Blogs from Afghanistan
March - August 2007
(with postscripts & updated info to help Afghans & those that care about the country)
Resources
to help Afghans in Afghanistan Keep Their Devices Safe.
Resources for Afghans
Teaching Girls at Home. (additional suggestions
welcomed)
Resources to
help Afghan women resist the Taliban.
Advice for
Afghan women helping each other to resist the Taliban.
If you want to help the
people and the animals of Afghanistan.
For six months in 2007, from March through August 2007, I worked
in Kabul, Afghanistan, helping a national government ministry
there with various communications functions. My goal was to help
build the capacity of the Afghans I worked with to do their jobs,
with a particular emphasis on women government workers, and to
raise the profile of the work of this government ministry.
I maintained a blog via a private Yahoo Group for friends and family, and I cleaned up those blogs later for public consumption, publishing them here in my web site. I am publishing these here because I want to remember my time there, because I want to have a record online of what life was like there for a foreign aid worker in 2007 (in contrast to now), and because, for many years, I hoped it would be helpful to other female aid and development workers that might be going to Afghanistan or any post-conflict zone (I got emails saying it did - thanks for writing).
This is my experience in Afghanistan. It will not
necessarily be yours, or anyone else's. These are personal
blogs full of personal opinions -- it's not a series of newspaper
articles. I make no claims to being completely accurate and I make
NO claims to being impartial. There are opinions here that you may
disagree with, based on your own knowledge and experience, and
that's fine. In fact, I don't agree with some of the viewpoints I
held then. I hope I come from a place of honesty and sincerity in
these accounts, and I hope you will respect that this is merely
one foreigner's perspective about what she saw and experienced.
Before you read this or any of my blogs about
Afghanistan for the first time, and before you decide to write me
an angry email about what I've written, please read this full disclaimer
and please read a bit about me, so you have more context about
when this was written, why it was written, and who I am.
The dates note when things were written/published, NOT
necessarily when they happened.
Archived Resource from 2007: shopping guide for Kabul, UNDSS Kabul Cleared/Approved Restaurants from April 2007, menu from the Kabul Korean Restaurant, info about Lonely Planet Afghanistan and much more. This archive is for aid workers that lived in Afghanistan back in the day and are looking for some nostalgia and for anyone who wants to remember what it used to be like in the country before the Taliban drug it back.
Getting to Afghanistan / First Impressions of Kabul, March 2, 2007
Lack of Sleep & Where I Live, March 3, 2007
Bunker Down, March 5, 2007
Medieval Times, March 6, 2007
Lonely Planet and A Night Out, March 8, 2007
Women's Day in Kabul, March 8, 2007
No Bugles... (now with photos!), March 9, 2007
Computer viruses and a Day in My Life, March 12, 2007
About the Afghan Government, March 13, 2007
Yes, I heard the blast, March 14, 2007
Thoughts on the Head Scarf and Feminism, March 17, 2007
Nawrooz - Happy New Year 1386, March 20, 2007
Here a 'stan, there a 'stan, everywhere a 'stan 'stan, March 22, 2007
Three Weeks Here, March 23, 2007
The Only "Fundamental" Thing I believe in: Net Necessity, March 23, 2007
Shop But Don't Drop Me, March 24, 2007
Pashto Porno Party, March 27, 2007
Turn Me Loose!, March 28, 2007
Dogs in Kabul & the Koran, March 29, 2007
Macs, Africans, movies and food, April 2, 2007
Shake it baby, shake it, April 3, 2007
Fear Me, April 3, 2007
Bomber near Afghan parliament kills six, April 6, 2007
A huge gift -- Tashakur, whomever/whatever, April 8, 2007
Mars needs women. So does Kandahar, April 12, 2007
Reflections on Part 1 of the Adventure, April 17, 2007
What Movies Are Like Kabul?, April 18, 2007
Afghan Women's Walking Dog, April 19, 2007
I'm Ready to Leave NOW, April 20, 2007
I'm back in Kabul, May 3, 2007
blawgging is back, May 5, 2007
Paris, May 6, 2007
cue the inspirational music, please, May 7, 2007
UN staff member shot dead in Kandahar, May 9, 2007
Derby news, May 9, 2007
Welcome to Kinshasa, May 11, 2007
I start with a laugh, I end with a tear, May 12, 2007
Afghans Got Theater, May 13, 2007
He Destroyed the Buddhas, May 14, 2007
What makes me happy? Not a mahram, May 18, 2007
Trip to Pansjir (with photos!), May 20, 2007
Women Last, May 22, 2007
Weather in Kabul - an entirely non-political post, May 25, 2007
Extra, May 26, 2007
Charrow Ney (Dari for "Why Not?"), May 27, 2007
Today was my favorite day in Afghanistan, May 28, 2007
a game show star, an egg boy, journalists, & parties, May 31, 2007
I Moved, June 2, 2007
Afghanistan: A Clothing Guide For Broads, June 4, 2007
Khareji Gone Mild!, June 6, 2007
Gender Mainstreaming in the Twilight Zone, June 7, 2007
Second female Afghan journalist killed, June 7, 2007
Moments I Love in Kabul & Missing Austin, June 8, 2007
Malalai Joya: next to be executed?, June 8, 2007
Making It Work Long Distance, June 10, 2007
I hate content filtering, June 13, 2007.
