What Living in Kabul Is Really Like

[Disir]

Report after report points out rising civilian casualties in Afghanistan. Insurgents overrun districts and rural areas, forcing people to flee; most of them to the cities. But even in the capital, Kabul, the Taliban (and more recently also the self-declared Islamic State) frequently conduct suicide attacks. News footage from the aftermath of such attacks shows dead bodies lying on debris-strewn streets between severely damaged or destroyed houses. Watching and reading the news, Kabul seems to be more lethal war zone than city.

That’s not how Kabul, my home for almost three years, appears to me.

Many might think that as a foreigner, I am protected from the daily life of normal Afghans and its alleged dangers. Most foreigners in Kabul, after all, live in large compounds, shielded by massive concrete blast walls and guarded by myriads of armed men. And the few times they leave the shelter of their compounds, they are driven in armored cars and wear flak jackets. Not all foreigners can afford such high security measures though. But even the ones that can’t usually take special taxis for foreigners. The streets, they say, are too insecure.

I am not like this.

I don’t live in a highly secured compound. When I move around town, I usually walk. Only if it is too far will I take a car, and then certainly not an armored one or one of the expensive taxis for foreigners. I almost exclusively use mutar-i laini, the local version of public transport, which are simply cars and minibuses that drive fixed routes and are shared with random other passengers who hop in and out along the way for a fraction of the fare (usually 20 Afghani, about $0.30, per person). I don’t eat in guarded, expensive restaurants as other foreigners do. I choose tiny, shabby local places, or carts selling food in the street. I live more or less like an average Afghan. So I dare to say that I have a pretty good image of the daily life in Kabul.

And I have never – not even once – been afraid, let alone feared for my life, in the Afghan capital.
What Living in Kabul Is Really Like

It's an interesting read written by a male living in Kabul.

 

[fncceo]

Who gives a fetid dingo’s kidney?

 

[Disir]

Who gives a fetid dingo’s kidney?

Stop trolling.

 

[irosie91]

Report after report points out rising civilian casualties in Afghanistan. Insurgents overrun districts and rural areas, forcing people to flee; most of them to the cities. But even in the capital, Kabul, the Taliban (and more recently also the self-declared Islamic State) frequently conduct suicide attacks. News footage from the aftermath of such attacks shows dead bodies lying on debris-strewn streets between severely damaged or destroyed houses. Watching and reading the news, Kabul seems to be more lethal war zone than city.

That’s not how Kabul, my home for almost three years, appears to me.

Many might think that as a foreigner, I am protected from the daily life of normal Afghans and its alleged dangers. Most foreigners in Kabul, after all, live in large compounds, shielded by massive concrete blast walls and guarded by myriads of armed men. And the few times they leave the shelter of their compounds, they are driven in armored cars and wear flak jackets. Not all foreigners can afford such high security measures though. But even the ones that can’t usually take special taxis for foreigners. The streets, they say, are too insecure.

I am not like this.

I don’t live in a highly secured compound. When I move around town, I usually walk. Only if it is too far will I take a car, and then certainly not an armored one or one of the expensive taxis for foreigners. I almost exclusively use mutar-i laini, the local version of public transport, which are simply cars and minibuses that drive fixed routes and are shared with random other passengers who hop in and out along the way for a fraction of the fare (usually 20 Afghani, about $0.30, per person). I don’t eat in guarded, expensive restaurants as other foreigners do. I choose tiny, shabby local places, or carts selling food in the street. I live more or less like an average Afghan. So I dare to say that I have a pretty good image of the daily life in Kabul.

And I have never – not even once – been afraid, let alone feared for my life, in the Afghan capital.
What Living in Kabul Is Really Like

It's an interesting read written by a male living in Kabul.

I have moved around in very dangerous cities-------right here in the USA-----places that
lots of people would not consider entering and using means that many would shun completely---
(like on foot-----or local mini-mass transport) ---------I was never afraid.---------many people have
noted that I am very stupid.

 

[TheParser]

I thank the OP for that interesting article.

Yes, I have read that life in Kabul is quite cosmopolitan. (Of course, the story may be different outside Kabul in Taliban-held areas.)

It is truly humbling to think that maybe Kabul is safer than certain American cities when it comes to an ordinary person's personal safety.

