Stuck in Traffic

Cramped in the back seat of an up-armored SUV, I lay my head against the ballistic glass, to rest my neck, and evaluate the events that led me to this point in time as I and my colleagues are stuck in a traffic jam in downtown Kabul.
Next to me, sits our project’s Municipal Coordinator (MPC) for Nili, a well kept, young Afghan man from a remote area of the Daykundi province. At a glance, one might think he is young and inexperienced, but a close examination of his face and mannerisms tells a different story. Typical of most Afghans I meet, his possesses a maturity that no westerner will likely ever harness.
On the other side of our MPC is my team leader, a larger than life Scotsman with the stereotypical wit to match, and a command of diplomatic skill that can light up any room and diffuse just about any argument. This is a guy who can tell you that you’re on a sinking ship, and make you feel fine about it.
In the driver seat is a locally hired soldier. Our project PSD hires local drivers because few expats have the nerve to navigate the mess that is Afghan traffic. The streets of Kabul, as well as Kandahar or any other city in this region, is a heterogeneous soup of small cars, trucks, bicycles, pedestrians, military vehicles, motorcycles, and even livestock. The only two rules that I can discern are: try to drive on the right, and don’t let whatever is behind you to pass you.
Our personal protection officer (PPO) sits in the front passenger seat, scanning the surrounding area for any possible threat. He’s a true Irishman, pouncing on any opportunity to crack a friendly joke. Unfortunately, I usually require an interpreter as his accent is remarkably thick. Either way, when on our movement through the streets, he is all business.
We are all returning from a meeting with a local contractor which we hired to do some roadwork in Nili, and rework the plan to accommodate drastic funding cuts. There are big plans for this small mountain town, with little financial backing. This is a typical scenario in Afghanistan, as aid funding is like an unpredictable tide washing in and out, and each time it comes in, priorities change. The whole thing gives me a dizzying headache, since nothing is a permanency.
I always thought of myself to be flexible, but this work has stretched me in ways I never thought were possible. I have learned to live day to day, wallowing in the few small victories we occasionally experience, and steering clear of any disasters on the horizon.
Other than obvious threats of living and working in a conflict zone, there exists an element about this work that I have never had in any other job. My emotional and mental capacities have been tested beyond their extents, but I can honestly say, even with all the frustrations and defeats, I feel alive here.
Hopefully the traffic will get moving soon.

Back in the Saddle

It’s been several months since my last entry. I find it hard to blog when I feel I have nothing interesting or positive to write about. Since my last update, several challenges have surfaced such as budget cutbacks and contract delays. I feel lucky that I’ve survived them, and hope I get to see some of my projects come to fruition. I guess time will tell. I have also been taking some engineering remotely from a university in the US. It’s amazing what can be done over the internet. I will still need to visit the campus a few weeks a year to complete curriculum goals.

With all this on my plate, I am relocating to Nili. I will embed with the military and manage projects from that location. This will help bolster our efforts there. Having an expat presence helps to make things run smoother. It is a much more austere environment than what I’ve grown accustomed to in Kandahar. Because it’s such a remote town, supplies sometimes have to be airdropped. This is due to harsh winter weather with snowfall up to 1.5 meters.

I’m headed there for only a few days to get get situated, and then come back to Kandahar for a wile to wrap up some other commitments. As it stands, I’m not all too excited about the change because I have my reservations about not having access to dependable transport, internet, and other amenities.

Qalat by Huey

Yesterday I and my component’s Traffic Engineer and an officer from our PSD travelled to Qalat (a city northeast of Kandahar) to meet with the mayor about some development projects, and make visits to the project sites. After the obligatory wait to get through all the security checkpoints, our group had about an hour to kill, so we stopped at the base’s British tea shop to sit and wait until we had to report to the flight line.

A short drive to our terminal, a quick weigh-in of our kit, and we were ready for flight. Of course it was still about another hour, so we chatted about our home life and families for a wile. Travelling is always a good opportunity to get to know the people you work with, because there is so much downtime to do nothing else.

I knew we were going to fly by helicopter, but got really excited to find out it would be a Huey. I haven’t ever been in one and was curious to see what one was like. After strapping our luggage and ourselves in, the pilots fired up the engines and away we went.

Just north of the base were a herd of camels grazing on shrubs. In all the two years I spent in Iraq, I never saw a camel. In Afghanistan, I see them constantly. Iraq is more industrialized, so I guess there is less of a need there for these beast of burden.

View overlooking farming fields in Kandahar.

This is a shot of our escort. Helo movements are always performed in two, just in case there is a problem.

There were several Kuchi camps dotted around the outskirts of cities and towns. These nomadic people travel from place to place, usually sustaining themselves by selling hand-crafts or begging.

We passed through a mountainous area where the views were breathtaking. Unfortunately, these photos do no justice to the view.

A view of our escort over Qalat.

