And We’ve Only Just Begun

       Welcome back for this installment of the My Afghanistan Vacation Chronicles. So far things are going swimmingly here, and I am keeping quite busy. I’ve been doing quite a bit of traveling with our group, making sure that we meet with all the people that we are to interact with throughout the year. It has been quite exciting to get around the country a bit, and see this place that I will forever hold in my memory. It is a fascinating country. I got to meet with my Afghanistan counterparts, they are pictured above, and they were so excited to meet us. It is obvious that they really appreciate the help we are providing them, as far as training them to become a more modern army. It’s no easy task though, and I am sure sometimes it will be frustrating. This is a proud army that has fought many wars, and they are certainly not afraid of a fight. One of the major obstacles that they face is that this army has never been truly united as one. There have been many warring factions here in Afghanistan, and now to try and pull it all together into one solid fighting force, it will certainly test their patience. No worries though, as they have made great strides in getting together so far, and I see nothing but continued success in the future. It’s pretty awesome to be a part of this mission.

       As a new guy here, I have seen a lot of strange things, or at least what I thought was strange, so I have been asking a lot of questions. I want to take the time to express what I have learned thus far about the people of Afghanistan. One of the first things I noticed about the people is that they are meticulous stackers of stuff. The can stack anything such as rocks, firewood, and bags of freight on a truck, and it is so artfully done. Below is a firewood store and you can see that they definitely take time to stack the wood, so it is all sorted out perfectly.

       Sorry it’s a little blurry it was shot out of a moving vehicle. The people here also stack rocks to denote certain things. Some rocks may be stacked to show where a building foundation will go. Other rocks will be stacked to show boundaries, so people here know where they can and can not go. The rocks below are stacked as markers for graves. When a Muslim passes away, the body must be buried within twenty four hours of death, and the body must be pointed towards Mecca. Well; since the earth here is all rock and sand, the bodies are placed in shallow graves, and then the rocks are stacked on top of them. The people also may place a marker for remembrance, or a flag to denote what tribe they were from. I love the simplicity of their ceremony. The one thing that I did notice after passing several grave yards was that there were as many small graves as there were big ones. A reminder that child mortality here is higher than it should be. Two huge reasons exist for this, one is Afghanistan is a very rough and rugged country, and the other is a lack of medical technology.

       Something else that is cool about the people of Afghanistan is that they are incredibly artful people. They love to decorate everything they own, and they do it with such vibrant colors. The people who drive trucks here are a prime example of what I am talking about. The picture below is of what we call a Jingle Truck.

       It started out a normal truck, and then the drivers put all kinds of decorations on them. Some of the trucks are painted with beautiful murals or ornate ironwork, and others just have a lot of stuff hanging off them with colorful paint jobs. Each truck here is just as individualized as the driver operating it. It’s interesting to see what the drivers do with these things. Why call them Jingle Trucks? Well; when all the stuff that’s been added to truck gets moving down the road, it all bangs together making a jingle sound as the truck moves.

       Along with the artistry part, the people of Afghanistan have some very skilled craftsmen. The people make the most beautiful woven goods, such as rugs and clothing. I have also seen some very impressive metal work and pottery, like the example below. The pictures are untouched, that is exactly what they look like. Just really stunning work. They really seem to take pride in what they do. Some of may seem tacky to us, but that’s the coolest thing about it, I seeing what is beautiful to them.

       I look forward to telling you more next time I post, until then you all love each other.

Until Next Time,
Mark