looking at AFGHANISTAN

We've heard the word Afghanistan regularly, on the TV news, for many years now but what do we know about the country?.  I remember reading a book about people crossing mountains to Pakistan and more recently watched a Ross Kemp TV show of his time with the British army, and that's a sad introduction to a country.

We've heard of Persian carpets and Afghanistan is one place where they are produced. In the 1960's knitted wool rugs and blankets were called Afghans, and Afghan dogs became the fashionable pet.  In Australian history, it was Afghan camels and their handlers who helped to explore and develop South Australia and the outback.

 But, movies and books set in Afghanistan are usually sad, verging on depressing, because of their history. The Kite Runner, both a movie and a book, is certainly worth reading and the movie is a view of daily life. 

The little coffee shop of Kabul, and The Kabul Beauty School, were written by an American woman who lived in Kabul. I was told to read them as works of fiction as there has been some controversy over her claim that they are true stories.

The Dressmakers of Khair Khana, is about daily life for city women under the Taliban and worth reading. The women start their own business at home, making clothes, which interested me. It seems printed textiles are not available and most clothing is plain dyed fabric decorated with bead work. 

A list of other books, which I have not read, can be found on line. And, now that I've been browsing I plan to read The Sewing Circles of Serat -  about sewing groups used as a front for educating women.

Below is part of a letter from an Australian, deployed in Afghanistan this year.  The photos are from other service sources.

2013 - from Afghanistan:

A little about our deployment. Our rotation arrived in Afghanistan in early May and for the majority we are expected to stay until the closure of the much publicised multinational base Tarin Kot.  We are expected to be home for Christmas and that's all I ask really. Although I am prepared to stay until I have to.

The weather is hot, dry, very sandy and exceptionally dusty in Tarin Kot. I also had the pleasure of visiting Kandahar very recently for two days. I couldn't believe it, but it was even hotter there. The second day it reached 48 degrees. I'm so glad I was only passing through. 

The country side is very hilly (or should I say mountainous).They are huge. I haven't seen anything of their size before. Spectacular. Occasionally you see green, you then know there is a river running nearby. Where there is water there are generally houses running along it, the houses are flat roofed and are in a compound type structure. This I've only seen from the air, moving off base doesn't happen for me. 

The accommodation here is good, we are in large buildings which we refer to as Bunnings buildings as they are like massive green sheds. The rooms are small, I share with two other ladies. We sleep in bunk beds, so we have two sets of bunks and I cupboard and shelf each. This leaves us enough floor space to get changed etc. I don't think I've ever slept in a bunk bed, even as a child. I am the lucky one though, as I have the bottom bunk and no-one above me.

The shower facilities are quite good. We are however limited to two minute showers, due to the water availability and the ability of the sewage system to handle it. 

The food is great with large quantities and variety, including fresh fruit and vegetables. This will change though as we get closer to leaving and handing the base over to the Afghans.

I hope I haven't rambled on too much and have given you a rough insight into life as I see it in Afghanistan. Once again, I thank you for your continued support to the Australian Defence Personnel.

TK 2012

TK

And a few facts and figures to help your understanding, with a brief history of Afghanistan at the bottom.

Geography
The map: bordered on the north by Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan, on the extreme northeast by China, on the east and south by Pakistan, and by Iran on the west.  The country is split east to west by the Hindu Kush mountain range, rising in the east to heights of  7,315 m (24,000 ft). Except in the southwest, most of the country is covered by high snow-capped mountains, traversed by deep valleys.Total Size: 647,500 square kmWorld Region:  Asia - Coordinates: 33 00 N, 65 00 ETerrain: mostly rugged mountains; plains in north and southwest. Lowest Point: Amu Darya 258 m  Highest Point: Nowshak 7,485 mClimate: arid to semiarid; cold winters and hot summers.Major cities: KABUL (capital) 3.5 million, Kandahar, Mazar-i-Sharif,  Charikar and Herat. 

Economy

National name: Jomhuri-ye Eslami-ye Afghanestan.

Currency: Afghani (AFA)

Major Industries: small-scale production of textiles, soap, furniture, shoes, fertilizer, cement; hand woven carpets; natural gas, coal, copper.

