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08/16/2003: "Kandahar Chronicles #3 - 16/08/2003"

Shit. We just had one of our expats resign today after only two weeks.
She's never travelled outside of Europe before and I think Kandahar is
freaking her out. I guess it's not for everybody this bouncing around
war zones swatting flies and trying to come to terms with 45 C daily
temperatures. Sometimes I wake up feeling like Martin Sheen in the
opening ten minutes of Apocalypse Now and go to bed feeling like
Brando in the last ten minutes. Mr. Kurtz could live here in splendid
madness as easily as Vietnam or the Congo. Armed thugs ripping around
the IDP camp last night set the tone for the whole bloody day. One
shitty thing after another.



The only thing that gets me through these days is tea with stacks of
sugar like the Afghan guys drink it and the thought that I'm off on
holiday in two days up to Turkmenistan. Desert and an inland sea
surrounded by soviet era oil rigs. I don't imagine that the ecological
practices of Kruschev or Brezhnev were very sensitive when riding a
mickey mouse political system and trying to keep pace with the west.
I'm rambling. I think that the HR departments of some of the
organizations over here should look a little at a persons background
before shipping them off to some dodgey part of the world. She's the
third expat from one organization or another that's fled upon
realizing that the town's chock full of Al Queda. I'm sure the guy I
get my visa photos from is in tight with those fellas. There are only
two backdrops to choose from for photos; white, or a huge photo of the
WTC scribbled over in Arab script. We eye each other with suspicion
over the inevitable post photo chai and lemon buscuits. The horror,
the horror.

Replies: 2 Comments

Thank you for providing a unique insight into the restructuring of Afghanistan, even though it might be painful for you to relate such stories as the one above. Such personal accounts really engender a more human response to global issues for many people, and by continuing to post to this blog, you're providing many people with a great service.

Alex said @ 09/13/2003 11:07 AM EST

Fastinating.....Can't wait for #4 !!

Hum said @ 08/24/2003 02:08 PM EST