Cracker by Damian Christie

Great stuff!

Yeah, great stuff - out of interest, what do you wear on a job like this - safari suit? Or is there a cooler, modern variation?

You made a little girl cry with your camera of oppression! Shame on you, evil Western tourist/journalist!

Damian, this is a great piece of work. You're really good at this stuff.

And if you don't mind, I will be picturing you as clad in a safari suit. It just works.

That's what I thought.

You made a little girl cry with your camera of oppression!

Robyn, maybe she expected to be really shot, who knows?

The caption "Livestock Market, Chaghcharan" with the photo of the bike and cow did say more than 1000 words.

Almost every building and every wall (and they love their walls, the Afghans, understandably after decades of constant conflict) is made from a mud and straw combination. ). I'm reminded of a famous literary attempt by a few pigs that involved straw and can't help but wonder how these walls would withstand a VBIED (vehicle-borne improvised explosive device), or perhaps more likely here a DBIED (don't laugh – donkey-borne)

A nice adobe (mud brick - not photoshopped) wall would probably stand up better than a couple of layers of Gib and Hardiplank...

You made a little girl cry with your camera of oppression!

Robyn, maybe she expected to be really shot, who knows?

Maybe they take your picture one day, and the next day someone takes you somewhere you don't want to go? Maybe not in Afghanistan, hopefully. Hopefully the kid was just freaked out.

I'm hoping not to get ambushed, hit by a flying grenade or an exploding donkey.

Aw, sh1t! You had to say it out loud, and worse, put it in print. Don't you watch the movies? You've just written your own epitaph buddy. Why don't you just pull out a photograph of 'your girl' and tell the locals you're gonna propose when you get home?
I hope it's the donkey, cos that would be kinda funny

Properly cured earth walls are going to stand up better than an NZ weatherboard house, that's for sure. Although they have a distressing tendency to collapse in earthquakes.

Aw, sh1t! You had to say it out loud, and worse, put it in print. Don't you watch the movies? You've just written your own epitaph buddy. Why don't you just pull out a photograph of 'your girl' and tell the locals you're gonna propose when you get home?

At least he's not retiring next month.

Oh, I don't really think Damian has a camera of oppression. I'm really enjoying his writing and photos.

Would anyone normally write about the thick auburn hair of the girls shining in the sunshine? Or their colourful dresses and chunky jewellery? Or their suspicious yet fragile faces?

That's what photos do (for me).

Why don't you just pull out a photograph of 'your girl' and tell the locals you're gonna propose when you get home?

Don't introduce yourself to anyone as "Goose".

Don't introduce yourself to anyone as "Goose".

What's Afghani for ...

Ich Bin Ein Amerikən - Heil Busch!

I'm hoping not to get ambushed, hit by a flying grenade or an exploding donkey.

Until I read this I was thinking a bit of rain in Sydney was inconvenient.

Hey Damian, please say hello to Marianne from me.
Because New Zealand really is that small.