"KABUL (Reuters) - A suicide bomber killed six Afghans, including a policeman, in a blast near Afghanistan's parliament in Kabul on Friday, President Hamid Karzai said. Police had stopped the bomber in his car and then he blew himself up, a policeman at the scene said... The blast occurred early in the morning and there was little traffic because Kabul largely shuts down on Fridays, the Muslim holy day."

So, that's two suicide bombers in Kabul, one accidental explosion and one controlled explosion since I came on March 1. I shouldn't say this, since Mom reads these, but the two suicide bombs, were, indeed, on my way to work. The first one happened when I was already at work (we get to work by 8), and the other happened today, a Friday, when I don't work.

They tend to happen between 8 and 9:30, for the reasons I've written about earlier -- the suicide bomber fasts and prays the night before, then goes to the first prayer of the day, then he's absolutely clean of all his sins, and then he goes for the target. If he doesn't get it by 9:30, he gives up, because by then, he's not "clean" anymore.

Surreal, scary, and true.

How do I deal with it? I pretend it's not happening. De Nile ain't just a river in Egypt -- it's how I get through the day.

But I do wonder if anyone who died were people I'd seen on my way to work -- I always look at the police standing in various places on the way to work, and over at the Parliament building entrance when we drive by. I wonder about the families of those left behind...

It's surreal to see the photos from the bombing on the newswires -- I see this road every day except Fridays.

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