Globe and Mail reporter Katherine O'Neill on her first order of business upon arriving in Afghanistan: Buying a burka.

From her Witness: Kandahar blog posting:

A new arrival to Afghanistan, on Thursday morning, I met, for the first time, an Afghan man who normally helps The Globe and Mail with interpreting and arranging stories. However, on this occasion, he had travelled 20 kilometres south from Kandahar City to “measure” me for a burka.

“You are bigger than most Afghan women,” he said, quickly eyeing my 125-pound, five-foot-five frame, as I sat with him in the back seat of a car. A male Afghan driver was in the front.

For Western female journalists planning to work in Kandahar City, the full-body veil is a necessity for security reasons. The city is an increasingly dangerous place for foreigners, and a burka will allow me and my guides to move around undetected and conduct interviews.