Shadowing Practice: The Afghanistan Nobody Expects in 2026… I Was Shocked 🇦🇫 - Learn English Speaking with Video

Afghanistan is one of the most dangerous countries on the planet.

For women, some of what I've discovered here has been shocking.

But the Taliban are not just restricting women.

Music has been pushed out of public life, dress is controlled, and traditions are under pressure.

Yet Afghan culture has not disappeared.

So for my final film, I went looking for the Afghanistan that's still holding on to it.

And it brought me here to Bamiyan.

We're starting in Bamyang Bazaar and we are going to be buying some food

because there is a very special lunch that's going to be cooked for tomorrow.

Tomorrow we are meeting with a local family and we're going to have a really nice lunch.

Oh, my head just hit the chicken.

So we're getting enough chicken to feed everyone so I can't concentrate now.

Knowing times are really tough, I wanted to make sure the lunch wouldn't cost this family anything

so I'm picking up all the ingredients and they'll take care of the cooking.

Hello, how are you?

I'm good thanks, how are you?

I'm fine, nice to meet you.

Thank you.

Where are you from?

I'm from London.

London?

London.

Oh great.

How about you?

Good.

I am, yeah, and then I say, It's all happening here, you see?

There's any life out there.

And what's the name of the dish we're doing tomorrow?

Koloji.

Koloji?

Yeah.

Koloji?

Am I saying that right?

Yeah.

They're laughing at me.

Chicken tikka.

Yeah.

This is the spice.

So they mix it with the chicken and keep it at least for like 12 hours and then they cook it.

I see.

May I have a look around this supermarket because it looks very interesting.

Let me see it looks quite quite extensive.

Let's have a look at this extensive supermarket.

Oh what have we got around here?

Oh the sweets, these guys like these sweets, look with their chai.

I've noticed that.

We've got dates, what else have we got?

Oh look the dried mulberries.

In every corner of this supermarket there's like a different smell and I can smell very strongly the tea leaves here.

These kind of thermos flasks remind me so much of Afghanistan

and we have green tea in them and we take them up mountains and then we have our tea It's really nice.

They look like Pringles but they're not.

They're called Jacka.

Jacka.

Pop and you can't stop.

They got everything.

I almost thought that was vodka.

See Nutella's made it here.

Do they have iced coffee? Is it?

Could I try it?

Do you mind?

What's it called?

Coffo.

Coffo coffee.

Latte.

Latte for.

Yeah right into the wagon into the beast mobile oh my goodness look who it is!

How are you?

Zio is lovely to see you!

Zio was my driver in 2024 and he is the son of my now driver Coco.

Tell him that I think his dad trained him well.

Oh that's not bad, that's pretty good.

I like it.

I thought it was all about the green tea here.

I like Kofo.

Right so this is our hotel.

Salam.

Yeah, in we go.

Hello.

This is nice isn't it?

Salam!

It feels very calm in here.

It's very relaxing.

I like what it's spaces.

Oh wow, oh it's lovely.

Is it okay?

Yeah it's great.

Oh it's really lovely thank you very much.

Thanks everybody.

And the bathroom in here.

Let's have a look.

Yeah.

Oh it's perfect.

Look at that.

A shower and a toilet and a sink.

I love it.

Now you can't come to Bamiyan and miss visiting the Buddha caves.

They date back 1500 years.

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There were two huge upright Buddha statues.

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One was 55 metres tall, the other was 38 metres tall.

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In 2001 the Taliban at the time blew them up.

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This guy here is senior Taliban governor Abdullah Sahadi and he's not the sharpest tool in the box.

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He recently told the BBC he helped destroy the Buddhas because idol worship is not allowed in Islam.

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However, had he actually read the Quran, he would know that it explicitly commands Muslims not to insult or curse the idols that other people worship.

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It's also one of the biggest own goals the Taliban have made

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because this place would have encouraged thousands of tourists per year.

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I told you they aren't the smartest.

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So I'm stood at the base of the smaller of the two Buddhas and this one was 38 metres.

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What we're going to do now is we're going to go inside and upstairs

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and then apparently we can walk along to the other one.

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Hopefully it's cool inside, Mohamedjan.

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Yeah.

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How many steps are there?

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Do you know?

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Only 200.

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Actually, don't tell me.

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I don't want to know.

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I don't want to know.

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How many steps is that?

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This one?

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Yeah, how many?

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Maybe 15.

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And you said 200.

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Yeah, 15.

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They're probably about a foot deep, aren't they?

