Blogs from Afghanistan, Asia - page 10

1 octobre : J’ai decouverts qu’il y avait un petit gym au centre-ville/bazard de Bamyan, j’ai été faire un petit tour histoire de rechauffer mes muscles. 2 octobre : En cette journee de conge je decouvre qu’il y a un gym UN a pas plus que 1 minute de marche de ma guesthouse ! Je profite donc de cette journee pour forger mon corps d’athele. 3-4-5 octobre : Entrainement a la Rocky , parfois le nouveau gars IT, Marlin de l’Afrik du Sud se joint a moi. 6 octobre : Entrainement et en soiree je me tape le film « Gran Torino » avec Clint Eastwood, j’avais entendu dire que dans ce film Clint jouait les racistes, pas du tout ! Il aide les pauvres chinois a s’en sortir ! 7 octobre : Je devais decoller ... read more

Hello, From Gold and Gas to Blue and Cotton, or Turkmenistan to Uzbekistan I have seen a few things in Uzbekistan, but I'm still there so I'm going to leave Uzbekistan for my next blog. This one is as you might expect is about Afghanistan, where i spent a very un backpackery like week. The title doesn't relate to the trafficking or paying ransoms, as that might make for far too exciting reading. Actually an Afghan is just a type of scarf and the Afghani is the currency which happen to share the name (presumably not complete coincidently) with the people. While I was looking relatively incognito - brown hair, not very tall, half a beard and kitted out only with a shoulder bag, my companion was making a good sore thumb impression as he was ... read more

15 septembre : Souper a la base militaire des neo-zelandais : spaghetti et steack avec un super de gateau comme dessert. La base est egalement occupee par des etatsuniens et des singaporiens. Jasse avec des soldats singaporiens sur leur beau pays/ville. Ross et moi on était inviter par un policier neo-zelandais, je lui est dit que mon seul ticket de vitesse dans ma vie est due a la gentillesse de la police neo-zelandaise ! 16 septembre : Copier 118 films du disque externe de Ross. Regarder un film de danse, Honey, qui aurait été poche s’il ca n’avait été de la presence de la ravissante Jessica Alba 17 septembre : Revue le tres bon film pseudo-historique : 300 ! Un film qui parait que certaines demoiselles regardent sans meme mettre le sons, juste pour mouiller devant ... read more

Any attempt to describe the circumstances that envelope this country without making a political comment is futile. This is a country that has been brutalized from forces from inside and from outside of it's borders. The election, for the most part, is an attempt to show that world that Afghanistan has the ability to decide it's own destiny. However, like many countries (and one could make the argument towards all countries), the want of power and the path to achieving it is paved with corruption, influence, and deceit. The list of election problems here seems endless: ballot boxes going missing for hours, womens' voting stations closed, thousands of people (more than 10,000 in one case) bussed outside of their own district to buoy candidates in another district, ballot stuffing (indicated by 60 to 70% turnout in ... read more

STATUS QUO? Elections have come and gone, with little fanfare, a few sporadic attacks and small voter turnout. We have been working with our own Afghan National Army soldiers while waiting to turn everything over to the 82nd, scheduled to move in here the next couple of weeks. We are being shifted around as soldiers continue to move into this camp. Two days ago, we got attacked with a series of mortars and rockets throughout the night, and fortunately there were only minor casualties. We are trying to get our ANA group ready for the transitional turnover as the 82nd moves in here and all of us move out soon afterward. Herat isn't totally unlike some towns out east-it has its remote qualities, but shows signs of urbanization as Afghanistan tries to build on what little ... read more