Dis & Dat

Last Thursday, an Afghan co-worker came into our office just before lunch and said that he was taking a group to Qargha Lake / reservoir, to treat them all to lunch per his recent job promotion, and did we want to go? Heck yeah! So the German reporting officer and I blew off the rest of the day and went to the lake with about 20 Afghan co-workers. It was great. I was disappointed that no other internationals came - they didn't seem interested. It was such a wonderful opportunity to break down that wall that separates us from local staff in oh-so-many ways, from our language to where we live to our lunch habits. We road in the back of a co-workers car, moving around to the Bollywood music when no one on the street could see us. Near our office, I happen to glance at what is now a cell phone tower, and it was just completely pocked with bullet scars. It was an amazing, contrasting site - the past outside, the future seat dancing in the car.

Just before we got to the entrance, we (the two western women) tied our headscarfs tight and tried to look down as much as possible, to see if we could get in without paying the foreigners fee - not because we're cheap, but just to see if we could do it. And we did! Although that may have had more to do with our co-workers never really stopping the car and holding out the exact change for four nationals as we passed the entrance guy.

The group was quite young and full of energy - just like any group of young office workers out for the day to celebrate something at work and socialize together. The men and women always stayed carefully apart, an invisible border always keeping the two groups on two sides. We had a little pavilion at the lake to ourselves, with the men sitting down on carpets and pillows on the ground, while the women were up on our own raised platforms. It was a gorgeous day by Western standards, but the Afghans told us they consider a great day for the lake to be a very cloudy day with little sun. Then we all piled into a little boat and went for a spin ON the lake. By the end of the trip, the men were all drenched from their intensive water fight - yes, in their work clothes. I was so scared one would fall over - many Afghan men, and the vast majority of Afghan women, cannot swim. Unfortunately, I did not have my camera with me... but I hope the memories will always be with me, of smiling faces and laughter, of the hope and promise of young, energetic Afghans ready to make a prosperous and, yes, Islamic country.

I love this young, tiny Afghan middle class that's emerging, I really do. They dare to dream. And they dare to have fun. And the young men dare to say things like, "I really hate the burka. I want to see women's faces!" They are observant Muslims, and they don't want to be exactly like the West (Bollywood, on the other hand...), but they *do* want what's best for their people and themselves. I think they look at Muslims from Jordan and Egypt and say, hey, why not be like that too? Muslim, educated, rational, respectful of our history and culture but also embracing modern health and technology... and allowing for the participation in public life, letting women speak and be heard, just as they were in the times of the Prophet Mohammad, just as the wives of Mohammad were the representatives of Islam after his death and taught others.

I so do NOT miss having a TV in my room now - with good Internet access, I'm always entertained. I read the comics via Yahoo: Dilbert, For Better or Worse, Doonesbury, Non Sequiter and Over the Hedge. And Bloom County, which is currently being re-run from 1983; I have laughed myself hysterical over *exactly* the same comics I did 24 years ago. I remember being so relieved to find out someone on earth had the same warped sense of humor as me. BBC Radio via the Internet has become a regular ritual. Each morning, I listen to the news live. I listen to BBC instead of NPR because BBC has much better world news - as does pretty much any news organization outside the USA, even NPR, I'm sorry to say.

On Thursday nights and throughout the day on Friday, I listen to various shows on BBC2. Most especially:

• Chronicles: Volume One - Sean Penn reads excerpts from Bob Dylan's Chronicles Vol.1.
• Classic Singles - profiles a classic pop single and how it came into being.
• Elaine Paige - music from the movies and musicals, and the hilarious Elaine Page and her sarcastic radio producer (and, yes, I sing along whenever I know something)
• Mike Harding - best of folk, roots & acoustic music.
• Sounds of the 70s - glam, disco, punk and metal years - what a diverse decade!
• Rockin' with Suzi Q - Suzi Quatro plays her blend of the best American music.
• Bob Harris - classic tracks and new releases. All over the place, just like a radio show should be
• Mark Lamarr - God's Jukebox - his choices for best music from the last 70 years, and it's WAY all over the place. Latin jazz one minute, a do-wop number next.
• Paul Gambaccini - The US charts and tracks from the last four decades.

And when any of that bores me or I've gone through it all, there's always This American Life archives. If the web site is working...

My friend Sonia, former co-worker at UNV who is here working for another UN agency, who I rarely see any more because she's got a fella, has a web site of her own. She's had quite a life, eh?

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