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Oh my goodness.

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Please take one big joke.

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Oh, I don't know, should we do it right by the edge?

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Bit scary.

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Camera failed, wait a sec.

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Yeah, it's fine.

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Hang on, don't we just clean your lens a bit?

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Your lens is a bit dirty.

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Okay, sorry, I've done it again.

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Sorry.

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Alright ready?

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Do you want a bit of the view?

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Alright ready?

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He's very dark.

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Wow!

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Look at that, 1500 years old.

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So there's some colour left behind.

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Oh, it must have been amazing.

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Wow!

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All these little rooms!

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What's this in here then?

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Not a cave, maybe they put a door to keep it like...

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Look, more caves in there.

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Wow!

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We did a lot of steps up and down in there, and at high altitude I can tell you it felt like 20 ,000, not 200.

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Now, alarmingly, the darkness here alerted Mohamed Jahn to the fact that the exit door down those steps was locked.

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So we are locked in, but Mohammed -jan's made a phone call

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because I definitely don't want to go all the way back up along and back down again.

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Tasha call.

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Tasha call.

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That is very much appreciated.

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Thank you, Tasha call, Tasha call.

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Can you imagine if we'd got all that way and not been able to get out, I would have been horrified.

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just as well you've got the hotline the hotline to this

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guy i i don't know what i would have done

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if you'd said whoops i'm gonna try a restaurant in bambian

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called i honom what does it mean my column is like

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a moon lady moon lady moon lady she sounds very nice

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i think the the chef is a The chef is a lady.

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That's why it's called Moon Lady.

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Well, I should imagine the food will be fantastic.

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These guys don't look like moon ladies though.

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My nickname is Mom, but my full name is Mom Mom Mom Mom.

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It's called Mom Mom Mom.

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It's American isn't it?

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Mom.

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Maybe he is putting on a wrong t -shirt.

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I think the t -shirt might be for his mom.

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Oh, smells good in here.

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We are here really early but that's because we've been getting up really early

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and having early dinners so it's empty at the minute but it will be packed later.

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Just taking a little look, I've noticed the weather in Bamyang can change, it can turn on a sixpence and it was really hot this morning.

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Look at it now.

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Proper storm brewing.

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Look at that.

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What tea is this then?

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It is saffron tea.

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I haven't had saffron tea yet on this trip.

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Saffron we grow locally in Herald.

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Oh you grow it in Harat.

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Brilliant.

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Here you go.

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Oh it's fresh isn't it?

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Yeah it's very refreshing.

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I'm looking here at Zio.

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Come on, come on.

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So we've got Zio and Zio's dad, Kaka.

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Come on.

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Now, we are looking at their faces to see what the similarities are.

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Can you smile?

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I think it's their smile.

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It is.

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It's the smile.

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Different eyes, I think.

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Different nose father and son both absolutely lovely

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looks like a boxer yeah did he break his nose yeah did he how did he break his nose

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What was he doing to break his nose?

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She should do it again.

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I was a kid, I was a kid.

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He used to fall over a lot? Did he?

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Really?

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Yeah.

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He's pretty good.

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He's very good though.

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Remember archery in Nuristan?

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He's very good.

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He obviously became coordinated later in that.

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He was good.

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He's doing arm wrestle with Rahmat.

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It's good, it's strong.

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Because it's early here, we are just going to have a snack.

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So we're just going to go for some local delicacies, probably Arshak, Mantu, my faves.

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And they're throwing in a Bamiyanian, Bamiyanian?

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Bamiyanian?

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Bamiyanian speciality.

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Got the sauces.

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Ooh, a lot of bread.

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Yeah, it smells really good.

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I can't wait to try this.

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I really like Arshak.

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I think it's my favourite.

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Oh, this is interesting.

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So this is the Bamiyanian one.

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Yeah.

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Ah, so it's like bread.

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It's got onions on top.

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Bread, butter and onion.

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Karuchi's nice.

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Yeah.

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Very creamy.

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It's famous.

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It's really tasty.

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Yeah.

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I'm surprised.

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I don't normally like yogurt things, but it's actually, it's really tasty.

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It's quite sweet.

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It's very creamy.

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I like the onions on top.

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They give it a bit of depth.

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That's a nice dish.

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Oh, I love Arshak so much.

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Oh shucks, really good.

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I like that.

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Delicious.

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I really like that.

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After dinner I headed back to the hotel for an early night.

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The next day it was time for that special lunch I'd bought the ingredients for earlier, with a family I've been supporting for over a year.

