someone else back with our gas tank. Then on our way back, we saw our car drive by, so we turned around. They had gotten gas from a German.
(Thought from the present: Now why would a young girl of eleven and an attractive woman in her thirties go get gas by themselves in the Greek mountains? My mother has always been very attractive, and it seems odd that we were sent. Thankfully we were all alright hitch hiking and all).
7 July, 1978
We went to the Epodarus theater and saw a Greek play. That happened the night of July 8th at 9 P.M. The theatre has been there 2000 years before Jesus Christ. The people in the play did not have microphones. You could still hear them really well, just like an ear, since the theatre was formed like an ear shape. They danced really nice. We sat at the very top.
(Thought from the present: My father had had too much wine that day/night, and I remember us going to the play, but being very worried about my father. I don't think we really knew where he was. I loved my father dearly, but he sometimes had a drinking problem).
9 July, 1978
We camped at Camping Becas. That was the night Baba had too much to drink. He started swimming out to a far away island from the camping place. He said he could reach the island. We had to get help, so he would not drown. I prayed a lot for Baba that night, and was very worried.
10 July, 1978 Athens
We went to another place. To camping New Europian.
11 July, 1978
We drove to Kapsunion. There is a famous temple there. The temple was built for the Greek sea god. So a lot of people can come to the temple and worship him. The sea is called Sunion.
13 July, 1978
We went to Tamarinda! (Thoughts from present: Tamarinda is the Indonesian word for amusement park. I did not know any other word for it. The reason I called it Tamarinda, was because we used to live in Indonesia when I was six and seven. The reason I also call my father Baba, is because when my brother was born in Algeria, all little kids called their dads Baba, so he did as well. All of us siblings called him Baba because of that).
In Tamarinda we went to a ghost house, motor cars, rubber cars, airplanes and rollercauster. On 14 July we came to Camping Hellas. We swam and had fun. Then we ate dinner. It was pigs meat. Middle brother found a British Airways thing. He has it for his Snoopy dog. During the day at exactly 3 P.M. I do the Snoopy show in the car, in the back seat. It is my daily show. I use my brother's Snoopy dog and there is a theme song and everything.
(Thoughts from the present: We spent a month in Greece. My parents liked for us to see a lot of historical areas, many of which are mentioned in the book of Acts in the Bible. We were of course on our way back to Sweden, after getting out of war torn Afghanistan. I recently spoke to "Little brother" who now is 36, and he encouraged me to put some photos of Afghanistan on the blog. So, I will do that for my next entry. So coming up is my trip through Yugoslavia, and photos of me as a ten year old and photos of Afghanistan in 1978. I'm enjoying traveling with you back in time, through my journals. I'm still in journal number one. I currently have over 70 journals. We'll see how long I keep this up...maybe no one is really even reading. Are you? Happy reading and happy travels).
My brothers and I, we went to collect stones by the sea. We found many nice stones. I found a white one I put in my pocket to keep forever.
July 1, 1978
We went to a Greek theater. It was called Philiperna (The Philippians). I saw a snake skin. And we saw some ruins that were left over from the palace and the city.
July 4, 1978
Little brother had lost his shoes so we bought some plastic shoes. Then we went to the ruins from the Greek times. When they had the Olympic games. A long time ago in Greece.
July 5, 1978
We camped at a little place. And we went and ate at a restaurant. We saw a little kitten there. We called her White Nose (Vit nos). I asked the waiter how to say "thank you very much" in Greek. He taught it to me. I practiced and practiced and practiced. I finally learned it. Ephkaristoparapoli. Long word.
(Note from the present: I remember that word to this day. Remember I am writing as an eleven year old. The sentences are brief, to the point and short. The place we visited with the ruins were in Olympia, and you could see where ancient Olympic games had been held once a long time ago. As a young girl I loved to run really fast. So did my three brothers. So we all raced each other on the old ruins, and it was quite an experience. Now back to my journal).
July 6, 1978
We left Trippoli, but when we were in the Greek mountains and driving, the car stopped all of a sudden. There wasn't any gasoline left. (bensine) So Mammi and I had to walk to go get gas. But we got very thirsty and tired. A big truck stopped and gave us a ride to the gas station. Then we went with someone else back with our gas tank. Then on our way back, we saw our car drive by, so we turned around. They had gotten gas from a German.
(Thought from the present: Now why would a young girl of eleven and an attractive woman in her thirties go get gas by themselves in the Greek mountains? My mother has always been very attractive, and it seems odd that we were sent. Thankfully we were all alright hitch hiking and all).
7 July, 1978
We went to the Epodarus theater and saw a Greek play. That happened the night of July 8th at 9 P.M. The theatre has been there 2000 years before Jesus Christ. The people in the play did not have microphones. You could still hear them really well, just like an ear, since the theatre was formed like an ear shape. They danced really nice. We sat at the very top.
(Thought from the present: My father had had too much wine that day/night, and I remember us going to the play, but being very worried about my father. I don't think we really knew where he was. I loved my father dearly, but he sometimes had a drinking problem).
9 July, 1978
We camped at Camping Becas. That was the night Baba had too much to drink. He started swimming out to a far away island from the camping place. He said he could reach the island. We had to get help, so he would not drown. I prayed a lot for Baba that night, and was very worried.
10 July, 1978 Athens
We went to another place. To camping New Europian.
11 July, 1978
We drove to Kapsunion. There is a famous temple there. The temple was built for the Greek sea god. So a lot of people can come to the temple and worship him. The sea is called Sunion.
13 July, 1978
We went to Tamarinda! (Thoughts from present: Tamarinda is the Indonesian word for amusement park. I did not know any other word for it. The reason I called it Tamarinda, was because we used to live in Indonesia when I was six and seven. The reason I also call my father Baba, is because when my brother was born in Algeria, all little kids called their dads Baba, so he did as well. All of us siblings called him Baba because of that).
