D'oh

I knew it was going to happen...

Placebo are playing in Melbourne on 15 September.

*Cry*

Maybe I will have to come home for my next R and R as well...

Currently in Pakistan, on my way home for R and R. This trip is timed around the Coldplay tickets I bought ten months ago!!!

Islamabad is interesting - we visited the Faisal Mosque this morning - second biggest in the world. Truly amazing.

Not writing much as my keyboard still has not recovered from the coffee and typing is an effort...

Here's to an Aussie cappucino - and cold weather...

The lighter side of life...

Every day brings amusing stories here – I thought I would share a couple with you. The first one could really have happened anywhere, come to think of it, but I loved that it happened in Afghanistan.

At work, we have a protocol if something goes wrong with our computer. We have to send an email to a central address for the IT department, which is called AFGO Helpdesk. They then send us a reply and we resolve how to resolve the issue. One day last week, I managed to spill an entire mug of coffee (and it was one of those Starbucks city mugs – if you know what I am referring to, you realise how darn BIG they are and how much coffee they hold!) all over my desk, myself and my computer! After I finished staring in amazement for a few minutes at the sheer volume of liquid dripping on to the floor, I pulled myself together, hurriedly put the laptop onto a nearby desk, rescued the papers and tried to mop up the mess. When that didn’t work, I went down to admin, looking for the cleaner. I was assured he would come eventually and so trudged back upstairs to look at the mess. Sadly, I had also added hazelnut syrup to my coffee, so not only was everything wet, it was sticky as well. I was fairly desperate as I had an incredible amount of work to do and didn’t really have the time to waste with this. My computer had shut itself down and when I tried to turn it on again, I discovered that the keys wouldn’t type – so I couldn’t put in my password to get it going again. Getting really desperate at this stage (and totally covered in coffee, so wet, sticky and with brown stains down my white shalwar!) I picked up the laptop and plodded down to IT. I walked in the door, in my somewhat frazzled state and launched into my tale of woe…”I have spilled coffee all over everything and my computer turned itself off and now when I tried to turn it on the keyboard won’t type – non of the keys work and I have to finish my proposals and I’m covered in coffee…” and the IT guy turned to me and said, in total seriousness, “Have you sent an email to AFGO Helpdesk?”

Another story that cracks me up, but that I was sadly not present for, involves a bunch of my colleagues driving in a marked car through the streets of Heart when another car starts driving alongside them and honking madly. The guys are screaming out of the window at our car and waving some material and the screaming and honking and yelling continues, with words like “emergency” and “you must stop” being thrown around. Our guys ignore them and keep driving (worried that they are about to be robbed or blown up), but the Afghan car doesn’t go away. Our guys are becoming quite nervous in this situation and feeling very vulnerable. Eventually, when the car of Afghans becomes even more insistent, the driver of our car decides to see what they are going on about and pulls over. A man comes over from the Afghan car, frantic with worry and clutching the piece of material he had been waving out of the window, saying, “you have to help me – you have to tie this tie for me – I don’t know how”…

I have more, but will save them to pepper through my postings in order to lighten things up on occasion.

Inshallah

I have hit writer’s block with the insane amount of work that I have to do, so I thought I would write a quick blog entry. I am really feeling it here now – I have four proposals to write in five days, including one that literally grows by the hour (in the last twenty-four hours they have added eight documents to the list required for submission!) and am wondering how I will get all of this, plus a ton of other stuff done, before I leave for R and R next Monday! Additionally, it is incredibly hot here, and I am having a lot of trouble sleeping. Last night, I tried the suggestion of a colleague and soaked a towel, draped it over a chair and directed the fan onto it. This cooled the room down a bit until the towel dried off about 3.00a.m. and then I was back to suffering!! It is especially bad in the early morning – around five or six. The city power goes off about six o’clock and the generator is not switched on until six thirty so I lie there sweltering for half an hour. Or more usually, I am up running around the tennis court (early morning is the only time that is bearable to do exercise, although even at five thirty it is pretty hot now!) It is only going to get hotter and I suppose I will just continue to suffer and long for the winter!

I am back in Herat after my tour of the zones. I really enjoyed being out in the field and seeing the work that we are doing. There is a problem here as the rains have not come this spring – there has been a drought. So crops are failing and people will not have enough food to survive the winter. Some villages decamp en masse and go to camps around Herat where they are fed for the winter. Others just say that it is Insh’allah that they die! I kid you not – that is what I was told in one village!!

Insh’allah is an interesting concept here. It literally translates as ‘God’s will’ and means that everything that happens to you in life is because God willed it to be so. This removes most personal responsibility in day-to-day actions – if you make it safely to the end of a car journey it is not because you drove well, but because God willed it to be so (and the inverse is also true). This concept is remarkably easy to see displayed on Afghan roads! When a pilot comes on to do his P.A. announcement at the start of a flight, he literally says “…we are cruising at an altitude of 30,000 feet and God willing will arrive in Kabul in one hour…” Just what you want to hear from the guy directing you through the air at 1000km/h in an inescapable metal tube…

However, I can see how, when faced with a history like Afghanistan’s, people would cling to a concept of Inshallah. We see this frequently in the Christian church – people with a miserable life clinging to the hope of the glory of heaven – often it is the only joy in their life. Similarly, people who have been through the tragedy of the Russians and the Taliban need to feel that it is part of some higher purpose – life simply cannot be that cruel. If it is all a part of a bigger plan and we are just pawns, then you can accept your fate at God’s hands and relinquish your worry. Worrying about things here won’t fix them anyway – so why not put them in God’s hands?

