NOTE FROM JOHN: My friend Mark Fonseca Rendeiro, a rather prolific and good videoblogger pen-named BicycleMark, is on his way to Afghanistan for a month. I've asked Mark if he'd consider blogging about his experience here on AMERICAblog, and he's graciously accepted. Here is Mark's first post from Dubai, on his way to Afghanistan.
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"You're going to work in Afghanistan.... now?" my good friend back in Amsterdam shouted into the phone, "The Dutch troops are getting out, all my other friends are getting out, but you're going?.... Fantastic." He meant it of course, the idea of starting a job in Kabul now, even if it will only last for one month, will no doubt be interesting, maybe even fantastic.
That was two days ago back in the Netherlands. Today I type these words from a semi-posh hotel in the Las Vegas of the middle east- Dubai. A staging ground for most any international aid worker or contractor, Dubai is one of the few places where one can get a same-day Visa for Afghanistan. Perhaps not by coincidence, a place with multiple flights to Kabul everyday. For me it is also a place for one last day of wearing my regular clothes, wandering streets and alleyways with a camera in my hand, and eating what may be the last good vegetarian meal for the coming month.
Over the past ten years or so that I've been travelling in different parts of the world, writing, doing podcasts, and speaking about citizen journalism, I have always proudly identified myself as a journalist. Starting tomorrow and even when I filled out the Visa papers today, I gave up the title for the possibly much less eye-catching: teacher and consultant. Of course I'm still a journalist, as reporting is my calling in this life, but if anyone on Afghan soil asks me what I do, I am anything BUT a journalist.
Where was I? Oh yes, Dubai, at least for another 8 hours. So much has been said about this economic post modern el dorado, even in these few words I'm repeating the same old song. Still, can I just tell you in case you haven't seen it, Dubai is like an ant farm; interesting to watch, useful to study, impressive in all its layers, oh oooh I'd hate to see what would happen if it dropped, so to speak. I won't go too much further on this my first post on AMERICAblog during this journey, I need my sleep during which I will no doubt dream about Afghanistan, where I will land for the first time ever, tomorrow morning.
When I next speak with you I will be in Kabul. That might also be a good time to explain more about what I'm going to do there and who I am. Until then, you'll find more of my writing, as well as podcasts, and the occasional video entry, on my site: citizenreporter.org
Reconciliation
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