Postscript

I am back safe and sound at home in Denmark... It is nice to be here and to breathe in fresh air, to bike around with my hair blowing freely in the wind and to be able to drink the water out of the tap is a bit of a bonus! I think living in Afghanistan long term would be very tough... not sure if i could hack it.

I have organised my photos and uploaded them so please do take a look:

http://photos.yahoo.com/kiwioutthere_2006

Last words...

on Saturday after my final dari lesson i went to a teacher training course run by an Afghan NGO. They are running a programme training female teachers in a province in the middle of the country. The teachers I met in Kabul were the ones teaching the course in the province. They were here for a couple of weeks of training themselves in extra subjects like peace-, mine- , health education, rights of a child, and monitoring and evaluating. They gave me a bit of a presentation about the situation of education in Afghanistan and what was happening with their project. They asked me questions about the teaching profession in Denmark and in NZ. It was really cool to talk to them and especially the translator about what this NGO is doing. There is a huge need for teacher training here.

Today I went to the Education University and met with the English teachers there. I actually ended up speaking Russian with one of them as he studied English and Russian in Russia once upon a time. I'm finding my knowledge of Russian really handy. Yesterday I was at a women's jail- well a shorter term detention centre- and the head lady there didn't speak English and I didn't have a translator.. so when she asked in Russian if i wanted some tea i was pretty relieved...a common language! It was interesting to meet the women there and talk to them. There were quite a few Chinese prostitutes and a few Thai girls and an African who were caught smuggling heroin (thru consuming capsules of it). There were a few Afghans as well.. mostly in trouble for sexual promiscuity or accusation of it. They are allowed their small children with them and the ones i met were really cute but malnourished. I was there with Zakia (one of my English students) from the HIV team. She goes there and does courses about Hiv/Aids... something these women have never heard of. But yesterday she just gave out medicine and sanitary pads. I feel very priveleged to have been able to see so many things here... including this place.

I'm writing this on my last day here.. pretty sad really. I will miss this country. Hopefully I'll be back though.

Things I will miss:
- the friendly chaokidars (security guards) & drivers at our house and at the office, plus the ORA team
- my English students: i had fun teaching them even though it was for such a short time
- the adrenalin rush that driving anywhere in this city gives you
- the friendly offers of tea wherever you go
- the mountains
- the 'interestingness' of everything... the cityscape, the people, their clothes, the buildings
- speaking and hearing Dari
- the smoothies from Chaila
- times on the roof

Things I will not miss:
- the carcasses hanging outside the butcher shops
- the dust
- the rubbish everywhere
- the heat
- the unreliability of the electricity
- the smells
- the scorpions (ok i only saw one, but to know that they live in your neighbourhood is no fun)

So i think this is it, probably the last blog from Kiwi in Kabul. I'm hoping and praying that my Ariana flight will actually leave tomorow as scheduled, but they have been known to cancel at the last minute. All going well I should be back in Odense about 1 am tomorrow night. Thanks for listening... reading... whatever... stay tuned for photo info, i have some great ones i would love to share with people.

Khoda Hafez!

too busy to blog!

Well my last few days have been very busy... doing lots of great stuff.
I want to fill you in on it all but haven't had much time to sit and write....

My English classes have been going well. The head of the hiv/AIDS team, Dr. Farid, has his family here for the summer (they usually live in Pakistan) and his teenage kids have been coming to my classes. They are great and I have really been enjoying teaching them all. The other day after class I stayed on for tea with Dr. Farid's family and it was really interesting hearing about their lives and talking about different things with them.

I have had 6 dari classes in total and am learning a little bit which is good. The guards and drivers that work at the office and our house are so nice and i try my little bit of dari (mixed with sign language) to communicate with them. The other night i went to an engagement party of one of the guys that work at the office. He is engaged to his cousin who lives in Australia... so the hope is that he will go there. Neither of them really like each other so it was wierd to be there to 'celebrate' their engagement. Fun to see Afghan dancing and to eat Afghan food though.

Have spotted some more cool bus slogans...
'forceful'
'speed my aotion'
'we trast in God'
'comfortable bus'
'royalfriend city'
and all on one bus: 'i want to you', 'enjoy the love', and 'good your journey'

I went on an outing to a bazaar with Bron and the kids.. it was amazing to just observe everything going on. It was quite funny... people stopped and just stared at us curiously.. and smiled... and i did the same thing back. When i pulled out my camera there were so many people staring and keen to have their picture taken.. fine with me! We didn't see many women and they are usually a bit shy with the camera too, so i have lots of pictures of men- young and old, dirty and clean, dignified and not so.. I look forward to sorting out the best of my photos and putting them on my photos site when i get back to Denmark (next week).

