Ab Khamary

 

I go to Ab Khamari, a district in Badghis province, to check on the possibilities of doing some water projects in the area. It’s a very dry country, and the villagers are longing desperately for water, willing to help by any means available to make it possible with our cooperation. I see wells excavated by them going down many meters and more with no results, and the data we have is that in most cases even if the water is found, it will be salty water and not usable for most purposes. 

The water is not there and it shows in how poor the villages are, the houses small, a desolate place with no apparent present or future. My driver is from the region, and against my wishes, makes me go to his house and have lunch at the room reserved for visitors. 

 

I notice the beautiful carpets on the floor, even three layers of carpets one above the other, and he explains to me that in winter time it’s the thing to do, use the wool from the sheep to do this wonderful creations, far away from the dreariness and limitations of everyday life.

 I go back to Qala e Naw the main town in the province, frustrated by not been able to do much in this impossible situation, if there would be any water available, it would probably be salty, and further damaged if exploited , by been overused above its capacity to be naturally  replaced, as the population grows and demand increases.

Palladio - Scarpa

Italia here I come! I write to Giovanni before going to Italy and tell him about my trip and wanting to visit him at his home in the Veneto Region.

He is glad that I will come, and we agree he will pick me up at night at the train station in Vicenza. Vicenza if full of great architectural works, by Palladio, Scarpa, but it’s already somehow late, and we go to pick the car to go to Giovanni’s house.

Even so it’s not possible to elude altogether these magnificent monuments, and just in front of the parked car, there is this strange house, built for Antonio Pigafetta, the narrator of Ferdinand Magellan’s expedition around the world. I am impressed, having read his book, which make vivid the achievements and the character of Magellan, a true hero admired by all who knew him and shared his travails.

Next day early morning we go to Bassano Del Grappa, and after crossing by foot a beautiful wooden bridge built by Palladio, enjoy coffee with grappa just across the bridge for breakfast.

Then we travel all day along the Veneto Region searching for more architectural works by Palladio. 

Also some beautiful towns such as Asolo, where Robert and Elizabeth Browning used to live after eloping from England; and the residence of Freya Stark, the writer of a traveling book I have read lately, of her journey through Iran. An exhibition with pictures related to her life and travels is being presented at a public building which we visit.

 

Then we spend the afternoon visiting Palladian villas, and the cemetery at San Vito D’Altivole designed by Carlo Scarpa and where he is buried. Last we go to have pizza with a group of students from the university at Padova, really fun this young people from Italy, laughing and enjoying life all the time and in a good way too. Next day very early I take the train back to Milan and work.

The One Time Spring

We plan to provide water to some communities, with water from a spring very high above the plateau where the villages are. For that reason we go to the spring, to check on the site and agree on starting the project, with a delegation form the villagers, Riazi the engineer for the project, and me. The spring is very high above the villages, and they call it for this reason The One Time Spring, since few people go there more than once due to the effort needed to climb the mountain leading up to it. 

 

At lunch time the villagers display carpets on the ground, and serve a lunch made of rice and sheep. At an altitude of more than two thousand meters, we see below us an eagle flying, while the Afghans exchange jokes in their language, about women and foreigners they tell me without telling me the actual jokes. 

We ask for two hundred volunteer workers to do the excavations to put the pipes in place and the head of the village says they can provide five hundred if needed. So one week later I arrive at the site to find a caravan of five hundred people as promised, and nearly half as many donkeys, going up the mountain with shovels and pickaxes. 

Also I notice some people with guns, and ask them to be removed, since this is not allowed in our projects. Candidly, one of the village leaders says without the guns it’s difficult to get five hundred people to come. Years later the subject comes into a conversation between me and Riazi, and he tells me about seeing people crying for joy when first seeing the water flow out of the faucets.