There and Back Again

Announcing my triumphant return! I have passed through two months of villages, earthquakes, bucket showers, scorpions, enamored translators and a host of other adventures and have lived to now write about it. As not to burden you with one unending and wearying tale of two months' time, I will break it down into three or four manageable, bite-size updates.

When I last wrote my team and I were in Kabul.We chartered our own plane (exciting, but less glamorous than I had hoped) and landed at Faizabad “International” airport in northeastern Afghanistan, where the runway consists of a mile of metal grates, chewing gum, and goat droppings. We spent three days in Faizabad at an obscenely overpriced guesthouse while we were getting the necessary paperwork from the Ministry of Education to conduct the teacher training seminars. We also tried, albeit unsuccessfully, to hire a translator. Our plan was to drive 8 hours to a small city called Iskashem where a YWAM team runs a guesthouse there. That 8 hour drive turned into a labored, 13 hour trek fraught with blown tires, bad spark plugs, river crossings, and a driver who stopped every time he saw someone he knew, which was apparently 75% of the men along the road (In Afghanistan, you may hire the car, but you are at the completely mercy of the driver). But we finally pulled in slightly before midnight.

The morning revealed Ishkashem to be a picturesque village set in a beautiful valley amidst the towering, snow-capped mountains of the Pamir range. There are rolling wheat fields, bubbling streams, and grooves of lovely deciduous trees. On a side note, also residing in in Ishkashem are what I estimate to be 80% of the world's population of donkeys. And the bray of a donkey is the most obnoxious, grating, unnatural sound to ever come out of the pits of hell-but I digress. The point is, Ishkashem is one of the most beautiful places in Afghanistan and a most refreshing change from the downright ugliness of Mazar.

Our stay in Ishkashem was supposed to last a few days while we prepared to travel south to a village called Koran-a Munjan. It was during these few days that we ran into several problems. A) We still were not able to procure a translator. You see, big budget NGO's, journalists, photographers, etc, come through areas like Ishkashem and offer exorbitant prices for translators, so when small teams like ours come through the locals refuse to take less than these aforementioned exorbitant prices. And B) the Taliban chose this time to try and take over Koran-a Munjan. Soooo we decided to stay in Ishkashem for a month and do a training seminar there. It was very well attended and they only tried to defend the use of the cane as a form of discipline once. We were also able to give the Good Book to several people in this village, but more about that later when I can post from a country that believes in religious freedom. Gotta be careful what we say over here, ya know.

Other noteworthy items:

-It was here that I found the first scorpion in my room. It was small but terrifying. I squashed it with my shoe.

-We marked the end of Ramadan and its tedious fasting with a big holiday called Eid-e Ramazan. It involves visiting all your friends and neighbors and eating candy and drinking tea. We were invited to nearly every house in the village, as a visit from a foreigner elevates the esteem in which your household is held. We met a lot of interesting people and drank gallons of tea.

That's all I can remember at the moment. My next update will highlight our move to the even more remote and comfortless village of Zebak.

Until then, please keep me and my team in your prayers, as we are in Kabul for the next few days. One person has died of swine flu (excuse me, H1N1) and the country is literally shutting down. Schools are being closed for three weeks nation wide, weddings are being postponed, airport employees are wearing face masks. I'm more amused than concerned, but still, Kabul isn't the safest place in the world to be. So pray that we get safely to Mazar on Tuesday!

Peace out