after_alex

And so West is where I’m going. At this very moment im sitting on United 875, going from Seattle to Tokyo. I’ll fill you in on the plan…

After finishing up my first year at Harvard Kennedy School, I’ve moved my stuff down to Philadelphia, in preparation for next year’s start at Wharton for my MBA program. This coming year will be the second In my three year dual degree program.

Summer, however, is what’s up next, and I’m on my way to a two month research internship in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. I’ll be working at the Fulbright School, the premier public policy school in Vietnam. Not only does the school provide a uniquely legit Master in Public Policy for Vietnamese officials and industry professionals, it also remains one of the country’s most qualified and respected think tanks. While I’m there during June and July I will be conducting research on the urban development policies, real estate, and infrastructure. It should be an interesting summer, my first professional experience in a truly Vietnamese context.

But first, I’m heading to Japan. How could i go to Asia and pass up an opportunity to visit this teeming island of modernity. Or should I say post-modernity. Well the plan is to spend about 10 days here visiting friends in Tokyo, then heading out to Okinawa and Hakata (yes, Hakata RAMEN!)..for those of you who can appreciate a bowl of ramen this will be quite a pilgrimage to the Mecca of pork flavored goodness itself (pls forgive the cultural faux pas)… and maybe I’ll make it out to Hiroshima on the way back to Tokyo. Hopefully this trip will be a good experience to fill in the gaps in my earlier trips to Japan. I’ve always wanted to go to the southern islands of Japan, so now’s my chance. I can’t imagine the next opprtunity I’ll have to see both old friends and new places in Japan, so this is it.

But whats so interesting about Japan and the rest of Asia so exactly this entanglement of new and old, East and West. Growing up as a Californian, my sense of geography is ultimately twisted. My notions of
new and old, east and west, traditional and modern are all products of California’s relative geographic location. Sure, Asia is traditionally “the East”. But it’s also just a 10 hour plane ride to the West, and it’s a region that is trying to modernize as much and as fast as any other developing place on earth. Combine that with its millenias-old history, and you certainly get a sense of the multiplicity here.

So, what you get in places like Vietnam …and perhaps Japan years ago… is a race to modernity, starting from a very modest beginning. When only 15 years ago, it was almost illegal to have a telephone, normal Vietnamese now brandish their laptops and iPhones, make-do with their Vespas and Louis Vuitton, mingle with YouTube and Facebook, and have daily debates about the real estate and stock markets. Such is the face of an overt attempt to become modern. The leap to modernity, however, not without caveats. The sales and import of Apple products and laptops is heavily controlled. Luxury goods carry a 200% import tax (imagine $100k Toyotas). And censorship only grows across Vietnam’s internet (don’t be surprised if you see me disappear from Facebook soon). The real estate markets itself is in quite a situation, as economists and industry watchers warn of an over-blown asset bubble. Thus, Vietnam is a very interesting place to be. And so, I will go West…

I’m sick again. It’s really easy to get sick here. For the most part, you better not get sick because access to good healthcare isn’t exactly stellar, to say the least. So now sitting here in my residential compound, I’m wondering what it was that got me this time. Chills, fever, fatique. It seems like the flu, but I’m not coughing or sneezing at all. That was last [last] week.

Now I’m sorta scared that it’s one of those crazy diseases like malaria that you only pick up in fucked up places like Afghanistan. Typhoid maybe? Ugh. There’s a whole list of things that could have gotten me, most notably LEGIONNAIRES DISEASE, which was found at the Westin Mina Seyahi hotel in Dubai. I didn’t stay at the Westin myself, but I did stay next door at Le Meridien …both hotels are run by the same hotels group. According to the health statements, people who get LEGIONNAIRES DISEASE develop symptoms after 2-3 weeks. That’d be just about right for me, since I stayed there right about 2 weeks ago. Ugh.

Right now my remedy is to take some Theraflu–which is a mix of a bunch of different stuff. I think Tylenol, dextromethorphan, pseudoephedrin, and a whole hostload of other shit. Only problem is that the package expired back in 2002. According to my mom, the know-all pharmacist who will force me to take all sorts expired drugs…the worst that could happen is that the stuff doesn’t work…and it won’t kill me or anything. Iono man. Last time, I took this stuff, and I just about hallucinated. Well. Here’s to a party tonight…Bottoms up!

Perhaps I’ve been inured by the consistent threats here lately. The bombs inside Kabul are now more frequent and perhaps more consistent.

Despite the overhanging suspicions of terrorists fomenting in the city we’ve continued our daily lives. Last week a bomb hit the German Embassy a few miles away from my office, but luckily I was way out on the other end of town…so I didn’t even realize what had happened until after waay after the fact.

Sometimes I need to go out to government offices early. This morning we sorta knew that terrorists would try an attack, to “celebrate” the inauguration of President Obama..and send a little message to the world. Nevertheless, I did the foolish thing of attempting to get out to the ministry office…assuming i could beat the any morning bombs (which is when they usually happen). For better or for worse, the bombs actually were earlier than I hoped…and now I’ll forego my meetings with government counterparts out there.

Hmm. Time to step back and look at big picture… talk about “work-life balance”.

As you sit back in front of the screen with a hot cup of chocolate, you’re probably thinking…I wonder what it’s like in Afghanistan?

People ask me all the time. So let me use this blog to explain a little bit of what my life is like.

I work almost every day. Mornings, I get picked up by an escort, armed to the teeth with AKs / 9 mills. They wear body armor…it actually scared me at first, but now I’m used to it. Still, it’s not as bad as Baghdad (where I heard all advisors wear kevlar and helmet…everywhere).

My transportation escort.

Usually I also get out to the Ministry of Energy and Water, where I have an office. The car that takes me is heavily-plated Land Cruiser with composite windows inches deep.

Away we go…on the road it sometimes takes 20 min, sometimes 1 hr. Traffic sucks here, just as it does anywhere else. It seems to be getting worse. But anyway, it’s not as bad as you might think, being here. You still get some of the basics of life, including good radio tunes. In the video below, note the donkey carts on the side of the road. Still a long way to go in terms of “development” …

Today was a little unusual…we ended up donating Dell computers for them to use in their “office automation” project. It was a happy moment. They’ve been bugging me about these computers for MONTHS. So…Merry Christmas, here ya go.

“USAID, from the American people”.

Unfortunately, the sad part is that their needs here are so basic. We got them computers, but they still need electricity. Nobody thought about getting them proper electrical outlets in the room, with enough extension cables to feed the PCs. Go figure.

Sadder still, is the fact that they don’t even have a warm room. It gets to about 26 deg F in the morning here. YOu can probably understand that it SUCKS… Now, the second problem is to get a decent heater set up. Of course, they have to resort to economical, traditional technologies…which means …fat ass furnace in the room!

Trust me, you don’t wanna be around when they light this. Smells like burning plastic, diesel, and ASS. I don’t know how they are going to stay conscious in there.

Anyway, that’s a wrap. You asked, so I tell. Hope you enjoyed the story.

Man, it’s been a long week. 6 days on, 1 day off. Of course, it’s always more than 8 hrs/day so you’re talking about at least a 50 hr work week. Not so bad. It’s expected. What’s unexpected is the last-minute deadlines. Allah bless me for cranking it out when the time comes.

Of course, the blog suffers because time constraints, but at least now it’s time for some Heineken and margaritas…

Wining and dining with good people at La Cantina.

Cerveza brings smiles….