In Tamarinda we went to a ghost house, motor cars, rubber cars, airplanes and rollercauster. On 14 July we came to Camping Hellas. We swam and had fun. Then we ate dinner. It was pigs meat. Middle brother found a British Airways thing. He has it for his Snoopy dog. During the day at exactly 3 P.M. I do the Snoopy show in the car, in the back seat. It is my daily show. I use my brother's Snoopy dog and there is a theme song and everything.
(Thoughts from the present: We spent a month in Greece. My parents liked for us to see a lot of historical areas, many of which are mentioned in the book of Acts in the Bible. We were of course on our way back to Sweden, after getting out of war torn Afghanistan. I recently spoke to "Little brother" who now is 36, and he encouraged me to put some photos of Afghanistan on the blog. So, I will do that for my next entry. So coming up is my trip through Yugoslavia, and photos of me as a ten year old and photos of Afghanistan in 1978. I'm enjoying traveling with you back in time, through my journals. I'm still in journal number one. I currently have over 70 journals. We'll see how long I keep this up...maybe no one is really even reading. Are you? Happy reading and happy travels).
Sunday, November 22, 2009
10th entry Driving through Turkey on our way home.
20 -21 June, 1978
In my journal I don't have anything written about our experiences in Turkey, other than the word "Turkey", but I remember what happened from the article I published at age 15.
One night while we were camping in our green tent on the Turkish hills, I had a belt next to my pillow. My father had a gun under his pillow and my older brother had a stick. I smile about the memory about the belt. What was I thinking? Was I going to fight off an army of Turks with the whip of a leather belt? We had heard stories of foreigners being stoned to death from trucks loaded with stones. One night as we were camping, we heard a truck pull up to a stop in the distance, and a group of men speaking in Turkish. My father sat with his gun ready to spring in to action to defend us. I remember praying a lot that fateful hour. I kept praying that God would make the men go away. After what seemed like a long time, the men drove off.
On June 23 we took a ferry to Istanbul where we stayed for two days. At one paricular restaurant I remember being able to look out over a body of water looking into Asia, being in Europe. The Turkish mountain roads were scary. They curved around the mountains without any fencing on the sides of the road. One time my father had had a little too much wine, and insisted on driving on the mountain roads. That was a road trip covered in constant prayers from me. We were able to see Mount Ararat in the distance, where Noah's Ark is mentioned in the Bible to have come to rest. Toward the end of our time in Turkey, we camped on a farm where a man was raising sheep. We fell in love with one particular friendly sheep. He would greet us every morning, and my brothers and I would pet the sheep. The sheppard did not understand a word of what we said, but we were able to communicate to him in broken turkish that we LOVED his sheep. We were REALLY sorry for those spoken words, because the next day he had slaughtered his sheep, and given us a huge leg from it. We had to graciously thank him, after our parents explained to us that our love for the sheep was interpreted as we love sheep meat. We all just wanted to cry. Of course we had no way to cook the meat, and the four of us kids certainly did not want to eat the mutton. All these memories are taken from my article I wrote in 1982 based on my experience being there. My 1978 journal left out a great amount of detail.
In my journal I don't have anything written about our experiences in Turkey, other than the word "Turkey", but I remember what happened from the article I published at age 15.
One night while we were camping in our green tent on the Turkish hills, I had a belt next to my pillow. My father had a gun under his pillow and my older brother had a stick. I smile about the memory about the belt. What was I thinking? Was I going to fight off an army of Turks with the whip of a leather belt? We had heard stories of foreigners being stoned to death from trucks loaded with stones. One night as we were camping, we heard a truck pull up to a stop in the distance, and a group of men speaking in Turkish. My father sat with his gun ready to spring in to action to defend us. I remember praying a lot that fateful hour. I kept praying that God would make the men go away. After what seemed like a long time, the men drove off.
On June 23 we took a ferry to Istanbul where we stayed for two days. At one paricular restaurant I remember being able to look out over a body of water looking into Asia, being in Europe. The Turkish mountain roads were scary. They curved around the mountains without any fencing on the sides of the road. One time my father had had a little too much wine, and insisted on driving on the mountain roads. That was a road trip covered in constant prayers from me. We were able to see Mount Ararat in the distance, where Noah's Ark is mentioned in the Bible to have come to rest. Toward the end of our time in Turkey, we camped on a farm where a man was raising sheep. We fell in love with one particular friendly sheep. He would greet us every morning, and my brothers and I would pet the sheep. The sheppard did not understand a word of what we said, but we were able to communicate to him in broken turkish that we LOVED his sheep. We were REALLY sorry for those spoken words, because the next day he had slaughtered his sheep, and given us a huge leg from it. We had to graciously thank him, after our parents explained to us that our love for the sheep was interpreted as we love sheep meat. We all just wanted to cry. Of course we had no way to cook the meat, and the four of us kids certainly did not want to eat the mutton. All these memories are taken from my article I wrote in 1982 based on my experience being there. My 1978 journal left out a great amount of detail.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Goin into Iran June 1978
We were able to enter Iran, but news reports warned of troubled times there too. My parents both loved exposing us to different cultures and I remember going to beautiful persian palaces and significant places in Iran. I did not know if my friend Rebecca or if the Eberharts had made it out alive. I had exchanged addresses with all of them, so I have kept in touch with them over time. Next time I write in a week from now, I will recap our adventures in nearby Turkey, when one night a truck load of men came one night to our tent with the possible intent to stone us. Rumors were floating that foreigners and locals had been killed by stone throwing from midnight raids. Well, that is for next week. This all really happened... crazy as it might sound.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
May 1978 Afghanistan 6th entry
5 May 1978
After several days of hiding we are now back at school. My doll had a birthday. She turned one. I had a party for her. (Drawing of doll and candle in journal).
