afghanhands

UPDATE

It has been over 3 weeks since I've been back.  I am just beginning to feel like myself in the past 5 days or so.  It took me a very long time to begin readjusting to the way of life in NY and LA/SF.  NY was great to come back to, then LA work and SF for pure indulging to see my lovely family and friends. catching up with all the drama and the lives that I'm so intimately connected to.  It was fun to research and put together some passages that I want to include in the site about origin, meaning, symbolism and description of the magical pieces that the women make in our project. Also it was fun to revisit all the pictures and short interviews of all the ladies that are contributing to Afghan Hands Inc. 

September 11 was a bizarre day especially around my neighborhood and it was Nettie's 17th birthday.  I was in such a daze that we didn't even really celebrate it. Nettie and Lucy are both blind as bats and Roman, still insane and stocking both Mishas (dog and human).

Oy Vay.

The road to the airport in Kabul was blocked. The old Shah (King Zahir) was leaving the country for God knows what reason.possibly a fishing trip to Portofino as usual. We finally made it a half hour before the flight. Kabul airport was beyond anything you might have seen in a bad Van Dam movie shot in some remote south east country. Utter lack of organization not only from the staff but also the passengers. We Afghans still don't respect personal boundaries, nor wait our turn in line. All this was taking place in crazy heat. It is a dog eat dog world at the door to the so called security. No wonder we had to be searched 10 times in India. We had to put ALL electronic goods in our checked luggage. I was so worried about my very state of the art 2 pounder computer that Mike bought me for my birthday and it was just a few months old. The flight was late leaving Kabul. We made it to Delhi at 6:30 instead of 3:30. Originally we welcomed a bit of delay since we had 6 hours to kill in India. We ended up staying put in The transit lounge until this nice girl from Continental Airlines came to collect our passport and started to work on our boarding passes. We were stuck in our seat at the transit lounge for over 2 hours. Then a nice man came in and took us out of the lounge in order to search our bags. In addition to us three, there was a nice kid that attends high school in Massachusetts and an American lady bringing in a little kid (Zarghoona) from Kabul. The little girl's face and part of her sclap were burned deeply leaving a hole for nose and mouth. She was going to Boston for reconstructive surgery. All of us from the Kabul flight were searched ONE ARTICLE OF CLOTHING AT A TIME. Then again, and again we were searched until we barely made it to the plane. Not a fun experience. One good thing that came out of the bag search.. I took my lovely computer on board with me. Though no iPod. You know. one actually can fly without an iPod. I read my book that Vasyl sent me prior to my departure and learned a thing or two about my country.

What made it all worth going there.

My Cousin Azim's little girl Zoli and his amazing wife Mina, dinner outside at the (Sufa) with my old aunt and his son Rawan's family looking at the view of the mountain, picking figs from the tree in their yard, the kids in Mermon childen center and having lunch with the very hard working ladies in my project and revisiting my cousins Abdullah and Mustafa who are the sweetest boys in the world. Seeing Nazir's kids, which I love as if they are mine since his death over a decade ago. All and all, one cannot find the type of people you find IN Afghanistan. As soon as we leave our borders, something changes in us. Words cannot tell the human experience one gets in Afghanistan. It is PURE MAGIC!!!!

Hi kids..

We went to the centers yesterday and saw all the ladies. One group suggested that we hire a good tailor and teach them sartorial techniques. We will do that in a year when they start grade 6. The one group that is studying is currently in grade 4 and quite a few of them are looking forward to getting at least a high school diploma. We will have to look into getting them ready for tests so we can give them an accredited diploma for 6th grade. I find it very rewarding to hear how they could not even hold a pen in their hand two years ago and they write letters now.

In each center, there is a group leader that is the best judge for flaws and does the quality control from embroidery to design. All the ladies got a 25% raise and 500-1000 Afghanis bonus for all their hard work and dedication. The higher range went to teachers and the group leaders. My dearest friends Naz Toloui from Orlane cosmetics sent ladies hand lotions and soaps from my favorite line Perlier and they couldn't stop smelling the soaps. Also Ruma Bose (my new buddy) from Vincent Longo cosmetics sent them lipsticks and lip glosses and they went nuts. But the most elegant thing was this. Nobody opened their lip colors to contest and change for something else. I found this quite amazing given the only chance they might have in a lifetime to receive a color worth their two weeks salary.

We ended up buying loads of samples in Chicken Street. We found amazing miniature paintings and calligraphy pieces that will provide us with lots of insights and inspirations in Mogul and central asian art.

Today, Freba went to visit a few schools. I took her to MIcrorayon # 3 and took a 40 minute walk down to where we stay. I dressed as a local and it was a fairly invisible walk. Streets are better but still so much needed in terms of building roads and schools. The good new is that there are FIVE schools in Microrayon # 3. Two years ago, there was only one.

