En busschaufför...

When the world came to help Afghanistan, one of the things it did was to put up some traffic lights at some random locations. They work great, with numbers showing how long they plan to be red or green. However, driver's licences in Afghanistan are bought rather than earned, and the meanings of red/green and roman numbers are probably unfamiliar to most. Just like with any other rule or law in Afghanistan, no one really cares about the traffic lights. Neither do they care about driving on the right hand side of the road if it's empty on the left, or using the roundabouts if they can shortcut.

 

That might be one of the reasons why most buses in Afghanistan have been put on a pile in the bus graveyard. Without any proper service or functioning traffic, they probably do just as much good there as on the roads. 

A stroll in the city

Two days ago, I decided to get out and see some other areas of Kabul, which is quite a huge city when you start exploring it.

Here is the voter's registration for the election which will be held in May according to Afghans, and in September according to the international community.

In the bazaar, you can find it all. And they are pretty good at recycling also, just look at those fabulous tire-pots!

The bird market is the place where men (only men of course) buy their birds. There are three kinds of birds. Some twitter and are great as pets. Some fight and can earn you lots of money if they survive a few rounds. Some become really loyal and go out in the evenings to find friends, friends which you can sell when they have come to your house. I didn't buy any birds, but I bought the cage on the picture which will be great as decoration in my upcoming huge apartment.

Through armoured windows

I thought it was time to share with you some of the views I get from the back seat of our Landcruiser. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves, but if you have read "Bokhandlaren i Kabul" you might find it interesting to know that it is the one in the last photo.

Life among death

One thing that never leaves me or anyone else here in Kabul is the everyday reminder of the horrible incidents that have happened and will happen. The centre of the city is not very big, and not a day passes without seeing one or several sights where innocent people have lost their lives. In the hotel lobby, in the gym, outside our new houses, in the buildings we pass every day seen on the pictures above... those are just a few examples of locations reminding us of how safe we are in our countries back home.

You can't of course be scared or sad all the time if you want to get some work done, and among the workers here there is a very special attitude towards safety regulations and threats. One example of this is the ironic "paranoia party" held a few days ago, with the invitation reminding us of that nothing had happened in two weeks. Despite the fact that the joke came true with a bombing the same day as the party, everything continued according to plan. Below are two snapshots from the night.

Afghanistan in pictures

Since I don't get out too often, I don't get the chance to show you much of Afghanistan in pictures. All the photos in this blog are taken by me, but if you want to see more, take a look at this excellent blog which I just found!

http://thruafghaneyes.blogspot.com/

From one isolation to another

Celebrating one month since I left Sweden today, I am still moving around from place to place like a homeless person with a luxurious touch. The last week, and a week or two to come, I'm staying at the fanciest five-star hotel in Kabul (Afghan stars, that is) where I get my bed tucked every night and my underwear dry-cleaned. As you understand, these things can't last forever, so soon I'll be moving to a house which is being renovated by countless Afghans as we speak. Things there won't be too bad either though, with 250 square meters of home, a nice veranda and a stunning view of the colonized mountains surrounding us. What I'm most concerned about is how to decide which of the four bathrooms that will become my favourite... well, the way things are done around here sure is interesting. With all the threats around here you would expect people to be somewhat risk-averse, but the people visiting the soon-to-become safe home of ours currently impose themselves to lethal annoyances by using monster batteries and circus techniques while cleaning windows. If anyone would make the “Extreme Home Makeover – Kabul Edition”, it would for sure receive a PG-rating. Here are some pictures of the work in progress. 

 
  
 

Hangman

Despite the hard work (much made by our fellow neighbours Norway) to promote Rule-by-Law in Afghanistan, the juridical system is not much appreciated and well-functioning yet. About half of the population still thinks that the informal way of solving things is the way to go, and many have been cheering as president Karzai have started to order death penalties again. "Not all that the Taliban did was bad", some say, and a 23-year-old teacher burned in an acid attack on 15 schoolgirls and instructors wants the Afghan government to throw acid on her attackers and then hang them. On the picture is a diving tower close to where we live and work, visible from far away, where the Taliban hung people regularly to spread fear in Kabul. The situation today is similar to the one in Sweden with the Christian Democrats and weddings - the leader feels the pressure from the voters to stick to old traditions in order to maintain his position and support. However, in this case, the leader gets his will through, and we will surely witness more of this as the election comes closer.