9 -10 May, 1978
We had a penny carnival at school. 7th and 8th grade started it. My brother showed cartoon films from the projector. He charged 5 Afs. It was at lunch time. It was fun.
Thoughts from the present: We lived in Afghanistan for a year, without television or movies. There were no T.V. stations in Kabul at the time, so it allowed our imaginations to go far. I remember my brother building a hot air balloon that really worked. He showed 8 mm films at school of old cartoons. I loved watching Mickey Mouse and Goofy. We did not get that kind of entertainment, so it was a big deal. Remember my journal is written as an eleven year old, and some sentences seem so short and irrelevant, but they were important to me.
13 May, 1978
Rebecca, Beatrice and my brothers we practiced for our circus we are going to have. We are going to perform on Thursday 18th May. (Our weekends were Thursdays and Fridays, since Afghanistans holy day was Friday).
14 May, 1978
Mothers Day. I gave Mammi coffee in bed and a rabbit I made with a flower. She was very happy. (Drawing of my mother in journal).
Later today we went to the Nilssons to practice for our circus. Outside there are still tanks and soldiers. There is a curfew at night.
25 May, 1978
We had our circus performance in our back yard. We had it at 5:00. It was a really good circus. I was an acrobat. We had clowns.
30 May, 1978
It was sports day at school. I came in first place in the running race. Our team is called Kondoskochis. The Kandahar camels won. We came in second.
31 May, 1978 A very sad day.
We had an assembly at school. Mr. Eberhart our principal told us our school had to close down. We all have to get out of the country. (Drawings in journal of last day). Miss Morgan is leaving for America. She is my fifth grade teacher. She is getting married when she comes to America. His name is Doug. They live in a place called California. Rebecca and her sisters and I we went to the U.N. pool. Yassir and Robert splashed water on us every time we went into the water. I saw a dead man in a gutter! I can't stop thinking about it. Wahead got us some warm nann, it was so good.
5 June, 1978
Rebecca and Beatrice were going to Nadia's and they asked if I wanted to go. We are all leaving soon, so this will be my last good-bye. I spent the night. There was a storm at night, and I woke up in the night and was scared. I thought for sure Jesus was coming back in the night. I'm not sure how we are all getting out of Afghanistan. We can't fly out. We are probably driving out. We are packing and we are leaving June 10th.
Thoughts from the present: We are getting ready to leave Afghanistan. There was a gasoline shortage at the time, in the late 70's. My father (whom I call Baba) was able to buy a bunch of duty free cigarettes that we would end up using to trade for gas. It sounds crazy, but in a way cigarettes saved my life. Cigarettes were better than cash during war time. We had a 1969 VW station wagon, and we had to pack as much as possible on the roof of the car, our ara macaw parrot in the very back, four children in the back seat (before seat belt days) and my parents up front. It was a very sad day saying good-bye to our dear friend Wahead who worked and lived with us. He gave me a hug and said that maybe one day when I was a grown woman, and had children of my own, I could come back and visit him again. I have thought many times about his last words. I am now a grown woman, with three children and a husband. Afghanistan has been in a war for 31 years since this first coup de'tat I experienced in 1978. This was the precurser to the Soviet invasion of 1979. I don't think Wahead is alive today. He was an Afghan citizen and was not allowed to leave his country. Many, many years later, my principal Mr. Eberhart and his wife were able to sponser their Afghan neighbors to come to USA, in the late 1980's. I wish I would have been able to do that for Wahead, but I lost touch with him. Communication to Afghanistan was etreemly limited. Next time I write I will translate from my journal our trip out of war torn Afghanistan, and the scary border crossing into Iran, summer 1978.
After several days of hiding we are now back at school. My doll had a birthday. She turned one. I had a party for her. (Drawing of doll and candle in journal).
9 -10 May, 1978
We had a penny carnival at school. 7th and 8th grade started it. My brother showed cartoon films from the projector. He charged 5 Afs. It was at lunch time. It was fun.
Thoughts from the present: We lived in Afghanistan for a year, without television or movies. There were no T.V. stations in Kabul at the time, so it allowed our imaginations to go far. I remember my brother building a hot air balloon that really worked. He showed 8 mm films at school of old cartoons. I loved watching Mickey Mouse and Goofy. We did not get that kind of entertainment, so it was a big deal. Remember my journal is written as an eleven year old, and some sentences seem so short and irrelevant, but they were important to me.
13 May, 1978
Rebecca, Beatrice and my brothers we practiced for our circus we are going to have. We are going to perform on Thursday 18th May. (Our weekends were Thursdays and Fridays, since Afghanistans holy day was Friday).
14 May, 1978
Mothers Day. I gave Mammi coffee in bed and a rabbit I made with a flower. She was very happy. (Drawing of my mother in journal).
Later today we went to the Nilssons to practice for our circus. Outside there are still tanks and soldiers. There is a curfew at night.
25 May, 1978
We had our circus performance in our back yard. We had it at 5:00. It was a really good circus. I was an acrobat. We had clowns.
30 May, 1978
It was sports day at school. I came in first place in the running race. Our team is called Kondoskochis. The Kandahar camels won. We came in second.
31 May, 1978 A very sad day.
We had an assembly at school. Mr. Eberhart our principal told us our school had to close down. We all have to get out of the country. (Drawings in journal of last day). Miss Morgan is leaving for America. She is my fifth grade teacher. She is getting married when she comes to America. His name is Doug. They live in a place called California. Rebecca and her sisters and I we went to the U.N. pool. Yassir and Robert splashed water on us every time we went into the water. I saw a dead man in a gutter! I can't stop thinking about it. Wahead got us some warm nann, it was so good.
5 June, 1978
Rebecca and Beatrice were going to Nadia's and they asked if I wanted to go. We are all leaving soon, so this will be my last good-bye. I spent the night. There was a storm at night, and I woke up in the night and was scared. I thought for sure Jesus was coming back in the night. I'm not sure how we are all getting out of Afghanistan. We can't fly out. We are probably driving out. We are packing and we are leaving June 10th.
Thoughts from the present: We are getting ready to leave Afghanistan. There was a gasoline shortage at the time, in the late 70's. My father (whom I call Baba) was able to buy a bunch of duty free cigarettes that we would end up using to trade for gas. It sounds crazy, but in a way cigarettes saved my life. Cigarettes were better than cash during war time. We had a 1969 VW station wagon, and we had to pack as much as possible on the roof of the car, our ara macaw parrot in the very back, four children in the back seat (before seat belt days) and my parents up front. It was a very sad day saying good-bye to our dear friend Wahead who worked and lived with us. He gave me a hug and said that maybe one day when I was a grown woman, and had children of my own, I could come back and visit him again. I have thought many times about his last words. I am now a grown woman, with three children and a husband. Afghanistan has been in a war for 31 years since this first coup de'tat I experienced in 1978. This was the precurser to the Soviet invasion of 1979. I don't think Wahead is alive today. He was an Afghan citizen and was not allowed to leave his country. Many, many years later, my principal Mr. Eberhart and his wife were able to sponser their Afghan neighbors to come to USA, in the late 1980's. I wish I would have been able to do that for Wahead, but I lost touch with him. Communication to Afghanistan was etreemly limited. Next time I write I will translate from my journal our trip out of war torn Afghanistan, and the scary border crossing into Iran, summer 1978.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
April 1978 Fifth entry War Time
April 14, 1978 Translated from my journal, perspective of an eleven year old
I turned eleven today! Baba gave me two big drawing pads. My brothers gave me drawing paper and crayons. Mammi gave me an Afghanistan dress. I also got two pens and an owl from little brother. A teddy bear. A treasure map from big brother, a pair of underwear from Mammi. After my treasure hunt I found the prize from big brother, a nice jackel fur. It was really nice! (Journal shows drawings of presents).
I had my birthday party. I invited my whole class, this is who came: (I left off the last names for the blog) Tamim (his house would get bombed in a few days), Yasser, Markus, Stefan, Nadia, Seema, Ann-Marie, Kamudu, Lisa, Line, Rebecca, Beatrice, Christina, Karin, Viken.
April 27, 1978
The WORST thing that has happened in my whole life.
I was cleaning my closet because Rebecca was coming over to spend the night. Mammi had driven over to Vera and Sten to borrow a mattress for my friend. My little brothers went with her. All of a sudden I heard something that sounded like someone shot a gun. I quickly ran to ask Baba what was happening. He said, "I think they are just training." Then the doorbell rang and I went to open it. It was Mammi and my two little brothers. Then it started sounding like this "BOM! BOM! BOM! ratatata...BOM! ratatata...BOM! BOM! An hour later small airplanes started flying over our house. Baba said, "if they start to shoot a lot close to our house we will need to go down to the basement." Mammi started taking out our passports if we needed to escape out of the country fast. A few minutes later they started shooting really close to the house. "We have to go down to the basement" Baba said in a calm voice. We ran down to the basement, the door was from the outside. Just as we got to the basement we threw ourselves on the floor, because a plane was coming close. When we were in the basement we sat on short stools under the upper windows. There were scorpions on the floor. When things calmed down, we sat against the stone walls. I prayed to God, I was so scared. I didn't want to die. I had just turned eleven. Mammi and my two little brothers and I sat by the left wall. Baba and older brother sat by the right wall. It was too tight where I was sitting so I had to go to Baba's side. We sat in the basement for about three hours. Baba then went up with Wahead our friend, to cover up and darken the windows in Baba and Mammi's room. We waited another half hour. Baba was covering the windows in one bedroom so the planes couldn't see light from the air. Then Baba came and said, "Come now." It was ten something at night. We had everything ready in case we had to go to the basement again. Nobody slept that night. I heard machine gun fire and tanks shooting all night long. I prayed and prayed for God to protect us. When it was morning, it was April 28th. Baba listened to BBC. The news said there was a curfew at nine. The next day the curfew would be eleven o'clock. BBC told us that President Daud and his whole family had died. Afghanistan had a new president, and his name is Nore Mohammud Taraki. We did not go to school for three days. It was like world war three. Thank you good God that you protected us. (Journal has two pictures of my family hiding in the basement, and a drawing of Tamim's house being hit by a missile. Tamim was a boy in my class, thankfully no one was home when the house was hit).
THOUGHTS FROM THE PRESENT:
A couple of years ago I read a book "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini, the author of "The Kite Runner." In chapter fifteen it has the title APRIL 1978. He states the events of April 27th, but through an adults perspective. When I read it, I was transformed back to my own childhood and in my mind relived that eventful scary day. The facts that I state as an eleven year old about President Daoud dying were all true, and his whole family had been murdered. What had just happened in Kabul, Afghanistan on April 27, 1978, was indeed Daoud Khan had been killed. A rebel Fourth Armored Division had taken over the airport and places around Kabul. My father was a diplomat, and even with his status, we still could not get out of the country by plane. Kabul Radio, communication and foreign ministry buildings had all been taken over. Rebel MiGs had attacked the presidential palace. Tanks had broken into the area. My friend Rebecca who was supposed to come over for a sleep over, her mother had received a frantic phone call from the servant of the presidential palace. Rebecca's family were almost neighbors to the palace. The servant had sounded petrified, said they were all going to die, and if there was anyway the children to escape and come to my friends house. Then the phone call was cut off. As news would tell us, President Daoud Khan had been killed, and the communist rebels had murdered about twenty members of his family, which included women and grandchildren. Rumors would later spread that he had witnessed his family's execution, before being killed. A revolutionary council of armed forces had been established, and for a short amount of time the country would be called the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. A year later the Soviet Union would invade Afghanistan, and occupy the land for ten years. Afghanistan would not experience peace even after that, and continues to be at war presently. Next time I write I will share about the remaing two months we spent in Afghanistan, and eventually how we had to escape by car through war torn Afghanistan, and troubled Iran.
