Moonlight dinners in Kabul
Yesterday afternoon, my uncle and I were bored so we had our own tea party-just the two of us- and ate some cookies and drank some tea. I have been very spoiled in the food department while I’ve been here. I’ve been eating good food every day. Before our tea party my uncle bought two lambs and they were grazing in the yard. He bought them for “khairat,” which is charity. Basically, their heads will be cut off while being prayed over (halal). I was thinking about those poor lambs, but then I thought at least these lambs get blessed before they are killed. There is some appreciation for the lamb giving its life to feed someone else, whereas in the US I’m not sure the animals we eat get so much gratitude. I decided I should watch the process, which I suppose sounds pretty sick. But I just thought if I’m going to eat them then I ought to see them killed too. If I can’t see them killed than maybe I should become a vegetarian.
After our tea party we went to a friend’s house for dinner near “chicken street” which is a famous street that sells antiques. We sat outside in the courtyard under the full moon and my dad and the other engineers talked “engineer talk” while I tried to keep up as much as I could. The TV was on and the news showed some men carrying coffins in Jalalabad. A few days ago US forces raided houses in Jalalabad and killed several people, including women and children. I can’t remember if 25 houses were raided or if 25 people were killed. A man and a woman from Jalalabad spoke angrily of this injustice and that the US forces should not have raided these houses without permission. Today I saw that Karzai said he will not tolerate any more civilian casualties. I think he’s been saying that for a while though, and am not sure how he can enforce his claims. After the news was a show similar to David Letterman or SNL. There was a pretty good sketch making fun of the Afghan program “Afghan Star” which is the equivalent to American Idol in the US. One thing that is really refreshing about Afghanistan is the media here. It’s so new, and so much more democratic than the media in the US. Remember “free speech”? They show different programs, their news interviews everyday people and shows what’s going on in everyday life rather than just interviewing so-called “experts,” as we see on the news everyday in the US. It was really funny, they were showing president bush talking but it was dubbed in Dari. Regardless though I could still hear his dumb voice. The man looks stupid even when he’s dubbed in another language.
This morning I woke up several times. First was from the call to prayer. Then was the rooster’s call, and finally it was my dad shuffling around the room trying to empty his suitcase. He couldn’t sleep as usual. He flew in yesterday and surprisingly did not take a nap during the day. I thought we would share the queen sized bed but he opted to sleep on the floor, which made me smile. I thought, my mom would kill to snuggle with me, but I guess my dad is not much of a snuggler, which is OK. He probably would have tossed around like a dolphin anyway, twisting the covers around him.
Fortunately or unfortunately I woke up too late this morning and missed the lamb sacrifice. After the lambs were killed, the meat was separated into several bags and my uncle distributed them to the poor.
Later that day I had some of this lamb in a dish called “Do piaza” (Two onions) which has yellow split peas and onions soaked in vinegar
Today was a pretty relaxed day. Outside my window I saw some men trying to get a camel on a truck. They pushed and pulled as the camel moaned. I have no idea what they were trying to do with that camel. I went to the bathroom and when I came back they were trying to get the camel OFF the truck. The camel was not so happy about that and it took several men to drag him off as he moaned and groaned. Later on I saw the camel tied up outside my dad’s place, sitting contently.
Today we went to a coffee house called Chaylee. It’s a coffee house geared towards foreigners and was opened by an American woman. On the outside of the building, you can’t even tell there’s a coffee shop. There is no sign and it’s completely non-descript. Inside it’s like a little oasis of Kabul meets Starbucks. Wooden Afghan furniture, rugs, soft lighting and even some photos of coffee on the walls. Outside there is seating as well with red cushions and a screen that they use to screen movies every so often. My uncle and I opted for the ice cream with strawberry sauce. Yum :). It was really great people watching. It was a little magnet for foreigners. It was like they had all come out of the woodwork and were in this one place. Inside the women took their scarves off, sipped their lattes and worked on their laptops. There were also some young Afghan men hanging out there. One had his traditional paron-e tomban outfit with ipod earbuds in his ears. After I finished my ice cream, I noticed these two young men walk in. they looked like teenagers. I couldn’t help but stare at them, they were so adorable. At first I thought they were Japanese—they had Asian like features, but what made me really think they were Japanese was their clothing. They were SO hip. Washed out blue jeans rolled up, leather loafers, designer t-shirts…they looked straight out of an urban outfitters catalog or something. They ended up sitting near my uncle and I and I could tell by their fluent Dari that they were indeed Afghan, not Japanese as I had assumed :).
After ice cream eating, my uncle dad and I went shopping. My dad loves shopping, no matter where he is. He wanted to buy a small mattress that he could sleep on since he’s sleeping on the floor :). My impression of Kabul on this trip is that it has opened up a bit—it doesn’t feel as stiff and people are more relaxed. Also I see many more women wearing a head scarf rather than a burqa and also expressing themselves with different fashions. It turned out the owner of the mattress store had met my dad some 18 years ago in Seattle. He used to have a rug shop there. Small world, eh?