Landing in Qalat, we were greeted by a USAID representative who ushered us to our living quarters, showed us around the tiny compound and set us up in a temporary office.

We worked for a few hours going over our agenda for the next day and tying up loose ends, before heading for the DFAC for some chow. The whole PRT (provincial reconstruction team) was celebrating someone’s birthday, so we were lucky to have a steak dinner with cake and ice cream. The food here is much better than what I’m accustomed to in our Kandahar compound.

Hamidi Killed

This morning Ghulam Haider Hamidi, mayor of Kandahar, was killed by a suicide bomber who concealed his explosives in his turban. The attack was carried out at Kandahar’s municipal complex. Hamidi was the runner up in filling the position of the late governor Ahmed Wali Karzai, who was murdered by a member of his own security detail just a couple weeks ago.

This really spooked a lot of us because of our close working relationship with Hamidi. Our project has spent the past year building up projects for the benefit to Kandahar, and the mayor had been a central focus.

This is only my opinion from what I’ve pieced together from hearsay, but it’s my belief that the past few assassinations are the results from an ongoing turf war that has more to do with tribal power, than that of any Taliban tactic. There seems to be a rift between several power-broking Afghan families (much like a mafia war), and the Taliban is all too happy to claim responsibility to further it’s cause.

The Kabul Tour

The last time I was in Kabul I didn’t really have time to get out and tour around the city much. Luckily, our PSD was kind enough to take us around to the sites and show us the town. I saw a great deal of the city just running my errands to meetings throughout the city, but never an all encompassing overview.

Just like any other metropolitan city, street vending is big business. Watermelons are in season, and just about every other produce vender had stacks of them. I even saw a taxi cab filled completely to the roof with a load of melons, probably transporting them for a farmer.

The gentleman in the second picture is peddling boiled corn on the cob. The street food here is primarily fresh produce. I occasionally saw and ice cream vendor here or there, but not often. Too bad we don’t have fresh food like this readily available off city streets in the States.

A mountain range approximately cuts Kabul through the center. Our driver took us to the top where a massive complex of radio, TV and cell antennae perched.

On the accent, I saw all manner of ingenious architectural design, probably dating back to the bronze age.

Halfway up the mountain you can see Kolola Pashtu. A military garrison that was instrumental in a revolution in the late 1920s.

Descending down the other side of the mountain, Hazrat Iman Ali shrine can be seen nestled within a massive cemetery. Afghanistan is dirt poor and most families cannot afford an elaborate headstone for their departed loved ones, so it’s very common to see nondescript flagstone grave markers. This gravesite and mosque belong to the Hazara ethnic group, believed to be descendants from Mongolia.

Near the shrine is a market selling snack food and other convenience items. I was very intrigued by the playground equipment. I think there might be a small community carnival planned.

Every once in a wile a convoy carrying expats can be seen on a movement through the various neighborhoods, in varying configurations of hardware. This convoy consisted of several up armored trucks. Looks like they blew a tire and are in the process of changing it. The PSD moving their client look a little on edge with the whole ordeal.

I wonder how my motorcycle safety course instructor would feel about this picture?

When I was downtown yesterday, I noticed a guy pulling a cart similar to this. Every few steps he would sing out something in Dari (the local language). I noticed most of everything he had in his cart was metal, so I’m guessing he was a metal recycler. This guy is likely a waste scavenger as well, which is big business in Afghanistan. You can bet there is nothing of value in an Afghan landfill. If it can be reused, it will.

One highlight of the outing was seeing the Darul Aman Palace. It was built in the early 20s, and surrounded by large lush gardens (now just dusty lots). The structure has seen a lot of turbulence and restoration since being built. Its been ravaged by fires and damaged during the Soviet invasion. Almost all the damage here is from small arms fire and shelling by factional fighting with the Mujahideen.

It currently serves as a sort of open museum, visited by whoever wants to walk in and take a tour of it. unfortunately, my PSD wasn’t allowed to let us enter the structure for security reasons, so I only got to see the outside.

I can only imagine what these gardens looked like during the glory days.

ANP (Afghan National Police) can be seen at almost every major intersection.

Below is the Mausoleum of Mohammad nadir Shah, one of the Afghan Kings in the 20s and 30s.

Near the Shah Mausoleum were some Buskashi athletes making a little money by letting people ride their horses for a nominal fee. Buskashi is an equestrian sport that involves several horsemen dragging around a dead goat and pitching it in a goal. It’s a little rodeo, polo, and basketball all rolled into one, but with a dead goat. I hear there are efforts to make this the national sport of Afghanistan. In all honestly, I’d love to see one of these games.

After watching the Buskashi players show off their skills, we went to a restaurant, had some lunch and headed back to our compound. Overall, a nice day off in Kabul.

Back to Kabul

After getting back from my rest break, I spent about a week getting caught up and resynchronized to my daily routine. There was talk of sending me directly to Kabul straight from Dubai, but this plan fell through due to meeting schedules and other circumstances. I’m grateful for this because I was severely exhausted from travelling and really needed some time to just get re-acclimated to being in country.

After a few days getting myself and staff back on track, I came to Kabul to meet with some subcontracted engineers, and my staff engineer that will be working on developing a small town. It’s really nothing more than picking up their plans that we bought, but I find it might be advantageous to walk through the drawings and documents to address any issues or questions.

This is a pretty challenging project because I have to be very creative with oversight. For security reasons, expat staff are not able to visit this site, so I am totally at the mercy of what my local staff reports. It think of it like trying to build a McDonalds on Mars. No way of getting there and having to rely on whatever tools and robots are there.

I’ll be in Kabul for several days. My second main objective is to apply for a second passport, and get pages added to my existing. I have one little box left for entry/exit stamps. Hopefully the embassy will issue me a second passport. It’s not common for Americans to have two, but for special cases they are allowed. Afghanistan is notoriously slow in issuing work visas, sometimes taking 3 to 5 months. A second passport allows one book to stay in the visa cue wile I can travel with the other.

R&R: Last Vacation Days and Oddyssey Back to Kandahar

The last couple of days of our vacation consisted of relaxing and enjoying the amenities of the cruise ship and later the hotel. It was nice getting to spend some time with my family and not worry about time tables or schedules.

We arrived back in Barcelona in the morning and quickly made our way to our hotel. We were too early to check in, so we stowed our luggage and sat by the pool wile London played in the water.

The thought crossed our minds several times about taking advantage of the situation and doing some more touring of Barcelona, but I think we were all ready for some downtime. We stayed in the hotel and just enjoyed a quiet dinner and some movies. Since I had to be up at 3:00am, to catch my flight, it was wise to just rest.

The next morning I reluctantly said my goodbyes and left our room for the lobby. I barely made my plane due to the fact that the hotel shuttle was backed up and insufficient in getting their tenants out the door.

I was flying from Barcelona, to Rome, to Amsterdam, to Dubai, and finally Kandahar. I spent 5 hours in Rome’s airport, and another 7 hours in Amsterdam. In Amsterdam the flight got delayed after we were airborne for 30 minutes and the pilots discovered the landing gear would not retract. After making an emergency landing, and sitting on the plane for 4 more hours wile the technicians repaired the landing gear, we taxied to the flight line only to have the breaks overheat. By this time the flight crew had exhausted their union regulated working hours, and the flight was cancelled.

After an exhausting additional 3 hours waiting in lines for a hotel voucher and transport to a hotel, I finally checked into a barebones hotel room. By this time I was ready to literally pass out.

I was only able to sleep for 5 hours because the airline had told me to report back the next morning. Then I was informed that my plane was not due to fly to Dubai for another 12 hours. By this time I had already contacted my connecting airline to reschedule.

I finally arrived in Dubai, but the airline delivered me an hour late, causing me to miss my already rescheduled flight. I re-booked for a nominal fee and proceeded to find a hotel. After getting to the hotel, I realized that I had an entire day to burn because my re-booked flight was scheduled for the following day. I decided to stow my luggage and take a tour of Dubai.

The business center of the hotel had tour packages and excursions available, so I bought a ticket on a hop-on-hop-off bus that drove all throughout Dubai. I’m glad I did this because it gave me a chance to see some parts of the city that I’ve only seen from the air, and to see some of the finished landmarks that were still under construction the last time I was frequently travelling through Dubai.

Land reclamation is big here, you can see a manmade island being build just beyond this beach.

Burj Al Arab boasts to be the only 7 star hotel.

A view from my touristy hop-on-hop-off bus

Driving down the main road on Palm Jamera. All of this was just ocean until sand was piled up to create land.

The Atlantis Hotel on Palm Jumera. It’s kind of creepy to call it Atlantis, since all it would take is on little earthquake to cause this thing to sink it in a spectacular display of classic liquefaction.

Construction site on Palm Jumera, I’m guessing this will be underground shopping and commercial property. The bridge is a monorail transit.

I stopped at the Dubai Mall and was impressed by this massive 4 story salt water aquarium.

I was thinking of my daughter when I took this photo. It’s basically thousands of silk butterflies suspended from string.

I was anxious to see this landmark. The Burj Kalifa, tallest building in the world.

This is a huge water fountain in the Burj Kalifa complex. I caught the tail end of the water show which is synchronized to music and light, and shoots water in the air about 70 meters. The water jets are servo controlled and can aim in different directions. I was quite impressed by what little I saw. I think they were just testing it because on of the information kiosk people in the mall said that the actual show stated at 7pm. I would like to have seen it, but I was shouldering some serious jetlag, and needed to get back to my hotel.

I returned to my hotel and watched a little American television (something I haven’t seen in a long time) before turning in early.

The following day I returned to Dubai International, and got on my plane with no difficulties. After a 2 hour flight, I arrived in Kandahar safe and sound, ready to get back to work.