I turned eleven today! Baba gave me two big drawing pads. My brothers gave me drawing paper and crayons. Mammi gave me an Afghanistan dress. I also got two pens and an owl from little brother. A teddy bear. A treasure map from big brother, a pair of underwear from Mammi. After my treasure hunt I found the prize from big brother, a nice jackel fur. It was really nice! (Journal shows drawings of presents).
I had my birthday party. I invited my whole class, this is who came: (I left off the last names for the blog) Tamim (his house would get bombed in a few days), Yasser, Markus, Stefan, Nadia, Seema, Ann-Marie, Kamudu, Lisa, Line, Rebecca, Beatrice, Christina, Karin, Viken.
April 27, 1978
The WORST thing that has happened in my whole life.
I was cleaning my closet because Rebecca was coming over to spend the night. Mammi had driven over to Vera and Sten to borrow a mattress for my friend. My little brothers went with her. All of a sudden I heard something that sounded like someone shot a gun. I quickly ran to ask Baba what was happening. He said, "I think they are just training." Then the doorbell rang and I went to open it. It was Mammi and my two little brothers. Then it started sounding like this "BOM! BOM! BOM! ratatata...BOM! ratatata...BOM! BOM! An hour later small airplanes started flying over our house. Baba said, "if they start to shoot a lot close to our house we will need to go down to the basement." Mammi started taking out our passports if we needed to escape out of the country fast. A few minutes later they started shooting really close to the house. "We have to go down to the basement" Baba said in a calm voice. We ran down to the basement, the door was from the outside. Just as we got to the basement we threw ourselves on the floor, because a plane was coming close. When we were in the basement we sat on short stools under the upper windows. There were scorpions on the floor. When things calmed down, we sat against the stone walls. I prayed to God, I was so scared. I didn't want to die. I had just turned eleven. Mammi and my two little brothers and I sat by the left wall. Baba and older brother sat by the right wall. It was too tight where I was sitting so I had to go to Baba's side. We sat in the basement for about three hours. Baba then went up with Wahead our friend, to cover up and darken the windows in Baba and Mammi's room. We waited another half hour. Baba was covering the windows in one bedroom so the planes couldn't see light from the air. Then Baba came and said, "Come now." It was ten something at night. We had everything ready in case we had to go to the basement again. Nobody slept that night. I heard machine gun fire and tanks shooting all night long. I prayed and prayed for God to protect us. When it was morning, it was April 28th. Baba listened to BBC. The news said there was a curfew at nine. The next day the curfew would be eleven o'clock. BBC told us that President Daud and his whole family had died. Afghanistan had a new president, and his name is Nore Mohammud Taraki. We did not go to school for three days. It was like world war three. Thank you good God that you protected us. (Journal has two pictures of my family hiding in the basement, and a drawing of Tamim's house being hit by a missile. Tamim was a boy in my class, thankfully no one was home when the house was hit).
THOUGHTS FROM THE PRESENT:
A couple of years ago I read a book "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini, the author of "The Kite Runner." In chapter fifteen it has the title APRIL 1978. He states the events of April 27th, but through an adults perspective. When I read it, I was transformed back to my own childhood and in my mind relived that eventful scary day. The facts that I state as an eleven year old about President Daoud dying were all true, and his whole family had been murdered. What had just happened in Kabul, Afghanistan on April 27, 1978, was indeed Daoud Khan had been killed. A rebel Fourth Armored Division had taken over the airport and places around Kabul. My father was a diplomat, and even with his status, we still could not get out of the country by plane. Kabul Radio, communication and foreign ministry buildings had all been taken over. Rebel MiGs had attacked the presidential palace. Tanks had broken into the area. My friend Rebecca who was supposed to come over for a sleep over, her mother had received a frantic phone call from the servant of the presidential palace. Rebecca's family were almost neighbors to the palace. The servant had sounded petrified, said they were all going to die, and if there was anyway the children to escape and come to my friends house. Then the phone call was cut off. As news would tell us, President Daoud Khan had been killed, and the communist rebels had murdered about twenty members of his family, which included women and grandchildren. Rumors would later spread that he had witnessed his family's execution, before being killed. A revolutionary council of armed forces had been established, and for a short amount of time the country would be called the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. A year later the Soviet Union would invade Afghanistan, and occupy the land for ten years. Afghanistan would not experience peace even after that, and continues to be at war presently. Next time I write I will share about the remaing two months we spent in Afghanistan, and eventually how we had to escape by car through war torn Afghanistan, and troubled Iran.
Friday, October 16, 2009
Feb. 14 -April 13, 1978 From my Afghanistan 1st journal
Valentines Day 14 Feb. 1978
Today was Valentines day. I won the Valentines contest for the entire school! This is what I did. I entered my little brother in the contest. He is four years old and I dressed him up as cupid. I did not have any tan colored clothes, so I made him wear my blue ballet leotard and blue stockings, and made him wings. He was a blue cupid. I won!
