Incredible shrinking world

So my life was not terribly expansive to begin with. When not traveling to a field office, I rotated between the office and the guesthouse with occasional excursions to the ooooh grocery store or aaaaah restaurant. And lately there has been some necessary Christmas shopping - where you are followed by small boys asking you to buy a map, or a pack of chewing gum and they keep saying "madame, madame, I am your bodyguard". Not sure if it's amusing for them or if there is a monetary game at play.

Anyway, life is small. It seemed inconceivable that it could get smaller. But it has. The Kabul office is bursting at the seams - a good thing in terms of program growth but bad in that our office can't grow. We needed a temporary solution to the desk deficit. The answer took shape in the form of the Asmara satellite office. The first floor of my guesthouse has a large room which, until last week, contained a rather nice, but lonely pool table. Now, it contains my program's office. Essentially I can wake up, roll down the stairs and be sitting at my desk. And I have to say, I really like this arrangement for a variety of reasons, namely INTERNET! Because we are an office, we are the only guesthouse with internet. So, on second thought, my Kabul world may have closed in but my connection to the outside world has cracked wide open.

(Photo: Rare clear view from the top of the guesthouse over Kabul at sunset)

PLK field trip

The reason for adventurous travels through the Salang Pass was to visit our program office in Pulikhumri (PLK) which oversees operations for projects in Baghlan Province. Because of security concerns, we could only visit project sites within the city limits even though most of our infrastructure, livestock and agriculture projects take place in rural communities.

Still, it was very productive trip and a great break from what has become the monotony of Kabul. While in PLK we visited a spillway project and an old textile factory which will be the future site for a cash-for-work project targeting women. They will be trained to "weave" gabions. What is a gabion? Oh the things I get to learn on this job. A gabion is a wire cage that is used in protection wall construction to protect agriculture land and communities from flooding. Stones and cement are packed into the gabions which reinforce the wall structure. I'm sure I'll find a use for that information someday. Construction trivia pursuit? In the meantime, I'll make use of the information to generate some donor interest stories about improving the lives of women. (Photo: a folded up gabion)

Another interesting thing I learned about is devil's dung. A crop grown in the wild on hill-sides. The resin that oozes out of a cut bulb, hardens, is pulverized, cut with flour and used in very small amounts in Indian cooking (the ingredient is called asafoetida). There are also claims for its medicinal qualities. Recent articles claim it could fight H1N1. We met with several farmers to discuss how the crop is cultivated and what they need to be more successful. Devil's dung has earned its name, because the stench is a wretched cross between sulfur and rancid onions. After sitting in a room for two hours with the odor wafting about, I was nauseated and had to leave. Cooking apparently changes the smell and flavor, so I haven't completely sworn it off - how can you with a daring name like devil's dung. (Photo: resins and seeds)

Salang Pass

This past week was spent in Pulikhumri in Baghlan Province. The drive from Kabul goes through the Salang Pass through the Hindu Kush Mountains, normally takes about 5 hours with good weather and favorable traffic conditions. This trip took 8 hours each way. The pass was filled with snow requiring snow chains and slow driving. On the way over we made good time but shortly after passing through the Salang Pass tunnel (2.6 km of darkness and diesel fumes) we ran into a traffic jam of cars and trucks inching their way along the two-lane mountain road. It was a bright, sunny day but that meant ice and vehicles going up to the pass were having trouble gaining traction.

The return home, we started before dawn which combined with an overcast, snowy day meant fewer cars on the road and less ice. It still took 8 hours, but it was slow and steady and rather pretty too. And even though it was just as dark in the tunnel, with oncoming headlights looking like the dragon eyes in a cave, the air was clearer and we were thankfully able to pass through quickly.