“You can’t direct the wind, but you can adjust the sails”        Anonymous

       Welcome back everyone. I realize that it has been a while since the last posting, but it’s been a crazy couple of weeks around here. One of those weeks we totally lost our Internet, for me not a good time, as it ran me pretty ragged. However; my network troubleshooting skills continue to improve, so that’s good. I find it amazing how we have become so dependant on the Internet, even here in the middle of nowhere, in a country that considers an FM radio high tech. It wasn’t too bad though, we joked around a lot about it, like everyone would constantly tell me the Internet was down and I was grounded to the FOB until it was fixed.

       Now let me tell you what I have been doing lately. The Afghani National Army General that we work with had an imperative need for his soldiers become more computer literate. They were issued a number of computers, and except for some mean games of pinball, the machines were simply collecting dust. Well; my bosses agreed with the General, who wouldn’t, and took a look around the camp for an instructor. Hmmm … I wonder who can teach computer skills to our ANA brethren? The choice was pretty obvious. Note to self; stop telling people what I do for a living on the civilian side. With the help of my ever steadfast Comm. NCO SGT Schissel, we put together a hasty computer lab in our recreation room. Then I took some time to sit down and hammer out a curriculum, and usually this wouldn’t have been a huge task for me, but now the rules have changed dramatically. This time the curriculum has to be customized for a group of students who have very little to no experience with a computer, but with this addition, the overall lack of mastery with the English language. The cherry on top of this academic sundae, the computers we are using also have nothing but English operating systems, English software, and English keyboards. You get the idea. The class is no longer a traditional introduction to computers 101, now it has become a hybrid introduction to computers 101 with how to speak English 101.

The classes have been challenging for both the ANA and myself, but I think more so for the interpreters. I have been giving them the curriculum in advance, so they have time to go through and find translations to words that the Pashto language doesn’t normally have. There is so much computer jargon that we have to use in the classes and for the interpreters finding words that closely match the jargon has proven to be pretty difficult. After a couple of nervous first sessions for all parties involved, the classes have been going off without much of a hitch. They have been a lot of fun for us to be a part of, and it’s been pretty awesome to see the ANA trying something so new and foreign. They have really taken to the machines quite well, and I think given more time and practice, they will be more than able to use their computers to increase their efficiency. Another brilliant byproduct of teaching the classes is that I have been in contact with so many more of the Afghan soldiers than before, and I get to continue to sharpen my skills as an instructor. It’s a win / win situation for all. The ANA are always so gracious and appreciative after the class, makes me miss work a bit.

       It’s time to give everyone out there a tour of our local shopping center. I thought since I always talk about going to the mart to buy various local items that I would show you exactly what I am talking about. I am also very excited to show everyone the newest addition to our shopping experience, and that is our very own Afghan bakery. The bakery makes the traditional unleavened bread called Noni, so far it is the only product they make, but it does comes in three flavors. Cinnamon is my favorite, but they also make garlic flavored, and a plain version of the bread. Every once in a while when we feel like making morning Chai, we’ll go down to the bakery and get some of the bread; it is the perfect addition for morning tea. As far of the rest of the shops are concerned, you can see that we can get a variety of products. The shops usually carry anything that we would need, but if we had a particular need they couldn’t meet immediately, the shop owners would bring us whatever we need the very next day if possible. They are quite accommodating. Usually the shops at bigger camps here in Afghanistan have a focus, such as having all types of tech items. At those you can get anything from a fan to cool your CPU to a mouse pad from a company you’ve never heard of. Most of the tech items are cheap Chinese knock-off of more expensive Chinese products we would normally buy in the US. Example: we may buy a mouse with the IBM logo back home from the local Best Buy, at the Afghan mart you may buy an exact looking version of the same mouse, but the logo may say IBN. Whenever you buy something, the statement “buyers beware” is definitely true, but they are pretty good at exchanging items that don’t work.

Some of the shops may focus on movies and television DVD’s, and they’ll have anything you can possibly think of wanting to watch. You have to be careful though; copyright laws here don’t exist, so you never know if you are getting a good copy of your movie. I have bought movies that you can hear people coughing, or the camera guy can’t hold his Handi-Cam too steady, and my all time favorite you’ll see someone get up to go get some popcorn. For two to three bucks a piece, what the hell. Then there are the shops that focus on selling local Afghan products such as carpets and local arts and crafts. Because we are a small camp our particular shops seem to carry a variety of everything, quite an eclectic collection of stuff is offered. Its fun to shop because you get to play the haggling game and meeting the locals who run the shops is always interesting. We like having our own shopping center, it almost like being at home and cruising down to the local mini-mall, and we don’t have to convoy to get there.

       Since I have shown everyone my living quarters, I thought I would also show you around a typical Afghan home. The typical Afghan home that we see in our area of the country is usually surrounded by massive walls made out of stone, earth, and sometimes brick. The structures are very fort like in appearance as you can see in the pictures. It is pretty obvious that many years of invasions and war has influenced the design of an Afghan home considerably. The immense walls also serve another purpose; it is one of very few places where a traditional Muslim woman does not have to wear her Burhka. Since no “foreign” men can see her over the high walls, she is not required to hide herself. The courtyard area within walls is called a haweley, and with all the available space you may see a garden of fruits and vegetables. There are usually a couple of buildings within the haweley; one would be the living quarters, or koh, depending on how many generations that live within the same compound there may be a couple of these. The kitchen, or pakhlandzay, is a separate building because they cook with wood. Don’t want to turn the koh into a smokehouse.

For larger compounds one may also see a small Mosque, and some have their own private well. It’s interesting to watch them build the high walls, what they do is dig a hole in the ground and fill it with water. Then a man will fill a shovel full of the mud mixture and flip it up to a guy on a scaffold. He then will hand pack the mud in about two foot layers, and after a few layers, you have a wall. In our area there is a lot of construction, which is great, as it is demonstrates prosperity and rebuilding. We also see a lot of construction in the cities, but they use more modern materials and construction techniques to build there. Well; I hope you enjoyed the tour.
       Next time we get together I’ll make sure to tell you all about Ramadan, it is a huge holy time of year for Muslims, and it’s right around the corner. I’m eager to learn all about it. Be good to each other, and I will chat with you all soon. I also once again want to make sure I thank everyone for the almost overwhelming response to my request for school supplies. To date we have collected over forty boxes of supplies, and I am expecting quite a few more. I am looking forward to seeing how many boxes we collect at the end of this year. I think it will be quite a contribution, and I really want to make sure that I thank all of the people who read the Blog and responded. It’s pretty awesome, and all the people who have received our donations are truly appreciative.

Until Next Time,
Mark