Our Afghan Villa Staff

In these pictures you see some more of my beloved Afghans. They take care of our household and feed us.
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The fellow in the black jacket is Obaid. He is what we called in Germany, the Haus Meister. Anything that needs to be done we can ask of him. Either he'll do it or he'll hire someone to do it. For example, we've just had some painting done and some partitions constructed. He was in charge of finding the laborers and conveying our wishes to them, and he supervised the work. He also has gone out shopping for me because I cannot leave the villa and do so myself. He got me two sets of sunglasses and a carrier for my cell phone, for a whole 6 bucks. At the PX on base the same stuff would have cost me about $45.
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The guy beside him in the white jacket is Jawed. He worked on the villa during it's construction and someone who admired his ethic offered him the job to care for the outside of the building. He cleans the windows, keeps the plants and shrubs healthy, washes the patios and mows our little bit of grass.
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The guy in the green shirt is Heider. He is our cook and makes mostly American-style food. He used to work in a German restaurant. He is only 19 and is busy learning English when he gets a break while cooking. Yesterday he was writing the word "duplicate" over and over in a notebook. Of all the words to duplicate. At least he wasn't writing, "I won't throw spitwads in class," over and over.
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The young lady is Mushka, one of our housecleaner staff. She has two helpers. I think they are all very pretty in a Kabul sorta way. Wearing red is unusual. I usually see them in dark blue dresses with a head-scarf of another color. When they walk to work, they wear those Burkas with the little screen in front of their eyes. If you ever wondered what they looked like under that thing, now you know! They offer their service with a smile, a cheerful greeting and are always cleaning, straightening or bustling around the villa.
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You may think, "Haider looks like he was flirting with Mushka." Well maybe! The thing is though... the young men and women here don't date at all. There'd be no purpose in it! They will have their future spouse introduced to them through family connections. If they did get too friendly and, heaven forbid, copulated... well... the result might be fatal for both of them. No kidding. This is a different world. Part of it has to do with Islam being the religion of the state. Part of it has to do with this being one goofed-up country. By the Muslim calendar the year here is something like 1386. By the theoretical calendar of modernity, it is about 1910. If all the gas-powered vehicles and the cell phones were taken off the street, the lifestyles would be nearly biblical in most of the nation. Mud brick houses, donkey carts, tents, no running water, open sewers...
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Enough dwelling on the negative. Suffice it to say in this blog entry that the young people working here are just like young people working anywhere. They want the same things socially and materially. They are optimistic and cheerful and above all, they are greatful for the opportunities coming their way since the Taliban got the boot.