See story below, for more on the yummy goodness above...Remember the other day, when Peter and I got to go on a date? And before hand he ran me off the road and tried to kill me? Okay, maybe the last part isn't true. But we crashed, remember? Well, I didn't tell you the rest of the story.
We has some wonderful friends come and watch the kids for us. They arrived at 5:15. The taxi came at 5:20. Pick up Roo and two friends from ballet at 5:30. (we are now 7 in a 5 passenger car - more on the lack of safety around here later) *Remember, we haven't been on a date in 10 weeks.* Sam to baseball at 5:35. Pick up food from a mini dining hall for the kids at 5:45. (no cash on hand, so they let us pay next time we see them - life in a small town has it's advantages) Drop off one friend, then the next, then Roo and the food. It's 6:00. Stop by the bank, use ATM, through the compound gates by 6:10.
Arrive at the restraunt about 6:15. Here's where the story get's good. It took us 45 minutes to go 5 minutes! I had put on my abaya, because I was wearing a t-shirt and capri's. We get out of the car, careful not to show my ankles, and head for the door. Almost all restruants here have a men only section, and a family section. This means men with their wives or families can be together, but men alone have to sit in a different section. And I don't mean area. I mean a walled off section of the building. And the windows to the family section are usually fogged glass.
Anyway, we walk up to the family door and the owner runs out to stop us. "No, no, no!" he says. And proceeds to tell us that there is a party in there, so they are closed. (meaning that a family, probably big, is in there and want to have their heads uncovered) So, Peter can go in and eat while I wait in the car, or we can get take out. But they will not serve me.
Nice.
Ever heard of discrimination? It stinks.
Anyway, we were okay with it. We laughed. Why is EVERYTHING so hard here? Nothing is easy. There is no hopping in your car, running to store. Everything is a major event. And most the time it is a 'bust' at that! So we decide to stop and get bread. It's this fantastic rustic bread, run by a bunch of Afghan men. The bread is the size of a pizza. It's flat, and round, and really chewy. It's SOOoooo good. They serve it with a side of warm, soupy, han? maybe. I don't remember what it's called. I'll ask. But you get either a garbanzo bean one (like a warm hummus), or my favorite, the lentil option. Mmmm. A little olive oil...heaven. (six 'loaves', four large sides - 5.75, best part of the night)
So, at least I got my bread. (They are open in the morning until 11:30, then close all day, like the rest of the country. But when everyone else opens at 4 p.m., they don't open until 6. And then you have two more prayer times work around, at that. So catching them was lucky!) Now, it's 6:30. We make one more quick stop and buy me a cell phone. Just a little junky 25 dollar phone. (They don't have cell phone plans here, you just recharge your sim card at little stands around town, and your phone tells you how much money you have left to use, after each call. It's awesome. Way better than a plan!) Just as Peter is trying to haggel the man down on price, "Allllllllllaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-aaaaaaaakkkkkkkkkkkbbbbbbbaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrr" That's my call to prayer for you. We were right across the street from a mosque, so it was really loud. I knew it was coming while we were in the shop becuase I saw men running, a sure sign of not wanting to be late to prayer. Then the guys in the back of the shop turned the lights down to close and I knew it was time to just pay the man what he wanted and for us to get out of there. It was that phone, that price, or nothing.
So, I now have a tiny little phone. Hooray. At least I can call Peter when I'm out. Wait. I never go out. And I don't think I should use it while driving (my bike). I'm a bad enough bike rider as it is. You should have seen me hop right up off the pavement at jump on my bike, after the crash. You would have been proud. Needless to say. Home from our date by 7 p.m. We laughed, had some fun, and as usual - an adventure.
We has some wonderful friends come and watch the kids for us. They arrived at 5:15. The taxi came at 5:20. Pick up Roo and two friends from ballet at 5:30. (we are now 7 in a 5 passenger car - more on the lack of safety around here later) *Remember, we haven't been on a date in 10 weeks.* Sam to baseball at 5:35. Pick up food from a mini dining hall for the kids at 5:45. (no cash on hand, so they let us pay next time we see them - life in a small town has it's advantages) Drop off one friend, then the next, then Roo and the food. It's 6:00. Stop by the bank, use ATM, through the compound gates by 6:10.
Arrive at the restraunt about 6:15. Here's where the story get's good. It took us 45 minutes to go 5 minutes! I had put on my abaya, because I was wearing a t-shirt and capri's. We get out of the car, careful not to show my ankles, and head for the door. Almost all restruants here have a men only section, and a family section. This means men with their wives or families can be together, but men alone have to sit in a different section. And I don't mean area. I mean a walled off section of the building. And the windows to the family section are usually fogged glass.
Anyway, we walk up to the family door and the owner runs out to stop us. "No, no, no!" he says. And proceeds to tell us that there is a party in there, so they are closed. (meaning that a family, probably big, is in there and want to have their heads uncovered) So, Peter can go in and eat while I wait in the car, or we can get take out. But they will not serve me.
Nice.
Ever heard of discrimination? It stinks.
Anyway, we were okay with it. We laughed. Why is EVERYTHING so hard here? Nothing is easy. There is no hopping in your car, running to store. Everything is a major event. And most the time it is a 'bust' at that! So we decide to stop and get bread. It's this fantastic rustic bread, run by a bunch of Afghan men. The bread is the size of a pizza. It's flat, and round, and really chewy. It's SOOoooo good. They serve it with a side of warm, soupy, han? maybe. I don't remember what it's called. I'll ask. But you get either a garbanzo bean one (like a warm hummus), or my favorite, the lentil option. Mmmm. A little olive oil...heaven. (six 'loaves', four large sides - 5.75, best part of the night)
So, at least I got my bread. (They are open in the morning until 11:30, then close all day, like the rest of the country. But when everyone else opens at 4 p.m., they don't open until 6. And then you have two more prayer times work around, at that. So catching them was lucky!) Now, it's 6:30. We make one more quick stop and buy me a cell phone. Just a little junky 25 dollar phone. (They don't have cell phone plans here, you just recharge your sim card at little stands around town, and your phone tells you how much money you have left to use, after each call. It's awesome. Way better than a plan!) Just as Peter is trying to haggel the man down on price, "Allllllllllaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-aaaaaaaakkkkkkkkkkkbbbbbbbaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrr" That's my call to prayer for you. We were right across the street from a mosque, so it was really loud. I knew it was coming while we were in the shop becuase I saw men running, a sure sign of not wanting to be late to prayer. Then the guys in the back of the shop turned the lights down to close and I knew it was time to just pay the man what he wanted and for us to get out of there. It was that phone, that price, or nothing.
So, I now have a tiny little phone. Hooray. At least I can call Peter when I'm out. Wait. I never go out. And I don't think I should use it while driving (my bike). I'm a bad enough bike rider as it is. You should have seen me hop right up off the pavement at jump on my bike, after the crash. You would have been proud. Needless to say. Home from our date by 7 p.m. We laughed, had some fun, and as usual - an adventure.
3 comments:
so when they pray does everything shut down?
Thanks for blogging all of this! I look forward to reading your posts every day :)
That is no Zupa date night.
Can you please record yourself doing the call to prayer and post it? I would love it! What a funny date night. And so MUCH quality time together! :-)
Oh man - my word verification didn't work and I clicked on the wheelchair guy. FREAKY! A bunch of people mumbling in another language in the background while (Arabic, maybe) while another guy recited some numbers!
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