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Published: November 18th 2004
I don't really feel like writing, but I suppose I ought to before I forget too much. I am kind of upset by what an enormous pain the holiday of Ramazan has been to me. It was fun sharing food with people at sunset, but when I arrived in Kabul, the post Ramazan holiday had begun, and just about everything was closed. I've been trying to get my Pakistani visa now for 5 days. I was 3 days in Kabul, and then I came to Jalalabad consulate, where it's supposedly easier to get. It seems though, that Ramazan was not yet inconvenient enough for me, and Pakistan's holiday lasts a day longer. So I settled down in Jalalabad, played billiards and cricket with some of the local boy, enjoyed a nice picnic of kebab and chips by the riverside, where I broke the last barrier of my hygiene standards... after we finished our meal, one of my friends took and empty pepsi bottle, and filled it up from the river. I asked them if it was alright to drink, and they said yeah, it's okay, look, there's hardly any dirt floating in it, and offered it to me. I drank about half a litre, and it was good. I woke up at two AM that night with giardia symptoms, but I went back to sleep and in the morning I was fine. So my immune system seems to be pretty strong at this point. The odd thing about that picnic was that while they filled a bottle with water from the river to drink, after we were finished eatting, they threw all the garbage into the river as well.
Jalalabad is really quite a lovely city, it's filled with palm trees and bright gardens, while the rest of Afghanistan is freezing. There is one central park that seems to function as a kind of perpetual carnival. I saw one of those shows where the cars and motorcycles drive on the circular vertical walls... it was really poor safety standards, as you might imagine. The car was a cheap Russian copy of the Volkswagen Rabbit, about 1981 model. They push started the car, which had no doors, after making some last minute repairs(there were still numerous holes in the wall he drove on) and each time the car passed under us, the building shook and really felt like it was going to fall over. The motorcycle also drove around, and people put out money which he snatched from their hands while driving along.
The main carnival game was one we play in the West as well, you throw a ring around the prize you want, and you get the prize it lands around. The practicality of the prizes was pretty hilarious... the most coveted prizes on offer are rolls of toilet paper and matches, though there were also some cheap Pakistani toy cars there.
In the center of the carnival park there is a palace of one of the old Afghani kings, that's been nearly obliterated by the civil war.
I also rented a motorcycle for 20 rupees which I rode around the palace for a while, though I am still not too good with motorcycles, and I nearly hit some people while trying to find the brake. I was having fun in Jalalabad until this morning. I went to the consulate last night, and they told me that if I came in the morning, the consul of Pakistan would come from Peshawar and give me my visa. But when I came this morning, planning to get the visa and go, they told me that he has just not shown up, because he didn't feel like it. I asked them if he'd come tomorrow, but no, the Consulate is closed because it's Friday, the Muslim holy day, and I'd have to come back on Sunday, and I was thus sentence to spend 3 more days in Jalalabad. I'm still pissed about that, because I can't account in my travel planning for the potential laziness of diplomats. Plus, my visa is only good for Afghanistan for two more days, and I either have to buy an expensive extension or pay an expensive fine at the border. So I'm pissed.
Kabul was nice though, I particularly enjoyed the Kabul zoo. I always enjoy zoos. It was surprisingly well run, the animals were well fed, not like the Dushanbe zoo, and the only problem was that a lot of the zoo was crumbling due to gun fights and rocket attacks that hit it. During the civil war a fighter jumped into the lion cage for cover and got eatten, and afterwards his brother came for revenge and threw a grenade in the lion's pen and killed it. China donated two new lions last year though.
I like to drink a lot of pomegranate juice. Kabul is packed with foreigners, and there are a lot more soldiers there than anywhere else in the country. I met a lot of friendly people who invited me to stay at there homes, but this is the norm by now, and I refuse most offers for food and housing, because I am pretty weary of having conversations with people who have almost no English ability... it's just awkward, but if someone who is even moderately fluent invites me over for tea, I usually go.
Kabul is currently in coward mode, though, because of the kidnappings, and most of the foreigners I saw were briskly walking the ten feet from their compounds fortified gate to their armored land cruisers. Foreigners in Kabul rarely interact with the locals, and this contributes to the resentment of Westerners in Afghanistan, because they treat all Afghans like they are criminals, and don't give them the benefit of the doubt like the Afghans give us.
Kabul has a lot of good restaurants too. I am getting hungry now. One thing that struck me on the drive to Jalalabad was the lunch stop. This was the first time I'd ridden with women in the car, and they were all wearing burqas of course. I was sitting behind a woman, and her husband constantly was eyeing me with rage. Everytime I flinched he looked at me like I was trying to seduce his wife, even if I was just trying to readjust my legs in the cramped seat. I wanted to point out to him that even if she wasn't wearing a burqa I wouldn't be interested, but I don't speak Pashto so well... Farsi is ridiculously easy compared to Pashto, especially because it has a lot of words in common with Pamiri language, which I can speak a little.
I was also surprised when we stopped for lunch. On long trips there are usually stops for food. I looked around the chaikhana to see where the women were sitting, and when I didn't see them, I assumed there must be a seperate room for women. But then I walked outside and saw that they were all just sitting there in the van... not eatting. I guess they just have to do without.
Before I came to Afghanistan, my friends warned me about many things... lice, Al Qaeda, Taliban, mines, thieves, bandits, poisoned food, freezing weather, wolves, malaria, and one of the warnings was of homosexuals, which is the only one that has proved to be a valid concern. I thought of this because last night, a man passed me a note while I was eatting dinner that read something like "plees to fucking with me i hav seestah plees to fuck with me in bed tonite." I politely declined, but this is the second time I've had a guy make a pass at me this week. Needless to say, I'm absolutely celibate while I'm in Afghanistan... if I were to accept one of these offers, in parts of the country the penalty for homosexuality continues to be BURIAL ALIVE!!! Ahhhhh, no I don't think I'm going to risk it. That was the penalty throughout the whole country during the Taliban regime... among other crazy punishments, like 10 lashes for women who show their ankles or laugh in public, among the usual hand chopped off for stealing, and the occassional nonsensical punishment for adultry, gang rape.
So I'm off to Pakistan, God willing, parts of which are certainly more dangerous than Afghanistan, but I'll make sure to avoid those. I've found that the anti-Western sentiment the media so loves to talk about applies mostly to NGO workers, soldiers, and diplomats who treat local populations like they are all infected with plague. It reminds me of one of the health guidelines I read for avoiding contracting a certain disease "Try not to have extensive contact with locals to minimize risk of infection." What a bunch of crap. But I've looked down the list of health guidelines for travel in Afghanistan and ignored every single one, right up to "Don't eat human or animal faeces." I do follow mine guidelines though, that's about it. It's pretty obvious though, I don't walk anywhere where there isn't someone else waling, and if I do I step on footprints that have been left in the dust of this dustiest of countries. That's all for now, to all a good night.
Alex
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anonymous
non-member comment
Alex I just read your blog
Hey Alex, What a fantastic journal! It was fascinating, funny and insightful. You are getting the education of a lifetime. I envy your experience and look forward to your safe return. Chip (your dad's friend from college)