As homesick as I am, as much as I count the days until this assignment is over, as often as I cry about wanting to be with Stefan and Albi and my home in Germany... I know I'm going to miss these guys and others like them and so many other people when I go. Most of the time, I love Afghanistan. Most of the time, I love these people. I want them to have a real chance, and that's going to mean YEARS and YEARS of support. I so want Afghanistan to make it.
Ofcourse, there's also the days I hate Afghanistan and I hate these people. It can be because I can't go outside except in the tiny courtyard of my guest house, the courtyard of someone else's guest house, or the dirt-covered ministry compound. It can be because of all the nasal and throat noises Afghan men seem to love to make at all hours of the day. It can be because of the way they allow women and children to live (I have yet to see a man in as bad a condition as I've seen some of the women and children). But, usually, it's in relation to the treatment of dogs.
You know what the MOST insulting name is in Afghanistan to call someone? "Dog washer." Because such a thing DOES NOT EXIST in Afghanistan - it's too disgusting of a concept to be reality for the people here. I'm not kidding. It's so sad, because this horrible view of dogs has NO basis in the Koran!! (it has its basis in the Hadith, the oral traditions that came after the Koran; more on that later). I wish I could get this page by Muslim vetinarians translated into Dari and Pashto and hand it out:
Source: http://www.coyotecommunications.com/travel/afghanistan/afghanessay19.html
