I Resemble That Remark!

About every four months there's an article in an international newspaper about the disgustingly luxurious ex-pat lifestyle in Kabul, and the four months is up. The latest article on Kabul debauchery, "Let the Good Times Roll," isn't as nasty as some of the other reports. But it isn't particularly accurate, either.

It's not surprising; a journalist who spends a week in Kabul might not "get" the desperation that drives the drinking, dancing, and smoking. Loud laughter tinged with hysteria, depression barely held at bay.

Kabul's dozen international restaurants, sadly, don't constitute a "boom." I'm thrilled they're here, but frankly, there isn't that much to do aside from drink, which is why they get so much business and I see so many alcoholic foreigners. Ex-pats in Kabul get a certain haunted look after a while, particularly after rocket season starts up in the Spring (yes, there is a rocket season, after the snows melt and terrorists can more easily climb the heights to shoot into the city).

It sure beats Baghadad, but I don't want Baghdad to be my standad, thank you very much.

The prices in Kabul are high - it reminds me of stories I've read about boomtown San Francisco or Alaska. But the numbers from the article should be cut in half. At least. $50 for a round at the Kabul Golf Club? It's $20 - still too much when you've seen what the course looks like. That four bedroom house for $2500/month? I'm living in it. With three other people. And it's no narco-palace. If the reporter could see my bathroom... It's fabulous for Kabul (flush toilet AND hot water!) but pretty gungy by all other standards.

And pity the soldiers at Camp Phoenix. They're living in metal boxes, and aren't allowed out to restaurants.

So I suppose I could sit in my room, feeling miserable as some sort of sympathy protest for the Afghans, but then what would all the Afghan waiters and caddies do for tips?