After shopping we went to my dad’s cousin’s place. He runs a nonprofit school that teaches computer skills and English. He really is a wonderful man and I’m always very happy to see him because he has such love and dedication for the children of Afghanistan. It really touches my heart. We sat in his courtyard under the moon and had a ‘romantic’ (they joked) dinner with candlelight. One thing that wasn’t so romantic was the guard walking around with a gun in his hand. I guess the security is getting so bad here that he has hired a guard and when the students come to school they have to be searched. Seeing the guard spawned a whole conversation regarding the security of Afghanistan and its future. Let me tell you, it wasn’t exactly the most uplifting conversation, especially considering the fact that I was sitting with men that have been in Afghanistan for about 4 years now and really have a sense of what’s going on in this country. My dad’s Studio is next to a parliament member’s compound who has many enemies. So there is a concern that if the Taliban tries to attack this parliament’s house my dad’s studio could also be affected. I really didn’t like the sound of this and started to go on in my head about why the hell he’s here or why any of us are here. But, by the end of the conversation, I did see the silver lining on the moon so to speak. I thought how lucky I am to be in the company of 6 different people whose dedication to the rebuilding of Afghanistan is this strong. They really represent the hope of the country—the possibility of a society that works for the Afghan people. So by the end of it I was happy that I was sitting with people that, though their actions may defy common sense (given security, politics, etc), they are taking a stand for something greater than themselves.
And then I was reminded of why I’m here (because let me tell you, I’ve been wondering these past few days!). I was reminded that I am here because I am also taking a stand for something greater than myself. I am taking a stand for the possibility of an Afghanistan that works for the Afghan people and a world that works for the world—i.e. peace. Sometimes I think, well I’m teaching these art workshops, what good will that do. I should be in the UN or something instead, making a “real difference”! But who knows whose life I will make a difference in and what the ripple effect of that will be.
Today I was eating lunch with the maid and I asked her how many kids she has. She said 5, but that it was too much and that if she had one more she would kill it. I wasn’t sure if she was joking or not…I think she was half serious honestly. Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about all the Afghan orphans, and meanwhile there are still so many Afghans bringing more children into the world. What a difference birth control or sex education would make here. I think about all the controversy in the US regarding these issues. It’s ridiculous, we are debating whether or not to have these resources at our disposal, meanwhile there are people in the world that don’t even have the option of these resources and are feeling desperate because they cannot control the number of children they have and have no idea how they can take care of them all. Then that also lends itself to the human trafficking trade. I read recently in US news that at any given moment 2 million people are being traded worldwide!
The other irony I always see in the US is that normally the Pro-life are also the ones supporting the war in Iraq. I don’t see how you can be Pro-life and then also support the killing of Americans and Iraqis.
Well I’m done with my soapbox for now. I’ll write more later.
Love,
Gazelle
After our tea party we went to a friend’s house for dinner near “chicken street” which is a famous street that sells antiques. We sat outside in the courtyard under the full moon and my dad and the other engineers talked “engineer talk” while I tried to keep up as much as I could. The TV was on and the news showed some men carrying coffins in Jalalabad. A few days ago US forces raided houses in Jalalabad and killed several people, including women and children. I can’t remember if 25 houses were raided or if 25 people were killed. A man and a woman from Jalalabad spoke angrily of this injustice and that the US forces should not have raided these houses without permission. Today I saw that Karzai said he will not tolerate any more civilian casualties. I think he’s been saying that for a while though, and am not sure how he can enforce his claims. After the news was a show similar to David Letterman or SNL. There was a pretty good sketch making fun of the Afghan program “Afghan Star” which is the equivalent to American Idol in the US. One thing that is really refreshing about Afghanistan is the media here. It’s so new, and so much more democratic than the media in the US. Remember “free speech”? They show different programs, their news interviews everyday people and shows what’s going on in everyday life rather than just interviewing so-called “experts,” as we see on the news everyday in the US. It was really funny, they were showing president bush talking but it was dubbed in Dari. Regardless though I could still hear his dumb voice. The man looks stupid even when he’s dubbed in another language.
This morning I woke up several times. First was from the call to prayer. Then was the rooster’s call, and finally it was my dad shuffling around the room trying to empty his suitcase. He couldn’t sleep as usual. He flew in yesterday and surprisingly did not take a nap during the day. I thought we would share the queen sized bed but he opted to sleep on the floor, which made me smile. I thought, my mom would kill to snuggle with me, but I guess my dad is not much of a snuggler, which is OK. He probably would have tossed around like a dolphin anyway, twisting the covers around him.
Fortunately or unfortunately I woke up too late this morning and missed the lamb sacrifice. After the lambs were killed, the meat was separated into several bags and my uncle distributed them to the poor.
