Baku

I was stranded in Baku. I hadn’t budgeted for being stranded in Baku. But a snowstorm had closed the Kabul airport and I was stuck. By Saturday I had no cash to speak of and was reduced to subsisting on Snickers bars. (There were healthier alternatives, but chocolate was more attractive.) So it was a relief when I was able to flee Azerbaijan on Sunday. Kabul never sounded so good. There was money waiting for me in Kabul!

On the flight there, I sat next to a young American working on a construction project in Kabul. His firm had decreed that he could not leave the compound for security (i.e. liability) reasons. This meant that he spent months at a time seeing only the compound walls and his fellow inmates. He hated Kabul.

“Everyone hates Americans,” he said. I wanted to ask him why he thought so, since he’d already confessed he never interacted with Afghanis or ventured into the city. But the man was already continuing. He talked non-stop, and I wondered if it was because he was facing three months of confinement and wanted to get as much in as possible with someone new. “It’s dangerous,” he said. “Are you getting picked up at the airport? Does your driver carry a gun?”

“No,” I said, startled by the idea of my elderly drivers packing heat. My idea of good security was to drive around in a beat-up car so you didn’t stand out and to listen to the advice of the locals. There are certainly situations where armed escorts are a good idea, but my past experience in Kabul had led me to believe that this was not one of them.

He gave me a meditative look. “It’s dangerous out there. Last November there was a suicide bomber on Chicken Street -- killed an American woman."

"But that was unusual, wasn't it?" I said, feeling uneasy. Had my judgment about the security situation been wrong?

"Something is always happening somewhere in Kabul. God, I hate Kabul. You actually work with the people?” his voice rose in disbelief.

I replied in the affirmative.

“And how is it?”

I told him it was interesting, the best part of the job.

He looked dubious. “I hate Kabul.”