The collision of Italy and Afghanistan

Imagine... you find yourself, after a helicopter ride, in the middle of no where, Afghanistan, surrounded by a bunch of Italians. After a few days working in the field, visiting villages, conducting interviews, going to the bazaar, etc. you prepare a briefing, then you head to say goodnight to your new found friends. They are singing karaoke, and 20 of them start chanting your name, with a funny little accent. Christin, Christin.. so there I am, singing karaoke in Italian in Afghanistan. Hilarious.

Unfortunately, I have to tell stories like these, can't talk about specifics. I will say a few things which I found particularly interesting. Not ONE woman did I see. Spoke with plentiful amounts of men, and man alive are there were ton of Afghan children running around... but not one woman, quite a disappointment for me.

Saw lots of poppy growing. But also lots of wheat. It was a lot greener there. Very pretty. And just the most rugged terrain you've ever seen.

The little girls are all made up. It's so funny. They are all covered in dirt, their hair flying about. But the girls have on lipstick, blush, eyeliner, mascara... and pretty glittery clothes. So strange. They were fascinated by me, very sweet, fun to interact with, and you can tell they work well with the local ISAF forces. They come up to you and say either "kalan" which means pen, as in, give me your pen. Or "cheese" which is a take on the dari word for something to eat, they point to their mouth and say cheese, cheese, cheese! So needless to say I gave out some little candies, and tons of pens from Candlewood Suites, haha.

I do find myself a bit more..jaded, or something- ... all of the AMAZING things ISAF troops are doing every day get ignored, all of the progress that IS being made... and one bad thing gets blown into this huge thing. I am, of course, referring to the Florida man who burned the Koran that has (rightfully so), angered many people here and spurred demonstrations throughout the country.