Agricultural Products: opium, wheat, fruits, nuts; wool, mutton, sheepskins, lambskins.

Natural Resources: natural gas, petroleum, coal, copper, chromite, talc, barites, sulfur, lead, zinc, iron ore, salt, precious and semiprecious stones
Major Exports: opium, fruits and nuts, hand woven carpets, wool, cotton, hides and pelts, precious and semi-precious gems 
Major Imports: capital goods, food, textiles, petroleum products
Arable land: 12.13%.
Agriculture: opium, wheat, fruits, nuts; wool, mutton, sheepskins, lambskins. Unemployment: 35%,
Labour force: 15 million; agriculture 80%, industry 10%, services 10%.
Natural resources: natural gas, petroleum, coal, copper, chromite, talc, barites, sulphur, lead, zinc, iron ore, salt, precious and semiprecious stones.
Industry: small-scale production of textiles, soap, furniture, shoes, fertilizer, cement; hand woven carpets; natural gas, coal, copper.
Exports: opium, fruit and nuts, hand woven carpets, wool, cotton, hides and pelts, precious and semiprecious gems.
Imports:  capital goods, food, textiles, petroleum products.
Major trading partners: Pakistan, India, U.S., Germany.

Communications 

Telephones: main lines in use: 140,000; mobile cellular: 13 million.
Radio broadcast stations: AM 21, FM 5, shortwave 1.
Television broadcast stations: about 7.
Internet users: 1,000,000.

The People

Government: Islamic republic 

National Symbol: lion 
Languages : Afghan Persian or Dari (official) 50%, Pashtu (official) 35%, Turkic languages (primarily Uzbek and Turkmen) 11%, 30 minor languages (primarily Balochi and Pashai) 4%, much bilingualism 
Nationality: Afghan(s) Ethnicity: Pashtun 42%, Tajik 27%, Hazara 9%, Uzbek 9%, Aimak 4%, Turkmen 3%, Baloch 2%, others 4%.Religion: Sunni Muslim 80%, Shi'a Muslim 19%, other 1%
Literacy rate: 28.1%

A Brief History:

Afghanistan is surrounded by larger more-powerful nations and has changed hands over the centuries as new empires made war with each other, often using Afghanistan as the battle field.

Prior to Alexander the Great entering the area in 328 BC, Afghanistan was under the rule of the Persian Empire. Over the next thousand years invaders took over the country on the way to other places, including the Huns, Turks, Arabs, and finally the Mogol invasion by Genghis Khan in 1219.

The area was led by various warlords and chiefs all vying for power until Ahmad Shah Durrani came into power in 1747. He helped to unite the people and create Afghanistan.

In 1979 the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan. They backed the Karmal Regime. The geography of the country made it a difficult place to have a war.  The rebels harassed and fought the Soviet troops over several years, making it tough for the country to have peace. In 1989 the Soviet Union had enough of the fighting and withdrew.
Suddenly there wasn't anyone in charge. The country went into anarchy, various warlords took over and in the 1990's the Taliban came into power. They began training and harbouring terrorists.  In 2001 the United States - with the United Nations - decided to do something about it.  This war is ongoing.

                                                                        ---------------------

Afghan Hound

... with MY DOG

This blog was never intended to be a journal but a collection of random bits and pieces - whatever I was thinking about at the time.  Cleaning up my computer last night I found these notes on 'A day at home', written for an email friend and dated 12th February 2002.  On that date Rufous the wonder dog was 11 months old, which is still a puppy. Now he is 12 years and 4 months and we live in a different house but not much has changed. Today we shared an almost identical day together.

2002 Rufous just a puppy

 A DAY AT HOME WITH RUFOUS 12.2.2002

It seemed ideal, a wet day, home alone, just what I needed - time to work on the story I was writing. And, it was raining (yippee, we needed rain) so we decided Rufous would stay at home with me.  Normally he is out on the farm all day but with the rain Big R changed his plans and would be away for the day.  

It would be good to have Rufous for company. I imagined him lying by my feet as I typed, radiating good dog loyalty, love and support. But, first we went out for the mail and a wee break for the puppy.

