I know that we have not been very good about posting, but hopefully as the spring goes on, we will have some bits and pieces from our book to put up. In the mean time, amidst all the doom and gloom coming out of Afghanistan, click on the link below to read an article about an issue that really matters to Afghans: the outcome of Afghan Star, the Afghan version of American Idol. This is a very big show and tons of people watch it. In the final three there was a woman and a representative from each of Afghanistan’s three biggest ethnic groups (rigged?).
Here is an article:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/14/AR2008031400974.html
Not everyone of course likes the show and here is another article about some of the conservative backlash:
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/tv/la-fg-kabul13mar13,1,5753669.story
You’ll have to tune in next Friday with the rest of Afghanistan to see how it all turns out!
Not yet!
We are back in the States, seeing friends and family, and also hoping to turn this blog into something that we might publish at some point. (See the picture of Shoshana busily at work.) As we write we will hopefully be posting more fun stories, so keep checking back. Noah is also probably going to head back to Afghanistan in August and if anyone is interested in starting a charter school in Kabul, let Shoshana know about any positions.
In the mean time keep your heads down.
Things we’ll miss from Afghanistan:
Mutton fat as a staple in our diet.
Telling someone that their shirt (or scarf, shoes, jacket, car, etc) looks very nice and then having them try to give it to you.
Green tea and warm homemade bread.
Our guesthouse staff, which has cooked for us and made us feel at home for a year and a half.
When in a rush to get some place, knowing that your driver can simply pull into oncoming traffic, onto the sidewalk or even the embankment and speed past everyone while blaring his horn.
Listening to men discuss their fighting dogs for hours on end (see picture).
Afghan hospitality.
Watching security contractors compare gun size.
Greetings which take… Continue reading Things we’ll miss from Afghanistan
Leaving soon, so we are mostly worrying about packing and confirming our flights, but thanks to a couple of Danish newspapers we are also once again concerned about security. The papers are reprinting the cartoon of Mohammad that many Muslims find offensive. The cartoon was first printed in 2006 and triggered demonstrations and riots across the Islamic world. Here is an interesting link summarizing some of the results of the last time that the cartoon appeared in print: http://counterterrorismblog.org/2006/02/the_cartoon_riots_the_price_of.php.
In Afghanistan there were several riots and many conservative leaders who oppose the international presence in Afghanistan used the printing as a political opportunity. News reports here are limited at best and especially Afghans in rural areas are not very up on international politics. Despite the fact that the cartoon was drawn and published in Denmark, clerics aimed there wrath at Americans, staging protests outside of American military bases. Several reports stated that students were chanting that… Continue reading Personal Responsibility and the Freedom of Speech: Danish Cartoons and Afghan Riots
