April 7, 2007
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Good Boy
After a 1.5 hour flight in the LOUDEST plane ever (AN-24), then about a 10 minute ride to the border… and then 1.5 hours crossing the border… (including customs; walking across the bridge)… and then 1.5 hour car ride, I arrived in Mazar, home of JDA Afg.
I had absolutely no problems along the way… I had all my paperwork in order, but they didn’t even ask me for any of it. At customs on the UZ side, I was translating for an Afg. man who couldn’t speak Russian, but only a bit of English. Absurd.
They went through ALL of my luggage in the UZ side – this is the side I’m leaving FROM… then when I get to the AF side, entry took about 5 minutes.
It’s really amazing (I say this about Af. all the time) the kind of stuff you can buy here that you can’t buy over in UZ… lots of things imported from UAE, Pakistan, Iran… Last night, I was able to make tuna casserole for me and my housemates!
Of course, walking around covered while everyone calls you “Chinese” or says “Hello, how are you!” gets a bit annoying after awhile (how do the foreigners deal with that on a daily basis!)…
I even bought two Massoud hats (see below) yesterday for $1 each. On the way in, we passed under a gate which was supposed to say “good bye” but instead said “good boy”.. and also had Massoud’s pic on it. He, indeed, to many people (especially in this area) WAS — not so much a good boy but a good man, at least. Notice the hat? Cool, eh?
Comments (5)
i sent you an email regarding the comment left on my sight…
hi!! how are you? wow! i can’t believe you’re over there! you look absolutely the same as you did in highschool! that was 4 exclamation points in a row. its so good to read about what you’re doing. i hope you have a great easter!
i am tired just reading about all the trials of your trip. i would’ve DIED. i’m not a good traveler, and, unfortunately, i’ve been doing way too much of it lately!
is one of those massoud hats for me? i want a fun uz-land trinket!
you should take a pic of yourself in your cool new hat!