surrendering to the present

My Farsi is coming on thanks to our lovely co-hosts in Mazaar-e-Shariff, young teenage boys, altho Rosie is leaps ahead in terms of getting to grips with the language, being fluent in 2/3 languages opens pathways in ones' brain and thus makes it easier to pick up even more. I spoke to my Granny today and handed the phone over to my new friend Masood, so he chatted to her very competently and charmingly, she was impressed with his English, I think he was too!!
I have embarked on a wee creative project consisting of interviewing people I meet and asking them about their lives in Afghanistan and their hopes for the future, so I spent the morning here chatting to the families who live here, as I am not allowed out alone it is fortunate that lots of people live in my accommodation who are happy to talk to me. Very interesting material to work with, and as it is developed I will upload it and put the link onto this blog. I feel in a very powerful position to challenge some of the negative perceptions about Afghanistan.
Me and Rosie went and spent the evening in a state maternity hospital yesterday, it was sooooo interesting, I saw my 1st birth, a gorgeous wee boy who I called Ramin. The experience was interesting from many perspectives, there were not enough staff for a busy ward, but there were trained midwives and an anaethetist, and a gynacologist, facilities were minimal, but better than places Rosie had worked in Africa apparently. A women only space, so burquas came flying off- and we were pleased to see that beautiful faces were revealed beneath them, prior to this we wondered if the invisible faces were hard or sweet.
We have a flight booked to Herat but there have been no flights for the last couple of days, tomorrow we go apparently, we will see, the roads through the mountains are blocked with snow- on the news today there was a report showing many people stranded in metres of snow on the road to Kabul.
We will see, we are loving the act of surrendering to the experiences that are here......

Afghan Stars

Writing this from Mazar-e-Sharif- 'Tomb of the Saint', the largest city in the North. I understand now why Zahra says that Kabul is the most cosmopolitan city in Afg, probably 80% of women wear burqa's on the street here, there is a big Blue Mosque in the centre which is supposedly the shrine of Ali, son-in-law of mohammed. Its a lovely place, quite different from the blue mosque in Tabriz, but also we observed run like a business rather than a place of worship!!

Afghanistan is a complicated place riddled with contradictions-

there is some unexpected pop culture here, which possibly indicate a changing society, for example a programme alikened to 'Have I got news for you?' called 'Zange Khatar'- a political piss take of the Arabian political situation- apparently the most popular programme on Afghan tv- asks questions like 'Why don't other Islamic nations offer help?', in a jokey sarcy manner. Zahra says it has not been banned because it is the only country in this part of the world that supports freedom of speech (admittedly only in some things).

I am loving the break from homogenisation that exists in the west, westernisation hasn't reached here, people don't ask us about David Beckham et al, and no Tescos!! Altho there is an enthusiasm for Bollywood here, no US/ UK materialistic culture.

However another popular Afghan tv show- Afghan Star- a stan version of Britain's got talent- with a featuring an awesome female role model Mozda Jama-Lzada- she is a Canadian Afghan, and like Zahra came back here as an adult, she wears a headscarf on tv but in a very casual way!!

We are being shown an interesting and historical side of Afghanistan, as tourists and guests of a really interesting couple. We visited an orphanage, run by Khalid's sister, Ziba (beautiful), lovely kids, who are in very vulnerable positions with no family, but lucky enough to be resident of this progressive orphanage, there are 11 and they all support education of both girls and boys.

Zahra and Khalid have some interesting projects, one they support is a police training academy, in collaboration with the German police, they have training academies for police teaching them about human rights, communication etc....Where women are employed and given equal pay, and rights, part of an attempt to address the negative attitude towards women in Afg. Certainly everywhere we go we are looked after by the police, and Z+K say this is reflects the changing attitudes towards women.

A true gem we visited in Balkh province- an ancient city called Bactria, ruined walls encircling a expanse of dusty land sprinkled with ancient relics that maybe more than 6000 years old- it has never been excavated, and if the relics on the surface are anyhting to go by, there will be many more treasures to uncover! It will hopefully one day be dug out properly and by folk who are honest and will hand over any of the country's treasures to someone who will enable it to be appreciated by generations of Afghans to come.....

We went to a Boz Kashi match today, female goat pulling, friday is a holiday, and people flocked into Mazar with their horses to participate in what seemed to be a crazy mash up. The aim of the game was for the riders to drag a headless calf from one end of the pitch to another.... It was certainly impressive, with massive healthy horses, and colourful riders.

Postcards will come, but they might take 8 months to arrive!!!!

Chush mite margh bullah (Your eyes are beautiful.....)

My first post in Kabul, Afghanistan- WOWee just about sums it up. I am very lucky to be being hosted by the very generous and loving Zahra and Khalid in their home in Kabul.
The title refers to a response in Farsi to compliments, and people say the above to indicate that they see beauty because they are beauty. Nice, its a beautiful language- and we are slowly picking bits up, for example' Khoob asti?', a question which works from the default setting of being/ feeling good.
We arrived late this morning from Dubai to be welcomed by the passport control and told that the world thinks that Afghanistan is a dangerous place, but we will see that it is not...' translated by the gorgeous Zahra of course who doesn't leave our sides. It is minus degrees here but it doesn't feel it, as it is a dry cold, which reminds me of Ladakh, similarly the high altitude affects the sensory experience of the climate. The sun shines strongly in the day though, and we were surprised to see that the temperature was only five degrees when it seemed warm.
Beautiful moments are in abundance, in particular when ones' expectations do not correspond. The police in Kabul are very friendly, and happily let us through a check point to take photographs of a frozen lake, and of them beneath a sign for the only golf course in the whole of Afg which proudly denotes 'Kabul Golf Course'. Apparently the polce are less friendly outside of Kabul, but here they seem jolly and friendly. A nice surprise indeed.
Zahra has a naughty Alsation puppy 'Abrash' who keeps us entertained, and a lovely team of folk who live and work in her house.
I have an Afghan sim now, but not sure of the number, so if you want to contact me send me a email.
Feeling very tired, its been a busy few days, from London to Dubai, to Kabul......All in three days.
I will write about my Dubai exp later.
Feeling fine here in Afg, please be reassured that I am in safe hands, and in a fantastic position to see a mysterious country from the inside.

