after_alex

Ah, another Afghan Thanksgiving. This time the company has done it up at the Serena Hotel, our local 5-star joint. The grand affair featured not just turkey, but smoked salmon, pumpkin pie, lots of cakes, potatoes, and never ending drink. It was a great feeling to be back in wonderland, full of familiar foreign faces and fervent festivities.

Part of the strangeness of being immersed in the international scene in Kabul is the mix of people that you’ll find. It’s particularly international, of course, but it’s also a hodge podge of the silly, intellectual, sophisticated, and the gauche. A Thanksgiving like this is probably more than surreal. But it’s not like it matters. It’s just another day…and another opportunity to have a good time.

It’s hard to understand the psychology at work in a place like this, especially when you’re sitting 30,000 miles away. The veneer of this world understates the actual currents of personality and particular behavior around here. It actually reminds me of Vegas, yet alludes to the seriousness of the reasons why we’re all here. It’s a strange arrangement, to be sure. Nonetheless the New Kabul (as my boss, JS calls it) is down to earth. The euphemistically-observant can call it “organic.” Most can agree that it’s plain “gritty.” But the territory is changing, and Kabul is getting its share of polish.

The New Kabul deserves a discussion in itself, as my return to this place has introduced me to a lifestyle and side of life here that was forbidden and which barely existent 2 years ago. But the good part of the story is that the New Kabul is full of opportunities to exploit those moments which you almost forgot you had. Those [short] weekends, those picnics, those fleeting moments with electricity and good internet.

Little did I know that the New Kabul is abound with hole-in-the-wall establishments for karaoke, underground house-parties, French restaurants, and plenty of Heineken. But I’m sure that I’ll have plenty of chances to explain in future posts. For now, trust me when I say that Afghanistan is a changin’…

French restaurants?

On Black Friday, while everyone else in North America was getting in line to storm retail doors, I was enjoying myself with some like-minded folks for Jema Cabrias’s 29th birthday. Jema is 29…yet again. For the third time, or something of the sort.

This year, I’m sort of glad I didn’t take part in the shopping madness. Instead, we traded stories about all the peculiarities of holiday shopping habits, and our own anecdotes of no-holds-barred bargain hunting. Last year was fighting over plasma TVs at Costco, this year is just about managing a hangover in some garden in Kabul, Afghanistan. What a “delta”.

Well, there’s nothing like champagne to kill to hangover.

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Not to get cheesy on you, but here’s a letter I wrote home today —

Hi,

Working here is quite busy – 6 or 7 days/week. But security is good, concrete barriers, armored cars.

I am sleeping well, but at the sacrifice of doing many other things. But I have been learning Dari (Afghan version of Farsi – which is Iran’s language). I can now read and write Dari!!

Also, yesterday was the Marine Corps Birthday, and so I celebrated with some Marines and colleagues at a local Italian restaurant called “Boccacio.” The restaurant is owned by a Bosnian man who hires Russian women to run it. The dinner was quite touching; everyone gave a toast, and I did one for the Marines’ service in Vietnam. Some of my colleagues are former Marines who served in Vietnam, but they will never talk about it.

Celebrating the 229th birthday of the Marine Corps.

Today is Veteran’s Day, and that will be celebrated here at the Embassies as well. For Canada and some other countries it’s known as “Remembrance Day” – but it’s a little ironic that we have to come all the way out here to even notice the meanings of these holidays. One of our head security guys yesterday gave a toast to the Commander in Chief – President Bush, but of course that was hard for me (and many others) to swallow. But I’m actually not finding many die hard Republicans here. It’s very different from Orange County. And yes, it’s hard to find supporters for the war in Iraq. Afghanistan, however, is a different story. Nevertheless, I am officially under the aegis of the US Government now, so I will keep my comments about the Commander to a minimum.

There was a speech yesterday by one of the Marines who said, “Some people have the problem of going to sleep at night wondering what their impact on the world is. Marines don’t have that problem.” In some ways we’re all on the front lines here. But thank God I’m not in combat, and thank God we have the sacrifice of our people – those who have chosen their military duty.

From the Compound of the USAID Capacity Development Program,

Alex
Kabul, Afghanistan
Veterans Day – Nov 11, 2007

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….

Kabul, being the capital of Afghanistan, has some of the best roads in the country. Yet again, it has some the worst I’ve ever trodden in my whole life. Trodden? Yes, I really mean “trodden.” There’s no other way to describe how one traverses Kabul’s neglected byways

Now that’s some serious off-road action. and that’s Right in front of my house.