All Is Well

Thanks to those that have contacted me in regard to the attack on the UN guesthouse yesterday.  Yes, all is well.  Things were a bit tense for a while yesterday morning but I was unaffected other than our transportation and movement in the city is relatively limited. 

The AP photo below that many of you have seen provides an excellent terms of reference (clickable to make it a little larger) .  If you look to the right of the background that is T.V. mountain that I have mentioned several times in my here.  There is a pass between it and the mountain on the left.  Both mountains have the ruins of the old Kabul city walls, known as Sher-e Darwaza which translates to Lion's Gate, the -e being equal to the english 's .  In fact the mountain on the left is often refered to as Sher-e Darwaza Mountain.  To get to where I live and work one must pass between these mountains and I live and work about 3-5 miles on the other side of Sher-e Darwaza Mountain.  Therefore we are actually a seperate part, a suburb if you will, of Kabul.  We actually sit outside what was Kabul originally.   Needless to say we could not hear nor see any of what happened yesterday. 

So all is o.k.  This, however, makes my plans to vacate for the runoff lockdown even stronger. 

Deported!

For those that have not heard, I was deported this week.  Yes, deported from Afghanistan!  Really it was more of a formality and I got a free trip to Dubai as a result but it was a major pain to do so suddenly.  You see, a number of us had visas that were either Tourist or Visitor by type and to renew we had to leave the country. Thus those were deported, including myself.   It was not a pleasent adventure as I had to represent the University and sit and chat with the folks at the Afghan Consulate, including the Consular General.  There I had to listen to all sorts of things including that they were concerned that our tuition was too high and we were neglecting the poor by charging such.  However, state run education is still in effect here for those that qualify.  It is only those that desire an American education that come to us.  All in all it was a political game.  I was shocked to see almost as many photos of Karzai's opponent as the President of the country himself.  

Dubai was expensive Dubai as always.   I got my share of American food but blew too much cash in the process.  It was a relaxing adventure, though in the end and I came home with some goodies for the house and the kitchen.  No, I could not bring myself to break down to get a good T.V.  Oh well next time, perhaps. 

While I was away I see Afghanistan is in the news big time.  A 6.2 earthquake and a runoff election looms near.  If you will check back at my "Lockdown" blog you will see what happened last time we had an election.  If that happens again, needless to say, I am outa here.  Dubai again?  Maybe!

A couple of weeks ago a friend picked me up a very neat patch at one of the local bazaars.  Of course, it is a knock off as is obvious to the Harley folks out there,   but all of you biker friends, Harley and otherwise,  nevertheless will agree that it is pretty neat! I wish there were such a place though.  Although, I am sure, the would get all my money. 

What Have I Been Saying ........

Another interesting article that backs up many of the things I have blogged about! 

International / Asia Pacific

Civilian Goals Largely Unmet in Afghanistan

By ELISABETH BUMILLER and MARK LANDLER

Published: October 12, 2009

Obama administration officials say the U.S. is falling far short of the president’s goals to fight corruption, create a functioning government and train a police force.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/12/world/asia/12civil.html

A Very Interesting Story On Weddings

A while back I posted some photos of a wedding that I was fortunate enough to attend.  It was a gala event but as I sat there I wondered about the cost of weddings in Afghanistan.  We often here the phrase from men, "I canot afford to get married."  In the U.S. that means one thing but here it is a stark reality.  One of the students in my Spring Semester class has written an excellent article on the cost of weddings in Afghansitan published on the AUAF Free Press website.  (http://auaffreepress.com/?p=1177)

A memory of happiness – but at a high cost


Posted on 12 October 2009 by JDanish



By Jamil Dnish

October 2009 – Jawad Kohistani is sitting on a red sofa, looking pale and anxious, sipping a cup of green tea to steady his nerves.



The hotel manager is counting the number of guests Jawad plans on inviting to his wedding next week. He’s stamping every single invitation card Jawad has provided.





