Just a heads up about a little extra cash you could make. Afghani Lapis Lazuli is in pretty high demand in the Southwest here for silversmiths. They are looking for the deep blue stuff with very little white stone and only a little pyrite inclusions. The second-grade stuff is selling for $30 a gram here. If it's cheap there, you could send it home and make yourself a couple bucks with it. The beads sell for even higher if they're deep blue. About $36 for a 12" strand of 8mm beads. Beat those prices just a little bit and Navajo silversmiths will buy or trade when they know it came straight from Afghanistan. If there's any turquoise around and it's a sky-blue color with very little matrix, that will sell very well, too. Finished cabochons of quality turquoise go for around $1.00 a carat. If it's Persian turquoise, you could get $2.00 a carat for finished cabochons. People here are looking for Persian turquoise. The best turquoise mine here is shut down and people are scrambling to find that sky-blue color from another source.
