Sylvia's Journal

Today 21 years ago the Russians left and the day is still celebrated. In fact, it is considered disrespectful I am told if you don’t take the day off. So we closed the office and used up the floating holiday that’s now nailed down to the Russians.

I finally got to do my various projects that have been winking at me for some time now: a new night shirt for Axel and the start of a ‘kameez’ from the beautiful handwoven cotton cloth from Mazar that I found in the furniture store. It’s actually upholstery fabric but I think it can be worn too.

Somehow the ‘day off’ message never reached our household staff and so Amin and Ali showed up as usual. I never see the cook because he arrives after I leave and leaves before I get home.

I took advantage of us being in the same place by teaching him how to use the pasta maker. Ali, our housekeeper also got in on the act and while I gave instructions in Dari, with occasional translation from Ali who is studying English, Axel memorialized our cooking class on his little Flip camera.

When all was done and the pasta drying as little birds nest on a dish towel, we sat together around the TV and watched the video Axel had made: our own authentic Afghan/Italian cooking show. Axel also printed a few action shots on photo paper pasta. It was all very jolly and well documented. But they didn’t take the pictures home or some of the pasta they produced. It’s a split life I guess: there’s home and then those weird foreigners.

Except for reading my emails (but not acting on them) only twice all day, it was more of a holiday than I have had since Christmas. I never left the house and did all the things I have no time for during the work week, and barely during the weekend.

Axel did go out as his SOLA class was not cancelled. He talked about mission and vision using the materials we produced at MSH. Back home he showed me the mindmap he had created of the dreams of the five young men he is teaching on Mondays. It’s all very hopeful – one day these kids will be in charge and that’s a good prospect.

And now, at the closing of this holiday we are eating the homemade pasta with a homemade pasta sauce while watching Miss Marple solving a complex murder mystery.