A very overcast morning and even the birds stay in bed. Except me,
I went up to the roof and there was no sun.
It’s still too dark in the blue room to read so I sit here and try to
figure out what happened yesterday.
The former coordinator here in Kandahar, Y.S. was fired from his
post in Jalalabad because his assistant revealed to the head office he had been
doctoring a lot of the paperwork. Fraud
is the word being used. He will not
be able use AUAF as a reference which sucks because he worked for them the last
two years. That does suck and I feel
bad but really, it should be expected if you work for the Americans be honest, sure
look at our politicians, they reek of dishonesty, but it’s no invitation to be
dishonest with your employer who is here to help your country.
In the evening conversation class students said they fear for their
jobs if they report the truth, with the Yankees you don’t lie and Y.S. got
busted.
And the big boss told me the home office has decided to call the
teachers in Herat, Mazar, and Kandahar back to Kabul. Bummer, it looks like it’s gonna happen after
the break. Well? What do you make of this? The staff here will continue to work but
there will be no native speakers in the satellites.
People gotta remember, education is a non-profit enterprise. If our presence was supposed to draw more
business in you don’t understand the business and you don’t understand the Kandahari,
who like the Salalah folks, historically have succeeded without education and
they also are simply too laid back for their own good, for example I am told if
you come into a little bit of money you enjoy it until it runs out and then you
have to go back to work. Come to think,
that doesn’t sound too bad.
In the meantime there has been no internet since six pm yesterday
and no one is coming in for another hour, what’s going on in the world? I should hook up the television.
85% of the students attending an AUAF class are on
scholarship. Sigh. Well, why doesn’t the
university just open it up to everyone?
The scholarship feels like an unnecessary veil. What’s the truth here if Bernie takes the
oval office, all higher education will be free, paid for by, I saw the chart, I
don’t remember.
Spring in Kandahar has so far been pretty damn nice. Rain falls, keep it up mama, Lord knows even
the locals fear the deadly summer.
I wait so much to see change and when it happens it’s too
swift. Next week Georgia, the week after
Kabul, and if I manage to remain there until July, whoosh-BAM. the wind slams
the window shut behind me, let’s meander for a minute.
Do you think you can tell heaven from hell, blue skies are a
pain? Is that what he’s singing? My ear canals are clogged, my throat hurts
unnecessarily so, my nose runs and there is no internet, oh poor boy, why don’t
you prep for your last toefl class tonight?
If I have complained about this place too much Lord forgive me because what’s waiting is gonna be a bummer, smell the air blowing in freshness or is this the end of the song?
It’s almost nine and darkness is in no rush to leave. The rain falls steadily and it’s cold, dude, let’s enjoy it while we can so go figure out what the hell’s wrong with the internet.
I remember.
Thursday, wow, another one day weekend tomorrow, I am not
complaining, I am not complaining one bit, one week and we are on the
road. It appears that eight weeks in
Kandahar is about the right time to get out for a breather. As much as this is better than Kabul it is
still, how do you say it, a serious case of sensory deprivation which sparks
cabin fever flashes and other irritating characteristics I must deal with. I must wait as usual, patiently with gentle
reminders to the big boss that I still need a ticket to Kabul. Small things like that.
9:55pm
The Afghanistan cricket team is playing Hong Kong in India
somewhere and I am ashamed to admit as a Woody Allen fan I don’t believe I’ve
seen Manhattan. Perhaps I have and I
needn’t be ashamed at all, I was in high school when it came out but I don’t
remember seeing it. Are one of the
Hemingway’s in it? I don’t know but I have
to watch it tomorrow.
I said farewell to the three toefl students tonight in a wild downpour. I’m never gonna see ‘The Road to Oxiana’ again and I wanted to read it for so long and I did and I keep wondering about a few things a better person would have jotted down. But I probably won’t read it again, so enjoy all the other books I gave you guys and good luck. Your country needs you.
I think. From north to
south, east to west, Afghanistan has never been unified long enough to live
peacefully. Ya’ll speak mostly the same
two or three languages you believe in the same God and you can’t get along,
like a bunch of children who don’t listen to their mothers and
grandmothers.
I don’t know. I think it’s
time to go to sleep once again. It’s no
coincidence this happens every day.
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