Saturday, April 30, 2011

Of Bamyan


Your correspondent went to Bamyan, home of the famous giant Buddha sculptures that the Taliban destroyed (empty Buddha-niche seen above). We took a bunch of pictures. But then we went on vacation without really dealing with them. So, we'll probably be going dark for a couple weeks, and then we'll be back with pictures of Bamyan... or vacation... or something else. Until then!

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Kabul Pedestrian


We're off on our final leave of the year, as of tomorrow. We'll see if we manage to get anything else organized for posting... but if not, we'll be back in 20 days.

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Monday, April 25, 2011

Beards of Kabul


Not a great picture... but a great beard, to be sure. (Sorry all, we'll be in pure photoblog mode for the next few weeks.)

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Seen in Kabul


As with most pictures, presented in Junior Hollavision -- i.e., shot out of a the window of a moving armored SUV rather than a full-on MRAP.

Monday, April 18, 2011

Chicken-Related Capitalism in Kabul, 2 of 2


(Ok, the guy in the foreground is selling radishes, although he doesn't seem to be trying all that hard. But in the background? Live chickens for sale. (Yes, we're stretching at this point for any appearance that we're not just posting totally random and not-that-great pictures from Kabul.))

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Another Wedding Hall


Seen in Kabul. The wedding hall thing here is sort of like a relatively cheap version of Vegas. They couldn't afford the pirate ship or the volcano but in a city that is 95% single-story mud-walled houses, a big building with a shiny blue glass facade stands out, and this crazy crescent moon sculpture is a clear attempt to take it to the next level. One of these days, when they lift the travel restrictions, The Lovely Katherine and I will certainly be renewing our vows at the City Star Hall.

Friday, April 15, 2011

Of Kunduz: Literacy Classes


Adult men learning to read and write at a mosque in Kunduz.

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Of Kunduz: The Chickens


Sometimes, when you're in Kunduz, you see a truck brimming with chickens, and yet you're in the back seat of the car, but how can you not take a picture and publish it on the internet anyway? Or so I hear...

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Monday, April 11, 2011

Of Kunduz: The University of Kunduz


...and their ferocious guard dog.

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Of Kunduz


Coming this week: A bunch of pictures from Kunduz, in the tranquil and ever-peaceful North of Afghanistan. No promises that there will be intriguing anecdotes.

Thursday, April 07, 2011

From Above


Outskirts of Kabul

Wednesday, April 06, 2011

Driver


We actually have kind of a backlog of nice pictures to show you. But we're also really dragging because we're busy at work and trying to spend our time outside of work with all the fantastic people we share our little compound with here in Kabul. So, anyway, here's a picture of a guy who works as a driver for someone who was at the Farmer Day event in Logar. I don't remember who he works for. Wish I'd had the real camera and some fast glass along for this one, but when you're working the day job you have to deal with the point-and-shoot sometimes.

In any case, don't give up on us. We'll try to pop more pictures up as we can.

Sunday, April 03, 2011

Third of Three Nawruzes


A couple days after actual Nawruz, your correspondent attended a lunch event marking Nawruz at Bagram Airfield with a number of notable Afghan government officials, and a couple notable Americans. I wasn't actually sitting next to General Petraeus, but I was sitting next to the guy assigned to hold his cap while he's at a lunch. It's pretty glamorous over here.

P.s. no endorsement of "Standing Rock Energy Drink" implied or intended.

Saturday, April 02, 2011

One More Picture from Farmer Day


I suppose these guys are the District Governor's guards or helpers or something. They were standing behind the group of distinguished speakers, mostly looking not that interested in what was happening. Of course the crowd of gathered farmers didn't look all that interested either.