Paradise beach

I am with both new and old friends living a dream on a golden sandy beach, where dolphins swim into the bay and play every sunrise and sunset. I had one encounter swimming with them but the water was too murky to see but there was a moment when I was surrounded by air bubbles so I think that they were checking me out. Everytime I see them my heart flips, they are such awesome creatures and seem to interpret and illustrate time in such a engeniously unique fashion.
I have finished a 5 day fast , water only for 3 days then fruit juice for 2 days. I feel good, I have found a great yoga teacher here from the UK who is inspiring me to ease my way back into yoga , and 'touch the stillness' once more after being distracted by my journey into meditation for the previous months.
I am staying in a hut on a beach shaped like an OM, in the centre, I live with some beautiful folk and we are like a family in our living habits, I have met a friend who I did vipassana with in McCloud Ganj back in October, and my dear travel companion Ani. Our place is a place where babies are born, cows guard their newborns with fierce protectiveness and dogs share their pups with glee.....

India the land of extremes- a complex concept!!

I felt inspired to write about my understanding of Indian culture, which, is often referred to as one thing, but everyone of the 26 states is absalutelyand completely different, and even within states there are massive differences in how people conduct their lives and cultural practises. One comparison that I have been thinking about generally is the north/ south divide. So my observations are very much a generalisation but I have noticed the massive difference between western states in the north and south, I do not feel that I spent enough time in the eatern states to compare at all. I htink the north is more developed than the south, there are more westernised tendencies, there are more mountains..... (the Himalayas would put any other ranges to shame!), it is hotter in the south, the people are blacker, and in the caste system black is considered to be a sign of a lower caste, women seem to have more value in the south, it seems cleaner in the south- because less tourists/ less pursuit of western greeds?, bargaining is more gentle, eg one gives richshaw drivers the amount that one thinks the journey is worth, the food in the south is probably my favourate of all the places that I have been, I love the chutneys (coconut esp!) I am trying to learn it befor eI leave and then I can delight those I love with delicious meals. This is not complete but I will add more later.... some musings for now.

Ethical volunteering

I thought I should write about an interesting and relevant conversation I had with some other travellers about ethical volunteering. They had looked for a company who organised ethical volunteering projects and then were happy to pay to take part in one project in Africa, they found an organisation called 'Quest' who met their requirements. They pointed out that it was important that if one is voluntering abroad then it is *important that they are doing something that they are qualified to do in their own country, and I can give the example of when I took classes with the children in Ladakh, I am not trained teacher but if I went into a class to help then the teacher would dissappear....? Then mayhem often ensued.... * Only take part in long term projects, rather than a project that only exists for the sake of the volunteers who are participating * Don't do something that a local person would get paid to do. My friend gave the example of when she paid to participate in a project teaching english in Camaroon, but the people who she taught paid to take the lessons and the host family who hosted her did not recieve any payment.....

Let the body fast and feed your soul.

Kerala, S.India. It is the neighbouring state to Tamil Nadu and couldn't be more different, being here has made me really appreciate the simplicity and authenticity of TN. Kerala is a consumer society, and much more westernised than its neighbour. It has a lot more water too, it keeps raining and the land is intersected with beautiful silent waterways, teeming with life. Apparently the rain is not normal for this time of year however, more evidence for the global nature of a changing climate. The most obvious difference between Kerala and Tamil Nadu however is the role of women, in Tmail Nadu it is a very conservative society and women always play an inferior role to the all knowing, all seeing man, but in Kerala it feels like theres less sexual repression and the women have a more equal status. In Kerala the Niars caste is the most dominant, they are traditionally the rulers and warriers of the state, and the Niars community is the only remaining matri lineal community in the world! In other words the family name is passed on through tthe women raher than the men..... I have been here for a while and came on an epic 3 day train journey from Agra where I saw the Taj Mahal, impressive but please check my photos for the more feminine 'Baby Taj' which really captured me.
I am having a wonderful time here, my dad and big brother joined me for a holiday which was great but a dramatic change from my usual low key travelling style! Great to see them and to share India with them, it has really touched my life, and seeing how it touched them too was really special
I am in Cochi which is a touristy haven, but actually really nice. I will leave tomorrow however to head to a beach where I can swim, but my movements are westwards now. I am planning my return, and I think I will retrace my steps through Pakistan and Iran and Turkey. But this depends on whether I can get a Pakistan visa in India, as it is reputedly difficult.
Being in Kerala is gorgeous, very humid and hot, its very gorgeous here abundant with wildlife and nature, so far we saw elephant dung, dolphins, Giant Malabar Squirrels, kingfishers, flying fish, an otter, eagles, cranes, unidentified frogs... We swam in the lovely silky, warm arabian sea and ate fresh fish.
Tomorrow I will head north to a beach where I can again swim everyday, something that enriches my life immensely.