Today hell seems to have frozen over. A beautiful white, soft, fluffy, cold substance entirely composed of dihydrogen oxide fell from the skies. It coated the ground for less than an instant as it landed. For the first time since I've come to this place, I've had a sense of excitement. A sense of wonder overcame me, I smiled. I rushed out of the door and looked outside. Snow was really falling to the ground! I walked to the px and bought a pack of cigarettes through the snow. Some people were just as excited as I was, some were disgruntled, some were generally indifferent.
As I walked into the store a long line of people were waiting to buy various goods, I guess they had fallen into the natural habit of stocking up during a storm, or something like that. After having bought my cigarettes I walked out to the smoking area and lit a cigarette, I was smoking in the snow in Afghanistan.
Later today, after having eaten my simple meal of broccoli, a pear, and a chunk of lettuce (I've been eating a fairly light diet as of late) I headed out for another cigarette. After having smoked again I gathered up some of the slushy, wet and cold awesomeness, formed a small and translucent snowball and chucked it at a nearby concrete wall. I'd thrown the first (and possibly only) snowball of the real Afghan winter.
I'd missed winter, seasons, snow, and so much else since I left home over half a year ago. Today's storm provided me with hope that maybe there really is some kind of joy over here. Then again, I guess anything is possible when hell freezes over.