Later that day I had some of this lamb in a dish called “Do piaza” (Two onions) which has yellow split peas and onions soaked in vinegar
Today was a pretty relaxed day. Outside my window I saw some men trying to get a camel on a truck. They pushed and pulled as the camel moaned. I have no idea what they were trying to do with that camel. I went to the bathroom and when I came back they were trying to get the camel OFF the truck. The camel was not so happy about that and it took several men to drag him off as he moaned and groaned. Later on I saw the camel tied up outside my dad’s place, sitting contently.
Today we went to a coffee house called Chaylee. It’s a coffee house geared towards foreigners and was opened by an American woman. On the outside of the building, you can’t even tell there’s a coffee shop. There is no sign and it’s completely non-descript. Inside it’s like a little oasis of Kabul meets Starbucks. Wooden Afghan furniture, rugs, soft lighting and even some photos of coffee on the walls. Outside there is seating as well with red cushions and a screen that they use to screen movies every so often. My uncle and I opted for the ice cream with strawberry sauce. Yum :). It was really great people watching. It was a little magnet for foreigners. It was like they had all come out of the woodwork and were in this one place. Inside the women took their scarves off, sipped their lattes and worked on their laptops. There were also some young Afghan men hanging out there. One had his traditional paron-e tomban outfit with ipod earbuds in his ears. After I finished my ice cream, I noticed these two young men walk in. they looked like teenagers. I couldn’t help but stare at them, they were so adorable. At first I thought they were Japanese—they had Asian like features, but what made me really think they were Japanese was their clothing. They were SO hip. Washed out blue jeans rolled up, leather loafers, designer t-shirts…they looked straight out of an urban outfitters catalog or something. They ended up sitting near my uncle and I and I could tell by their fluent Dari that they were indeed Afghan, not Japanese as I had assumed :).
After ice cream eating, my uncle dad and I went shopping. My dad loves shopping, no matter where he is. He wanted to buy a small mattress that he could sleep on since he’s sleeping on the floor :). My impression of Kabul on this trip is that it has opened up a bit—it doesn’t feel as stiff and people are more relaxed. Also I see many more women wearing a head scarf rather than a burqa and also expressing themselves with different fashions. It turned out the owner of the mattress store had met my dad some 18 years ago in Seattle. He used to have a rug shop there. Small world, eh?
After shopping we went to my dad’s cousin’s place. He runs a nonprofit school that teaches computer skills and English. He really is a wonderful man and I’m always very happy to see him because he has such love and dedication for the children of Afghanistan. It really touches my heart. We sat in his courtyard under the moon and had a ‘romantic’ (they joked) dinner with candlelight. One thing that wasn’t so romantic was the guard walking around with a gun in his hand. I guess the security is getting so bad here that he has hired a guard and when the students come to school they have to be searched. Seeing the guard spawned a whole conversation regarding the security of Afghanistan and its future. Let me tell you, it wasn’t exactly the most uplifting conversation, especially considering the fact that I was sitting with men that have been in Afghanistan for about 4 years now and really have a sense of what’s going on in this country. My dad’s Studio is next to a parliament member’s compound who has many enemies. So there is a concern that if the Taliban tries to attack this parliament’s house my dad’s studio could also be affected. I really didn’t like the sound of this and started to go on in my head about why the hell he’s here or why any of us are here. But, by the end of the conversation, I did see the silver lining on the moon so to speak. I thought how lucky I am to be in the company of 6 different people whose dedication to the rebuilding of Afghanistan is this strong. They really represent the hope of the country—the possibility of a society that works for the Afghan people. So by the end of it I was happy that I was sitting with people that, though their actions may defy common sense (given security, politics, etc), they are taking a stand for something greater than themselves.
And then I was reminded of why I’m here (because let me tell you, I’ve been wondering these past few days!). I was reminded that I am here because I am also taking a stand for something greater than myself. I am taking a stand for the possibility of an Afghanistan that works for the Afghan people and a world that works for the world—i.e. peace. Sometimes I think, well I’m teaching these art workshops, what good will that do. I should be in the UN or something instead, making a “real difference”! But who knows whose life I will make a difference in and what the ripple effect of that will be.
Today I was eating lunch with the maid and I asked her how many kids she has. She said 5, but that it was too much and that if she had one more she would kill it. I wasn’t sure if she was joking or not…I think she was half serious honestly. Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about all the Afghan orphans, and meanwhile there are still so many Afghans bringing more children into the world. What a difference birth control or sex education would make here. I think about all the controversy in the US regarding these issues. It’s ridiculous, we are debating whether or not to have these resources at our disposal, meanwhile there are people in the world that don’t even have the option of these resources and are feeling desperate because they cannot control the number of children they have and have no idea how they can take care of them all. Then that also lends itself to the human trafficking trade. I read recently in US news that at any given moment 2 million people are being traded worldwide!
The other irony I always see in the US is that normally the Pro-life are also the ones supporting the war in Iraq. I don’t see how you can be Pro-life and then also support the killing of Americans and Iraqis.
Well I’m done with my soapbox for now. I’ll write more later.
Love,
Gazelle
posted by Gazelle at 11:32 PM
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