Iftar and Star Wars

On Thursday, Nathan invited about half of the male staff over to the staff house for Iftar. I was exhausted from the Jalalabad trip, so I crawled into bed for a nap before sunset. Baba Gee, our cook, prepared a feast that made Iftar at Waz's house look like a snack. There were Pakistani style kabobs (awesome), roast beef, rice, fruit salad, lamb, other things that I can't remember, and dessert. Unfortunately I wasn't able to really enjoy the meal as I seem to have eaten something that is corroding my innards.

Dinner was a little awkward because I was the only woman present. At one point, one of the staff members asked me, pointedly, if women eat with the men in Kuwait. I said, well, not always, but I do. That ended that.

After Iftar, we all settled down in the living room to watch Star Wars, Episode I. Nathan is attempting to introduce the staff to the better parts of American culture via George Lucas. He had already showed Episodes 4, 5, 6. Now, the funny part about this is that incrementally, Nathan will stop the movie to explain what is going on, and to give the Afghans a deeper understanding of the philosophy behind the Star Wars movies . . . Between Nathan's explanations and the constant ringing of cell phones (the movie stops for cell conversations) it took 3 hours to watch the movie. It was a lot of fun, and I think the concept of the evening - Iftar and Star Wars, is probably unique in the history of dinners in Kabul.

The guys have promised to bring over some Pashtun movies, so that they can introduce us to some of the funnier parts of Afghan culture. . .

*** Picture is of taxi transports in Jalalabad