Years off the Beaten Path by Susan Sprachman Afghanistan RPCV 1969 - 71
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Years off the Beaten Path by Susan Sprachman Afghanistan RPCV 1969 - 71
Years off the Beaten Path by Susan Sprachman Afghanistan RPCV 1969 - 71
Years off the Beaten Path by Susan Sprachman Afghanistan RPCV 1969 - 71
Susan Sprachman
Years off the Beaten Path
My husband, Paul, and I were lucky enough to have spent the 70's in Afghanistan and Iran. Since we haven't been able to revisit those places, we have traveled extensively in Morocco and hiked through northern India. We have also enjoyed the company of a son, IsacZal, who has been as interesting and challenging as the counties we have loved over the years.
My purpose is setting up this web site is to share some of these amazing places with whomever finds his or her way here.
Afghanistan, 1969-1971
We joined the Peace Corps after graduating college in 1969. Our first assignment was to Libya, but at the end of a summer of training in Bisbee, Arizona, Ghadafi took over the country and the program collapsed. Offered a choice of a number of places, we chose Afghanistan.
Iran, 1974-1978
TO COME
Morocco- 1993, 1995 and 1998
We traveled to Morocco on three occasions--twice in August and once in May. IsacZal was the original catalyst for the visit--he complained that he didn't have the chance to experience the kinds of places, Afghanistan and Iran, that were so important to us. Thinking of the kind of country that could give him some of the flavor of those countries--although one place certainly can't substitute for another--led us to our first trip to Morocco. Once we went once we had to keep going back--there was so much to see, so much to revisit after our first exploration.
We took my parents along on our most recent trip. They came armed with the misconceptions of some of their friends who had taken cruises that stopped for an afternoon in Casablanca, or who had taken a day trip from Spain. They left with a deep appreciation for the beauty of the land and the people of Morocco. My father, who carefully examined his silverware during the first few days, ended up eating grilled eggplants with his hands from the plate of another man in the main square of Marrakesh.
Click here to see two dozen of my pictures of Morocco.
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IsacZal
IsacZal is a metal sculptor. He also creates musical instruments that are traditionally made out of wood out of metal. They are harmonically sound and play beautifully.
Some examples of his recent instruments and other sculptures can be found here.
Highland Park, NJ
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SOME SCENES FROM MY LIFE IN GHAZNI, AFGHANISTAN, 1969-1971
We arrived in Afghanistan in the winter of 1969. We spent the first three months in Kabul, spending hours each day learning Dari and Afghan culture.
We were sent on trips where we had to, with little experienced, manage to communicate in the language and use local transportation.
Paul and I were told to find out way to Mazar-I-Sharif, up near the Russian border After a long bus journey, we arrived there at night and found ourselves in a horse cart with bells, wrapped in blankets, feeling like we had stepped onto the set of Dr. Zhivago.
On one of our few days in Mazar we visited the ruined city of Balkh, destroyed by Timorlang.
Here I am, aged 22, looking out from the ruins onto the winter landscape.
We settled in Ghazni, a city about a mile up and a few hours south of Kabul. We shared a compound with our landlord's family. They group and were Shia Muslims (most of Afghanistan is Sunni).
Every day our landlord's wife baked bread in a tonor (in India, Tundor). We returned to Afghanistan two years after we had left to find that the landlord had taken a second wife and our beloved "Obi" (mother" felt old and unwanted. Here is Obi baking bread.
Our house was the second story of a large building within the compound. The first floor was a storehouse for our landlord's shops. In this picture you can see the house flanked by the landlord's shops. The picture on the right is our landlord's youngest daughter sitting in front of his shop.
From the balcony of our house you could see the snow capped mountains (Ghazni is at about 5,000 feet above sea level)
And the bazaar shops.
Every morning I'd hear the "tack tack" of the shopkeeper across the way. At night he'd close up shop by putting all his copper pots into large bags. In the morning he'd dump them out and tap out all the new indents.
The Peace Corps provided us with the necessities of life...
Click here to see pictures of our home .
We both taught in single sex schools. Paul taught English and trigonometry, I taught English.
Paul's blackboard was indeed that--boards painted black. He'd come home covered in soft chalk.
His jacket was bought at the "Eisenhower bazaar," where some clothing that had been donated to charities in the states ended up. You'd find amazing bowling shirts and vintage clothing there.
Below are two views of my students
This was my 7th grade class. Most girls wore the uniform of a black outfit, white loose pants underneath and a white head scarf.