And on that cheerful note, I will leave you and get back to trying to play my small part in this bigger plan – writing a proposal for funding, so maybe some of these people will actually survive the winter after all. Makes my concerns seem fairly petty in comparison, hey?

Use by date???

I just actually looked at my blog, which I don't do that often - I normally just post, refresh and then close. And I noticed how blinking out of date it is - it give the weather in Manila, for crying out loud. And all the links are for Manila blogs - I bet half of these aren't being maintained any more (presumably not the AYAD ones anyway!)

Okay - so I need to spend some quality time doing blog maintenance. But you know what - not going to happen today! Today is Friday and I am going back home to enjoy my day off. Prison Break - here I come!

I commit myself to do that, at some stage though. But given my current workload, I am not putting a timeframe on it.

Plus - do you think the weather pixie even covers Afghanistan?

Englistan vs the Big Hearts

Last night, a miraculous event occurred in the rural outposts of Afghanistan – I watched my first ever soccer game (and sadly, Australia weren’t even playing. I missed their match against Japan, but am determined to watch the one against Brazil, although I think that may put me off soccer again for the rest of my life!) No – on Thursday night (which is our ‘Friday night’ here – our weekend is Friday, Saturday, although actually, it is just Friday – we work six days here…) I was out in the zones with a couple of the staff who live here and the Zone Manager was determined to watch the England match. And I soon became interested as I heard a little about the Trinidad and Tobago team and BBC showed us some of their supporters (I wanna party with those guys – they were wicked and had these awesome drums they were playing!) Do you know Trinidad and Tobago invented the steel pan? And they still use it as a musical instrument! Kewl hey? All their fans were so excited to just be there, and one of the guys who had traveled to Germany was saying, “We are a small country, but we have a big heart. Smallest country, Biggest heart.” Well, right then and there I started barracking for them!


Getting the World Cup here has been no mean feat. I was out in another zone when it began, with a Brazilian girl who spent two days frantically fighting with the television to try to get coverage. That effort failed and she was limited to news updates until we came to this zone, which is a little bigger. There was still not coverage, but we managed to somehow shift the satellite dish over to get local stations as well (I say ‘we’, like I had anything to do with this, beyond watching from the sidelines and being irritated when it interrupted my French Open final viewing!) So now we watch the World Cup on RTA Kabul, a local Afghan station – complete with coverage in Dari. And I started cracking up a few minutes into the game last night, when I realised from the commentating that the Dari name for England was Englistan!!! I loved it every time they said that – made me giggle. I wondered what the Queen would think if she knew her country was actually a ‘stan’! I don’t think the commentators knew any of the players except David Beckham (who still managed to have half a can of gel in his hair, even though he was playing in the World Cup – glad to know he doesn’t let his standards slip), Dwight Yorke and somebody Crouch, which they pronounced with a guttural sound that came out like “Ghhhhrrrrouchhhh”. We spent the whole game thinking Crouch was useless and should actually be playing basketball as he was so tall, until he came through for Englistan near the very end. As you probably know, the mighty Trinidadians did not prevail in this particular encounter, much to my disappointment. Hopefully they have kept their big hearts though.


I am not sure that I am about to dump Aussie Rules in favour of soccer. A game where you go nine-tenths without a goal seems a wee bit pointless to me (and am now waiting for the protests of ‘but the skill involved’ yada yada). I actually went and ran on the treadmill through half time and half of the second half (managed to be back for both of Englistan’s goals) so I don’t think I could fall into the category of hooked yet. Plus – I just didn’t understand half of what was happening…”wait – what does that flag mean?...what is offside?...well – that’s just silly – why can’t it be a goal – it went into the net?...” You get the picture… Went only slight better than my first (and only!) American gridiron game, where I went with a bunch of the foreign students and we were relying upon the Indian who had been to one game the previous week to tell us what was going on! Geraldine (my French roommate) just gave up and started watching the ‘pom pom girls’! We left at half time, bored to tears. So I guess soccer has made a better start with me – I stayed fairly interested. Maybe because you can actually see the players – they aren’t hidden under helmets…


Anyway – roll on the Socceroos – I may need another team to barrack for, given how Essendon’s season is going this year :-(

Beyrouth

Okay - I have been atrocious about posting and this post is not going to rectify the long absence. But will reassure you that I am still alive (I have another draft saved - will finish and post eventually!)


