P.S.

I was officially accepted into NYU Stern's two year MBA program last month. That means I will be heading back to New York City mid-June, bringing my experience in Afghanistan to an end.

Thank you to everyone who has followed my blog over the past eight months. Be sure to check back in for some final thoughts before I leave the country.

Spring in the City

Spring has sprung here in Kabul. The snow on the mountains has melted away, leaving us with warm, sunny afternoons and clear, breezy evenings. In any other part of the world, a phrase strung together like that would bring forth images of frolicking in green grass or casual evening drinks on outdoor patios. Not in Afghanistan.

Snow Capped Mountains, Kabul February

Spring here translates to "spring offensives" or "targeted attacks" now that the weather has warmed up. (NYT: Spring Offensive to Begin, Taliban Say) 

In fact, ever since our friend Terry Jones decided to grill a Koran down in Florida, things have been pretty bad over here in Afghanistan. First there was the attack on the UN compound in Mazar, then the mastermind escape of 480 prisoners in Kandahar and finally, the incident at the Kabul International Airport last week. In the midst of all of this, Afghanistan celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Soviet departure last Thursday, or the "Islamic Revolution" as it was referred to in the email from HR.  

Needless to say, there have been a lot of locked down days.

And now, the biggest news of all: Osama Bin Laden is dead! (Quite honestly, I thought he had been dead for years. When was the last time we even heard from him? And audio tapes don't count.) I guess this brings closure to a long chapter in US history that began in the early 90s in Africa and culminated with the World Trade Center attacks ten years ago.

It's of course a huge victory for the Western world, who has been terrorized by him for decades. But given that the life expectancy in this part of the world is 45 years old at most, it's not like the ol' guy had time on his side.

As far as I know, we haven't seen any immediate repercussions in Kabul this morning, although my Security team tells us Kabul is on high alert. We're currently on restricted movement, which means no visits to government buildings or embassies, but we are at work today. I assume security will tighten up this week when the reaction comes, and it will lead to more days of lock down.

Until then, we will continue to fill our evenings with Friendly Friday poker and long stints at the gym.

Friendly Friday Poker Game in RV

Finances

As Senior Manager of Marketing Communications, I approve a lot of estimates and sign off on all payments. I even have a stamp with my name and title, like a boss. 

My favorite part of this process is issuing advanced payments to people around the country to install posters on a monthly basis.

Since the people hired are generally illiterate, they are unable to sign their name when they receive money from Roshan. So I get confirmation in the form of a finger print.

No joke.

Job Opening: Director of Marketing Communications

Director of Marketing Communications, Roshan TDCA Ltd.

Job Description:

• Create and implement brand strategy for Roshan and its sub brands including mobile money arm of Roshan, M-Paisa
• Plan the advertising and sponsoring activities with Sales, Marketing, Products and Retention teams in order to launch communications built to increase revenue
• Cooperate with creative advertising, media agencies and market research agencies based in Dubai and Kabul
• Coordinate the BTL (below the line) and ATL (above the line) campaigns; launch OOH communications, posters, banners, leaflets, radio, TV and branded integration efforts
• Manage the Advertising/Promotions budget and administer the production of marketing collaterals both locally and internationally
• Work closely with the Corporate Social Responsibility team in order to communicate the social initiatives Roshan has in place around Afghanistan
• Plan and design sponsorship initiatives with local media houses and the advertising agency
• Execute all other needed logistic and operational activities
• Train and mentor a team of five local Afghans in daily operations, oral and written presentation skills
• Work closely with Senior Management for decision-making in challenging environment and emerging market, with a 70% illiteracy rate

Qualifications:

• At least 5 years of experience in Marketing/Communications department on the client side marketing or in an advertising agency
• Strong interpersonal skills and communications skills mandatory
• Wireless telecom and international experience a plus
• Adventurous candidate who is looking for a challenge but also looking to gain an incredible and rewarding experience, surrounded by people of like-minded/international background

Location: Kabul, Afghanistan

Salary/Bonus: Package designed to attract the best candidate

Start Date: July 1, 2011

About Roshan:

Roshan is the leading GSM cellular service provider in Afghanistan, with coverage in over 230 major cities and towns and over 3.5 Million Active Subscribers. Since its inception in the market in January 2003, Roshan has invested up to $390.4 million in implementing and maintaining a high quality network. Roshan is dedicated to the reconstruction of Afghanistan by providing the highest standards of service, creating new businesses, training future leaders and developing entrepreneurial spirit.