The rain was heavier than I expected and I hadn't thought of an umbrella. The letterbox wasn’t far but it was along a muddy bush track. Rufous wasn’t fond of rain. He refused to wee anywhere and was annoyed when water dripped on his head from the trees. He had a good hard shake every few steps. While I was peeling wet envelopes from inside the box he was pulling hard on the lead in an attempt to investigate the puddle of muddy water in the ruts made by postman's motorbike.

Back inside I told him to sit on the mat while I found a towel to dry him off. He did, for a second, and then wandered around leaving wet paw prints on the timber floor.  Pulling him back I tried to give him a rub down but he made it a game and pulled at the towel. This took 20 frustrating minutes. Changing the plan he grabbed an empty coke bottle and ran into the house. I let him play then I remembered the mess he makes with plastic bottles so I chased him and only managed to pull the paper label off. I worried about that plastic ring on the bottle neck ... it could get stuck in his throat, oh....and an hour had gone by.

Ruf ran all over the house throwing his bottle and catching it, and then settled down on his soft 'mat' in the kitchen for a good chew. I settled at the table but jumped up again to sweep up the little bits of chewed plastic as he spat them out. Finally I took the chewed bottle and outside to the recycle bin.

But I'd left the door open!  Rufous wandered out behind me, in and out of puddles and then decided to lift his leg on a tree. I herd him back inside and do the rub down thing again. Back in the kitchen Ruffie hurled up on his padded mat. Just watery stuff, no smell, no colour, no lumps. He does this sometimes after running hard and then drinking water too fast. I took the mat outside and rinse it off with the hose. I pulled the cover off and then put both the cover and the padding into the washing machine, with the towel and a splash of Eucalyptus.

The spare dog mattress was on the veranda, airing. It felt a bit damp but OK. I pulled the cover off the line and stuffed it into the clothes dryer, five mins did the job and Rufous had a mat to sit on. He chewed his back feet. Then he got up and to chase his tail.

I remembered a TV show I'd seen on how to stop bad dog habits. The trainer had used  a bunch of metal discs on a ring, which he dropped when his dog, a bull terrier, chased his tail. The dog was trained to stop whatever he was doing when those discs hit the floor and was rewarded with bits of cheese. I wondered if the cheese would make the dog constipated.  I had been planning to try this with Ruffie's habit of sucking his feet when they had been wet but I didn’t have a bunch of metal discs - but if I had they would sound a lot like the car keys.  Rufous loves the sound of car keys.

I had thought of using a length of poly pipe. It makes a deep hollow sound when hit against something and would be sure to get his attention.  I couldn’t find any pipe. I did a little training session with a rolled up newspaper. It seemed to work, but not on the foot sucking. We started on waiting and after an hour Rufous had learnt not to eat a treat off the floor unless I tell him it’s okay.  I settled him down in front of the big glass door where I could see him and he could see outside.  Back to the computer.

2001 - a dogs gotta chew what a dogs gotta chew!

The rattle of dog tags on metal and water splashing told me Rufous was in the bathroom drinking from his water dish, which we kept in the shower. A moment later I caught a movement down the hall. Yes, something bright yellow flew through the air. A solid brown shape pounced on it and shook it vigorously. It was a face washer from the bathroom cupboard. "Hey!" His sheepish face appeared in the doorway, yellow washer in his mouth. I wanted to ignore it BUT a second later he was back with a large purple towel. The ripping of towelling got me to my feet and off to sort out the bathroom accessories! Yes, he wanted my attention.  I gave him some.

We played soccer kong – our own invention.  I sit on my office chair, which has wheels, Rufous sits on the floor facing me and nudges his red Kong toy across the floor so that it is between us. We both make a dash to get it first, Rufous with is mouth and me using my feet - I’m not crazy enough to get my hands in front of snapping jaws. He always gets it first, but then has to take the next step because the real aim of the game is winning the Kong, not keeping it. If I won’t play he’ll keep rolling the kong towards me, or dump it, chewed and sloppy, on my foot or even into my lap.

