We drove in stop and go traffic for nearly an hour through the mud and slush while the snow and sleet kept coming down. It was as if the weather was trying to make up for the many sunny and dry days we have had so far.
Many Afghans knew from TV, internet, friends or colleagues that the US east coast was hit by a mega winter storm while we got to watch how Kabul digs itself out from a much milder one; wet snow (barfetar) as opposed to dry snow (barfe-something else).
Everywhere I saw people cleaning off their flat roofs, kids and adults throwing wet and hard snow balls at each other and pedestrians trying in vain to avoid the muddy puddles that were everywhere.
Here streets don’t get plowed – I have yet to see a plow. Cars turn the thick heavy snow into muck and on the smaller side roads like in our quartier, the cars create grooves that are hard to navigate for pedestrians and bikes, with a real chance of sliding into one of the jewies (open gutters).
Later in the day a cold front announced itself with a nasty cold wind which left countless people shuddering in their not-very-winter-clothes. Unlike the US where we all have an entire separate winter wardrobe, here people are wearing the same clothes all year round; maybe people have one shalwar kameez made from wool rather than thin cotton, but otherwise the clothes appear the same.
Footwear is another source of wonder: some women wear mules, barefoot, of the kind we’d expect to see on a summer evening; some men even trudge through the thick and slushy snow wearing the ubiquitous plastic slippers, barefoot as well, that you usually find indoors.
I rarely see people wearing gloves but maybe it has not been cold enough. We brought all our guards and household personnel Thinsulate gloves but have never seen them wear these (maybe tomorrow when northern winds will chill us through our bones).
Sylvia's Journal 
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