Provincial

I have spent the better part of the last week at the provincial seat meeting the provincial judicial players.  Just to break it down, Afghanistan is divided into 34 provinces (like states).  Each province is then divided into a number of districts (like counties).  So when I spend time at the provincial seat it's like being in a state capital meeting with the equivalent of a state governor, state supreme court judiciary, attorney general, and the like.  Here's a rudimentary map courtesy of google.

 My father-in-law got me some great maps well before I deployed that I dutifully stuck on my office wall and promised I was going to study and learn.  That didn't happen.  Even with how much Afghanistan is in the news, being here you realize how much the focus is generally only on a handful of provinces.  Since getting here, it has been pretty easy to learn the political boundaries (at least where they are on a map, if not reality) and feel like I have been here much longer than I have.

So I was able to meet with all of the provincial judicial players on two different occasions this week.  My State Dept counterparts are fabulous and have been kind enough to make all of the introductions.  They are incredibly smart and have done some great work in this province (and have grown some pretty outstanding Afghan style beards).  I think the judicial folks almost count my RoL counterpart as one of their own.  They welcomed me and are excited that my primary work is going to be in a couple of their districts helping "build justice from the ground up" as it were.  My first impression is that these are all hard-working professionals who are taking a lot of personal risk to implement justice in their province.  Just this week a suicide bomber killed a district governor and his two sons in Kandahar http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/12/us-afghanistan-blast-idUSTRE80B0RS20120112  

Sidebar- The best conversation I had this week was with one of State's cultural/political advisers who is a local national.  He has worked for the U.S. (State or military) for most of the past decade.  We talked about our families a lot so he learned that I am a newlywed and Steve is applying to medical schools.  So he asked "and you support him?" somewhat incredulously.  Then he asked me about the high divorce rate in the U.S. and seemed very concerned for me.  I assured him that Steve and I are going to be married for a very long time and I wasn't worried!