Christmas morning dawned like any other, the local Mullah calling for prayer at 5:30 a.m. and roosters taking up the call in case anyone was tempted to linger in bed. I planned to take the day off to do battle with my oven. (More on that in a moment.)

Oregon Chai... a new Christmas tradition!

Unfortunately as I was rummaging around in my cupboards for the coffee I came across some packets of Oregon Chai. A couple of years ago Auntie Jeanne brought some of it to our family Christmas…then to the next etc. It’s now come to mean Christmas to me. Picking up the packet of Chai I burst into tears. For the first time since I came to Afghanistan 9 months ago, I was good and truly homesick.

This isn’t the first Christmas I’ve missed, or that I’ve celebrated far from home. But, it was the first one I regretted not being home for. A huge part of my family was gathering around the holiday and that means stories, popcorn and bonbons. If I’m really lucky, it might even mean a slice of Auntie Myrna’s fruit cake! (That I hated as a kid…but now love, go figure!)

Thanks to the Mullah and the rousing chorus of roosters I made it into the office in time to call home (11.5 hrs behind my time). Though still a little teary, hearing mom’s voice brought Christmas a little closer to Kabul. Yet a larger battle still loomed…

I have a gas oven and when I first moved here I was thrilled to be  cooking with a gas cooker again. However, (yes, there’s nearly always a however here) between the dubious quality of the stove itself…

…think purchased by guys who are purchasing stuff just to tick it off their list – and accepted by male managers who are more than happy to eat whatever the cook hands them and will do nothing more than boil water on the cooker anyway! …

and

…the questionable regulator on the gas can itself, and there you have the battle!

The oven and cooker are either on (500 degrees Fahrenheit) or off. So, to bake cookies…or to attempt the rusk recipe (thanks Viv!!!) I had to literally monitor the oven at all times. To get the temperature to regulate at 150 degrees I had to stick a spoon in the oven door to keep it open. I finally found the magic spot and was able to bake the rusks overnight at their prescribed 150.

Fortunately I had dinner plans involving a good friend, an Italian restaurant and a dubious bottle of red wine (it isn’t meant to be fizzy, is it?!?). Dinner was great, conversations all over the place, NATO reporters, Ops manager etc. – a great crazy mix of people and stories. I was the newest addition to Afghanistan at the table with most having been here 4 or so years. So…there were plenty of stories to hear!

Dinner over we went in search of a new place in town that we’d all heard of…but none of our drivers knew of. An hour or so later we met up  at the elusive spot…a club in Kabul. Not kidding, DJ, dance floor, bar… a full-on club. What a way to ring in Christmas. Almost forgot where I was.

Santa visited Kabul!

Christmas was a quiet day. Having tackled my stove I managed to cook a bit more and then went for Christmas Dinner at some friends home. The great thing about their place is that they’ve live here for 4 years and have actually managed to make their apartment feel like home. We played basketball and Yatzee had a great dinner. We even opened stocking that Santa had brought. He packed light –  but it was good fun to have something to open!!!

That was Christmas in Kabul. Don’t know yet if this is my only Christmas here or not – if not I have already set up a date for next year!

P.S. Viv, the Rusks were a HUGE hit! May even be made an honorary SA! haha