Cooking!

     Okay!  It's time for our Afghanistan dinner!  In Afghanistan it seems that everyone is always welcome anytime, anywhere and there will always be food for the guests.  I can't imagine that level of graciousness.  Drop in at my house uninvited and I might be able to offer you.....uhhhhh.....leftover spaghetti?  However, I did preserve some of the element of drop in surprise by inviting my family up for the dinner tomorrow---since I didn't think of it until the last minute, and they live an hour away--we might have everyone or noone.
    The recipes sound yummy!  I got them from asiarecipe.com and www.afghan-web.com  This will be a bigger feast than usual, partly because the food sounds better, and partly because I am in the mood to cook today.  So, after I sign off here, we're going to cook up a storm--the more we get done today, the lazier we can be tomorrow.  
     We'll be cooking naan bread of course (this will make the third batch since coming to Afghanistan), then meatballs with noodles tossed in yogurt, a spicy eggplant salad, Bolaanee (potatoes and onions fried up in eggroll wrappers), and Khatai cookies (looks like a sugar cookie with pistachio nuts) for dessert.  AND as a second sort of dessert--homemade cheese with a side of raisins!  I can't imagine the cheese will taste like much since basically the only ingredient is whole milk, but what fun!!  I had to buy some cheesecloth for the occasion.  My old boss makes cheese as a hobby and sometimes brings me samples.  It will be fun to surprise him if this stuff works.
  

Opportunity

Ok, so this is a blatant excuse to post some really cute pictures of my daughter.  However, I can honestly say this whole month, every time I've looked at her I've been profoundly thankful that she can direct her own life.

Afghans?

I've begun a small quest in search of Afghanistan art.  I thought maybe mosaics would be big over there, given the beauty of the blue mosque, but based on an extensive 5 minute web search, apparently not.  The Taliban wrecked a lot of the existing art, and did a good job of crushing the creative spirit in general, but still...  Oriental style rugs are important, but darn it, those just aren't as interesting as really cool mosaics.  I must keep hunting.  Incidentally, I can't imagine that the fluffy crocheted afghans we make here have anything to do with the country, but you never know.

What's Maryland doing here?

No, we're still in Afghanistan.  The reason the post below this is a lengthy one about Maryland is because I forgot to post it before I started blogging about Afghanistan, and I don't know how to put only the Maryland post in the archive.  In two weeks, when we've moved on it won't matter, but it looks weird now. Any ideas anyone?

Maryland

The most important thing about Maryland is that my Dad was born there. But I suppose some interesting historical stuff happened there too. Maryland is where the Mason-Dixon line was drawn, and Harriet Tubman was born there.

I confess, I feel guilty about Harriet. She’s a real hero, but when I discovered that Edgar Allen Poe was born in Maryland. I promptly forgot everything else now that I had an excuse to reread Poe’s wonderful stories. I work at a university, and I mentioned the trip to one of the professors here. He has a wonderful deep voice and actually quoted “The Raven.” Well done Dr. Foster! I must put in my two cents that I think it’s a shame that students aren’t generally required to memorize great poems and speeches. It’s also a shame that there aren’t very many forums left for average people to perform the passages they know. Anyway, Dr. Foster made my day.

I didn’t rediscover Harriet until the end of the month. I’ll have to read up on her anyway.

Maryland is also famous for Cheasapeake Bay and crabs. In honor of the state I planned a seafood dinner with clam chowder and crab cakes. Having never tasted a crabcake in my life I turned to Rachel Ray for help and printed off her recipe for “Killer crab cakes.” Sorry Rach. My crab cakes crumbled. I guess my potato wasn’t starchy enough or something. I’m going to have to go to Red Lobster or something and try a commercially made one. Mine tasted okay, but they certainly weren’t anything to rave about. Was it me? Or was it the cake?

I regret to say that I was more amused than inspired by the state song. It’s quite the bloodthirsty little ditty! I know, I know, it was written during the civil war and I should take it seriously, but it’s also set to the tune of “O Tannenbaum,” plus it goes on for nine solid verses and well….Here’s the just the first verse. Judge for yourselves.

The despot's heel is on thy shore,
Maryland!
His torch is at thy temple door,
Maryland!
Avenge the patriotic gore
That flecked the streets of Baltimore,
And be the battle queen of yore,
Maryland! My Maryland!

The other thing Maryland has, along with other Midwestern and Eastern states are fireflies. On a trip to Washington D.C a few years ago we stayed in a Maryland Bed and Breakfast. One night the owners forgot to turn on the lights around the pool. No matter. Hot and exhausted we jumped in. It was one of the most magical experiences of my life. Thousands and thousands of fireflies lit up the trees around us. The water was deliciously cool and we had the place to ourselves. It was like swimming in an enchanted oasis a million miles from anywhere. Bliss.

Afghanistan--Fistula

The dvd I've been watching is "Motherland Afghanistan".  A documentary.  The cover states that one in seven Afghan women die in childbirth--the second highest maternal mortality rate in the world.  Appalling--and that doesn't count the women who live but whose babies die, or the women who live but develop some horrible problem.  I've learned what a "fistula" is and am more grateful than ever to live in America.  A fistula is a connection between two organs that shouldn't be there.  In the case of the poor woman in the movie the connection was between the vagina and the bladder.  She had been leaking urine constantly for four years, and her whole lower body was blistered. 

Human misery isn't unique to Afghanistan of course.  Which is all the more reason that I feel l like my life comes straight from the pages of "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" today. After I finished writing this entry from my cushioned swivel chair in my personal office in my nicely heated home, with multiple rooms that I share with only two other people--I will take one of my favorite books--that I am able to read, and some clean underwear and pajamas, to the bathroom, where I will fill the tub with hot water that is clean enough to drink if I had to, and take a long soak using shampoo and other products freely.  After that I can enjoy the flushable toilet, and a decent toothbrush.  I'll kiss the cats--who eat better than many children, goodnight, and go to sleep on a first class mattress in a bed that I share only with Dave, with the fan providing a light breeze.  Catherine, who enjoys all the above luxuries, is already asleep in her own room.  Tomorrow is a holiday and all of us will sleep in.  A lazy breakfast will come from the well-stocked refrigerator...and so on it goes.