Friday, April 1, 2005
Chicago Feminist in Burkha Opens Refrigerator Door Before S left for Afghanistan, I asked him to buy me a Burkha. He did, to the delight of the man who sold it to him. Many women wear them in Kabul. Apparently throughout the rest of the country most of the women stay indoors; as you never see women, you never see burkhas. I received it a couple of days ago. It took that long before I could try it on. It's as scary and peculiar in person as you'd expect, and when I look at it I think of those women executed in the football field in Kabul, or the streams of blue women rushing through the streets, their bodies betraying their terror even as criss-cross mesh hides their faces. I didn't wear it long. There's something sort of oddly enticing about anonymity. I can see how it could be freeing. To be free of identity. Would I feel smothered by my invisibility, my loss of self, purpose? Or would I feel liberated from the responsiblities (and fears) that visibility requires? I am terrified by the thought of wearing a burkha day in and day out. I hope some day the burkha-covered women of Afghanistan will be able to tell their own stories to us, set us straight of our stereotypes, misrepresentations, or perhaps even confirm our assumptions (and therefore the humanity that binds us). Until then, I'll look at my burkha and think of them and their criss-cross, blue-stained view. 
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Afghanistan, from SS sent me some pictures today. He's currently in Kabul but will soon go to Jalalabad where he and his kandak,
an Afghan National Army battalion, will be stationed. I'm really
nervous about him going there. The Taliban and Al-Qaeda are still quite
active near the Pakistan border. He told me over 20 ANA troops have
been killed recently. Of course, we'd never know that here. There are
no stories about ANA troops killed in the US press. The illusion of
"democracy" and stability must be maintained, right? It disheartens me
to see the statistics on
icasualties.org that show the steady increase in violence and coalition
deaths each year since we first invaded in 2001. Things are clearly not
improving. 11:16:25 PM | Here's a picture of the former King's Palace, destroyed during the civil war that proceeded the soviet pull-out. It was used as the ministry of defense by the Russians. It is, clearly, nothing more than a shell of its former self.  A caravan of "jingle trucks," so named because of the metal skirts hanging from their fenders that "jingle" as they drive.  S says I shouldn't post any of the photos with him or other American soldiers, unfortunately. You'll have to trust me, then, that he did send a photo of himself standing before a landmine field marked by a red sign (one of countless fields; Afghanistan is one of the most heavily mined countries in the world), and another of him having chai with a few of his Afghan soldiers, men who look as battle hardened as they are. I will post his photos and descriptions as I can. I've made a correction to this post, per S. Previously I wrote that the palace was destroyed during the soviet invasion. It wasn't. It was destroyed during the years of civil strife after the soviet pull-out. Sorry!
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From France, with LoveA couple more photos from our trip. 11:02:58 PM | Here's a notice for a massage therapist who will relieve your stress. Only two more numbers left...and who says we're the stress mongers!  As you can tell, I really enjoy taking pictures of store windows. This window seemed perfect except for the mannequin laying as a bundle of parts in the foreground. It reminded me of bone bundles archaeologists sometimes find. The shadow cast across the shattered figure is from a woman who was looking at the window too, while flinging her scarf across her neck. Those Parisians and their scarves. How do they do it? They look perfect all the time. 
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Last update: 7/17/05; 10:11:41 AM .
