h-what? x 2

traveling to herat this weekend for the eid break!



i hear that herat may have hammam baths. do i dare?

i instruct you to pls. see here for a view on the city via the hit reality tv show, afghan star. the lady in the yellow headscarf is my friend zohra's mama, one of the show's judges!

youtube has tons of these episodes, v. fun to watch.

sultan munadi

when reported upon at all, afghan journalists often get labeled as "fixers" or "interpreters." sultan munadi, who died last week in kunduz, was a journalist.

he was also one of the many afghans who emigrated temporarily for reasons of safety + education + now have returned to work at rebuilding their homeland. i know many such courageous people at the university. in munadi's words:

"And if I leave this country, if other people like me leave this country, who will come to Afghanistan? Will it be the Taliban who come to govern this country? That is why I want to come back, even if it means cleaning the streets of Kabul. That would be a better job for me, rather than working, for example, in a restaurant in Germany."

as you probably have read, munadi and his colleague stephen farrell were new york times journalists kidnapped by talebs in early september while reporting in kunduz. a captor told munadi that they could get a prison exchange for farrell but nothing for him. and when the gunbattle went down, it was munadi who stepped out into the line of fire, identifying himself as "journalist." he was shot + killed, + farrell escaped unharmed (thankfully).

it is unclear whether sultan munadi was shot by british forces or his captors. what is shameful, though, is that those who went on to rescue stephen farrell did not even bother to retrieve sultan munadi's bullet-riddled body upon their departure. a colleague of munadi's, writing in the excellent new york times "at war" blog describes speaking with his friends about this atrocity at the funeral last week:

"I spoke to his closest friends. They were all furious and deeply saddened by his death, especially when his body was left behind and not flown back with the international journalist who was rescued. For them it didn’t matter who killed him, whether he was killed by the Taliban or the British special forces, what was important for them was why a sketch or picture of Sultan was not given to the Special forces, and also why did they have time to bring back one of their own soldiers who died, and rescue the British journalist, but left Sultan’s body to rot at the house. Sultan was buried right away when his body was brought back to Kabul. His close friends that saw his body in the white shroud, that Muslims wrap bodies before burial, say that the shroud was soaked in red because of his blood, and his body and face could not be recognized. To them this was the sign of utmost disrespect, as they found it to be inhumane and some were saying that we think the Taliban wouldn’t be this heartless."

i feel unbelievably sad to read about all the wonderful things sultan munadi's friends and fellow journalists had to say about his personal spirit and his contributions to reporting about afghanistan. it is tragic that so many people here, like munadi, must risk their lives just to live in their homeland and do the work they are best at. and that when they are forced by horrendous circumstances toward heroism, as sultan munadi was when he tried to save his own life and the life of his colleague, they are not treated with according respect. it seems so basic, and yet, clearly, so fleeting.

and i will go via zaranaj

zaranajs for hire

hop in

i pass thru zaranaj junction each day in a giant, airconditioned van


















and want for a smoother ride . . .













afghan beauty parlor visit yesterday! big hair that lasted about 30 minutes. they love the late 80s/early 90s lady hairfashions, yeah!

flashy

a visit to the national museum of afghanistan this morning. heartbreaking how many of the centuries-old artifacts were fragmentary--and in that state only since being smashed between the late 1990s and 2001.














the kabul museum is on the grounds of the darul aman palace (itself in ruins).

[bactrian tablet]

a rail line used to run through kabul. the remaining antique railroad equipment was moved to the museum grounds, near king mohammed zahir shah's car collection, which remains covered. an obsolete transport graveyard of sorts.













if you find yourself in new york, use one of the next eight days to see the "hidden treasures from the national museum, kabul" exhibition at the met before it closes.
















"in the summer of 2003, afghanistan announced the discovery of several museum boxes in the presidential bank vault in kabul. inside these boxes were priceless artifacts rescued after being hidden 14 years earlier by national museum workers during the chaos of civil war."










amongst the treasures is a foldable gold crown, v. helpful for traveling light through the afterlife.

catch it if/while/however you can.

[nonflashy photography permitted for entry fee of 250 afghanis]

ka-boom

as my peach house buddy remarked, "it is has a v. *afghanistan* here lately." we have been off from work--on lockdown for one day--with the internet down + the power off in most of our house + with a housemate dreadfully ill with the typhus. it is amazing how quickly things can deteriorate here + how difficult it can be to get them back on track, kabul ka-boom.





still, we are lucky. i was able to go to the pool yesterday, where i met these little charmers. i think they fought each other for honor + now both have cuts on their faces. unlike my bourgie threesome of samma + chlobacca + meesie back home, they seem to enjoy v. much vegetarian pizza.




matt damon was back in my life again last nite - can you make him out here? my neighbors (whose power was *not* off) tricked out their backyard with a video projector, sound system, + couches + hosted an outdoor movie screening of the departed, which was superfun. part of the film was shot a block from my greenpoint home at the park luncheonette across from mccarren park, so i was happy + sad to see that.

bbq back over at the neighbors tonite - i can smell the meat smoking from here. on + on + on + forward + all that. xoxo

national martyrs' day

massoud day lockdown bad internets blues . . .

xoxo

illuminated

on monday, i had the extreme privilege to visit afghanistan's national archives, as a guest of ms. hafiza, one of the senior staff members of the archives. when i worked at nyu a few years ago, our library collaborated with them on a project called the afghanistan digital library.





the objective: to digitally repatriate extremely rare books produced within the first 60 years of afghanistan's publishing industry. there has been so much loss of printed heritage within the country, and many of the older books, if they survive, are no longer in afghanistan but in private collections and the libraries of the western world. my brilliant friend, melitte buchman, came to kabul two years ago to train hafiza and her crew in digital imaging, bringing with her a lot of expensive equipment.

[afghanistan's only digital imaging unit!]

as with many things here, politics eventually led to a temporary cessation of the imaging project, but things again are looking more hopeful. the national archives is now under the leadership of journalist sakhi muneer, who has ambitious plans to create widespread partnerships with international organizations; to actively encourage prominent afghans to donate their books, manuscripts, and papers; and even to build an institute for the training of archivists within the national archives. he rightfully feels that afghans need to be more in control of the stewardship of their cultural heritage and that the national archives is ideal to lead this endeavor.


the collections are primarily stored in the basement of the palace that is their home (1890, built by emir abdurrahman khan + v. well preserved). while there wasn't time for a basement tour this time, on display at the archives were photographs documenting the lives of past afghan rulers; samples of the country's first paper currency; and, best of all, some breathtaking original illuminated manuscripts, hand-painted with lapis lazuli + gold.









when these manuscripts are digitized, they have to be unbound and carefully scanned (or photographed) page-by-page. the national archives employs a master binder to rebind scanned manuscripts + other items whose housings may be deteriorating. melitte + crew were also responsible for installing the bindery at the archives, v. impressive.












i hope to visit the national archives at least once more before i leave kabul + will insist on seeing the basement, where i know there are treasures + treasures + treasures hidden away. a dream for a scavenger archivist, you betcha.