I'm back in Kabul to begin dissertation research on local fixers/interpreters who work with foreign journalists. Here's the view of Dubai's skyline in the distance:
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And of the hi tech entertainment station Emirates provided on my way to Dubai:
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What a fancy airline. On my first flight, New York-Dubai, a kid sitting behind me was restless so a flight attendant came over and handed the kid his personal iPhone ('my iPhone, a thousand dollars, I give it to you') to play with until in-flight entertainment system kicked in.
On the second flight the attendant-passenger relationship was more acrimonious because of the disobedience and/or lack of English comprehensive of many passengers. A flight attendant would pass by and force a seat back upright for takeoff/landing and then moments later the passenger would sneak a glance over their shoulder and then decline right back. Hissed and repeated requests to sit back down and not access the overhead compartments as the plane banked steeply for landing were casually ignored.
I'm staying in the lovely green expensive guesthouse of a US news organization for the next few days until I find something affordable and equally inconspicuous. The idea is to meet some people who will let me observe them as they work but thus far I have managed to earn an only exasperated sigh from the one journalist I've met so far (over my inability to connect to their wi-fi) but have done better chatting with the Afghan driver and housekeeper.
If just tuning in to this blog, you will find below stories not from Kabul but from Istanbul last summer. There are more posts and pictures from Afghanistan if you navigate back to summer 2012.
And of the hi tech entertainment station Emirates provided on my way to Dubai:
What a fancy airline. On my first flight, New York-Dubai, a kid sitting behind me was restless so a flight attendant came over and handed the kid his personal iPhone ('my iPhone, a thousand dollars, I give it to you') to play with until in-flight entertainment system kicked in.
On the second flight the attendant-passenger relationship was more acrimonious because of the disobedience and/or lack of English comprehensive of many passengers. A flight attendant would pass by and force a seat back upright for takeoff/landing and then moments later the passenger would sneak a glance over their shoulder and then decline right back. Hissed and repeated requests to sit back down and not access the overhead compartments as the plane banked steeply for landing were casually ignored.
I'm staying in the lovely green expensive guesthouse of a US news organization for the next few days until I find something affordable and equally inconspicuous. The idea is to meet some people who will let me observe them as they work but thus far I have managed to earn an only exasperated sigh from the one journalist I've met so far (over my inability to connect to their wi-fi) but have done better chatting with the Afghan driver and housekeeper.
If just tuning in to this blog, you will find below stories not from Kabul but from Istanbul last summer. There are more posts and pictures from Afghanistan if you navigate back to summer 2012.
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