Afghan Farming Techniques

Thanks Chuck,
This is very interesting.
Do the Children ever smile, laugh or play?
In the picture with the three women, what is in that window?
The childrens eyes just appear old, not the pure and innocent of most kids.
L.A.

about being a woman in afghanistan- i watched an HBO documentray the other night called "afghan star" about a singing contest. it made a bunch of intersting points i won't go into here.

but as recently as 1980 women in Af were as modern as women anywhere, just about. they wore regular clothes, went to college, moved freely. it has only been since the taliban came to power that the culture became so rigid and patriarchal. since the US was at least partially responsible for the increased strength of the taliban, it's at least partially our responsiblity to slap them back down.

i think you are correct. i believe it's called desertification. too much human activity alters the landscape.

i think the afghan people are a handsome group. that dusky skin and light eyes...

Here's some Afghani farming from another forum I haunt.

Dan

from what i understand, male to male sex is overlooked by most. (more like denial)it's also a way to keep women "pure" until they are married.

Yeah, I think Obama was pretty hypocritical about his intentions there....

But realistically, not only is Afghanistan a crossroads, which HAS led to it's being occupied many times over the centuries, even when it isn't occupied they have fights between different factions in their own land. No, we shouldn't be there, but they won't likely have peace even when we withdraw.

Kathleen

From TV programs apparently the same attitude exists in US prisons. As long as there no 'romance' involved, it is not viewed as homosexuality.

Marvella,

Women in KABUL were as modern as women anywhere. I daresay women in this village have lived about like they are now since, oh, about 1565AD. This village hasn't got a road, or electricity, or running water, or toilets, or beds, or cellphones. I don't think they were ever modern.

Women in Kabul have taken a step backwards under the taliban, for sure. And in other large cities there. Today the men seem stuck in the 1970s or so based on the fashion, but the women are all the way back to 1565.

Progress fail!

You are correct.

Desertification? Not here. It's simply from lack of rain. This is one place that is definitely not overcrowded.

Imperialist nations? Please don't put America in that category. We've never flown a flag over any nation but in blessing. To assert otherwise, especially in this current struggle, is a HUGE slap in the face to every American who has died for liberty.

Fighting is the national summer sport in Afghanistan and has been since, oh, about 1565. Hmmmm...I'm beginning to see a pattern...

What happened in 1565, Chuck?

I strongly support our military folks, by the way, just wish they were at home guarding our southern border, rather than over seas.

Kathleen

Oh man! I read Lucifer's Hammer y-e-a-r-s ago, but had completely forgotten about it.

Talk about blast from the past!

Thank you for sharing.

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You are confined only by the walls you build yourself.

And One Second After is another one I recommend reading. It refers to folks who would be something like six-monthers. That is, they would be dead within six-months due to lack of medications or other medical support.

Who knows how old those buildings were. Perhaps hundreds of years, essentially unchanged. When I was in Croatia in 2001 I was told they think the house at which I stayed was orginally built before 1750. Of course it has been expanded and modernized since. Next step is it will be torn down and replaced with something fairly modern.

Fairly typical for village. Maybe a one-quarter lot. On it was the house, livestock area, garage, chicken yard and a fair-sized garden. At one time the one's living there had on the property a milk cow (and perhaps a calf), two pigs at a time being finished, rabbits and chickens. As I remember livestock area was maybe 12' wide by 24' long. Large stall at rear, small stall and pig area to sides. Scythe-cut winter hay was stored on poles over the side stalls. Corn ears were stored in a type of attic above it. A hole/window in the rear opened onto the chicken yard and was the composting area. Bedding and manure was tossed out of it, to be gone over by the chickens.

Outhouse was still there (although likely not used). I asked what was done with the human waste when it was. Translation was a problem, but apparently it would be cleaned out once a year when a new compost pile was started. The previous one being incorporated into the garden in the spring.

Grape vines covered part of the patio area and roof. They made grape juice, wine and distillled part of the wine down into a brandy which, I swear, could be used to take the paint off of a car. I only visited a couple of places at which I wasn't given a shot glass of some type of brandy. Their pear bandy was really good.

Down the street they were razing a house. I was surprised to see mud dobbling. That is walls were made of a reed-type material and plastered over with a type of mud or such on both sides. I brought two small pieces of it back with me.

Can't remember name but in the local church and a nitch in the wall of the village fire department there was a statue of a saint, who was the patron saint of firefighters (Saint Florence?). OK, I could see it at the firestation, but the church? Eventually realized the original roofs would have been thatched. A fire in one might quickly spread to others. Now they have half-round tile roofs. I'd told if property supported underneath they can last 200 or more years.

I recall reading the Taliban went into the countyside, cut down any fruit bearing trees and slaughtered livestock, throwing the carcasses down the well. I'm guessing their thinking was if it was good enough for Mohammad, it is good enough for you. Thus, take the country back to the lifestyle during his lifetime.

Chuck, I doubt you would have seen any swine there, but what about other livestock beyond goats and donkeys. What did the farmers use as draft animals? Any poultry/fowl in the villages?

I'm assuming a huge illiteracy problem? That would lead to somewhat different way of thinking.

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Ted H

You may all go to Hell, and I will go to Texas.
-Davy Crockett

Not only in prisons or wartime situations. What I have heard is that many men when away from their women, don't consider hand jobs or oral sex with another man cheating or homosexual, it is only filling a need. I would have to agree, they aren't homosexuals even though they are participating in same-sex-sexual acts.

It's sort of like how sometimes gay people who are in denial or in the closet or unaware will get married to the opposite sex and eventually realize that the straight life is not their natural inclination. They aren't straight and never really were, even though they may have married and fathered children.

Ken,

I saw chickens, ducks, turkeys, and some smaller birds - Afghans love birds.

They have cows and lots of donkeys. I haven't seen many horses - a few, but in many parts of the country the donkeys do all the work.

Goats and sheep abound. And there are camels, of course. There are dogs, especially a large white breed that I'm not familiar with. I'll try to put up a video of one raid we did that shows some of them. Maybe someone can ID them for me.

Dunno if you folks have read Three Cups of Tea. There is a movement called Pennies for Peace http://www.penniesforpeace.org/that is working to educate Afghani girls. I think this is a great program, my kids save pennies along with the other kids in our church. When you tell an American kid that one of our pennies will buy 2 pencils for a kid that has probably never even held a pencil....well, mine have very little spending money, but they realized how blessed they were and were happy to spread the wealth.

[QUOTE=Chuck;4393891]
This happens because the young men "practice" on each other before getting married. But they don't consider that homosexuality (which would be punishable by death) because they don't actually love each other. Whatever.
QUOTE]

This is a common practice in many cultures and has been for millenia.

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