My first two weeks here have been fantastic. The weather has been beautiful and I was in the process of writing a post about my guest house, the different types of yummy food I’ve eaten and the interesting people I’ve met. But after the violence of the past 72 hours its seems a bit inappropriate — too rosy.

First, don’t worry, I am fine – but after two weeks of feeling settled and maybe even little complacent about the violence  – it’s hitting home just how violent Afghanistan is.

It began with a whimper – really just an afterthought. Thursday nights are the big night out in Kabul – with Fridays a day of rest – so of course, I went out. By Friday afternoon I heard a rumor/ report that there was a kidnapping attempt outside one of the popular western clubs. I say “rumor,” because there seems to always be reports of kidnapping attempts. You really just never know how true they are — a lot of it might be just recycled info. Still, it’s always there.

But the weekend brought a rash of violence that is probably just a glimpse of what’s to come as the snows melt and more U.S troops arrive.

Saturday night/ Sunday morning two British troops were killed in southern Helmand. But that was only the beginning, as the violence escalated with 4 American soldiers killed in eastern Afghanistan by a roadside bomb and a suicide bomber killing two Afghan nationals near the outskirts of Kabul.

In Kapisa, a french soldier and five Afghan troops were also killed. And the Mayor of Kandahar was attacked as well.

Today, 9 more people were killed in the southern and most dangerous part of the country.

Several soldiers and other Afghans have been killed during my very short two weeks here — but the pace and speed of the attacks over the past few days are a first for me. And no one has been spared. French, American, British and Afghans have all been targeted (I think several Canadian troops were also killed earlier in the week.)

I guess the bright side of this is that the Taliban is also taking its fair share of casualties. But I doubt that is much of a comfort to the families and friends who have lost loved ones.

I am not writing this to scare anyone. And believe me I am FINE. I’ve even been doing some work with a visiting TV crew in Kabul. But when I made the decision to come out here, I told people I “planned to arrive just before the violence kicks off.”

Well, I did. But my description of my timetable seems a bit insensitive — the type of comment made in a bar or just in passing. Now that the spring violence has begun, I doubt I will use sporting terms to describe it again.