 

[irosie91]

I thank the OP for that interesting article.

Yes, I have read that life in Kabul is quite cosmopolitan. (Of course, the story may be different outside Kabul in Taliban-held areas.)

It is truly humbling to think that maybe Kabul is safer than certain American cities when it comes to an ordinary person's personal safety.

did anyone suggest that to be true? (ie--the safe part) To which American cities do you refer? Kabul has AN ANCIENT HISTORY-------it was around as an important city even in the B.C. era-------very GRAND. ---then islam happened. Before islam happened ----the city was very diverse-----Hindu, Buddhist, Christian, Jewish and
Zoroastrian-------a kind of hub of scholarship just like Baghdad (once was) -------then islam happened.
The SCIENCES interfaced in Kabul-------before islam happened

 

[Penelope]

Report after report points out rising civilian casualties in Afghanistan. Insurgents overrun districts and rural areas, forcing people to flee; most of them to the cities. But even in the capital, Kabul, the Taliban (and more recently also the self-declared Islamic State) frequently conduct suicide attacks. News footage from the aftermath of such attacks shows dead bodies lying on debris-strewn streets between severely damaged or destroyed houses. Watching and reading the news, Kabul seems to be more lethal war zone than city.

That’s not how Kabul, my home for almost three years, appears to me.

Many might think that as a foreigner, I am protected from the daily life of normal Afghans and its alleged dangers. Most foreigners in Kabul, after all, live in large compounds, shielded by massive concrete blast walls and guarded by myriads of armed men. And the few times they leave the shelter of their compounds, they are driven in armored cars and wear flak jackets. Not all foreigners can afford such high security measures though. But even the ones that can’t usually take special taxis for foreigners. The streets, they say, are too insecure.

I am not like this.

I don’t live in a highly secured compound. When I move around town, I usually walk. Only if it is too far will I take a car, and then certainly not an armored one or one of the expensive taxis for foreigners. I almost exclusively use mutar-i laini, the local version of public transport, which are simply cars and minibuses that drive fixed routes and are shared with random other passengers who hop in and out along the way for a fraction of the fare (usually 20 Afghani, about $0.30, per person). I don’t eat in guarded, expensive restaurants as other foreigners do. I choose tiny, shabby local places, or carts selling food in the street. I live more or less like an average Afghan. So I dare to say that I have a pretty good image of the daily life in Kabul.

And I have never – not even once – been afraid, let alone feared for my life, in the Afghan capital.
What Living in Kabul Is Really Like

It's an interesting read written by a male living in Kabul.

Not much unlike the poor areas here, with the Pubs in charge expect it to get much worst:

Those are, of course, only the good sides of the city. As any other city, also Kabul has its dark sides. The vast majority of Afghans living in Kabul are too poor to afford any of the above. The poorest live and beg on the streets, barely surviving. A large number of them are disabled; it’s not uncommon to see horribly twisted and deformed arms or legs. Children, many only a few years old, begging or polishing shoes all day long with their faces brown from both dirt and the sun, are also a frequent sight. The ones that are too young to even walk are carried by their mothers, who are hidden under the light blue, full-body veil commonly found throughout Afghanistan (while this veil is usually referred to as a “burqa” by foreigners, Afghans call it chodri). They sometimes come into restaurants going from table to table, begging.

Others, mostly men, also make their situation worse on their own: in many parts of the city, but especially under certain bridges and on the bank of the rubbish-strewn Kabul river, addicts dressed in rags huddle together to smoke their next portion of opium or heroin. But they leave people alone – or at least I have never had an issue with one of them and I walk almost daily past some of them. Also in general, I have never encountered any sign of street crime, and I not only walk around during the day, but also frequently return to my place in the dead of the night. But maybe this is because no one would rob a man like me who walks around instead of going by car, as such a person can hardly have anything of value.

 

[pismoe]

then 'islam' Happened , that seems to be the common denominator eh Rosie ?? About 1400 years of a made up religion that copied and twisted some names and parts of the religions of Judaism and Christianity eh Rosie .