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Their father died suddenly last year, leaving four young children behind, and life became incredibly difficult.

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With the help from people on social media, I was able to raise money to help with food, and now I wanted to see how they were doing.

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They'll need support for some time yet, so any help you can give would mean a huge amount.

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You can donate through Revive Afghanistan.

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The link is in the description below.

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I can see some familiar faces.

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Hello!

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Hello!

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Nice to meet you!

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Nice to meet you!

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Hello!

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Hello!

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How are you?

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Yay!

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How are you?

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I'm very welcome.

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Yeah!

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Oh, you're welcome. So, I have just, the kids are just getting used to me

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and I've brought them some little gifts from the UK

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which I thought would be nice so we're now going to see what they make of them.

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I bought some pencil cases and stationery from the shop Smigal in the UK to help with their studies.

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Last year when I'd heard about how sad they were I decided to try

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and organise for a local teacher to go to their house

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and give them some lessons at home including English lessons and this has been a major turning point in their mental health.

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I got to chat to their teacher.

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At first when they lost their father they were really good.

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But then I appreciate them and they became more resilient and they started to try hard and study their lessons.

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Yeah, that's so good.

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So they're a lot happier now basically.

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Now we have a special lunch here.

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This is the time to eat the food called Remind Me.

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Colohi.

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Colohi.

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I can't say it.

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Colohi.

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Yeah, Colohi.

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Okay, so the chicken's been marinated in the spice.

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Can I see?

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I see.

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So lots of different packages here.

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And it is enough for 20 people.

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Enough for 20 people.

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Fantastic.

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Like this.

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Yeah.

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Just drop them in, yeah?

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Very hot.

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Bit like a volcano.

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Wow, look at you, Mohammed -chan.

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Yeah, I'm doing it.

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It's like 20 times in a year.

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It's great, isn't it?

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It's a bit like a tree, isn't it?

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Very dusty.

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I didn't expect it to go like that.

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Did you just break it down?

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That's brilliant, isn't it?

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Is this the big reveal?

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Yeah.

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Okay.

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Let's see, let's see.

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Just digging them out like that.

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Wasn't it?

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Wow.

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Oh that smells good.

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These look delicious well thank you so much.

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Should I take it?

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It's probably a bit hot isn't it?

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There we go.

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Got it.

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Thank you.

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Mmm.

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Mmm.

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That's delish.

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Mmm.

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I love it.

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Mazador.

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Cool.

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Mmm.

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It's really soft and lightly spiced not too spicy just how I like it.

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Oh very good.

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He's so cute isn't he?

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He's just so cute.

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Hearing the kids laugh absolutely made my day

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and I hope I can keep supporting them until life feels a little more secure.

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Then it was time to head back into Bamyang for something completely different.

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In Bamyang there's something really special and that is a women's market.

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Wow.

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Oh hello cutie.

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Hello cutie.

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So we have all sorts of shops don't we we've got

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like the dress shops beautiful traditional outfits look here you see

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hi may i see thank you you have some beautiful outfits they are very beautiful

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and where would you wear something like that we don't be pushing me right up in the ceremony it's like weddings,

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parties, parties yeah this is i mean this is really big wow it looks heavy yeah thank you

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wow that's that is heavy isn't it yeah it is with the earrings so i hold an earring up here look

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How's that?

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How do I look?

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Is it good?

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Totally look Alaphon.

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Yeah Afghan now?

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Yeah?

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Yeah.

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Maybe I could buy a bracelet from her.

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These are beautiful, right.

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I like the natural stone of them.

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I just see.

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Aren't they lovely?

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So this lady here was saying that, oh I like these,

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that times are hard at the minute and that is because of all the walls you see that are surrounding Afghanistan.

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it affects business quite a lot so we need the world to calm down

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so that these people can get back to earning money again She has a question for you Yes,

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certainly You are already from I am No,

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it's good, it's good English I am from London in England Inglistan Inglistan, yeah, Inglistan London in Inglistan Yeah Yeah,

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it was nice to meet you Nice to meet you too.

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Thank you so much.

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Oh my name is Carrie.

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Carrie what is your name?

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Hadija.

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Hadija.

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Nice to meet you Hadija.

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Nice to meet you too.

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Awesome.

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Right thank you then.

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You're welcome.

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Bye bye.

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How are you?

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Good.

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Oh you have a beautiful shop as well.

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Do you like working here?

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Yes, it's a very amazing job.

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Yes, and where do you get all of your things from? From women.