Nice Guys, June 17, 2007.
What Not to Do in Kabul, June 18, 2007.
We're #8! We're #8! We're better than Iraq!!, June 18, 2007.
No Delhi Belly - just a big one, June 19, 2007
Mosques, musicals, Parwan & bike baggage, June 21, 2007
Harry Potter!!, June 22, 2007.
The smells of Afghanistan & filthy space communists, June 22, 2007.
Back for one more round, July 3, 2007
Kabul Kitty Demands, July 4, 2007
Round Three: Clean Water and Kvetching 'Bout DIA, July 6, 2007
My favorite Afghanistan photo ever, July 6, 2007
My Dream for Afghanistan someday..., July 7, 2007
Tourists then, tourists now, fried chicken & work, July 8, 2007
Dis & Dat, July 8, 2007
Sexual Harrassment of Female Aid Workers, July 11, 2007
Soviet Swimming Pools, July 13, 2007
Superior to Thou, July 14, 2007
Random Thoughts: X-Men & my bathroom strobe light, July 15, 2007
Karzai's a'comin'... not!, July 17, 2007
Keep Your Eyes on the Prize, July 17, 2007
Elvis Peanut Butter Cup w/ banana crème layer, July 20, 2007
Jude Law in Afghanistan, July 20, 2007
I HAVE HARRY POTTER!!!, July 21, 2007
Jayne on the Associated Press NewsWire -- not kidding, July 21, 2007
press coverage making me laugh, July 21, 2007
finished HP, July 23, 2007
28 Days to Go... or less?, July 24, 2007
Please help pressure the Taliban re: the South Koreans, July 25, 2007
Men in burkkas and on roller blades, July 28, 2007
Stories About Afghanistan Sent to Friends in July
Lots of Random Thoughts, August 1, 2007
Bilingual Peanut, August 2, 2007
Watch Your Step, August 4, 2007
I PETTED A DOG!!! (16 days to go), August 5, 2007
Go Fly a Kite, August 6, 2007
Will I Miss It? (12 days to go), August 9, 2007
the dancing rat, August 10, 2007
Have things changed for women in Afghanistan since the Taliban, August 11, 2007
Kitty, carpets, Koreans & Kabul, August 12, 2007
Media, burkas, food & prayers - must be Afghanistan!, August 13, 2007
Suicides Among Afghan Women on the Rise, August 14, 2007
Afghan Girl Sold in Exchange for a Horse, August 14, 2007
Kabul Kitty Too, photos & general Afghan blabble, August 17, 2007
Stories About Afghanistan Sent to Friends in August
Kidnapping nearby, August 18, 2007
It's scary here, August 19, 2007
Kittens Against Terrorism, August x, 2007
hostage has been freed, August 20, 2007
Last Post Written in Kabul, Posted From Kabul!, August 20, 2007
Afghanistan Postscript: The Women Say Goodbye, August 22, 2007
Afghanistan Postscript Part Deux, January 17, 2008
Afghanistan Postscript Trois, December 7, 2019
What to say now?, August 2021.
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This material is provided as is, with no expressed or implied warranty.
Please contact me for permission to reprint, present or distribute these materials.The personal opinions expressed on this page are solely those of Ms. Cravens, unless otherwise noted.