Free The Afghan Queen: A True Story of an American Woman in Afghanistan by Paul Meinhardt

as well as gifts. Being from a fiercely pro-union family, I experienced some pangs of guilt, but reasoned that the Afghans needed the money more than the overfed Americans.
    I have come to understand that the word impossible is only a euphemism for baksheesh and blue jeans were the baksheesh of choice. I was quickly learning the meaning and power of those words.
    Baksheesh is the exact opposite of impossible, and anything was possible with baksheesh. Throughout most of the world of the 1970’s, blue jeans were the global currency. Dollars, on the other hand, were too easily forged. No one cared about knockoff jeans as long as they passed inspection by the discerning eye.
    I told the journalists about my previous adventures with the bus caravan and migrating tribe. They said that migrating people had long ago perfected the art of border crossing with gifts for border guards. They said that Gypsy caravans routinely crossed Soviet borders with gifts of liquor. Like the circuit tribe, Gypsies were also unofficial messengers.
    On the long drive, my journalist friends told me their personal Gypsy story. They were commissioned by a London tabloid to do a really wild travel story. There was but one lead, a phone number for “Travel like the Wind Gypsy Tours.” The tabloid had them sign a contract and they were given a substantial advance, with the directive to get the most lurid photos possible.
    The tour agency phone was answered by a recorded message: “Now you can travel the world with the Gypsies. We travel like the wind. We do not recognize borders, and borders do not recognize us. We practice the art of creating a world without borders. If you would like to travel like the wind, leave your phone number at the sound of the tambourine.”

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TRAVEL LIKE THE WIND - FALL, 1975
    LELA:
    On the trip to Athens, the journalist couple continued to relate their story about their experiences traveling with a Gypsy band. They spent four months on their tabloid assignment, and the story appeared as a series. In Britain, it was titled “Travel like the Wind.” In Australia it was “A World without Borders.”
    The first article in the series introduced the idea that over the last million years, Neanderthal and other humans were forced to migrate continually in search of mates, food and shelter. The preferred meat was grazing animals.
    Early people followed migrating herds as grazers led the way to grassland and waterways. Some of the Sami (formerly known as Laps, which is now considered derogatory) still live this way with reindeer at the Arctic Circle. The couple staged photos of fur-clad hunters stalking Aurochs, deer, mammoths and horses in mating poses. Aurochs were the source of domesticated bovine cattle.

    Last Auroch female died in 1627 *
    Traveling with a German Gypsy clan, the journalists were shown pictures of Aurochs pulling caravans over 500 years ago. At that time they staged Auroch bull jumping shows at fairs. Aurochs and people lived together quite well, unless they were teased or hunted. Then Aurochs became extremely aggressive and fast. Fighting bulls are close relatives of the Auroch.

    Up to 10,000 years ago there were probably no more than 15,000 humans throughout the world. Bands of people seldom exceeded 50 to 100 due to the limited resources along the route of migration. Therefore, mating was far more haphazard than today. If the first tribal rule practiced exogamy, or mating outside the clan, then finding suitable mates became even more difficult.
    True or not, I was fascinated by the journalists’ Gypsy stories. Soviet bloc nations were far more tolerant of Gypsies than Western Europe. While Gypsies transferred messages, they were compensated by having a blind eye turned to the contraband they transported.
    On approaching certain border crossings, Gypsies would dress and act like an elaborate wedding party, just as if they stepped out of an 18th Century painting. The bride and groom led the way, followed by a