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The women.

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Oh, the women in Afghanistan?

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Yes.

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In the local area, in Bamiyan?

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Especially in villages.

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In the villages.

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That's fantastic.

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These are handmade.

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Maybe if I could take a green scarf, because I've been looking for a green scarf.

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Yeah, it feels very soft.

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What is Bamiyan like as a place to live?

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We are free.

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I like this.

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Yes, it feels different here.

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Bamiyan feels different.

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Yeah, from other moments.

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Yeah, you're lucky.

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We are actually relaxing.

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Good.

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And I have to say, the scenery, the views are,

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I think, some of the best in the world here so beautiful I absolutely love this so soft right Tashukul bye Hulefez

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chatting to the ladies here basically what they're saying is

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that each shop run by a woman then buys things in

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which are handmade most of the time from their own village

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so it's not just the women that you're seeing in here

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that you're supporting it's like it's all of like 10 -15 in their village at home as well

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so it's a really good initiative so if you come to Bamiyan come here

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and buy some things and help support these women.

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For my final stop in Bamiyan I wanted to go back somewhere really special,

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a village I'd visited in 2024 that became one of my favourite memories of Afghanistan.

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But before I went I had one important job to do, pick up a few gifts.

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We're walking through the very busy market, all sorts of things in here, there's shoes, there's food, there's clothing, there's toys.

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Now we've got a range of ages haven't we?

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These are nice.

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Why don't we get some of these? Are they good?

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Put them in as well because they can't be that much.

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Hair clips and cars.

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Nothing like gender stereotyping.

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$8.

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$8.

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Let's just have to take the bag.

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Yeah, let's take the bag.

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Hello.

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Everybody's coming up saying hello here, very friendly.

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I don't know.

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I don't know.

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I don't know.

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Tell me about it.

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Basically this is about $13 and we're going to get the balls, we're going to get the hair clips and we're going to get the cars.

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That's cool.

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Right, we're going.

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So one of my fondest memories from my entire trip two

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years ago was visiting a local village here where there were kids flying paper airplanes.

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Oh wow.

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Oh wow.

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Wow!

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Wow!

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I recognise these faces!

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Hello!

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Hello!

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Hi!

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She was so shy last time, this time she's actually shaking my hand.

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Oh my goodness, hi!

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I recognise you as well!

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Hello Salaam, nice to see you!

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Right, this is for flying the aeroplanes.

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We're going to fly some more aeroplanes.

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And yeah, should we do this?

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I remember you!

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Maybe I didn't meet this one though.

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You must be new, you're the new addition.

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Come on, come on, come on, come on, come on.

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Come on.

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Say to him, it's really nice for me to see him again.

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I'm so excited to see him again.

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It looks so good.

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It's got the biggest paper airplane competition going on in the whole of Afghanistan.

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Ready?

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Let's go.

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Let's see if it's like Concorde.

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I got those socks out.

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Thank you.

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1, 2, 3

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So now we're going to try as best as we can

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and recreate a photo from two years ago There's the photo It'll be brilliant, yeah, yeah, you're next to me You sit first Okay, where do I go?

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Come on, she has the money Yeah, yeah, yeah, we've got the addition this side Yeah?

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What's your show?

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We almost achieved it but Walid was missing as he was herding goats.

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He arrived as we were about to leave so I took a photo and left a promise to do some photoshopping.

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I really hope you've enjoyed seeing this side of Bamiyan.

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And if you can help me continue supporting the family you saw earlier, please donate whatever you can, small or large, through Revive Afghanistan.

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The link is in the description below.

¿Qué es la Técnica de Shadowing?

Shadowing es una técnica de aprendizaje de idiomas respaldada por la ciencia, desarrollada originalmente para la formación de intérpretes profesionales y popularizada por el políglota Dr. Alexander Arguelles. El método es simple pero poderoso: escuchas audio en inglés nativo y lo repites en voz alta de inmediato, como una sombra que sigue al hablante con solo 1-2 segundos de retraso. A diferencia de la escucha pasiva o los ejercicios de gramática, el shadowing obliga a tu cerebro y músculos de la boca a procesar y reproducir simultáneamente patrones de habla reales. Las investigaciones muestran que mejora significativamente la precisión de la pronunciación, la entonación, el ritmo, el habla conectada, la comprensión auditiva y la fluidez al hablar, convirtiéndola en una de las metodologías más efectivas para la preparación del IELTS Speaking y la comunicación en inglés en el mundo real.

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