What Afghanistan looks like

This past week I was in Khorog, Tajikistan visiting our new campus there. To get there you have drive 12 hours from the capital city of Dushanbe. Half of the trip is on the Pamir Highway which runs adjacent to the Panj River. Across the river during this 6-hour stretch of the journey is the country of Afghanistan. At some points in the trip, the distance betwen Tajikistan and Afghanistan was so small, a person with average athleticism could toss a rock across the river and hit the other country.

Americans tend to shiver with anxiety when they hear the word Afghanistan and, while I didn't ever cross the border, I gazed at the Afghan landscape for several hours while bounding down the Pamir Highway. Nothing to fear particularly, beyond the treacherous nature of the road itself. The more troublesome regions of the country are situated hundreds of kilometers away.

I guess it proves that lines on maps have meaning, but sometimes this meaning isn't always what we think it is. And it also demonstrates that the names of countries, their boundaries, and their geography aren't the complete essence of a land. While I enjoyed the stunning landscape of Afghanistan from across the river, these views will still not be what I immediately think of when I hear the name Afghanistan. Rather, it will remain the precious students I know from this troubled land who will always be what I carry in my heart when I consider that which is Afghan.