Feb. 17th, 1978
We went to a ski place. But we only had a quarter tank of gasoline. One of my brothers had 10 Afs, the older had 20 Afs. But you couldn't buy 5 liters for 30 Afs. That is when Baba (my dad) took out his old 50 Afs. Now 80 Afs. We got gasoline for that.
I made a little pig and named him Knorr. (Journal shows a drawing of it)
I made a little mouse and I named him Baby Face. (Journal shows drawing)
(Note from the present: Gasoline was hard to come by, there was a gasoline shortage in the late 1970's and you would have to line up and wait to buy gas. Sometimes we traded gas for duty free cigarettes).
Feb. 19th, 1978
I made a cat and named her Rainbow. (Drawing)
I made a little kitten too, her name is Snowfleece. (Drawing)
(Note from present, remember there wasn't any T.V. and I had a lot of time to make things and be creative. I don't particularly like sewing today, but as a ten year old I was crazy about it. I sewed all kinds of animals and played with them, or gave them as gifts).
Feb. 20th, 1978
I made a birthday card for Tant Olga, she is turning 89 years old.
(Note from the present: I would eventually inherit her costume jewelry box, since I wrote to her often).
March 1978
We drove to Jalalabad on Friday. On our way back our muffler broke. Late that night a taxi came. The taxi stopped. Then it pulled us back to Jalalabad. So on Saturday we couldn't go to school. (Remember, our school week was from Sat -Wed, weekends were Thur and Fri).
But we fixed the car in Jalalabad. We came home that afternoon. (Drawing of car in journal).
14 March 1978
It was very rainy. The wind blew and it was very cold. We practiced for the Joseph play at school. I am in the choir and also one of the prisoners.
15 March 1978
We had the Joseph play and his colorful happy coat. The play started 7:30 at night. After the play there was food to eat. In the play I was a prisoner. Lisa, Rim, Rachel and Mohamod were also prisoners. Pharaoh was Farid. Rodney was Joseph. My brother and some of his friends showed slides for the different scenes. There are 12 songs to the play also.
(Note from the present: The play I am referring to is about Joseph and his 11 brothers from the Bible. The words to the song I still remember, especially the part when I had to memorize the long list of multi colors on his coat).
(The jounal shows several pages of drawings of each of the characters in the play).
22 March, 1978
Today was farfars (grandfathers) birthday. We went to the Kabul Museum today. We saw things that looked like they were from Sweden, New Guinea, Samoa and other places, but the signs said they were from Nuristan.
23 March, 1978
I went to Rebecca's house to play. She had some disease. I might get that disease. Then little Hannah made up a dance.
24 March, 1978
We drove to Mazare-Sharif. We also drove through the sSalang tunnel, which is the worlds longest tunnel. We stayed at a hotel called Karavan Hotel. But we had to leave at 4 in the morning the next day.
25 March, 1978
Just outside of Mazare-Sharif when it was still dark. All of a sudden Mammi (my mom) screams "Watch out for the blockades!!!" So as soon as Baba (my dad - which really means father in Arabic) heard her scream, he slammed on the brakes. But it was too late....CRASH!!!
The whole wind shield was gone! We crashed into long poles that blocked the road. There weren't any lights, so we never saw the poles. All the glass crashed onto us. Mammi got a big sore on her nose, but we were lucky. We could have died!
(Note from the present: This was 1978, and before seat belts existed in a lot of cars. The reason I called my dad Baba, which means father in Arabic, is because when my brother was born, my parents lived in Algeria. All the little children called their fathers Baba, so that stuck with him. I imitated my brother, and now all four of us siblings call our father Baba to this day).
26 March, 1978
I got everything ready for Easter. Baba had to go talk to John W. We waited and waited and it got really late, so I went to bed. We celebrated Easter on March 27th instead. I made presents. I gave Baba two birds I made in a painted egg. For my brothers I made a red crocodile, a Snoopy costume, and Easter Bunny, for my little brother I made two owls, for our parrot I made him a stuffed parrot, and for Wahead a mask and for me a red rabbit.
Jesus died on a cross. (Drawing of Jesus in journal with two other crosses with thieves on them).
THOUGHTS FROM THE PRESENT:
I am one month away from turning eleven in my first jounal. And one month from the war (coup de tat) happening. My father had to go speak to a John W. Maybe it was a political reason. He was a diplomat working in Kabul at the time. Was there possible tension already in Afghanistan that I was not aware of as a child? Yes, of course. As I read my first jounal, I see the shorter sentences that I wrote, but it brings back more memories. I remember having a bunk bed with my brother, and we always had to make our bed, because scorpions would sometimes fall onto beds. Unmade beds were a great way for poisonous scorpions to hide and surprise us at night. At night my mom would often ask, Did you brush your teeth? Did you check your bed? We all knew that meant check for scorpions. Next week, I will experience a war at age eleven.
Today was Valentines day. I won the Valentines contest for the entire school! This is what I did. I entered my little brother in the contest. He is four years old and I dressed him up as cupid. I did not have any tan colored clothes, so I made him wear my blue ballet leotard and blue stockings, and made him wings. He was a blue cupid. I won!
Feb. 17th, 1978
We went to a ski place. But we only had a quarter tank of gasoline. One of my brothers had 10 Afs, the older had 20 Afs. But you couldn't buy 5 liters for 30 Afs. That is when Baba (my dad) took out his old 50 Afs. Now 80 Afs. We got gasoline for that.
I made a little pig and named him Knorr. (Journal shows a drawing of it)
I made a little mouse and I named him Baby Face. (Journal shows drawing)
(Note from the present: Gasoline was hard to come by, there was a gasoline shortage in the late 1970's and you would have to line up and wait to buy gas. Sometimes we traded gas for duty free cigarettes).
