In a Handshake

They say that you can tell a lot from a person by their handshake. Here in Afghanistan handshakes aren’t culturally traditional. People customarily put their hand to their chest and give a slight bow. This is particularly between men. Women don’t traditional shake hands at all. They are pretty much ignored when it comes to…

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Kabul Breast Cancer Walk

Last Friday we did a breast cancer walk in support of my sister. My sister Jade is doing a 60 mile walk, over three days, in honor of my sister Leah – a two time breast cancer survivor. I sent around a note about the walk and then my best friend here suggested that we…

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Working Out in Kabul

Working out has become a huge part of my life in Kabul. My closest friend and colleague have created a strong bond over exercise. Without a great deal of other social outlets, we’ve opted to channel our energies into working out. Now we’ve been working out consistently since February two to three times a day,…

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Little Earthquakes

I can hear jets overhead. They don’t even take a break for the holiday. It is Afghanistan’s Independence day – 89 years of independence from the UK. The last thirty years of war. I’d imagine that there is a sad irony amongst Afghans about how independent they really are these days. They’ve got billions of…

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Inhabiting Space

I think I haven’t written since I like to keep looking at the chilling in PDX post and reminiscing about my R&R and making it back to the fresh West Coast air. Overall it was a very nice trip to Oregon, though too short. It was more of a family visit then a lounge on…

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Obama: the Hope for a Better World

I got the following note from someone I know in Afghanistan and wanted to pass this inside perspective on to others. An open letter to people of the United States Being victims of terrorism and extremism, Afghans could better understand your pain caused by 9/11 attacks. That is why, Afghans were united and determined to…

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Beggars in the Streets

It doesn’t matter how much you travel, I think it’s always tough to handle beggars in the streets. The article yesterday in the New York Times mentioned that Kabul has a rise in the number of beggars. It is true that Kabul now has its share. At most speed bumps you will find women in…

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Kabul in Transition

The New York Times has a wonderful photo journal on Kabul by Tyler Hicks. The slide show with commentary is only a couple of minutes long and very well worth it. I think the assessment of the situation is also quite good. The author stayed more on the neutral side, but certainly kept it real…

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Room Change

I know I won’t be back there for over another month, but I figured that I still might as well share my new room with folks before even more time has passed. I moved directly upstairs from where I was and love my new room. I’m right across the hall now from my closest colleague,…

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Pakistan Strikes

Yikes, just when things look bad in Afghanistan, they get worse. Pakistan has now struck against Taliban fighters along the boarder. It was unclear as to whether on not the attacks took place solely on Pakistan soil, but would be assumed so. Karzai has already recently announced an interest in waging war against Pakistan, for…

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