Have just returned to Kabul after training in Beirut. We had a bit of an abrupt exit from Kabul - we were meant to stay over night here, but that was the day of the riots and we were having anxious phone calls in Herat as we prepared to leave, and then when we landed in Kabul. We couldn't leave the airport as the roads were totally closed and were facing hours at Kabul airport (not a prospect to be relished). The national director was with us and just said we should catch a different airline out to Dubai that same day, instead of waiting until the next day - so that is what we did and flew out an hour later. That night we were in the air conditioning of Dubai, having Mexican food at Chilli's and feeling a little guilty (still not sure how long the national director waited at the airport before he was able to get home!)


On the security front - I might mention as I am getting concerned emails from people. Yes, there are security problems here in Afghanistan. However, it is a large country and the problems are primarily centered around Kandahar (a total no-go-zone) and Kabul (much safer than Kandahar, and also not a place we spend much time). Herat is much safer and we are fine there. I cannot go into great details on a blog, but please be assured that many precautions are taken with our safety, we have built in procedures, safe guards and emergency protocols, but essentially we are pretty safe in Herat - I wouldn't be here if I felt in danger!! I greatly appreciate your concern and I understand that seeing things on the news can be scary, especially when you don't necessarily know where I am in a country and how far away I am from the problems. Thank you for caring, and I promise I am okay!
(P.S. If anyone prints this out and takes it to Nana, please delete the previous two paragraphs!!!)


So anyway, Beirut (or Beyrouth, as it is spelt in Lebanon - which they actually also call Liban - the French term, I think?) This is nuts by the way - it is pitch dark in this room and all the lights have blown so I can hardly see as I am typing!!! We had four days there and did some fairly intensive training. In between, we managed to get a sense of the city. It is rebiulding itself at a massive pace, although there are still buildings with holes in the side, or in a few cases, totally bombed-out shells. What is gorgeous is that they are rebuilding in the old architectural style - so the buildings are gorgeous.


We went out on Friday afternoon to Byblos. This city is claimed to be the oldest in the world. There were the remnants of a village from 2700 B.C. – that is Early Bronze Age! How cool is that! There were also buildings in this site from Greek and Roman times and a Citadel from the Crusades that the Arabs then took over. Just amazing history. It was wonderful wandering around there – and also having the drive up there.


Lebanese drivers are known as formula one drivers – they are completely insane (coming in from the airport on Tuesday night we were dong 130 km/h!) so you take your life in your hands every time you get out on the road, let alone try to cross it!! I think the city has gone World Cup mad as well – so many cars were trailing Brazilian flags, with a number of German, British and Argentinean ones visible as well. Gave the Germans in the group a thrill to see their flag everywhere.


Coming back that night, we had dinner ‘Downtown’ which has been redone in a beautiful manner. There are some stunning buildings and the center of town is kept only for pedestrians, so you can feel free to admire the architecture without fearing for your life should you take your eyes from the road for a split second! Lebanese are incredibly social people and love to go out to eat and party – things start to get going around nine in the evening. So we arrived at exactly the right time and thought we did quite well securing a table for eleven! It was great fun to sit eating yummy Lebanese food (can’t remember what I ate, do remember it was good!) and watching the stunning and very well dressed (although sometimes a bit too glittery for my taste) Lebanese strut their stuff down the road. What I loved to was the mixture of ages – young and old out, often together, to enjoy their Friday night. The smell of Shisha, that I always associate with the Middle East and Central Asia now was always in the air – that sweet, apple smell that I have no desire to smoke (I tried once in Egypt, purely because I was there and felt I should – did absolutely nothing for me!) but love to smell. Children were running everywhere (or cycling on little tricycles!) and it was just a gorgeous atmosphere.

The next day we went out to Baalbek, which is an old Heliopolis a few hours away from Beirut. It is an amazing structure, several joined temples built from BC times through to 551 A.D. (I think) when an earthquake destroyed the temples and they began to be hidden under the dust. It wasn’t until a Prussian-funded digging expedition in the very early 20th Century that much of the ruins were uncovered and they give the image of an amazing temple complex – and just huge. Apparently the main temple is the largest Roman building in the world! That night I also dropped into an Orthodox church in the center of Beirut that was also very old (and being rebuilt after the war). It was beautiful, but I was also surprised at how moved I was, simply being in a church again. I hadn’t realised how much I missed being in a physical house of God, until I stood at the entrance (I didn’t go any further due to my shorts and sneakers!) and got really quite choked up – I stood there for quite a long time.


Sadly I don’t have pictures to share at the moment (which is why I linked to websites). Getting pictures developed in Afghanistan is a very costly and dicey procedure and I am not sure how I would go getting them saved to disc here. As I am unwilling to trade in my SLR for a digital, this means you have to wait until I go home on R and R and have my photos developed to show you – sorry!


P.S. Someone hacked my hotmail account and deleted all of my addresses (almost 500 of them) and all of my emails stored in folders. Naturally I am fairly devastated at the loss of seven years of saved email history and also am cross that I have lost all of my contacts. If you know my email address, could you please email me so that I can save your address again – I am having to rebuild my contacts list from scratch!!!