Feb. 19th, 1978
I made a cat and named her Rainbow. (Drawing)
I made a little kitten too, her name is Snowfleece. (Drawing)
(Note from present, remember there wasn't any T.V. and I had a lot of time to make things and be creative. I don't particularly like sewing today, but as a ten year old I was crazy about it. I sewed all kinds of animals and played with them, or gave them as gifts).
Feb. 20th, 1978
I made a birthday card for Tant Olga, she is turning 89 years old.
(Note from the present: I would eventually inherit her costume jewelry box, since I wrote to her often).
March 1978
We drove to Jalalabad on Friday. On our way back our muffler broke. Late that night a taxi came. The taxi stopped. Then it pulled us back to Jalalabad. So on Saturday we couldn't go to school. (Remember, our school week was from Sat -Wed, weekends were Thur and Fri).
But we fixed the car in Jalalabad. We came home that afternoon. (Drawing of car in journal).
14 March 1978
It was very rainy. The wind blew and it was very cold. We practiced for the Joseph play at school. I am in the choir and also one of the prisoners.
15 March 1978
We had the Joseph play and his colorful happy coat. The play started 7:30 at night. After the play there was food to eat. In the play I was a prisoner. Lisa, Rim, Rachel and Mohamod were also prisoners. Pharaoh was Farid. Rodney was Joseph. My brother and some of his friends showed slides for the different scenes. There are 12 songs to the play also.
(Note from the present: The play I am referring to is about Joseph and his 11 brothers from the Bible. The words to the song I still remember, especially the part when I had to memorize the long list of multi colors on his coat).
(The jounal shows several pages of drawings of each of the characters in the play).
22 March, 1978
Today was farfars (grandfathers) birthday. We went to the Kabul Museum today. We saw things that looked like they were from Sweden, New Guinea, Samoa and other places, but the signs said they were from Nuristan.
23 March, 1978
I went to Rebecca's house to play. She had some disease. I might get that disease. Then little Hannah made up a dance.
24 March, 1978
We drove to Mazare-Sharif. We also drove through the sSalang tunnel, which is the worlds longest tunnel. We stayed at a hotel called Karavan Hotel. But we had to leave at 4 in the morning the next day.
25 March, 1978
Just outside of Mazare-Sharif when it was still dark. All of a sudden Mammi (my mom) screams "Watch out for the blockades!!!" So as soon as Baba (my dad - which really means father in Arabic) heard her scream, he slammed on the brakes. But it was too late....CRASH!!!
The whole wind shield was gone! We crashed into long poles that blocked the road. There weren't any lights, so we never saw the poles. All the glass crashed onto us. Mammi got a big sore on her nose, but we were lucky. We could have died!
(Note from the present: This was 1978, and before seat belts existed in a lot of cars. The reason I called my dad Baba, which means father in Arabic, is because when my brother was born, my parents lived in Algeria. All the little children called their fathers Baba, so that stuck with him. I imitated my brother, and now all four of us siblings call our father Baba to this day).
26 March, 1978
I got everything ready for Easter. Baba had to go talk to John W. We waited and waited and it got really late, so I went to bed. We celebrated Easter on March 27th instead. I made presents. I gave Baba two birds I made in a painted egg. For my brothers I made a red crocodile, a Snoopy costume, and Easter Bunny, for my little brother I made two owls, for our parrot I made him a stuffed parrot, and for Wahead a mask and for me a red rabbit.
Jesus died on a cross. (Drawing of Jesus in journal with two other crosses with thieves on them).
THOUGHTS FROM THE PRESENT:
I am one month away from turning eleven in my first jounal. And one month from the war (coup de tat) happening. My father had to go speak to a John W. Maybe it was a political reason. He was a diplomat working in Kabul at the time. Was there possible tension already in Afghanistan that I was not aware of as a child? Yes, of course. As I read my first jounal, I see the shorter sentences that I wrote, but it brings back more memories. I remember having a bunk bed with my brother, and we always had to make our bed, because scorpions would sometimes fall onto beds. Unmade beds were a great way for poisonous scorpions to hide and surprise us at night. At night my mom would often ask, Did you brush your teeth? Did you check your bed? We all knew that meant check for scorpions. Next week, I will experience a war at age eleven.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Jan -Feb, 1978 Two months before the coup
19 Jan. 1978
The man who helps with the water pump fell down the ladder and cut himself. In the evening my dad and brother came home with fresh fish. Mom baked bread. I fixed Dad's yarn octupus today that I made him. About a week and a half ago we started school again and it started to snow. On Jan. 14th we were going ice skating. When Dad drove the car out it slid side ways because it was so cold. We drove the car in again. Vera, Viken, Sten and Ciri came over later. In the morning we made a snow bear. On Jan. 19th I sewed a little pig and named him Wilbur from the book. On 20 Jan. I sewed a mouse and named him Templeton. The next day I made a bear and named her Nantanall. It is the first bear I have made just for me, I have given all my other ones away. My favorite animal is a bear. When I was seven my family and I owned a real bear cub.
6 Feb. 1978
Today we had Afghan day at school. We all brought Afghan food to class. I brought Kofta.
PERSONAL REFLECTION FROM THE PRESENT 2009
I continue to write from the perspective of a ten year old living in Kabul, Afghanistan. I attended a small, private school called Ahlman Academy, and English speaking school. Our school week commenced on Saturday and ended on Wednesday. Our weekends were Thursday and Friday. Our school week was structured to accommodate the Afghan religious day which was on Fridays. It seemed only normal to me to be in school on Saturdays and Sundays. The reason for my sudden interest in sewing all kinds of animals out of scrap cloth and yarn, was probably due to the availability of time. Afghanistan in 1978 did not have any television stations, and so therefore we did not have t.v. for the year we lived there. This made it possible to be very creative and allowed plenty of time for me to write. As I am reading my first journal from 1978 and transcribing it onto this blog I am translating it from my native language, which was not English. My father was a diplomat working in Kabul at the time. The school I attended provided me with life long friends. The principal of our school was originally from California, on assignment with his wife and two younger children at Ahlman Academy. Little did I know at the time, that this couple was part of a Bible study group and church in U.S.A. that prayed for their continual safety. It was also in this Bible study group that my future in laws were and their twelve year old son that I would one day meet and marry as a young adult. The prayers of this group would become very important as the months would lead up to the coup, that would send us into hiding from machine gun fire and air assaults. More next week about my life...