2002 dumping his Kong in my lap

When he has the kong he will tease me, holding it loosely in his mouth so I can try to knock it out, sideways, with my foot. Yes, he gets a few soft belts in the mouth but he doesn’t seem to mind that. When the kong is kicked away he rushes to get it, skidding and sliding on the wooden floor, then takes it to his mat to chew for a bit and then start the game again.

If the kong lands close to me I put my foot on it and hold it down. Rufous loves this best because he has to 'dig' it out. He growls softly, scratches the floor with his claws and pulls and pushes the kong with his mouth.   Even though he is very gentle I never put my hand on the Kong while he is holding it.

After we played soccer for a while I put kibble into his kong and pasted it over with peanut butter and pushed an evening primrose oil capsule in there too - good for dry skin. I didn’t give him a huge amount of peanut butter, which he loves, because sucking it out of the Kong makes a lot of dribble that puddles on the floor I already had one wet dog mat in the wash.

While Rufous enjoyed his snack I washed the dishes and thought about lunch. Kitchens are designed to be cleaned endlessly and I got carried away until scratching on the floor and whimpering told me that the kong was under the cupboard, out of reach. I got down on my knees with the big feather duster to sweep it out. Rufous watched closely over my shoulder, bumping and pushing me to get a better view and also to grab the duster. He treated it the same way he treated the broom and vacuum cleaner – like a big mouse that must be chased and bitten.

Oh! did I say mouse? Opppps. He took off into my sewing corner where he once scented a little bush mouse and lived in hope of finding another. He often rummaged in my boxes of fabric and I'd find odd scraps on his mat, slightly chewed and wet. He'd find a bit he wanted, grab it in his front teeth, and gently pull it out of the box. Then he'd runs with his trophy, back arched, head held high, to his mat in the kitchen, for a chew.

Rufous went back to the glass door. I could see a couple of lizards playing on the step now that the rain had stopped. Just as I sat down at the computer I heard him bark. I knew he was bristled and jumping at the door, tail alert and legs stiff.  His nails rattled on the wooden floor as he scampered along the hall, made the turn to the steps, five down to the living room, which he took in one leap, skidded across the floor and crashed into the wall. Bouncing off he scratched his way (you could see the scratches on the floor) into the kitchen, where he bumped into chairs all across the room and threw his top half onto my lap. Neck stretched long, tail straight and head alert, his big brown eyes looked right into mine.

Staffies have such a wide 'smile' and very open faces. His expression and body position said, "I saw the lizards, I know where they hide, I want to go and chase them, let me out, let's go now! Now! Now!"

Sigh.  I got the lead, positioned the towel for the coming-back-in-foot-wipe and found him with his nose pressed hard against the glass, willing it to open. I couldn’t let him out without the lead. Wet weather in summer means toads and they are poisonous.

As the door slid open Rufous leapt onto the porch nearly dislocating my arm. He made a beeline for the far corner knocking green plastic chairs over in all directions and stirring up the brown gum leaves that had piled up around the timber decking.  He jammed his nose under one of the boards and lifted it up, freeing the wet soft wood from the old nails. I saw a toad underneath so I pulled him away, kicked a pebble across the path and pointed, "Ruf, what's that?" He darted after the pebble. Calling him to heel and we walk along the track to a grassy area by the ginger paddock where we could play sticks.

The game couldn't be too strenuous because the year before he's strained a muscle in his little doggy leg with his extreme leaping and jumping.  Just like a volleyball injury the vet said. I found a stick. We have an unlimited supply of sticks. They fall out of trees constantly and lie on the paths and in the bush just waiting to stick into your foot.   Long sticks are best and I hold one end high and let the other end dip down. Rufous chases the low end.

I made him run in circles, change direction and back again. I made him run fast in straight lines after the stick, then zigzag across the paddock, his red lead flying behind. When he jumped high I lifted the stick. He leapt and ran until his tongue flopped out, saliva flew in the air and I heard him puffing. Usually I let him get the stick to end the game, I let it go – no need to turn this into a game of tug-o-war.

But he grabbed the stick before I was ready, ran off a little way and flopped down to chew on it. Staffies are not really into fetch and I would need a very delicious incentive to entice him towards me – and then he would probably leave the stick behind in the grass. I just crept up behind him to step on the end of the trailing lead so he can't run further.

