4 March, Thursday night: weekend in Kabul. German, Nasr, and I are sitting around in the upstairs living room drinking tea and eating cookies. German is actually half German, half Afghan, but Half German Half Afghan isn’t such a clever literary nickname. German and Nasr are both in Kabul for the same basic reason: property …
Author Archives: JR Pomerantz
Is it me, or is this hotel moving?
27 or 28 February: I fail to fully enjoy my first earthquake by sleeping through most of it, then waking up for a few seconds of shaking around, putting on pants, and immediately going back to sleep. Despite two weeks in Afghanistan, survival instinct is still minimal. 2 March: I complete a short movie about …
Kabul Cassanova, or, How I got my status as the second wife-
Day Twenty-three: My plans to secure a gym membership are entirely thwarted when suicide bombers blow up my prospective gym. Likewise, my plans to sleep in on my day off are destroyed, not by the initial explosion, which I manage to sleep through, but by the ensuing gunbattles. Some snipers head up to our roof …
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News from Chicken Street…
I took up residence in a hotel around the corner from chicken street. I guess I’ve been here about five days or so. Five days ago, in the Frankfurt airport: Customs officer: Kabul? (Something in German.) Me: Yes. For Work. Customs officer: (Something in German.) Me: … Him: For Uncle Sam? Me: For Uncle…Karzai? My …
A little flashback-
Day Zero (2 Feb 2010 or somewhere around there): My Afghan visa arrives in the mail. I’m mystified that these things just get handed out. Day One: I take a leave of absence from grad school. Day Two: I solidify the lying process to my parents and several others to protect them from my new …
