Still bored out of my mind

The time stamps on the blog posts are entirely screwed up....buttt still sitting in the same class. One of the chapters in the book takes place before the warlords take over Kabul and launch a brutal civil war between neighborhoods. In this scene, Laila's father takes her and Tariq on a surprise and secret day trip. When they arrive, Laila sees the two most beautiful statues of Buddha she has ever seen rising up in front of her. They are in Bamyan, and the two statues are famous and revered. The Taliban, which is something we in America associate heavily with Afganistan, is rarely mentioned in the book as they were not a prominent political faction at the time. So why the random mention of the Taliban in the middle of talking about beautiful statues of Buddha? In my attempt to figure out more about the culture, I found out that the Taliban actually destroyed these two statues during its 7 year reign, calling them 'idolatrous'. That makes me really sad. I can't imagine someone destroying our statue of liberty or the Eiffel tower.... :(

Supply Chain Management or Afganistan

So i'm sitting in 420, otherwise known as supply chain management, the absolute most boring class everrrrrr. Our professor literally uses a power point presentation provided by the textbook manufacturer and he reads word for work directly what is on it. A monkey could do that! Okay so enough of that... while i'm sitting here i figured my time would be better spent trying to figure out the origin of marrying ones cousin in Afganistan. I found out that the country is considered somewhat of a melting pot of different cultures due to its central location in Asia. I also learned that there is incredible 'clan loyalty' among different cultures and guns often settle issues. Maybe this is a reason, wanting to remain loyal to ones clan and keeping the 'blood line clean' so to speak (muggles anyone?) I found no definitive answer but that is my current speculation...

The book continues focusing on Laila as she grows into her teenage years. We learn that she is the neighbor of Mariam, the abused wife given away at a young age. Considering the time in which she is growing up, Laila is an incredibly optimistic little girl, perfectly representing the carefree nature that children possess. She develops a crush on a boy living next door, named Tariq who is missing half of one of his legs from a run in with one of the Soviet landmine. Laila's mother falls into a deep depression after the death of Laila's two older brothers, who she remembers very little about from childhood. When the Mujahidean eventually overthrows the Soviet army, Laila's mother emerges from her dark solitude, but still refuses to leave Kabul, even though the fighting continues. The subject of marriage between Tariq an Laila is often brought up among the parents and seems to be what both children want down the road. However, i'm curious to know if the translation of the word 'cousin' from farsi to english is a little bit lost. The characters keep referring to Tariq as Laila's cousin. Is this a term of endearment, or is she literally considering marrying her cousin?? By this point we have reached 1989, so the medical consequences of this are certainly known. I wonder what the cultural significance of marrying a cousin is in Afganistan and where it originated from?

Part II

I'm not very good at having time to read lately, so this is coming kind of late... but i got into the second part of the book. This section focuses on a young girl growing up during the Soviet takeover of Afganistan and then the eventual fall of the soviets into political turmoil. When the section starts, Laila is a young child attending school amidst the absence of her two older brothers who are fighting with the mujahideen. As the story progresses, her friends begin to discuss the prospect of marriage, again, at a very young age. Laila reminds me a lot of myself in the sense that she can't imagine why anyone would want to, or let alone actually go to get married before they are finished with school. I have several friends who were married shortly after high school. While i am so proud of them and happy that they are so happy, I can't imagine not finishing out school and pursueing a career before settling down so permanently.

Book-a-holic

I love to read. I think it might be a slight addiction. I could spend hours in a bookstore just reading bookjackets and back covers. I can get addicted to authors too. I read The Odd Sea in high school and fell in love with Frederick Reiken and made it through his second book in a day, taking several bathroom breaks but thats about it. Currently i'm reading Khaled Hosseini's second book A Thousand Splendid Suns, and its as hard to put down as the first one. The book is broken up into sections and tracks the lives of women living in Afganistan during the Soviet Invasion. My goal is to share my thoughts as I read the book over the next week. It is unlikely i'll get through it but i shoudl get far enough to provide some insite.

The first section details the life of a young girl, born illegititmately and sold to a man more than twice her at around age 14 after her mother commits suicide. Despite the fact that this sounds to be an incredibly depressing scenario, the main character seems to keep a surprising air of hope, that her life will eventually get better. Reading about the ability to sell your daughters off at such a young age make be so grateful to have grown up not only in a country where this is not a standard practice, but with a father who was always fully invested in all of my successes, whether it be my first job, getting a license, playing sports, or getting into college. Living in America I am not blind to the fact that people do in fact become parents at 14 years old and some girls are strong enough, and have the family support to make it through and still be successful in life. I know if i had been given at 14 i would not have thrived, there would be no air of hope and i would not have made a success out of my life. This first portion of the book takes place in the late 70s and early 80s, and i dont think the situation in Afganistan is much different. Many women are still forced to cover with a burqa when they leave the house and only reveal their face to their husbands. However, many women in the late 80s had embraced the characteristics of the 'modern woman' wearing make-up in public and bearing small amounts of skin around the ankle.

This book really makes you identify with the women highlighted. You can feel the pain that they feel and it makes me personally want to scream at all the men who are holding them back and suppressing their rights. It makes me think of the political leader who was recently murdered, Benazir Bhutto. More than 20 years later, women are still suffering at the hands of traditional men. Without sounding like I am a supporter of everything the US has done in the middle east, i wish there was something that could be done to ensure greater equality.