I am requesting any and all information anyone could provide to me about what it would be like to live in Kabul, Afghanastan for 365 days.

thanks.

Relatively crap, I'm guessing.

Why would you want to do that?

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I did some research for the World Bank for a few weeks in Mersa Matruh which is rural north western Egypt.

What I can share with you...good food. A lot of people smoke ciggies. And they stand closer to you than people stand in usa or dk. Weird shopping, you go to one store for this, another store for that. There were no mega supermarkets. You shouldn't look at women. Don't talk to women. If you want, you talk to the man who is with the woman. If she talks directly to you, its okay for you to speak with her. Don't touch her. Be respectful. Don't go near girls.

I actually had a great time. I made some good friends. However, I was careful to cover and speak through the local scientists first so not to cause confusion.

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Nu skal jeg betro dig min hemmelighed. Den er ganske ligetil:
kun med hjertet kan man se rigtigt. Det væsentlige er usynligt for øjet.

it's a job opportunity that has fallen in my lap. i would deploy leaving december 2010, should i decide to take it.

part of me is thinking, "wow, what an adventure" and "it gets me out of enid". but as sucky as Enid is, i'm thinking afghan would be worse. and for a year? gross.

but i'd make about $70k. tax free. goodbye student loans!

i'm set to deploy in dec 2010 no matter what. other options are a six month rotation in places like manas krygezstan (sp?), capt victory iraq, al udied, and guam.

i thought guam would be fun. never lived on an island before. but then again, these kind of 365 opportunities don't just fall out of the sky like this one, especially for a young officer like me too. plus, when i get back, i'd pretty much be able to pick wherever i wanted to go next, if i choose to. whereas if i took just the six month one; i wouldn't have that kind of choice, nor make as much money.

Your skin is too light and you don't have a beard --> definitely no.
I don't want to see people who have a Bavarian flag in their garden getting killed.

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Then stop coloring and visit Meat187's mix archive!

I'm an Afghan myself and visited Kabul several times in recent years.

What kind of job are you applying for? I'm actually also considoring working in Kabul.

On living there, it depends. If you work on an NGO you are very restricted. You will probably live in the more uptown areas such as Shahr-e-Naw (New City) or Wazir Akbar Khan. These areas are where most western NGOs, organizations and embassies are.

Kabul was totally bombed to pieces during the civil war in early 90s. Most of the city have been restored since the fall of the taliban regime. Although you will still find shady areas with no electricity. Electricity is always a problem in Kabul. It have been much better since the last year when power is coming from the Uzbekistan. Most offices and homes still have a diesel generator that they power on when the power goes out.

Alot of the water in Kabul is actually cleaner than in many other Asian countries. I've been to India and I didn't dare to drink any water there but bottled water. Kabul however is a bit different. Here most of the water comes from the river of Sarobi east of Kabul and these waters are fresch and nice. I still recommend drinking bottled water to begin with.

So what to do in Kabul in your freetime? There are lots of nice souvenire shops and restaurants in Shahr-e-Naw. You can find italian, chineese, turkish and of course afghan cousines in that area. Here you'll also find top modern shopping malls of the same standard as in the west with western brand clothing shops.
There are ATMs scattered around and often found near most banks and malls.


A popular trip for many afghans is to travel to Qargha lake to the north of city. Avoid going there on fridays since that is the weekend and it's next to impossible to get a good picknick spot.
You can go on a boat trip on the lake and even swim (I've tried and it's refreshing!)

Also don't miss going to Kabul museum found ner Darulaman.
The Babur park is also worth a visit. It have been restored and was once in a time one of the best parks in Asia.

Finally I highly recommend a visit to Mandayi. It's the oldest bazaar in Kabul and here you'll find everything! Cheap clothes and some of the best kebab restaurants in the city. But if you are patient enough and stroll deeper into the bazaar you'll find amazing shops which sells the best dry fruits in Asia and lots of other goodies. I usually buy with me over 10 kg of noqool (sugar covered almonds), pistachio and raisins!

There is quite alot to do in Kabul. Just have an open mind and you'll do fine :-)
If I'm around I'll gladly show you around. Good luck!

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quote:

Originally posted by tubularbills part of me is thinking, "wow, what an adventure" and "it gets me out of enid". but as sucky as Enid is, i'm thinking afghan would be worse. and for a year? gross.

Maybe so, but you'll get crazy stories to tell your grandchildren. This is the sort of thing you'd later regret not doing.

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Once bread becomes toast, it can never go back to being bread again.

unless you get blowed up

quote:

Originally posted by Sunsnail unless you get blowed up

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70K tax free isn't too bad, but how's the security of the job you're thinking of? It's not exactly the safest part of the world, especially for a Yank from the military.

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I don't want this to come off sounding rude, but T-Bills...this is kind of your job

I say do it, and nothing...NOTHING could be worse than Enid

You'd be living on a base of some kind yes? Something similar to that complex in The Kingdom? That's probably a bad example because that complex got blown to shit, but you get my idea.

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quote:

Originally posted by bas That's probably a bad example because that complex got blown to shit, but you get my idea.

Lol

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