Photo by Freshta Dunya



But Jawad has a problem: he has no way to limit the number of guests. He wants to invite everyone and he’s very concerned about the expenses for 500 guests. “What discount will you give me for the 500 guests I have invited,” asked Jawad. The hotel manager tries to explain that he can only provide 10 free tickets per 100 guests. “I also would like you stamp some 20 blank invitation cards in case we have forgotten some guests,” said Jawad. In total, Jawad expects almost 600 guests to come to his wedding party, which will cost him $3,000 alone for the food and.



In Afghanistan, one of the poorest countries in the world, bridegrooms are expected to pay not only for their weddings, but also for all the related expenses, including big pre-wedding ceremonies. Shafi, who is a university student, is having his wedding bill picked up by his father. The total cost will exceed $20,000 which includes decorations, flowers, clothes and car hire.”



Competition among families raises the cost of weddings,” said Shafi. Shafi’s wedding will take place at the Oranoos wedding hall in Kabul, in two vast banquet rooms, one for the men and the other for the women. Afghan custom dictates that men and women are separated at weddings.



The big day is one of great activity for the family and involves a gathering of all the relatives, distant cousins and friends. The menu features 15 dishes including kebabs grilled on skewers, fish, chicken, meatballs, lamb, stewed vegetables and normally three kinds of rice, kaboli palaw, orange palaw and plain palaw all cooked with meat and served with at least two kinds of fresh fruit. (Can you make this last sentence more succinct?)



The host tries to put as much as food on the table as possible as part of the wedding tradition, even though the majority of the food usually ends up in the trash (American English). Half of the cost of every wedding goes into the hiring wedding of halls and catering.



Wedding halls are making a small fortune every week. “Aros Shahr” or the City Bride Wedding Hall in Kabul, which is actually one of the less popular wedding halls, holds a wedding every day. The actual cost of each wedding is determined by the number of guests and the type of menu. “It depends on the host of the ceremony. It can cost you from 150,000 Afg ($ 3,000) to 500,000 Afg ($ 10,000) just for the food,” explained Fahim Hakimi, the manager of the City Bride Wedding Hall. “On average a wedding hall in Kabul is making up to $ 20,000 a week,” Fahim admitted.



But since the Taliban regime was ousted in 2001, the Afghan wedding industry has sprung up and is now bigger than ever. The average guest list for a wedding ceremony often reaches 700 people and you can expect some 200 gate-crashers on top of that. The biggest weddings can exceed 2,000 people in number. The wedding halls in Kabul, most of them built in the last six years, stand out in the city with their mirrored green and blue glass and blinking decorated lights towering over the city’s dusty streets. The indoor halls feature mirrored walls and on the outside the neon lighting is powered by generators because there’s no guarantee of electricity in Kabul most of the time.

“The number of registered wedding halls in Kabul alone has reached 68 and that’s growing,” said Haji Abdul Salam the head of hotels at Kabul Municipality. That is seven times the number of wedding halls that there were in 2001. The names of the halls usually offer an idea of romance and glamour which can be more hopeful than realistic: An Evening in Paris Wedding Hall, the Aria Seven Stars Wedding Hall, the City Bride Wedding Hall, the Unique Palace and others.

Bridegrooms and their families end up organizing huge wedding ceremonies and then place themselves in huge debt for years afterwards.



As a day laborer Jawad makes about US$ 250 a month, but he’s already spent US$ 5,000; that excludes the expense of feeding another 550 guests on the wedding day which will inflate the price to US$ 9,000. He claims to have borrowed more than half of the total amount.



“My relatives, friends and family members have lent me money so I have to pay every single penny back,” Jawad said.



Asked how it felt to hand over the equivalent of 36 times his monthly salary, he replied: “The payment allowed the marriage to happen. Only a memory is left, a memory of happiness,” he exclaimed.

The Funk

So, I have really been in a funk lately. Cannot seem to snap out of it. I had hoped Bangkok would help but, honestly, I just made it worse. What can I do to break out of this?