One of the things that you have to get used to working in Afghanistan is that planning ahead is not much valued. I don’t think the word ‘schedule’ or ‘appointment’ exists in Dari, and if it does, it must be followed by ‘more or less’ or ‘not binding’.
I make this observation while sitting here, waiting for the Director of the Department to arrive. We have an emergency project—it is nearly Spring, and 60,000 trees must be planted! The Director says he knows where we can buy the trees, and told the Mayor yesterday we would go out at 9:30 to locate the trees. So I have been waiting for him for 45 minutes. He is not in the building.
In fairness, this
is not an issue that is unique to the government, but a cultural norm that you either go with or go nuts. The country can grind down the most anal ‘Type A’ personality. For instance, Najib just got an invitation to his cousin’s wedding this morning—it will be tomorrow night and hundreds of people will be there on a day’s notice. The next time a plane leaves here on time will be the first time—but it is not their fault, as half the people would be stranded if they left on time.
I can’t blame folks—this is still primarily a country operating with traditional agricultural and nomadic standards, and there really isn’t much rush. Additionally, since they have been at war for at least 30 years, and for much of history, there really isn’t much use in planning anyway—life and living are so tenuous that doing much planning would be mostly useless.
I make this observation while sitting here, waiting for the Director of the Department to arrive. We have an emergency project—it is nearly Spring, and 60,000 trees must be planted! The Director says he knows where we can buy the trees, and told the Mayor yesterday we would go out at 9:30 to locate the trees. So I have been waiting for him for 45 minutes. He is not in the building.
In fairness, this
is not an issue that is unique to the government, but a cultural norm that you either go with or go nuts. The country can grind down the most anal ‘Type A’ personality. For instance, Najib just got an invitation to his cousin’s wedding this morning—it will be tomorrow night and hundreds of people will be there on a day’s notice. The next time a plane leaves here on time will be the first time—but it is not their fault, as half the people would be stranded if they left on time.
I can’t blame folks—this is still primarily a country operating with traditional agricultural and nomadic standards, and there really isn’t much rush. Additionally, since they have been at war for at least 30 years, and for much of history, there really isn’t much use in planning anyway—life and living are so tenuous that doing much planning would be mostly useless.
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