The Final Countdown

After spending the past few months in Indiana, my training is now complete and I will soon be arriving in Afghanistan. As the engineering officer for PRT Nuristan, I will be managing construction projects that are awarded to local Afghan contractors. In accordance with local culture norms, the job will require me to drink lots of tea prior to conducting any type of business. I'm working on learning Dari (similar to Farsi) in the hopes of not being too dependent on interpreters. I'll throw out an occaisional Dari phrase with each blog (transcripted in English of course). For today, I will imagine that you all are saying 'safar bakhayr!' to me (bon voyage!).

Situated on the Pakistan border and nestled in the Hindu Kush, Nuristan has many unique characteristics that set it apart from other provinces within Afghanistan. These include:

• 11+ local dialects spoken throughout the province

• less than 5 km of asphalt roads

• Elevation ranges from 3000 feet to over 18000 feet- the province is essentially composed of three valleys that are separated by towering mountain ranges.

More to follow once I have reached my new home for the next 9 months: FOB Kalagush!