dust

Today I got caught outdoors in a sudden dust storm. Everything went grey, then black because I had to close my eyes or be blinded. Since Kabul has the highest percentage of particulate fecal matter in its air of any city in the world, what I was really caught in was a shit storm. Yes, ewwww... I agree, it's disgusting. Before, my experience with these dust storms was through a window. I hope to keep it that way in future. As soon as I got home (two hours later) I stripped and hit the shower, but though the body is clean, my eyes remain a startling Dracula-red.

The Greening of Kabul

Lately I've been noticing a lot of freshly-painted green buildings in Kabul. A friend told me the city was doing it, and I figured they had gotten a deal on green paint, or maybe someone's relative was trying to unload green paint on the city.

But the latest story I've heard is far more sinister, ridiculous, and, therefore, believable.

As most of you have heard me complain (repeatedly), Kabul is a dusty place. The civil wars led to the deforestation of the nearby mountains, as trees were blown apart by artillery or chopped down for fuel. So, the local government received a $2 million grant for the "greening" of Kabul.

Paint was cheaper and easier than trees and plants, apparently.

Press Clippings

I check out SFGate.com on a near-daily basis to see what's happening back home. This morning I was surprised by the headline: HUGE EXPLOSION ROCKS AFGHAN CAPITAL. It was the first I'd heard of it.

But that's because the explosion was neither huge nor rocked Kabul. I suppose "Rocket Strikes Near US Embassy and Kills No One" wouldn't be as thrilling a headline. But it wouldn't be so misleading either.

Management Institute

I've got a terrific Afghan colleague - he's smart, eager to learn, hard working, and sensible. He's also looking to advance his education, and today he brought in brochures from various colleges. The one he's leaning toward is an International Management Institute. Its logo: Fear of God is the Beginning of All Learning.

I don't think I need to comment on this one.

Things I Won't Miss

I flew back in to Kabul this morning, clear blue skies but the ride was bumpy as hell coming over the mountains and into the bowl of Kabul. Flying over the mountains is always turbulent, I guess because the planes have to skim in low to make the runway. Anyway, this ride was worse than usual. If it weren't for the seatbelt I would have hit the roof on several occasions, and even so, I had to brace myself against the roof with one arm to keep from pitching into the elderly lady seated next to me.

When I landed, I discovered that today was a holiday - again, a holiday NOT on the lunar calendar which could have been planned well in advance, but was announced yesterday evening.

Then the scrum to get out of the airport - dozens of people pushing carts and laden with bags trying to get through the "green line" at customs. I finally ended up climbing over a counter to get through the meelee, two Afghan men tugging backwards on my bag trying to "help" me and garner a tip in the process. Were my luggage lighter, I probably would have started whacking them with it. As it is, the whacking remains just a fantasy.

Misadventures in Pakistan

Yes, I'm in Lahore, Pakistan, though I nearly had a heart attack getting here.

My office blithely assured me that the Daewoo bus ran every 30 minutes between Lahore and Islamabad, and I was dropped off at the Islamabad station that Saturday afternoon. However, at the Islamabad station I learned that few Daewoo's run from Islamabad - most leave from Rawalpindi, and they don't leave every thirty minutes. I hopped in a cab and raced for Rawalpindi, but when I got there the 4 pm bus was full - next bus at 5:30. "Do you have a reservation?"

"No."

"Take a number - yours is 70. We'll let you know at 5:10 if there's a seat or not."

I stood there with my suitcase feeling one hundred pairs of eyeballs on the odd foreign woman and decided this was a crummy idea, made an irate call to the office, and we decided I'd rent a car outside. This would have been a good idea, had I known what the hell I was doing. As it was, I hired a car that ran on compressed natural gas (CNG). I hope it's good for the environment, because there were only two CNG stations on the freeway between Rawalpindi and Lahore, and they were jammed full. I waited over an hour at the two stations, blood pressure rising, then my sneaky driver insisted on getting a few more bucks worth of gas in Lahore (on my dime, naturally). AND, getting the windows washed, AND getting the bumpers washed... At the bumper washing I exploded, having spent quite enough freaking time in this car which cost 5 times more than the Daewoo and took 90 minutes longer to get me to my destination. Also, naturally, the driver didn't know where my hotel was (only the largest and most well-known in the city), so we had to go to the Lahore Daewoo station to pick up someone who could direct us there...

The best moment, however, was when we finally got to my hotel and I changed money to pay the driver. He pitched a fit when I gave him two 500 rupee notes instead of a 1,000 rupee notes. I just walked away, steam coming out of my ears.