After the bazaar we went to the Kabul Museum. This was great to see even though they don't have many artefacts anymore. Most everything was stolen or destroyed during either the civil war or the Taliban times. There were some interesting old buddhist statues etc that have been restored and a small collection of coins, some of them dating back to around the 5th century. I really liked the exhibition of wooden figures that come from a part of the country called Nuristan. They are pre-islamic figures representing warriors and deities etc. They have done a good job of documenting the destruction of the musuem under the Taliban and also the way the artefacts have been restored. We got a peek in the restoration department there.. must be such painstaking work... i'd never have the patience!

I went back to Pulechaki.. where the medical clinic is... and attended the womens health education class. It was in an outdoor classroom and the Afghan lady teaching was really great. Cool to see the women so attentive and captivated, learning about very basic health care. I have spent an afternoon with a Kiwi lady seeing her teach English to some employees of Roshan (the mobile phone/ internet company here) and also got out to a village where an Iranian woman was teaching some preschool kids about brushing their teeth! It was fun to play games with the kids and for me just to see some different things someone with a teaching background could do here.

I spent some time exploring the shops on chicken street yesterday with Jonathan- the man i sat beside on the plane on the way over here. I bought some jewellery and a few gifts for people. Some of the stores were like museums... so many amazing interesting things. This country really has a rich culture. I especially liked the jewellery and the headdresses, decorative bags etc of the Kuchis, the nomadic people (see the photo of me trying one of the headdresses on.. it has coins and shells sewn on it).

Me with the museum guard in front of the destroyed Daruluman Palace 

5am hike

I went to the top of the mountain near our house yesterday... we left at 5 am!! Our goal was to avoid any muggings by addicts (we figured they'd still be sleeping then) and also to avoid the heat of the sun.. i still worked up a sweat tho! We were back by 7.30... safe and sound. It was amazing.

First we (3 guys and me) walked through alleys/streets to the bottom of the hill. Then we climbed up to the fort, following the sewage line in the middle of the street/ alley through houses and basically past and through peoples front and back yards. There were a few people around collecting water or whatever but it was pretty quiet. There are a couple of canons up at the fort that used to be fired everyday at 12pm as a way of people knowing the time. Now instead there are explosions about the same time as they are clearing mines on another hill. As we got higher up we could see a few people sleeping on their rooves... flat mud style... and as the houses aren't very big it's probably the most cool and private spot around.

It amazes me how people have built into the hills here- there were no roads for vehicles where we were walking so to build all the buildings we saw, people must have used donkeys or human labour... tough going. Above the town we followed a bit of a track up the mountain to the wall and eventually to the top. (Wise to follow the track as there is a risk of mines up there). I am trying to find out the story of the wall and getting varying versions.. but one is that it was built at the time of Alexander the great (i.e. more than 2000 years ago) and it was a way of protecting the city at that time. It goes from the bottom of the hill all the way to the top and then around the corner and down the other side. Anyway we walked on it, took pictures and enjoyed the 360degree views of the mountains and the sprawling city below. A bit scary to be so high and look down at the air we breathe... all smoggy and polluted... like a fog over the city.

We saw lots of empty shell cases from machine guns up at the top... strange to imagine guys up there fighting... although it shouldn't be that hard to imagine when all over the city there are delapidated buildings and holes in everything from guns/ grenades whatever. This place has really been destroyed and it is amazing to see how new buildings are going up right next to bombed out ones... there are also people living in the ruins with the help of some tents or materials... i think it is the mix of destruction and rebuilding that makes driving around so fascinating here. At the end of our walk we walked through a big area which apparently used to house American clubs etc and it is totally destroyed... kind of airy walking through there.

Right i better go... today has been busy and tonight i am going to an engagement party. The afghan guy who is assistant manager with ORA is getting married. Should be fun!

'modren wet rust'

I am teaching English each day.. the beginner class is slightly out of control... last time it was all women and they were LOUD! It is a bit of a laugh teaching them actually. Look forward to this afternoon to see how they are. The photo is of them making questions with words on bits of paper. There is one woman who just talks nonstop.. not in English.. she complains that she doesn't understand but of course she is never quiet to actually listen to the instructions!! Last time she was joking about having one husband but several boyfriends!

