What a crazy semester it has been here. First we started only to have Ramadan which was an experience like no othere, then a full month of activity then in case you have not read they shut down all schools, public and private, for the Swine Flu. Speculation was that the shutdown was political as it came the day after they announced Karzai as the victor in the Presidential election and not wanting a repeat of the student protests in Iran the easiest way was to break up the crowds by closing the universities and throwing everyone in a panic. Regardless of the reason crowds were dispersed indeed and the new fashion statement in Kabul became the little green medical masks. We still had to work though as it was not a holiday and work we did.
On Monday classes resumed for two days only to be interrupted again for the Eid and Thanksgiving break. If you recall last year, I blogged about Thanksgiving. We had the usual three day weekend but then the next week we had Eid. Well the Muslim calendar is shorter than the English calendar so Eid this year immediately followed Thanksgiving so we have 5 days off.
Last year I blogged about the wonderful Thanksgiving meal we had. It was really great but we did not have turkey. Well the folks that put on Thanksgiving last year are not around so no one picking up that torch, I took on the role. I organized Thanksgiving at our guesthouse and guess what, we had Turkey, Turkey, and literally more Turkey. This year the markets had Turkey breast and whole Butterball turkeys so had three whole turkeys and a huge breast. I smoked the breast and two of the turkeys and a couple colleagues roasted the other. Along with it we had all of the traditional trimmings and a few extras. It was wonderful. All in all we crammed about 30 folks into our living room. We had room out in the foyer but folks wanted to all hang out together so cram we did. It was really great. However, today as I write this I am still tired. I guess I worked hard.
The day started yesterday at about 5:15 a.m. when I lit the smoker. Winter has come to Kabul and it was about 20 degrees, yes Fahrenheit, here. In fact, the water that I was soaking the wood was partially frozen and ice cold. So I got the turkeys ready, even though the were still solid blocks of ice. I guess they had hard frozen them for the trip to Kabul. I got them on about 6:00 and ensured they were cooking well. I then laid down for a few hours and got up around 11 and started going. I went for about 13 hours and got to bed at 12:00 a.m. warn out.
When I woke up this morning I was still worn out. We had cleaning to do though so I thought it time to get going. We cleaned last night but there were still dishes to do that we really did not feel like doing after the full days work. However, by the time I drug my self up, one of my housemates was already started on them. I noticed he had the door closed, had his radio on, and was going to town, so I did not disturb. I layed back down and got some more rest. By the time I, and the rest of my housemates got up he had finished the job and done so well. Thanks to him we did not have to do dishes. YES! All in all it was a great Thanksgiving and everyone was appreciative that I had organized it and that the house had shown them the hospitality of hosting it.
Yes, it has been a long semester but only a short while left. 3 weeks and 2 days and I will be off to Northern Virginia and a 4 week break. Counting the days.
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