I had a party at the house for my students. We had to make a very public display of Paul leaving before the girls arrived--he spent the afternoon walking up and down the bazaar talking to people. This picture shows the ethnic diversity of the people of Afghanistan--and their beauty.
For the Afghan Independence Day celebrations, my students got together and made me a traditional Afghan dress.
Here I am in the dress
And here is the daughter of the town mayor in her dress
Everything in Ghazni was bought fresh.
Donkeys would be brought in every day laden with fresh grains and produce.
Bread was baked daily, either at home, as Obi prepared it, or at a bakery. While Obi made paper thin bread, the bakeries usually sold nan, long slabs of bread in the shape of snow shoes. Nothing can beat the taste of the bread straight from the oven
This shopkeeper sold vegetables and grains
And this one specialized in potatoes and friendship
Every day I walked through the grain market on my way to school.
Meat was also sold freshly killed.
Since the meat shops did not have refrigeration, beef was only available in the winter when it could be sold off before it went bad. Fruits and vegetables were of limited variety, but exceptional quality. In the summer it seemed as if a different type of melon came into season each week
To show some other places.
This was a street on the main shopping area of Kabul. It is now all rubble.
And here is a woman walking in Kabul.
In the background is a shrine and you can see the city climbing up the hill.
Afghanistan abounds in natural beauty. This is Band-e Amir, just outside of the Bamiyan valley The minerals in the lake have formed a lip, damming the lake above the surface of the valley.
The Bamiyan valley ... the notch in the hills holds one of the largest statues in the world, a buddha carved into the hill. On either side of the buddha the hill is riddled with caves that once were homes to the monks. To get to Bamiyan you either took a very long bus ride or flew in a small plane that wasn't pressurized--so it flew between the mountains. Breathtaking--but very scary!
Morocco
We traveled to Morocco on three occasions--twice in August and once in May. IsacZal was the original catalyst for the visit--he complained that he didn't have the chance to experience the kinds of places, Afghanistan and Iran, that were so important to us. Thinking of the kind of country that could give him some of the flavor of those countries--although one place certainly can't substitute for another--led us to our first trip to Morocco. Once we went once we had to keep going back--there was so much to see, so much to revisit after our first exploration.
This portion of my web site starts with some family photos and then shows pictures of the bazaars, people, and different aspects of Morocco.
This is me in Fez at the Palais Jamais hotel wearing a hand embroidered caftan.
And here is Paul next to our rented car which had become stuck on a sand-covered road. I had suggested this short cut. After about an hour a group of Italian tourists in a land rover coming in the opposite direction stopped and helped pull us out of the sand.
My short cuts often ended this way. Once, in Tunisia, we took a similar short cut, the road ended, and
We had to wait for some road workers to regrade the road before we could move up the hill. Even with their road-building assistance, we needed to be pushed.
IsacZal attracted attention wherever he went. The first picture was taken during our first trip when he was eleven. The second photo was taken during our last trip when he was sixteen.
My parents accompanied us on our last trip, and would never forgive me if I didn't include them on the website.
Here we are eating at the restaurant Yacout in Marrakesh. To get there you take a taxi into the bazaar as far as it can go. At the end of the road a man in a robe awaits you and leads you to an unmarked doorway. Inside the door is an old palace and a marvelous meal.
Morocco is rightly reknown for its crafts. Some examples follow:
The bazaars of Fez and Marrakesh wind on endlessly. Some parts are in deep shadows, others bask in the brilliant sunlight. They are live into late in the night, thronged with shoppers and strollers. Always the dark passageways opening into brilliant sunlight.
Click here to see a number of pictures of the bazaars .
In contrast to the pictures hidden under "bazaars," the pictures below, without shadows, show
the architecture as no less intricate when unhidden.
But...always the light creating shadows or being welcomed into a room.
The people of Morocco fascinated me---their warmth, their humor, their patience when being photographed, and the endless variety of their faces and clothing.
Click here to see the faces of Morocco .
Finally, some scenes from the countryside
And, you wonder, what of the desert--Morocco is famous for the desert.
Click here to see pictures of the desert .
And..my favorite hotel--Villa Maroc in Es Sourria
Hey, I've been tring for some time to become a volunteer. I'm 23 and don;t have a lot of money, but I've got a wonderful personality (can I say that without being full of myself?) and I have an able working body. I want to volunteer my time and energy but not my money. Is there any place out there that needs volunteers without making you pay? I except the fact that I will need to pay for travel but I don't want to pay someone to let me volunteer. Can you help? I would appreciate it. Thanks.... Jacquline Nora
heloo!
nice your site , tnks,plz i want to see morocco picturs 1971 , becous , i cant see by your site , tanks
regards