This peculiar Afghan drink, which consists of buttermilk, cucumbers, who knows what spices, is quite tasty. In a way this is the most exciting drink that I have ever had. With each sip you have the feeling that you may be risking your life. At least it didn’t have a fly in it…er…that is, that I know of
We convoyed out to a new (new to us) district; on the way we saw no poppies, while there we saw no poppies, on the way back we saw no poppies. What we did see was a lot of busy people growing a lot of vegetables and wheat. After some of our recent trips, this was a very pleasant change.
The mission had several purposes, one of which was to check up on some ongoing cobble stone road projects. Yes cobble stone. Evidently it can last a great deal longer with a great deal less maintenance than layered bitumen type roads (asphalt). Layered bitumen roads don’t do too well here on account of the jingle trucks/buses which are always loaded beyond what an ordinary man, let alone gravity, would deem feasible. They last perhaps five years before they are difficult to navigate. After a few additional years Afghan asphalt roads require full-up all terrain vehicles. Cobble stone on the other hand, while dustier and bumpier than fresh bitumen, tends to last a long while with out too much fuss.
We recently surveyed a couple of schools that were being taught entirely outside with no shelter whatsoever. Over the last few weeks I had seen schools that had some of their classes outside, but none were 100% in the open like this. The students had no books or writing implements. The only furniture was a single chair for each instructor (but sometimes this was just a large rock). The only other elements of the classrooms included a chalkboard and a dusty matt for the kids to sit on. The boundary of one of the schools was roughly defined by the herd of goats that had wandered into the midst of the students and teachers. .....needless to say, we may be building some shelter for them
I recently went on a very promising trip in one of the districts in our area of responsibility. Sure there were plenty of poppies, but there were also some other crops for a change; mainly wheat and onions. Why onions? I am not sure…maybe there is an especially tasty onion bread available here. Given the lay of the land and the climate, it seems like it would be well suited to grapes (wine). But then again Islam forbids alcohol. But if poppies are ok, why not grapes… I digress. The important thing is that the people were actually growing something besides poppies.
The other nice thing about this particular trip is that, although fairly remote, it seemed a lot more affluent than any of the places that I had previously traveled. The locals seemed a little cleaner, the livestock a little plumper, and the buildings and roads in better repair. Well maybe not the roads.
That whole poppies in Afghanistan thing. Yeah...thats pretty much for real.