I'm heading down to a TV station to see what I can offer to upgrade the look and trend of the local personalities and get a feeling to see if they are even interested in my input. Mina is getting last minute gifts for the people that have been volunteering their time to help us. Then she will go to the guy that is in charge of our money to get cash for the bonus she will give to everyone tomorrow.

The station was impressively modern and the staff's median age is 24. I felt like a grandpa. I met a nice filmmaker that lives in Paris and he was helping the guys edit and anti suicide bombing compaign. There is a great guy from Qundoz who raps and he is LEGIT!!! Nice to see people moving on and not holding on to songs that are 30 years old.

Hey kids,

Today, we visited Mermon Children center. The kids were adorable as always and they have grown quite a bit. 2 new additions.. They all send love via video to their mother Adina Niazi (my source of inspiration and my scale to measure all things human).

Then we went down the streets to see old neighborhoods, shops etc. After, we lunched at the Grill. A great Lebanese place. Kabul is super nice if one spend a lot of money and a real tough place if one doesn't have. Kinda like everywhere els in the world I guess.

Hi everyone,

I had dinner with my friend Sarah Takesh at L'atmosphere. She is a Persian entrepreneur that started a fashion line (Tarisan and Blinkley) employing Afghan women. The restaurant is the getaway from the usual Kabul life. It seems to offer balance to westerners that live in Kabul and let them get away from the strict social rules that they have to adhere to and follow.

I had a surprise guest at our table. Asma Nasseri. She works in Kabul for the UN and is the baby sister to 2 of my very close friends Ozair and Nilab. Sarah and Asma are both X Berkeley'ites and we had a blast chatting about the old days.

Also my Cousin Mustafa and Sarah's friend Saad attended dinner. Saad runs a TV program called Tolo and he has been in hot seat these days because his camera men have been showing the members of parlament napping, literally picking their noses and yawning during important session. They are trying to call his TV unislamic. Dinner was fun, great conversations that shifted from politics to art and fashion and to social issues. Something that just doesn't happen in NY.

Friends,

It is Friday today, the Afghan weekend. . Yesterday, we took Freba for her birthday lunch to L'atmosphere. A Frenchy hip hangout that plays reggae, has a bar and a swimming pool and it is a total hippy dippy. Now if I was in any other place in the universe, I probably would have picked it as my usual spot. However I felt very guilty buying lunch for 3 at a price of a man's monthly salary.

Surprisingly the restaurant is located four doors down from my cousin's house and since we took the back roads, we had no idea until we left and were walking to find a cab. We ended up stopping there and seeing the construction site. Luckily my cousin's dog (Michael Jackson) was there and I got some much needed doggy time.

Today we had lunch at Heart Kabaab House. YUM YUM!!! I've gotten even fatter this trip. We finished shopping for samples in Chicken Street, found a local silk colorist from Mazar-i-sharif and couldn't keep my wallet close when I saw some seriously beautiful jewelry pieces. I shall post them on the website as my "Bazaar". Of course I was salivating over the museum quality royal lacquered pieces from Bukhara (my ancestral place) and I couldn't possibly afford them but nonetheless I managed to do some real damage.

This is one of the pieces I could not afford :-(

Tomorrow is "Jashn-e-aazaadi". The day Afghanistan took the liberty from the Brits. Everything will be closed. We will go visit the kids at the Mermon Children Center. I have missed them a lot!!!!. Can't wait to see them.

Big Kiss. Matin

Hello friends...

We are in Kabul Jaan!!!!

much improvements has been made in terms of shops, cafe's etc. I found a great internet club in City Center which I can use skype etc. And they have REAL COFFEE!!!

We started the summer 2007 collection yesterday. Noor Jaan (the Director) took work to everyone so I can see how it will be before I leave.

Love. Matin

Kabul at last

Hi, friends and family.

Matin and sisters are finally in Kabul. Things are going well so far.

Mike
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We celebrated all the hard intense haggling and shopping with an amazing meal at my favorite hangout spot in Lahore, Coocoo's Nest.  As always, the journey was filled with drama.  Shahzia was driving... it was madness.  I don't know how she was able to handel the car like a NYC cabbie.  I was very proud of her.  We got lost, ended up near Indian border and Mrs. Sikander not only found a police car to help us do a U-turn IN THE HIGHWAY but also recruited them to escort us to our favorite restaurant.  Only she can manage such thing.  As if that was not enough, she arranged a diving tour of the Bashahi Mosque which NEVER happens unless you are the head of the state somewhere important :).

The rooftop resto looks over the Bashahi Mosque and the fort and makes you feel like a very decadant Mogul King. YUM YUM