Salaam min Kabul!

Salam min Kabul!We have arrived safely in Afghanistan and are staying in a guest house run byAfghans for Tomorrow, a grassroots organization which runs schools forgirls/women and agricultural restoration projects. This place is nothing likewhat we see in the media or even in the 'enlightened' pop culture books on theshelves now. I think I'm in love with yet another country. This may be a bitlong because I probably can't write again while traveling. Read on for firstimpressions of Kabul, and last impressions of Beirut!A quick lesson regarding women: only 1/3 to 1/2 of the women in Kabul whom I'veseen on the streets (lots) are still wearing the burqa. Most women have adopteda knee-length dress and thin pants, much like what we would call 'Indian' or'Chinese' dress, and prefer the long shawl-hijabs draped loosely over theirheads. Others wear tailored suit jackets with long flowing skirts, like inHebron. Some women will wear them around their necks but not over their headsaround the office, and only put them on in the street. This was true at theairport also. Others wear the long coats like in Palestine, or the cape-likeabayas of Iraq, or the long body shawls of Iran or Pakistan. There's a lot ofvariety. So far we've met tons of women movers and shakers, as well asstudents, and will be meeting many more. Those women who do wear the burqa doso either because of family requirements or out of long-term habit. Some womenwho need to beg for money wear it to preserve their dignity and anonymity.There are also security reasons, such as traveling in areas where there is highcrime/ on the open road. Men used to be required under the Taliban to wear longbeards, and about half of them have shaved theirs now. Most men, young and old,wear traditional dress of the knee length shirts, baggy pants, vests, and ashawl. The headwear variety is fun: turbans; drivers' caps, fez, white skullcaps, baseball hats, or nothing at all. There is a headdress like thePalestinian keffiyah but it's plaid rather than houndstooth. I realize that forsome of you whom I'm writing to, this last paragraph will make no sensewhatsoever. The rest of you hopefully will at least remember my pictures.At our guest house, the cooks, housekeeping staff, launderer, and gardeners areall men. The house is very tidy, the food delicious (lots of garlic) and ingeneral I like the idea of domesticated men. Perhaps this idea will catch onsoon in the U.S. ;)Our guide, Walid, who is a French professor at the University of Kabul and the Uof Colorado, says that the situation is better than it was a year ago, inregards to general security in Kabul, etc. We can't really travel outside thecity, though. For the destruction which is still visible everywhere,particularly in our area of West Kabul, he says 'This is nothing'--all of thearea where we are was completely destroyed during the war. Many of thecollapsed buildings are still present. There are even more bullet holes in thebuildings here than in Beirut.It seems that massive international humanitarian aid is what is driving theprogress of reconstruction. People are generally not happy with the U.S.presence, though it is far less noticeable than it was in Iraq. Of the war,Walid says, "Afghan expatriates are generally happy that the US finally decidedthat the Taliban wasn't such a good ally." Basically, people have felt used bythe US for a long time, first as pawns in the war against the USSR, and now asagainst the Taliban.The infrastructure is similar to that currently of Iraq, with no electricity orrunning water, or closed sewage systems. You have to be a little careful not tofall in the deep open gutters. It gets dark at 7:30 and they turn on thegenerator until 9, then it's lights out until daybreak at 4:00. They pump waterfrom the well and we shower with a bucket and dipper, not unlike my time inHebron. Cellphones are everywhere and internet cafes are cropping up, though Imay not be writing again from here--like Iraq, areas frequented by foreignerscan be targets. So for once I will play it a little bit safe, no?Afghans, as I've heard before I came and as reiterated now, want Americans toknow that they are not in the Middle East, and they are not Arabs. They arePersians, and this is the far east. Some of Arabic cultural practices aresimilar, others are very different. More like Iraq than Palestine, and heavilyinfluenced by India. The facial features of the people are more Asian thanArabic also. Our guides say that the difference between Arabic and Persian(Farsi, Dari, and Pashtun) is like that between English and French. There aremany shared words and similarities, but if you don't know both languages, youcan't communicate. I understand quite a bit, but people don't understand me.Not that my Arabic is that great.Nonetheless, Walid says many people who visit here via Global Exchange or othergroups come back to volunteer, most often in training the teachers in English.I haven't made any commitments yet, but I really loved the girls' schools whichwe visited today. I made friends quickly. If anyone is interested, I can sendyou the information to volunteer!In the AFT schools, they use a new method for teaching Qur'an, which emphasizesless the memorization of verses and more the critical interpretation skills forunderstanding the scripture. Basically, it's the switch that we made a fewyears ago in confirmation teaching. They also use this curriculum to teachPersian literacy. They teach a full college-prep curriculum as well asvocational skills, recognizing that some girls want to go on to become doctorsand engineers, and others may get married and can only work a trade from theirhomes while keeping the house. Several of the girls were denied educationpreviously, and are starting first grade at age 18. However, they studydouble-time and complete two grade levels per year. It includes English andcomputer skills. Amazing.For fun today, we also went to the Baghe Barbur gardens, a palace, mosque andwalled garden built by the founder of the Moghul empire in the 16th century.Beautiful! It was on the front lines during the civil war and heavily damagedin '93, but is being rebuilt (like Syria and Lebanon's ancient sites) by the AgaKhan Trust.--------I did get in a really nice visit to the Near East School of Theology and theAmerican University of Beirut. AUB has a master's program in Near East Studies(Arabic, history, and literature, etc). and NEST has a one-year exchange inChristian-Muslim Studies. Both programs are really compelling. I just have tothink about what's possible for me. The last few days I spent in Beirut reallyendeared me to the city. At NEST, I also ran into Dina Tannous' cousin Ashraf,who is in his first year there. He is eager to visit the US again and spendmore time with the ELCA youth programs. He had also thought about going toWartburg or LSTC. What a neat guy! He's brilliant and extremely good-natured.At NEST I also learned that they used to have a seminary branch in Iran until afew years ago, and still receive Protestant seminary students from Iran mostsemesters. I spent a long afternoon there, a generous hour with the presidentof the school (a mid-career Lebanese woman named Mary Mikhael) and after lunchis coffee hour(s) with both students and faculty every day. Dr. Awad is a NewTestament professor whom I made friends with very quickly. I'd love to take hisclass sometime. He was really open with the students and they felt free todebate back and forth on both politics and Biblical studies alike--something Iloved about Wartburg and have very sadly missed since coming to LSTC, to be veryhonest. But I still would miss people at school if I were to leave any timesoon. So, I'll at least slug out another year or so at LSTC and then who knows?There is time to think and listen to the spirit. And I still have to fit in ayear in Hyderabad in India at the Henry Martyn Institute eventually....I'm looking forward to a week at home in Iowa after my return, then coming backto school to tutor incoming international students and pull togetherpresentations about these countries. I hope to hear from you all, and I boughttea and will plan a welcome-back tea party at my apartment sometime soon!peace,Le Anne