Speaking of people who talk a lot... would you believe I have actually been asked by more than one person here if i am an introvert!?

One of my favourite things to do here is to drive to and from English class. We drive past more modern shops, bazaars, lots of men selling things, woodwork kind of shops, containers converted into mechanic parts shops and some squatter dwellings/ tents etc... I love it. Just looking at everything which is so different and interesting, also from the safety of the car I can look at the men without it being taken the wrong way. They are often just as curious looking back at me!

On these and other trips I have seen numerous statements printed on the sides of buses which make me smile...
'world peace'
'wel your trip'
'wel your juorney'
'time is gold'
'roadstarbus deluxe'
and my favourite.... 'modren wet rust'

Moon-rise 

cooler days

After some temperatures in the high 30s/ low 40s, the last couple of days have been much cooler (30 degrees max during the day). This has been great for sleeping. Waking up cold instead of sweaty and sticking to the bed is a wonderful and rare experience :-) On Thursday night the coffee shop Chaila where we sometimes hang out was showing a movie outside on a big screen. So i was watching that, but it got just too cold to sit there so we came home ... amazing to feel cold here!! Mia and I went up on our roof when we got home, with sweaters to keep us warm, it was maybe 15 degrees at a guess.. the temperature drops off a lot at night. Mia had her guitar and played and sang quietly. It was so beautiful and quiet... under the stars and overlooking all the lights on the foothills of the mountains. The moon was hiding behind one of the mountains, creating a black silhoutte on this beautiful yellow light. We watched as the moon rose up from behind the mountain, it was pretty cool (see above photo).

back in action

Feeling much better ... yay:) Am eating and out and about again. In fact, I just got back from the pool.. a regular Thursday feature here (this is the first day of our weekend)

The organisation I am with here (ora) do a few different things. One is that they have an HIV/Aids team that have a Health & Counselling Centre and educate people in prisons, schools, sex workers, truck drivers etc about Aids. I am teaching English to the team (all Afghans). There are two groups, a beginner class and an advanced class. I teach an hour a day, alternating the 2 groups. They are really nice. Because I was sick I have only had two classes, but they are all so enthusiastic and willing to learn so that is awesome. I will try and make the most of the next week or so of teaching them.

I am meant to be studying Dari here, but it took a while to get a teacher sorted and now she is busy with exams and then i was sick.. and anyway i am not doing as much language as i had anticipated but that is totally ok. i am learning some...

I have been doing a bit of thinking about various things recently... as you do... wondering what i am doing here, where i am heading in the future. Am loving living in Denmark and really enjoying teachers college. In many ways I love to teach and think that being a teacher in the future would be cool. But I am also interested in this part of the world and wondering how training to be a teacher really fits in with a heart for aid and development work. So it was cool to meet for lunch today with a girl from Australia who is working for an NGO involved in the education sector here. There is a huge lack of teachers in this country... so they are working with training up (female) teachers in a couple of provinces, first giving them high school level education and then teacher training in the curriculum plus some extra subjects (Peace education, health education, human rights...). Was interesting to hear about it and to hear of the dedication of some of those who want to learn.. walking b/w 1 and 3 hours to get to the class each day. I am realising that in lots of situations, like this one, and in other NGOS there are Afghans who can teach or do whatever, but the jobs that need doing are planning, coordinating, and evaluating projects... Not sure how to train for that kind of thing, but could be a good idea...

kiwi out of action

I have been sick the last 3 days.. not fun.. and hence the lack of updates on my blog.
Saturday night it started.. i think it was the longest and worst night i have ever had! The vomitting stopped by the morning but the diarrhea still hadn't gone away today (tuesday) so I have started taking some drugs.. that seems to be working. Yesterday I also had the worst stomach pains i have ever experienced. We had a nurse staying at our house until early this morning so she was taking care of me and keeping me company.
I am now on the mend... just need to try and eat and regain my strength.

It has been so frustrating to finally have things on my schedule (dari lessons, teaching English classes, a visit to a womens prison etc) and then being unable to do any of it. I kind of expected to get sick at some stage here but didn't expect it to be so debilitating.

Am not writing this so people will feel sorry for me.. I just write about the good and the bad!
Thanks to those who have sent kind emails. Hopefully I'll be back in action soon.