Afghani Ramblings...

I'm not sure how I got this bunch to stand still for a second after receiving their meds, but maybe the camera helped. These are some additional photos from the medical clinic (MEDCAP) that I wrote about three weeks ago. I liked these lil' guys, and had to get them in here. Their reaction is really priceless when I show them the photo on the camera screen, as if to say, "Hey thanks for stealing my reflection and putting it in that box, that was cool. Can you put me back now?" Actually some of them know that a printed photo can come from it, so if anyone knows of a tiny, handheld photo printer, I'm all ears. I went out on another of these missions this past weekend (any excuse to get out into town, but also to see more of the incredible difference our trained people and resources can make), and will get those photos up soon.
Burqas are still an absolutely jarring thing to witness in person. In a very religious region like this, the burqa is still omnipresent, and I really find it ghostly to watch them interact with each other. But as I noticed this past weekend, they often remove the veil once they've entered an environment of westerners, revealing a human face behind the shield. The most disheartening thing to see, aside from the obvious extremes of poverty that many Afghans live with, is the little girls who imitate women and try to cover their face whenever they feel anyone has glanced at them. Of course our girls have Britney to emulate, so there are reasons to worry the world over, I guess.
Khost doesn't look so bad, does it? This is one of those views where it's easy to see that this area was fertile and more arable not long ago. With the "winter" weather as warm as it's been, it's not hard to see why orange groves are prominent in this region. But a drought going back a few years has dried up the ground, and their reliance on wood fires can't help matters...come to think of it, I have no idea where they're still chopping down trees. The result? Oranges that are drier than a policy speech on total quality management. But when they can't burn wood, they're busy burning garbage...ah, torched trash, the smell of every Khost morning.
Connection issues are hampering me again and I'm upset like this guy about it. But I have a few notes: First of all, this blog has spread farther and wider than I ever imagined already, so welcome to all you strangers! Also it has resulted in some hilarious moments for me...a friend of mine from Norway responding to two Marine friends who were with me in Norway, none of whom know each other...and all reminiscing about how the unbelievably terrible Cher song "Do you Believe in Love?" became the norse nation's anthem in the winter of '99. Between that song and liters of beer, I'm not sure how the suicide rate stayed under control. Oh, and there have been some commenters whose questions I'd be happy to answer in email, but can't do it through the blogger system. So leave an email address when you comment, and I will do my best to get back to you.
One last note: Like my young friend here, I'm a bit of a skeptic. So pardon me to be surprised at a couple of milestone birthdays that just passed. Buenos cumpleanos to you, Joneser and Lara! I haven't learned it in Pashto yet...they're not big on birthdays anyway...so you have to settle for Spanglish. And though the day has just passed, it's not too late to say HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY...you don't have to tell these guys (did you think I was kidding about the special, um, closeness?)