First day in Afghanistan
Afghanistan Blog | 6th November 2007
Our new field director in Afghanistan has an eye-opening first day in Kabul before heading west to start working on our project there.
My first day in Kabul starts with a security briefing. The briefing is not very comforting and has heightened my sense of insecurity and jumpiness. Thanks to the dire warnings I seem to be jumping at smallest sounds, police vans, motorbikes...
After the briefing we headed towards the airport. Neither my wildest imagination nor any previous experience of flying from a smallest airport on chartered flights prepared me for next few hours of my life.
The sense of security is so high that even before we reach airport we have to screen all our baggage. It inovolves physically lifting your own luggage on to the belt, collecting it and putting it back in your car. One gets nervous as luggage, hand bags and everything else disappears out of your vision. I attempt to watch my baggage hawkishly and finally retrieve it. The airport is so dusty everything except maybe my soul is covered with an inch of dust. I look at my new suitcase and feel sad at the bashing it receives from various thumps from airport staff. I am sure after few trips it will have to be discarded.
LESSON 1: Do not take expensive and delicate suitcases to Afghanistan and no matter what is not available carry only one suitcase (including hand baggage).
The taxi driver tries to enter through UN gate but we are refused entry as we are not UN. We are advised to a go roundabout way to reach UN Terminal. We detour and get out at the nearest point. My heart sinks as I cannot find a single trolley and looking at the condition of approach roads I baulk at dragging two suitcases. My colleague, after seeing my reaction, finds a airport porter who has trolley and refuses to let it go. All trolleys at the airport are in possession of men of varying ages - official and unofficial porters. If we want to use a trolley we have to pay US$1. sometimes they demand more if we are not locals. He brings us to a gate, beyond which he is not allowed and another official airport porter takes charge of our trolley. There is a big sign asking us offload our weapons and that UN does not allow any weapons. Hmmm... weapons???
We go through UN security screening, they weigh every piece of luggage your laptop, handbag and suitcases. If it is more than 20Kgs they charge excess luggage. I am impressed with UN tactics of raising funds. I am taken into a room for a physical check - yuck not very nice experience. Women expect or demands baksheesh [tip or bribe] for groping me all over and dawdles in letting me out. I feign ignorance and refuse to let go of few soiled Afghanis I have in my pocket.
Everywhere everybody expects baksheesh. Last evening in the hotel room, maid enters my room, peeps into bathroom, opens fridge, opens cupboards, peers under bed, again peeps into bath room, after agonising ten minutes she asks about my health. I reply I am very fine and firmly shoo her out of door.
