Shalwar Kameez

Remember that Afghan suit I bought in Dubai? Well, that has a name: Shalwar Kameez. At our Thanksgiving party on the Villa rooftop terrace, there were four Westerners who wore their traditional Afghan outfits. I put mine on when I saw that two of our guests and our office leader wore theirs. I also had a hat.

We had 4 turkeys, including two that were fried, which had been delivered alive to us just two days before. They were a gift from the fellow in the black Shalwar Kameez. I heard he brought them over in the back of his SUV, and when the guard opened the gate, he just tossed them in. The male was totally eyeing our two pink flamingos. We named them Osama and Obama. Can't say which was the female.

I hope you had a nice Thanksgiving. I hope I never spend another one without my wife and kids.

Missionary Work in Afghanistan

My niece Emily, who is one of the nicest and most interesting young people I know, asked me a question about missionary work in the church here. I wrote her a reply, then decided to post it here for your benefit. Please ask any curiosity you've got about this place or this experience and I'll keep it in mind as I ponder things to post here.

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The branch here has not got any missionaries in it, for we are not allowed by law to proselyte Christianity. This is a Muslim nation. That means that the national religion is Islam. There is no national religion in the US nor most Democratic nations like ours. Other religions are permitted to practice here, but they do not receive the benefits that Islam does. For example, 5 times a day there is a "call to prayer" broadcast throughout the city from large speakers on poles, not unlike the tornado sirens you have near your neighborhood. Each call is sung by a real singer somewhere and I'm not sure what he's saying, except it means that devout Muslims everywhere get away from their job for 10 minutes, wash their hands & feet, go to the bathroom (#1 & #2) if possible and kneel on prayer rugs to pray. If they cannot kneel, they stand and pray. It is unusual to consider praying publicly this way, isn't it?

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If you are a Muslim turned Christian, you have opened yourself to one more reason to be killed, by the way. There is an Iranian woman in the branch who joined while at BYU years ago and she has had death threats and even had an assassin sent to kill her, while she was at BYU! He didn't make it out of the airport though. Good thing, huh. She has since then translated much of the Book of Mormon into Farsi. She is the only Iranian convert that we know of.

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It is possible that we could have conversions occur among the Westerners here, so in that regard, we are able to enlarge the member pool here through discreet missionary work. There are about 450 LDS in Afghanistan. Probably 60% are soldiers. The others are just here to help, like me.

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I want you to know that my Muslim friends here (probably 30 of them) are kind, gracious and peaceful people. They are the sort of people you'd want as neighbors and friends. I love them all.

More Troops Please!

Following is my take on why Afghanistan needs more troops:

Afghans desperately want to catch up with the modern world. They want water more than 3 hours a day and electricity more than 3 hours every other day. They want internet service. They've got cell phones and cars and modern clothes. Otherwise this is a filthy, backwards place to live. The Taliban are still making life hell in all the provinces. This means farmers aren't able to ship their produce to other cities and countries. Any commerce between cities is extremely risky, yet the Afghans keep trying to do it. Construction projects are very difficult because of the threat to shipping building materials and workers along those roads.

If you are an Afghan employee of the government in Kabul and while traveling to or from the job you're stopped by the Taliban you're probably gonna die. If they find anything on you written in English, or even specialized equipment like a GPS, they will slit your throat. It is happening here. The Taliban are getting braver and braver and Afghans are getting more and more frightened. An Afghan cook was killed last month with a shopping list written in English by a Western friend who couldn't safely go to the grocery store on his own. The Taliban are mostly illiterate... they couldn't read it, but recognized the letters... His death was justified on the assumption alone that he was helping the Infidel.

The Coalition strives to establish the Afghan Army and Police to secure the nation, but it takes a while to build bases and academies for them, and training is tough when 90 % of the recruits are illiterate and most of the leaders have at one time or another given way to bribes and all kinds of corruption of statutes and standards.

The biggest problem here is security from terrorism and the Taliban is at the root of it. The Afghans despise them for abusing this county for 5 years causing decades of regression culturally and technologically. From 1996 to 2001 what were we doing in the western world? We were learning to implement the internet in our businesses. From 1977 to 2001 they were watching their proven irrigation and power infrastructure blown to bits. Just think of a nation without these resources, as well as without tourism! There are not enough taxes to fund the things the coalition is building nor the training being done. I don't know what they'll ever do about the absence of Afghan doctors here. They all left when the Taliban arrived and they probably won’t be back. Anywhere is better than here, if you’ve survived the wars and are now set up elsewhere.

So, violence here is increasing monthly. I can barely leave the villa except to go to Camp Eggers. Two years ago Westerners used to walk downtown. Now I cannot walk outside the villa gates. Since I've been in Kabul, there have been numerous kidnappings and shootings of Westerners within a few blocks of here. Some of this is done by hungry Afghan gangs kidnapping family members of Afghan diplomats but also Westerners. Most kidnappings are not reported. Some of the bad guys believe the Taliban will pay them a bounty for killing. The Taliban is getting into the city center to show that President Karzai is not in control. The coalition countries are doing their best to provide a safe nation in which to flourish economically, which is the root of all success here in the long term.