The man who helps with the water pump fell down the ladder and cut himself. In the evening my dad and brother came home with fresh fish. Mom baked bread. I fixed Dad's yarn octupus today that I made him. About a week and a half ago we started school again and it started to snow. On Jan. 14th we were going ice skating. When Dad drove the car out it slid side ways because it was so cold. We drove the car in again. Vera, Viken, Sten and Ciri came over later. In the morning we made a snow bear. On Jan. 19th I sewed a little pig and named him Wilbur from the book. On 20 Jan. I sewed a mouse and named him Templeton. The next day I made a bear and named her Nantanall. It is the first bear I have made just for me, I have given all my other ones away. My favorite animal is a bear. When I was seven my family and I owned a real bear cub.
6 Feb. 1978
Today we had Afghan day at school. We all brought Afghan food to class. I brought Kofta.
PERSONAL REFLECTION FROM THE PRESENT 2009
I continue to write from the perspective of a ten year old living in Kabul, Afghanistan. I attended a small, private school called Ahlman Academy, and English speaking school. Our school week commenced on Saturday and ended on Wednesday. Our weekends were Thursday and Friday. Our school week was structured to accommodate the Afghan religious day which was on Fridays. It seemed only normal to me to be in school on Saturdays and Sundays. The reason for my sudden interest in sewing all kinds of animals out of scrap cloth and yarn, was probably due to the availability of time. Afghanistan in 1978 did not have any television stations, and so therefore we did not have t.v. for the year we lived there. This made it possible to be very creative and allowed plenty of time for me to write. As I am reading my first journal from 1978 and transcribing it onto this blog I am translating it from my native language, which was not English. My father was a diplomat working in Kabul at the time. The school I attended provided me with life long friends. The principal of our school was originally from California, on assignment with his wife and two younger children at Ahlman Academy. Little did I know at the time, that this couple was part of a Bible study group and church in U.S.A. that prayed for their continual safety. It was also in this Bible study group that my future in laws were and their twelve year old son that I would one day meet and marry as a young adult. The prayers of this group would become very important as the months would lead up to the coup, that would send us into hiding from machine gun fire and air assaults. More next week about my life...
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Kabul, Afghanistan, Jan. 1, 1978 10 years old
We went to the mountains. We went sledding. We had a race and little brother and I won. We had chicken. There was a kind dog there and we gave him all the left over chicken bones.
Jan. 2, 1978
We put my brothers and my bed together into a bunk bed. And our parrot got something he is supposed to put under his pole. At six thirty in the evening we heard military planes fly over our house. There were lots of planes and they flew for almost an hour and a half.
Jan. 3, 1978
Wahead almost died of carbon smoke. He had been burning wood in his stove and fainted. He had all the windows closed. I made a red octopus out of yarn and named it Strawberry. We went to the Nilssons. Rebecca and Beatrice and I we played school. Little Hannah was with us too.
Jan. 12, 1978
I gave my dad a bear book I made and a stone house for his birthday. He turned 37 years old. We ate croissants from the French bakery.
THOUGHTS FROM THE PRESENT:
I was ten years when I started my first journal. I am writing as a ten year old would. Short sentences, short thoughts. Little did I know that I was four months away from living through the coup that would take over Afghanistan, lead us into hiding, and one year away from the Soviet Union invading Afghanistan and occupying the nation for ten years. Next weekend I will continue to reread and tell you about what happens in my life, in 1978. Stay tuned for more exciting events to come.
Jan. 2, 1978
We put my brothers and my bed together into a bunk bed. And our parrot got something he is supposed to put under his pole. At six thirty in the evening we heard military planes fly over our house. There were lots of planes and they flew for almost an hour and a half.
Jan. 3, 1978
Wahead almost died of carbon smoke. He had been burning wood in his stove and fainted. He had all the windows closed. I made a red octopus out of yarn and named it Strawberry. We went to the Nilssons. Rebecca and Beatrice and I we played school. Little Hannah was with us too.
Jan. 12, 1978
I gave my dad a bear book I made and a stone house for his birthday. He turned 37 years old. We ate croissants from the French bakery.
THOUGHTS FROM THE PRESENT:
I was ten years when I started my first journal. I am writing as a ten year old would. Short sentences, short thoughts. Little did I know that I was four months away from living through the coup that would take over Afghanistan, lead us into hiding, and one year away from the Soviet Union invading Afghanistan and occupying the nation for ten years. Next weekend I will continue to reread and tell you about what happens in my life, in 1978. Stay tuned for more exciting events to come.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
September 26, 2009
My name is Ann and this is the story of my life, as I reread my life through my old journals. I started writing at age 10, when I was living in Afghanistan. Since then, I have written over 70 journals. I am on a journey rereading about my life as I am currently also writing about the present. I plan to write once a week, so join me in my travels and life adventures.
Ann
My name is Ann and this is the story of my life, as I reread my life through my old journals. I started writing at age 10, when I was living in Afghanistan. Since then, I have written over 70 journals. I am on a journey rereading about my life as I am currently also writing about the present. I plan to write once a week, so join me in my travels and life adventures.
Ann
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