Time was that I could rattle off the election regulations for Georgia – the Republic of Georgia, that is. In 2000, 2001 and 2002, I was in Tbilisi for a month at a time, working with local journalists to help them cover elections. Part of training them about their role in a new democracy was to train … read more Keeping watch
Tag: Afghanistan
Heavy metal
When we first went to Afghanistan, we stayed in a guesthouse called Chez Ana on Passport Lane. It was a quiet street that began at the passport office on Salang Wat, and Ana’s was at a little crook in the dirt road. Ana was from Croatia, and she did what she could to deal with the hodge … read more Heavy metal
Self-doubt
There’s nothing like doing market research on a book to make you feel that you’re not so special. Hundreds of thousands of books are published every year in America. The top nonfiction sellers mostly are written by people who are already famous – actresses, comedians, CEOs and mainstream media investigative reporters. I’m not famous, not … read more Self-doubt
So many
I didn’t know them, but I can picture them. They would have been laughing and talking, at the end of the work day, as they rode the bus from work to home in Kabul. The mix of men and women means there was flirting, too. Most of them were young, under 30, and their careers … read more So many
Remembering Osama
Last night, on a re-run of The Newsroom, the killing of Osama bin Laden was the major news event of the day. May 1, 2011. I watched the reporters and other Americans cheering and high-fiving, and it brought back the feelings I had that day. I wasn’t jubilant. I was sad. My sorrow was not, of … read more Remembering Osama
Day 95: Memory guts
When we lose a memory, where does it go? Inside the guts of a computer, the information is still there even if we can no longer activate it. That must be why I’ve kept this decade-old Vaio laptop in storage for almost five years. Couldn’t bear to just toss it in the trash. It holds … read more Day 95: Memory guts
Day 90: Still missing you
I was none too sure about you, Rob, when you sat down for the first day of orientation in Kabul. April, 2004: We were setting up Pajhwok Afghan News, the first independent news agency in Afghanistan. There were 120 staff to whip into shape. We had just two months before we’d be publishing daily content, and only … read more Day 90: Still missing you
Day 72: Wearing what I choose
My choices in clothes just never seem to work out. On the last day of kindergarten, Mom allowed me to pick what I would wear. I chose an emerald-green corduroy jumper with little evergreen trees all over it. It was June, too hot to wear corduroy anything. But I insisted on being granted this privilege of choice. As I … read more Day 72: Wearing what I choose
Day 35: Powering down
When we were driving to the Cleveland airport yesterday, the traffic signals were out for miles and miles along the lake road. It was a bit spooky, but everyone was driving more cautiously. At intersections, people simply took turns, unregulated by police or lights. When I got back to Atlanta, Tom’s car battery was dead, … read more Day 35: Powering down