Child of the Street

I have seen this boy many times at this location, on our way back to the Villa from Camp Eggers. He has a dirty rag in hand and is offering to wash our windows. Aparently he thinks the security guy sitting in the front seat promised to pay him "next time," because he usually comes right up to the car like this and says, "You promised!" What he really wants is some money, of course. But we cannot roll the window down... if we were to do that, we would endanger him and ourselves as well. It is a dangerous place to stop your car for any reason but traffic in the busy streets of Kabul. Stopping long enough to be recognized as Westerners would make us a target. Furthermore, the driver cannot pay attention to every vehicle, bicycle and pedestrian encroaching on the car. What if other kids thronged the car looking for handouts too? What if we rolled over the poor kid's toes? I riot would ensue. Very quickly we could be caught in a very bad and even deadly situation. Thus we have a no-windows-down policy. No handouts. The best we can do is smile or nod or wave. In this case I took his picture and imortalized him on my blog.

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You wouldn't believe traffic here... even at intersections, nobody obeys lights or stop signs and the only yielding being done is to avoid being hit. The clearance between our car and those crossing our path may be only a foot at a time. Thus we have an Afghan driver. Having a little collision between Afghans is no big deal. Every car has body damage. Traffic moves slowly, but it keeps moving and that's what we count on for our safe return from a trip out side the gate.

My Desk at the Kabul Villa

I cleaned up my desk today... I started a file folder rack for all the projects I've been working on. These include a Chinese Base Camp (think New Town for mine workers), a new Institute & ER at the National Military Hospital, a Branch School for recent graduates of the Army Boot Camp who need to learn a specialty, and facilities for the 5 Corps Support Battalions, which are spread around the nation attached to Corp Garrisons. Oh boy.

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On my desk you see my laptop with web-cam affixed for video-chatting with my family via Skype. Do you want to try it? I'd like to talk to you! On my screen you'll see a lovely photo of H highway in Clay County MO, looking west toward Liberty from near the golf course.

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And yes, you may notice I'm working on my Afghan look again. Hey, it's not really a beard, but for a 40 year old guy I think it is an ernest attempt. I've got 6 more weeks to see what becomes of it before I go back home to my family. Maybe by then I'll look like my Afghan peers... at least some of them. Many Afghans gave up on beards when the Taliban were vanquished. Prior to that time, their beards had to be as long as their fist or they could be arrested and thrown in jail for a week. Imagine that! These days a beard is a sign of a devout Muslim or a Westerner trying to mix in with the population. I would fit the latter case.

My Afghan Cook, Qayoom

I received this article today, created by my fellow Afghan architect, Zekria:


In MACTEC we have Afghani cook , who cooks launch for Afghani staff Engineers and Consultants.

He said something about Mr.Mick:

“When I met Mr.Mick for the first time in MACTEC’s villa in Afghanistan, he really attracted me. His beautiful face, appearance, behavior and good character kept me under his influence”. The cook said.

"My name is Qayoom and If I were able to talk in English Language I might pass lots of time with Mr.Mick to enjoy with him and share my ideas and what I have in my heart."

In our Afghani Language there is an expression: “Better to be poor but not without friends”.

My Lunch & the Table on which I ate it

This is a typical lunch, prepared here at the Villa by our Afghan chef. I'm the only Westerner that eats with them, though the office leader eats their food up in his office. Seen is a bowl of broth with a chunk of (probably) beef in the middle. I have added a few bits of bread that I tore off the pita beside the bowl. I love Afghan bread. Pita isn't the right word for it. It is like Indian Nan, or like a big pancake, but it has been baked rather than cooked on a skillet. Some of their bread is hung from hooks as it cools and the result is a long oval shape. Also in the soup are freshly chopped onions, tomatoes and cilantro. Yum! The Afghans tear up their bread and fill the soup bowl with it, then eat the sopping bread pieces with their spoon. Okay, some use their hands, but not me! Just beyond my soup bowl is a dish containing 3 portions of Pomegranite. The Afghans eat the kernels of the fruit, as we might, but they chew up and swallow the seeds as well. I have been learning to do this, against my preferences, in hopes of some healthful benefit. We have soup like this about 3 days a week. Other days we have dishes made mostly from either green beans or cauliflower. Desert is often plain yoghurt, which has a smokey flavor, or an apple or a banana.

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We have several tables here that are made in Paksitan and are heavily decorated with hand-carving and inlaid brass. See the details in the photos. I've been told I could get a set of 6 chairs and an oval table for about $500. I have no idea what it would cost to ship home though.