Good Muslims

News Flash!
These guys are not practicing Muslims!

Is it the Western clothing?

Is it the scruffy look?

Is it the smile for the camera?

Is it the cool manly look?

Perhaps it's the dolls?

Nope! You can tell they are not practicing Muslims because none of the above men have beards! The men below are good, practicing Muslims.

Ah, a pair of good practicing Muslims.

Jackpot!
Six good Muslims!

These must be good Muslims too, eh?
Well, they could be if they weren't already Sikhs.

We have an new idiot guy on our team. Apparently quite a scholar on Islamic Law, at least in his mind.

You see, all these many years I've been living, working or visiting Islamic countries like Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Jordan, Egypt, and Afghanistan I've been laboring under a false perception.

According to this moron dude, the vast majority of beardless men I've encountered in all these countries aren't really practicing Muslims.

According to this dweeb guy, the Holy Qur'an directs Muslim men to grow beards.

Guess how many times "beard" or "beards" appears in the Qur'an? Exactly one time.

In 20:94 where Aaron, speaking to Moses after Moses confronts him about the golden calf says: "O Son of my mother, seize me not by my beard, nor by my head."

That's it, the one and only reference in the Holy Qur'an to beards.

In case you were wondering, I have no patience with idiots. I especially have no patience with Western idiots who make such asinine proclaimations and do the extemists propoganda work for them.

Rant complete.

For now.

Side Streets

Eid has come and gone. Things are getting back to a normal rhythm and the days are getting shorter. I indulged in kebobs, naan and palau today for lunch. One can only drive past the kebob stands so many times without saying, "enough is enough! I'm hungry!"

One of the advantages we have in traveling around town is that we drive in unarmored vehicles that look like all the other Afghan vehicles. Which means we often travel where no armed convoys or patrols travel and that means getting to see "ordinary Afghans in their natural environment." We also get stuck in ordinary traffic, like we did last night for two hours getting home. It's often funny when the locals look in our vehicle and suddenly realize that we're not from around here.

So here's some shots of side streets in Kabul that you don't often see unless you leave the more popular/busy routes through town.

A talk by the sewer. Hard to escape the open sewers.

See what I mean? Another open sewer.

Or else one dodges pedestrians in torn-up muddy side streets.

Or, the really old part of town, no sewer at all. Just a dirt road.

In preparation for coming improvements, double sewer!

Then again, there's the dirt ditch in the dirt alleyway.

Ok, the open sewer is out of sight right now,
but it's right by the woman's feet as she inspects pears.
Note the more modern building surrounded by mud brick structures.

The goats get a brand new cement runway up the hill to the cliff houses.

College student emerging from alleyway on the way to school.

Another muddy road without proper drainage.
This one is one of the lower roads into the cliffhouses.

Another improved alleyway. These people must have connections.

Yes, there is electricity these days, even in the poorer parts of town.
Of course driving such roads is an adventure.

Which pretty much sums up the Afghan style of driving.
Yes, taken on the streets of Kabul just yesterday afternoon!

First Snow!

Ye Gads! Where does the time go? I can't believe it's been almost a month since my last post!

Anyway, to catch up on things...it's been Ramazan (Ramadan) since my last post. During Ramazan Muslims fast, pray, and abstain from tobacco and...well, "bedroom activities" from sunrise to sunset. In a couple days it will be Eid el Fitr, the breaking of the fast, so the town has been busy in the markets as people prepare for feasting and gift-giving.

On a weather note, we had our first snow last night (16 September). I do believe it is still "officially" summer. The mountains west of town saw the last of the snow melt on 27 August. So that means we went a mere 20 days without snow. It's shaping up to be one hell of a winter here.

Peaks to the west of town.
From 31 October 2008 until 27 August 2009,
there was snow on them hills.
After a 20-day break, it's back!

Kuchis on the move.
Kuchi means literally, "those who travel".
They are nomadic herders, primarily Pashtun, who are
regarded in some quarters with the same disdain as gypsies.

Note the dog in the lower left of the picture.
Kuchis rely on dogs for both herding and security.
You rarely see Kuchis without dogs.
This sets them apart from most Afghans.

This group of Kuchis started moving south two days before the snow.
Perhaps they were more attuned to the pending weather change than "city folk."

Lending a hand crossing the street.

Cliff house sidewalk.
I'm often asked how people get around in the cliff house neighborhoods.
This is how.

Wee one pooped out from pre Eid shopping.
Note the reddish hair.

Beggar trying a mark.
Since their vehicle looked more important than ours,
we got by without a second look.