We had enough running. He walked quietly beside me. He'd needed a good run and now was ready for a big snooze.  He slept and I sorted the washing.  I swept and mopped the bathroom floors, quietly.  Finally I sat down to write the weeks shopping list and then, as I reached for my notepad to record the seeds of a newidea for a story I felt a bump on the leg and the pressure of a diamond shape head in my lap. I saw the brown eyes rolled up towards me. It’s just like having a baby at home again. Where is the kong?

2013 Rufous with Kong number 20

Looking at the MOON

I struggle to understand the phases and orbits of our MOON - and conversations with my Science teacher husband and my Scientist brother, who both claim knowledge and understanding of moons, planets and space stuff as one of their high interest subjects, just lead to my brain shutting down and I'm soon humming the old nursery rhyme.... 

I see the moon,    
The moon sees me.  
God bless the moon, 
And God bless me.

I do know the moon is about a quarter the size of the earth, that it takes 27.3 days to orbit the earth and I've also read that it takes 29 days to go through it's 'phases', from full moon to no moon, new moon and full moon again.  Apparently that has something to do with the moons slightly sloppy orbit, so that each time it goes around it takes a little longer and that's as far as my understanding goes.

However, I do enjoy creative stories, origins and interesting history tit-bits and there are even some jokes about the moon.

Q. What was the name of the first satellite to orbit the Earth?

A. The moon.

Starting with a strange, but true story, one that comes along once in a BLUE MOON ...... we all see that the moon is bright white or silver or sometimes yellowish, but not blue. Way back in the 14th century they knew the moon (or moone with a silent e) was not blue. An expression of that time - 'he would argue that the moon was blue' meant the same as our expression - 'she'd say black was white'.  So reference to a blue moon meant it was not so, or could not be.

As very little on this earth stays the same for long, a time came when people did see a blue coloured moon. Viewing the moon, at a certain angle, through a haze of chemicals like sulphur, can make the moon look bluish.  In 1883 the Indonesian volcano Krakatau erupted and the dust in the atmosphere made the moon look blue in many parts of the world for almost two years.  In 1927 a very long dry season in India caused enough dust for a blue moon and in 1951 the northern USA saw a blue moon through the smoke from forest fires in Canada. This does not happen very often and so the meaning of the expression altered to refer to something that happened rarely, or from time to time. 

But even this adaption didn't stay in place forever. Centuries ago people around the world  used different calendars and had different names and dates for the months of the year and it was all a bit of a mess if you were travelling. Some calendars followed the phases of the moon, others were based on movements of the sun. Gradually, due to trade and business, these different calendars were adjusted until most of the world was on the same page calendar wise. 

So, we have the year divided into 12 months, each month roughly 30 - 31 days. But the lunar month of 29 days from full moon full moon, is shorter than our calendar month and so it happens occasionally that a month will have two full moons.  This rare event of the second moon in a calendar month has recently become known as a blue moon.  Apparently it happens about 7 times in every 19 years - my husband explained this is because every 19 years the starting point of the earth's orbit around the sun, and the starting point of the moons orbit around the earth line up and they both begin again.

Q: "Why does the Moon orbit the Earth?"

A: "To get to the other side?"

This step in the naming of this phenomenon only developed in the last 25 - 30 years,  cemented into place by the media (it's a cool story when it happens) and also it became an answer in the trivial pursuit game.  This is exciting as it illustrates so well that we live in living history.

And a modern use for the blue moon - poets, and song writers use it to symbolise sadness and loneliness -  see as the Rodgers and Hart Blue Moon duet below - lots of great versions on YouTube.

HE SINGS:

Blue Moon
You saw me standing alone
Without a dream in my heart
Without a love of my own

SHE SINGS:
Blue Moon
You knew just what I was there for
You heard me saying a prayer for
Someone I really could care for

In some areas the moon was such a part of daily life that it stood for the period of time we now call month. The modern honeymoon holiday for newly married couples originates with a custom that began in 4th century Northern Europe.  To start married life on a sweet note, newlyweds drank mead, a drink brewed with honey, every day for the first moon (or month) of their life together - and that was a honeymoon.