The word "Roshan" means "light" in both of the national Afghan languages, Dari and Pashto. The name Roshan was given by the people of Afghanistan as Roshan brings a promise of hope, development, and a brighter future for Afghanistan.

Interested candidates please submit your CV to karima.rasul@roshan.af

You Know You're Not in North America When...

You find your face painted for the India vs. Pakistan cricket match.

Beirut Wrap Up

I got back from Beirut last weekend and had a seriously wonderful four day vacation. Joel and I walked everywhere (a luxury we don't get to enjoy at all in Kabul) and ate such fresh food. Think: a lot of humus and eggplant dip with pita and haloumi cheese. On our first day in Beirut, we walked down from our hotel in Hamra to the ocean/promenade called the Corniche and stopped at a cafe on the water to grab lunch.  Much to our surprise, our lunch came out accompanied by olives, pickled carrots and a full plate fresh veggies: tomatoes, radishes, cucumber and a bunch of fresh mint. You have no idea how much little things mean after months of oily disgusting food. 

The city has so much history - we ventured downtown to St. George's Church that was recently excavated. As part of the excavation, they preserved the bottom layer of the church - showing off Byzantine, Mesopotamian, Roman, Ottoman layers. Each had a different style and shaped the Lebanese architecture in a certain way. It was very cool. And right down the street from St. George's Church is Al-Omari Mosque with a bright blue dome, which is reminisent of the Blue Mosque in Instanbul. I loved how Churches and Mosques lived side by side, and how old merged with new. 

Downtown Beirut outside of St. George's Church

Our old ad agency, Grey, is located in Beirut so we went up to the offices one day, which is actualy like 20 mins outside of Beirut but the drive is straight up into the hills. From there, the city reminded me a lot of Vancouver with the ocean and the mountains. Joel and I obviously ended up hitting the town every night - Beirut is known for it's nightlife after all! We discovered gems from low key bars (perfect for watching the Arsenal-Barcelona game) to more whole-in-the-wall Beirut-chic places introduced to us by our buddies. This one place called Torino in the Gemmayzeh neighborhood reminded me of the East Village, but less grimy and more European hipster/artist. On our last night, our agency guys took us to a bar called Behind the Green Door that had no sign outside, but inside it was this 60s retro lounge with crush velvet banquettes. Very cool. 

Our last day in Lebanon, we took the drive out to Byblos to check out the ruins. That was by far the best day. The whole week was breezy/spring weather, but on Friday it was around 20 Celsius and perfectly sunny. We hired a guy named Ali, who was recommended to us by friends who had found him somewhere downtown Beirut at 4 AM the last time they were in town. Apparently this guy picked them up, found them falafel at that late hour, and was automatically their tour guide for the rest of the week. Ali was a sweetheart and Byblos was fantastic. The view out to the Mediterranean from the top of the fort was just beautiful.

Joel taking in the view from the Coliseum 

View from the top of the fort, Byblos

Town of Byblos

  After Ali took us on a walking tour of Byblos, we were back in the car, headed to our last stop: Harisa. In order to get to Harisa, you need to take a small gondola (or Telefrique, as they call them) up this super steep mountain and at the top there is a church with a Rio-style Jesus staue next to it. I have to admit, it was only partially awesome. I freaked out on Joel a couple of times when he insisted on shaking the two person telefrique on the way up. Please refer to the pictures below. Unfortunately, the ride down the mountain marked the end of our trip. We headed directly to the airport and back to Kabul. 

Two person telefrique, please note the steep incline

Freak out at the top of the mountain

View from the top

Top of Harisa

The Sun Also Sets in Afghanistan

Sometimes you look around Kabul and are just taken aback by the beauty of the mountains. The city is located in one of the largest and highest mountain ranges in the world, after all. Too bad we're not allowed to get out of the car to take pictures. This is a shot of the sun setting on Jalalabad road.