Today the insurgents started blowing things up in Kabul. They haven't really done that since I've been here, and I'll be the first to admit it was slightly unnerving. Kabul is not a very large city (though it takes 45 minutes to get anywhere), so I've been to all of the places where the attacks have been taking place. As I was reading the article in the New York Times, I could picture the events unfolding...the muzzles flashing, the sounds of rockets and screaming. Riding back to our base in a convoy through a city that's under attack is harrowing. And exhausting. And exhilarating. Today more than ever I was reminded that I do indeed live in a war zone.
On one side of the city, Afghans who hate Americans and other members of the Coalition were trying to blow up people, buildings, and anything else that got in their way. And it is absolutely not lost on me that on the other side of that same city, at the exact same moment, Julia was throwing me the birthday party she's been planning for the past month. It was a birthday party complete with a cake, singing, traditional Afghan dancing, and more presents than I could carry. I shared some incredible memories with 15 or so Afghan women this afternoon, and the timing was absolutely extraordinary.
While this party was going on, not one of us had any idea that the city was under attack. We were enjoying a traditional Afghan lunch of rice, eggplant, beans, and fresh bread, and we were talking about how much life has changed for Afghan women over the past 10 years. When the Taliban ruled Afghanistan, all women were required to wear blue burkas that covered their entire face and body, with a small screen in the front that provided limited visibility to the outside world. For many years, military women reported to work in the morning wearing a burka, signed the attendance register, and were immediately sent home. Their professional military skills atrophied, and they were completely isolated from the working world they once knew. Flash forward to now when they wear a small head scarf and can walk freely through the city...and into their workplaces.
We talked about the World Trade Centers, the Pentagon, and how so many of these Afghan women and their families fled to Pakistan during the Taliban regime in order to preserve some sense of normalcy in their lives. Today, 10 years and two days after the events that put Afghanistan on the American radar, I sat in Kabul in a room full of professional military women who welcomed me with open arms. In front of me, they are willing to speak their minds and tell their personal stories. Though we don't share a culture or even a language, we share a love of country and sense of duty, and that somehow transcends our many differences.
There are two sides to every story. It's easy to write off an entire culture as being evil, which is seems to me is what the insurgents have been doing to Americans (and Americans have been doing to all Afghans) for many years. But today was the perfect example of how it is individual people and their unique personalities and perspectives who define a culture. In my mind, Afghanistan will always be defined by the incredible women with whom I work. And the challenge I have with myself is that I can't allow the violence in this country to overshadow the amazing things that happen here every day.
While this party was going on, not one of us had any idea that the city was under attack. We were enjoying a traditional Afghan lunch of rice, eggplant, beans, and fresh bread, and we were talking about how much life has changed for Afghan women over the past 10 years. When the Taliban ruled Afghanistan, all women were required to wear blue burkas that covered their entire face and body, with a small screen in the front that provided limited visibility to the outside world. For many years, military women reported to work in the morning wearing a burka, signed the attendance register, and were immediately sent home. Their professional military skills atrophied, and they were completely isolated from the working world they once knew. Flash forward to now when they wear a small head scarf and can walk freely through the city...and into their workplaces.
We talked about the World Trade Centers, the Pentagon, and how so many of these Afghan women and their families fled to Pakistan during the Taliban regime in order to preserve some sense of normalcy in their lives. Today, 10 years and two days after the events that put Afghanistan on the American radar, I sat in Kabul in a room full of professional military women who welcomed me with open arms. In front of me, they are willing to speak their minds and tell their personal stories. Though we don't share a culture or even a language, we share a love of country and sense of duty, and that somehow transcends our many differences.
There are two sides to every story. It's easy to write off an entire culture as being evil, which is seems to me is what the insurgents have been doing to Americans (and Americans have been doing to all Afghans) for many years. But today was the perfect example of how it is individual people and their unique personalities and perspectives who define a culture. In my mind, Afghanistan will always be defined by the incredible women with whom I work. And the challenge I have with myself is that I can't allow the violence in this country to overshadow the amazing things that happen here every day.
I love the idea of the party vs. the bombings (you know, as much as I can love the idea of bombings). I also love the idea of looking back at the changes of the last 10 years. I think that it's easy to get caught up in now, and often we don't see a lot of changes now, but all it really takes is a little perspective.
ReplyDeleteI also was thinking the other day about the whole generalizing and lumping together of the "the enemy" idea. often I think it's sad that we seem to have so much less investment and support, as a country, for modern wars than we did for past wars (WWI, WWII, etc.) and I think it's sad but I think it's also kind of a natural result of a growing awareness of different cultures and beliefs etc. During the world wars we just had enemies and we hated all of 'em, whether they were in their country or in ours which led to some pretty nasty situations. (Camps for Japanese American citizens anyone?) So I guess over all I'll take the lack of support (which I hope you don't feel) over the ignorance, I'd rather make changes through love than hate anyway.
Birthday bombs, birthday booty...all in a day's work.
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"...we share a love of country and sense of duty, and that somehow transcends our many differences." Excellent perspective...if only more people could embrace those commonalities!!