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Author Archives: Barbara Dillon Hillas
Meerkat Manners.
The Armed Forces Network (AFN) does not air commercial advertisements. Instead, they have public service announcements such as this one:
Posted in Culture, Soldiers, United States
Tagged AFN, Armed Forces Network, Meerkat Manners
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A “baad” story from Afghanistan.
We bought you with money and will kill you with a stone “Da zar kharidim da sang mekoshim” (from UNAMA). The New York Times had a story yesterday that explains the “baad” custom that is prevalent in certain areas … Continue reading
A Kabul outing.
I had never heard of “HESCO” until today. For those ignorant like me, HESCO was invented as a system to be used to combat coastal erosion but it is now used as special protection against explosions and is usually placed … Continue reading
Afghan rugs.
The lambent Afghan rugs…
Afghan tribal ring.
Below is an example of Kuchi jewelry, an enormous tribal signet ring with a carved lapis lazuli top. I found an intriguing article in a Canadian magazine, The Walrus, about the Kuchi, and here is an excerpt: The Kuchi (which … Continue reading
Posted in Afghanistan, Art, Culture
Tagged Afghan signet ring, Afghanistan, Kuchi, tribal jewelry
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Bacha posh in Afghanistan: when parents dress their girls like boys.
During the Soviet war, her father dressed her as a boy so she could help protect her family. These days, however, instead of fighting occupying forces or the evils of civil war, Bibi is known more for being a different … Continue reading
Posted in Afghanistan, Culture, Gender, Rule of Law, Youth
Tagged Afghanistan, bacha posh, cross-dressing
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Kabul’s Soviet past.
Driving around Kabul yesterday, I could not help noticing a group of apartment buildings that reminded me of the ones I had seen in the Soviet Union, Poland, East Germany and Czechoslovakia. It turns out these buildings were the Mikrorayon that … Continue reading
Posted in Afghanistan, Architecture, Communism
Tagged Afghanistan, architecture, Kabul, mikrorayon, Soviet Union
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The risks of being a contractor in Afghanistan.
From The New York Times: More civilian contractors working for American companies than American soldiers died in Afghanistan last year for the first time during the war.
My first day in Kabul.
I had a day full of trips, each lasting about a 20 minute car drive that is absolutely amazing. The potholes are enormous, the bicycles are everywhere, groups of 3-4 people walking down the street keep walking – despite the chaos … Continue reading
On the road to Afghanistan.
The Afghan mountains right now are all covered in snow, they look like meringues. The view from the plane (Safi Airlines) is breathtaking. All of a sudden, we are in a bowl surrounded by brown mountains without a single tree … Continue reading
The Afghan miners of Lapis Lazuli…
…as seen through the artistic lens of Steve McCurry.
To my Mother.
It has been 2 years since my Mother left us. A year ago, I wrote about the experience (below). This year, I needed a little distance from the date. Amazingly, though I spent the whole day remembering the dénouement, I … Continue reading
The world’s largest Lapis Lazuli mine.
It turns out that the world’s largest lapis lazuli mine is the Sari-i-Sang mine in northern Afghanistan. The ancient royal Sumerian tombs of Ur, located near the Euphrates River in lower Iraq, contained more than 6000 beautifully executed lapis lazuli … Continue reading
