Mountain Dew and Other Sundries

At the edge of our compound there are several metal containers rented to local nationals who sell bootlegged DVDs, tea sets, cigarettes, and other knick-knacks to all the soldiers, airmen, marines, sailors, and civilians here. The DVDs are ridiculously cheap: $3 apiece. One DVD can hold 4 movies or so, depending on what type of quality we’re talking about. I had to resist purchasing Resident Evil: Apocalypse. Not because it is wrong to buy pirated movies, but do I really want to see a sure-to-be-shitty movie just because Milla Jovovich is friggin’ hot?

I was taken aback by some of the Afghans who run these places. I expected them to be surly and standoffish, but they were incredibly friendly. A couple hugged me and one guy named ‘Z’ even saluted. Sure, they might just like the almighty dollar, but if they’re faking the funk they’re doing a great job of it.

There’s all kinds of other funky stuff. I have rekindled my love of Mountain Dew. All the sodas here look exactly like their American equivalent, but the labels are written in Arabic and they have pull-tabs instead of pop-tops. (ed.: But Latin Boy, they don’t speak Arabic in Afghanistan, they speak Dari, Pashtun, or Uzbeck! Shut up, editor. The sodas are from Kuwait or the UAE, depending on the distributors.)

Other than that, I am awaiting my Stephen King (Sean) and Neal Stephenson (Courtney) with baited breath.

~ by kinshay on 2004-09-27.