Sunday, October 01, 2006

Kabul by Night

9/30/06

Driving home from the airport it looked like the outskirts of Kabul were more developed than the last time I had come and there were all sorts of ads and billboards lining the streets for banks and wireless service. My favorite ad was of a beautiful Afghan woman with dark shiny hair holding a razor phone. All it said on the bottom was “Motorolla.” I definitely noticed more images of sexy uncovered women around.

We arrived at my dad’s office/house in the Karte-seh neighborhood, which had colorful kilims across the floor. I met my uncle’s wife who seems very nice and tried to stay awake while my dad and uncle discussed work, politics and other such matters. Apparently yesterday there was an explosion at one of the ministries and 40 people were killed. It was a suicide bomber. My uncle talked about how the Afghan media has no shame in voicing their opinions about President Karzai’s inadequacies as a president and the lack of progress that has been made in Afghanistan over the past few years. My sister started to stress as they started to compare today’s Afghanistan with the Afghanistan she left in ’81 and with Iraq. She started to wonder, “What the hell am I doing here?!”

I couldn’t keep my eyes open any longer and hit the sack hard. I woke up from my nap to eat some amazing aush, which is a soup with thick noodles and an amazing tomatoey base. This one was especially good because it was made with lamb’s broth (You taking notes John? ;). I’ve never had it like that before. We also had rice with a delicious “quorma” or stew. The veggies looked good, but I refrained.

After sitting around and watching the news and funny Afghan commercials, my dad took us on a night tour of the city. I was anxious to get out of the house as the gas smell of the generator was starting to make me sick. The electricity in Kabul is sporadic, and I think they’re on some sort of schedule as to when the electricity is turned on, but this schedule isn’t strictly adhered to.

Our night tour was definitely a different take on the otherwise bustling city. By contrast it is quiet, the air is fresher and there is barely anyone to be seen. This may also be because it’s the month of Ramadan and people are not as active since they’re fasting. We went through several security checkpoints as we went on our way.

One of the places we went to was a new mall in the Shahr-e now district. It had sparkling glass and brass bars with a glass elevator that made me feel like I was in the book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, or is it Charlie and the Glass Elevator? Unlike the rest of Kabul this hotel/mall was very orderly. All the lines were symmetrical-the couches, the chairs, everything. Apparently, the hotel Shamina has rooms that start at $250 USD/night and can go up to $2500/night! Who stays in this place?! The mall/hotel was built by a Dubai company, which was not surprising, as the glitz and money was reminiscent of the Dubai airport.

We walked around another neighborhood and my dad tempted me with an ice cream shop, but I refrained. It sucks being careful! It was nice walking around, but the goz booy was killing me. What is goz booy? Goz=fart, booy=smell. In Kabul the sewer system is above ground in large gutters that line the streets. Needless to say, the streets smelled like a toilet that night.

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