GRE a la Uzbeque

My husband and I would love to attend graduate school in the US, and with this in mind set about studying for the GRE exam shortly after arriving in Afghanistan. The GRE is a necessary hurdle in the application process whatever subject one intends to study, and it must be sat in October ideally. We discovered that the nearest exam location to Kabul is Tashkent, and so I set about applying for an Uzbek visa several weeks in advance. No response from the relevant ministry.
After days of nail-biting suspense, and many visits to a suave Uzbek consular official with deceptively liberal ideas about world travel (“Borders? They are not God’s work! God created the world, but man created borders! My child and your child are the same underneath!”), I was finally granted a three day Uzbek transit visa – the day before our departure.
Cars are a little scarce in my husband’s organisation since the earthquake in Pakistan, and this NGO’s timely emergency response that stripped its Afghan offices of all essential staff, but nonetheless with a little bargaining we reached Mazar in a day.
I was very happy to see our friends at the guesthouse again, and to catch up with Sugarlump’s latest stories. We crossed the border into Uzbekistan with eerie ease, only to find no one waiting on the other side. So we walked along the path through the fields to the little teahouse, where we sat on a wooden platform under the apricot trees and drank a bottle of mineral water. The tea was a little while in coming as all cooking was being done over an open fire, but an Uzbek matron and her two daughters kept us company. One of them was busy making an extremely elaborate cushion cover using a flower-shaped stitch I had never seen before. They all had gold earrings and teeth and were very cheerful, laughing at anything we said.
Finally we were picked up, and taken to the guesthouse in Termez, where we were fed and watered before being put on the very small plane leaving for Tashkent. [to be continued…]
In Tashkent we were warmly greeted at the airport by our friends from the office there, one of whom had toothache and had swollen up like a hamster. As soon as we were settled into our room, we took great delight in walking out un-chaperoned into the great, dark city. It felt unusually wonderful to walk the dimly lit, tree-lined streets of featureless Tashkent, which had never struck as so pleasant before we had experienced months of Kabul claustrophobia. We found a Uyghur café that was still open (Uyghurs are a Muslim ethnic group from Western China who speak a Turkic language similar to Uzbek), and were welcomed into their warmest room. We had suzma, a tangy cream cheese to be scooped up with bread, and lagman, the Uyghur speciality: long noodles dexterously handmade at high speed, in a rich broth with seasonal vegetables and small chunks of mutton, seasoned with a liquorice-like herb. Old favourites of mine.
The next morning our thoughts were very much taken up by our exam, due to begin at 2pm, and by how to find the venue. We arrived in good time, and sat through our two essays, our 30 mins of verbal acrobatics, our 45 minutes of maths (rather painful), and a mysterious "experimental" section on which we were not won't be marked. I severely ran out of time during the maths part, it almost as bad as being at school again – even after all my revision. Luckily it was all multiple choice, in which blind guessing can also bring its rewards.
We were so glad when it was over – as well as chuffed to realise that both Ed and I had got the maximum score in the verbal section – that we went straight out and blew all of 28 dollars on a huge slap up meal at the most expensive restaurant we could find. This was a most discreetly elegant Korean place with Russian waitresses in tiny scarlet skirts (a most pleasing change from Kabul), where we were given seven types of complimentary salads as a starter - which won my heart already - and then elaborate little mouthfuls wrapped up in seaweed (a bit like sushi), whole roasted fishes, and - forbidden delight - roast pork nuggets with sesame. We only made one bad choice - a scary soup with fermented soy beans in it - but that's good going considering we were deciphering a patchily translated menu.

quake

I was woken on saturday morning by the sound and motion of my bed, rocking from side to side, but not violently. When I opened my eyes, I saw the chandelier swinging two and fro above my head, and heard the walls or window frames doing a certain amount of creaking and whining.
I stayed awake just long enough to realise it was an earthquake, and to hope that the epicentre was somewhere nearby, which would have meant that it was but a baby earthquake.
Alas, as we now know, quite the opposite is true, and I am lucky not to have found myself further east that saturday morning.

New blog!

Today I have launched a new, special blog, dedicated to Bemani and the fundraising effort to send her to England for surgery. You can read an INTERVIEW with her, to get an idea of what an amazing person she is.

Today is also the first day of the holy month of Ramadan. I wish all my Muslim friends strength in their fast, and many happy iftar meals with their families.

Ripples from a murder

The ripples from the recent killing of a parliamentary candidate in Mazar-i-Sharif continue to grow. Ashraf Ramazan was killed with his bodyguard on 27 September, and the protests at his death have been gathering momentum. Already on the day after his death mourners took to the street in protest, demanding that his killers be swiftly found and tried.

Today, hundreds of protesters in Mazar blocked the main road from Kabul and from Mazar airport into the city. Ed and I had set off for Mazar at 6:30 am this morning, but we were warned by radio of the road block and only reached as far as Pul-i-Khumri. We had lunch there, and headed straight back on the 6 hour journey to Kabul.
However, there are protests in Kabul also, for the same reason, and the latest news is that the Taliban have claimed responsibility for his death.

According to RZ, who we spoke to from Pul-i-Khumri, the protest in Mazar is not limited to the Hazara or Shi’ite minority who would form his most natural constituency. Ramazan belonged to the minority Shi’ite Wahdat party, and was ethnically a Hazara, but seems to have been generally liked in Mazar.

Ramazan was said to have been in fifth position in the vote count for the Balkh province elections, which would have given him one of the eleven district seats in the new parliament. The results of the elections are due to be announced only on 22 October, but a lot of the experts have already been wondering whether the “assassination clause” in the electoral law was a good idea. This clause stipulates that if a winning candidate dies, his seat passes to the runner up candidate.

The protests and roadblocks in Mazar are expected to continue for some days, but it remains to be seen whether the start of the fasting month of Ramadan tomorrow will have an effect.

Protesters are demanding the resignation of the provincial governor, Mohammed Atta, as it seems to many that he could well be behind the killings. There’s an article by Christian Parenti here which gives an idea of how life and the rule of law are respected under Atta’s regime.

“As a prelude to becoming governor here, the warlord Mohammed Atta had his men lay siege to the home and offices of a rival, the provincial security chief Gen. Mohammed Akram Khakrizwal, who is almost universally acknowledged to be an honest man committed to the rule of law. Police loyal to Khakrizwal were driven away, and an armed standoff ensued for the next twenty days.

During the siege, Khakrizwal was resupplied with food and water by the small garrison of British troops stationed here, but the foreign soldiers were unable or unwilling to intervene further. Eventually some accommodation was reached and Mohammed Atta was appointed governor of Balkh province.”

The current regime in Afghanistan does seem to be dangerously conciliatory towards such thugs – the only occasion in which I have seen Atta was at a dinner at the Indian Embassy celebrating India’s Independence, at which he was an honoured guest.