Day-by-Day account – PART I

Kabul Time = +9.5 hours on EST

PART III Dec 22nd Dec 21st Dec 20th Dec 19th Dec 18th Dec 17th PART II Dec 16th Dec 15th Dec 14th Dec 13th Dec 12th Dec 11th PART I Dec 10th Dec 9th Dec 8th Dec 7th Dec 6th

Dec 10^th – Prep for Workshop (cont’d) & Security in Kabul The workshop will start tomorrow – we hope we will have received the tables and chairs from the Ministry of Communication before then. In the mean time, I am doing basic network architecture for the Ministry of Communication with the equipment I brought with me from Cisco Dubai. Two professors from the Kabul University, teaching Cisco Academy have been assigned as my interpreters for the two weeks: Tarik and Hassan are very helpful with setting up the lab equipment. SECURITY: This morning, Marc Lepage – UNDP IT coordinator from France – and I went for an early walk with the UNDP guesthouse’s dog named Loya. This walk contravenes with UN regulation that request that UN female member be accompanied by a minimum of 2 males, one of which must be local. Marc took the precaution of bringing with him the UN two-way radio on Frequency 3 where we could call for help, if need be. We went early for our walk, before the streets get busy. Locals here don’t have the same rapport with dogs as Westerners have – dogs here are not “man’s best friend”. Loya had, in the past, stones throw at her when walking on a leash beside Marc – thus the early morning walk with Loya so we would have the streets all to ourselves. Dec 9^th – Prep for the Workshop We were given a room for the workshop. The problem is that there are no desks or chair (or heat). The UNDP local staff are now hunting for tables and chairs . UNDP is looking also for a white board. These UNDP expatriates are “saints”. This is more than a job for them, it is a vocation – they are so dedicated to the cause of rebuilding Afghanistan, one can only get psyched by their enthusiasm. Dec 9th, 12:30 pm Kabul Street Dec 8^th – Dubai ® Kabul, Afghanistan I’m now in Kabul – it is great to see dozen of kites in the sky… So, we are at work – though very, very jet lag. Here the workweek runs from Sunday to Thursday. The first item on my agenda was a face-to-face meeting with the Minister of Communications of Afghanistan, Mr. Masou Stanikzai. The minister is very happy about the upcoming Networking workshop for civil servants. My mandate also includes installing the equipment donated by Cisco Dubai – 5 switches, 3 routers, 1 firewall. I’ve have to ruuuuuuun – at 5pm , I’m receiving the mandatory UN security briefing. Dec 8, 11:00am - Reminder of time gone by – Kabul Airport runway Dec 7^th – London ® Dubai, United Arab Emirates Typical London Fog, minutes before we took-off for Dubai It’s now 2 pm Saturday Toronto time. We are somewhere above Iran on our way to Dubai. After 22 hours of travelling, 16 of which I was strapped in a British Airways economy class flight, I have no sign yet of Deep Vein Thrombosis J Interestingly, the flight path calls for following Turkey West to East and then come down North to South along the Iran coast. This way, we are overshooting the Iraq no-fly zone. Good idea J I’m finally in Dubai. They have the most modern and beautiful terminal I’ve seen. The people here are very friendly and welcoming. It’s 2 am now and I’m meeting with a staff of Cisco Dubai at 6:30 am to coordinate the transportation of Cisco equipment on the same UN Humanitarian flight I’m catching at 8am. Dec 6^th – Toronto ® London, England Leaving Toronto was emotional following the great office party we had that day and the calls I received from two dear friends and especially the call from my soulmate.