 

[irosie91]

Report after report points out rising civilian casualties in Afghanistan. Insurgents overrun districts and rural areas, forcing people to flee; most of them to the cities. But even in the capital, Kabul, the Taliban (and more recently also the self-declared Islamic State) frequently conduct suicide attacks. News footage from the aftermath of such attacks shows dead bodies lying on debris-strewn streets between severely damaged or destroyed houses. Watching and reading the news, Kabul seems to be more lethal war zone than city.

That’s not how Kabul, my home for almost three years, appears to me.

Many might think that as a foreigner, I am protected from the daily life of normal Afghans and its alleged dangers. Most foreigners in Kabul, after all, live in large compounds, shielded by massive concrete blast walls and guarded by myriads of armed men. And the few times they leave the shelter of their compounds, they are driven in armored cars and wear flak jackets. Not all foreigners can afford such high security measures though. But even the ones that can’t usually take special taxis for foreigners. The streets, they say, are too insecure.

I am not like this.

I don’t live in a highly secured compound. When I move around town, I usually walk. Only if it is too far will I take a car, and then certainly not an armored one or one of the expensive taxis for foreigners. I almost exclusively use mutar-i laini, the local version of public transport, which are simply cars and minibuses that drive fixed routes and are shared with random other passengers who hop in and out along the way for a fraction of the fare (usually 20 Afghani, about $0.30, per person). I don’t eat in guarded, expensive restaurants as other foreigners do. I choose tiny, shabby local places, or carts selling food in the street. I live more or less like an average Afghan. So I dare to say that I have a pretty good image of the daily life in Kabul.

And I have never – not even once – been afraid, let alone feared for my life, in the Afghan capital.
What Living in Kabul Is Really Like

It's an interesting read written by a male living in Kabul.

Not much unlike the poor areas here, with the Pubs in charge expect it to get much worst:

Those are, of course, only the good sides of the city. As any other city, also Kabul has its dark sides. The vast majority of Afghans living in Kabul are too poor to afford any of the above. The poorest live and beg on the streets, barely surviving. A large number of them are disabled; it’s not uncommon to see horribly twisted and deformed arms or legs. Children, many only a few years old, begging or polishing shoes all day long with their faces brown from both dirt and the sun, are also a frequent sight. The ones that are too young to even walk are carried by their mothers, who are hidden under the light blue, full-body veil commonly found throughout Afghanistan (while this veil is usually referred to as a “burqa” by foreigners, Afghans call it chodri). They sometimes come into restaurants going from table to table, begging.

Others, mostly men, also make their situation worse on their own: in many parts of the city, but especially under certain bridges and on the bank of the rubbish-strewn Kabul river, addicts dressed in rags huddle together to smoke their next portion of opium or heroin. But they leave people alone – or at least I have never had an issue with one of them and I walk almost daily past some of them. Also in general, I have never encountered any sign of street crime, and I not only walk around during the day, but also frequently return to my place in the dead of the night. But maybe this is because no one would rob a man like me who walks around instead of going by car, as such a person can hardly have anything of value.

yeah? so? something like Pakistan, Bangla desh and even north African UMMAH places like Morocco.
I never encountered such a city in the USA under the "PUBS" or the "DEMOS". In ancient times Kabul
was a GRAND CITY --- then Barbur and islam happened

 

[anotherlife]

Kabul can't be compared to US cities. Kabul has a department of virtue police. US cities have only gang protection collectors.

 

[irosie91]

Kabul can't be compared to US cities. Kabul has a department of virtue police. US cities have only gang protection collectors.

I have never been in Kabul and you have never been in the USA

 

[anotherlife]

Kabul can't be compared to US cities. Kabul has a department of virtue police. US cities have only gang protection collectors.

I have never been in Kabul and you have never been in the USA

I have been in the USA. Hollywood is on TV, and the rest is just the unedited version.

 

[irosie91]

Kabul can't be compared to US cities. Kabul has a department of virtue police. US cities have only gang protection collectors.

I have never been in Kabul and you have never been in the USA

I have been in the USA. Hollywood is on TV, and the rest is just the unedited version.

OH you visited as a tourist and you watch FANTASY Hollywood productions-----I AM SOOOO
IMPRESSED. I have worked with Afghanis-----as far back as 50 years ago------right here in the USA.
Thus I know more about afghanis than you do of the people and places of the USA ------LOL>> Hollywood
is on TV. BTW I also read 1001 Arabian nights