A SUPER MOON is another good media story when it appears, and a great opportunity for photographers to show off.  Because the path of the moon's orbit around the earth is an elipse, not a circle there are times when the moon is closer to the earth than it is at other times.  When this closer position happens during a full moon it is called a super moon. People are convinced the moon is huge - but to my eye it's just nearer. 

2013 Super moon over central Australia

We know the moon is made of rock. Astronauts have been to the moon, walked around in the moon dust and brought rocks back to earth so it's difficult for us to understand that at one time people believed the moon was made of something else. We can check back to the 16th century again because that was when the printing press was invented meaning that from then on more copies of printed  works existed and some were kept while before that time the one or two hand made copies were lost of destroyed. We find that from the 16th and 17th centuries there were references to the moon being made of cheese.   

An English poet, John Heywood (1497 - 1580) wrote,  "Ye set circumquaques to make me beleue/ Or thinke, that the moone is made of greene cheese."   (You set circumstances to make me believe or think, that the moon is made of green cheese).  This mocking of the idea that the moon was made of cheese was possibly because some people at the time actually believed it was.   

An ancient folk tale tells of a simple farm boy who sees the reflection of the moon in the water of a pond. Not sure what it is he relates it to something of the same shape that he understands - a wheel of cheese. New, or un-aged cheese was called green cheese.  The story was told over and over and and as so often happens the origin meaning changed to the opposite meaning and up to the 19th century many children actually believed the moon was made of cheese!

Q. What do you get when you take green cheese and divide its circumference by its diameter?
A. Moon pi.

So with everyone looking at the moon over thousands of years it's no surprise that minstrels sang about a MAN IN THE MOON....


The man in the moon 
came down too soon
and asked his way to Norwich;
He went by the south 
and burnt his mouth

while supping cold pease porridge.

Of course this is a bit of nonsense - you can't burn your mouth on cold porridge so it follows that the man in the moon is nonsense too. But, strange creatures that we are this rhyme only added to the belief, at least among children, that there was a man in the moon.

In 1638 an English bishop named Francis Godwin wrote a sci fi book called The Man in the Moone, about a voyage to the moon. The Man in the Moon appeared in ballads and folk stories in many different cultures. This came from shadows on the moon taking on facial features. 

From my own childhood I remember -  

'Hello Mr Moon face, high up in the sky.
I can see you smiling, while in bed I lie'.

But I never actually saw the face in the moon as I grew up in the Southern hemisphere and these old stories come from the old world in the north.  European tradition was to see the figure of an old man on the full moon. He often carried a burden and was accompanied by a dog.

The need to have a visible place of banishment to frighten law breakers could be the reason some Germanic and Roman traditions represent the man in the moon as a thief being punished.  In Chinese mythology the goddess Chang'e is stranded on the moon, with a group of moon rabbits, after drinking a double dose of immortality potion.

The moon has a gravitational pull on the earth and so it affects the wind and the ocean tide. Once again that's the limit of my scientific knowledge.  The moon has been there for a long time so we named it. Our word moon comes from an Old English word, mona.  It was mene in Old German, mano in Old Saxon and Danish. By the 15th century English people were spelling it as moone and then moon.

In Latin the word for moon is Luna and this is still used for things relating to the moon such as the luna calendar.  Luna was also the moon goddess and from her we get the words lunacy and lunatic.  It was believed that the moon affected people and animals, causing madness or illness during the full moon. Science cannot prove this is true but many policemen, nurses and doctors think otherwise. Myths about werewolves or lycanthropes, men who transformed from a man into a wolf under the influence of the full moon, are still part of popular entertainment. 

But whatever you believe the moon is a beautiful thing.

2013 Full moon from east coast Australia

FULL MOON By Walter de la Mare

One night as Dick lay fast asleep,

 Into his drowsy eyes

A great still light began to creep

From out the silent skies.

It was the lovely moon's, for when

He raised his dreamy head,

Her surge of silver filled the pane

And streamed across his bed.

So, for a while, each gazed at each-

Dick and the solemn moon-

Till, climbing slowly on her way,

She vanished, and was gone.

This is a Moon Pie