OK, One More Little Rant... (and Pictures)

Another electricity fiasco I left out of the last blog:


About three weeks ago our city power wasn't working. For some reason, the wiring was/is messed up. The same thing happened just before we arrived here, and they had someone fix it. So, we called the same guy to come and do it again. He was in and out in about 10 minutes, but charged quite a lot compared to what we've heard other people pay to fix the same problem. We paid it anyway, happy to have city power. Then, one week ago the whole situation repeated itself for the third go-round, except that this time he wanted double what we paid him last time. Not only did he want to charge me double for literally jiggling wires until a light blinked on, he said he needed to replace the main wire and would charge me for that too.


In my broken Dari, I began to ask him why it was double and why he didn't just fix it the first time if that was the problem, but we weren't communicating very well. I could tell he was becoming frustrated with me, but I only thought it was the language issue. At first, I called one of our Afghan drivers to translate over the phone. The 'electrician' shut down the conversation and got on his motorcycle to leave without answering any of the questions. I just wanted an honest answer, and don't even mind paying the guy for what he's done, but I would like to know what I'm paying for. Luckily I was able to stop him. My neighbor happened to be pulling in, so I had him translate for me again, but apparently I crossed an invisible line and he drove off on his motorcycle as he had started to do earlier.


My theory: he was fixing the electricity just enough to last a few weeks, get paid, and wait for the next call. Perhaps I'm wrong, but several people, both Afghans and expats have confirmed my thoughts on this. When I challenged his way of doing things, it seemed like he took it as an issue of honor and respectability. The paradox of it all is that I want to know what I'm paying for and why, but when I ask these questions, it seems to be taken as an offensive gesture to their integrity. Quite a paradox when bargaining is required in almost any business transaction.

Here's our electric box and power lines:

My view from the factory:

This guy's car wouldn't start, so he decided to check the gas--with a muddy piece of cord off of the ground...

The view down our street, and our street lights that work about half the time (or less):

A wall we pass every day; notice the bullet holes:

The mud home we're staying in:

Another view from the factory: