Pomegranates, Kite Flying, Buddhas of Bamyan, and Marjan the Lion

"Food is our common ground, a universal experience. "
-James Beard

"Part of the secret of success in life is to eat what you like and let the food fight it out inside. "
-Mark TwainUS humorist, novelist, short story author, & wit (1835 - 1910)

The training went well today. It is kind of funny because there are a number of doctors in the clinic and they all want you to come into their office and hang out and have some chai or have you teach them about different topics in medicine or even about computers. I spent some time with the female OB/GYN doctor. Today was the first day that she ever touched a mouse. I was prepared to go over a prenatal lecture with her but instead I ended up teaching her the basics of using a computer. She was very appreciative. She told me that she has been delivering babies almost since I have been born (1978). Whenever I approach doctors like her, that have so much more experience then I do, I try and tell them that we are going to learn together. She will teach me and I will try and teach them something.

I discussed chest pain and myocardial infarction (heart attack) with the ER doctor today. He does not know how to interpret an EKG so I am having to start with the basics. It is also hard because the do not have a lot of modern meds that we use in the states- not to mention they did not even have oxygen at the old hospital. You could tell that

he was very receptive to my discussions and was able to pick up most of the information. I will have to see how much he retained tomorrow.

As I was in discussion with the ER doctor when the Orthopedist came in and asked me to come up to his office. I told him I would after I was finished with my discussion on chest pain. I was walking up the stairs when the Anaesthesiologist snagged me and tried to hook me into his office to help set up his computer. The Orthopedist ended up winning the battle by offering me pomegranates. He must have know my weakness. Here are some pics. They were the largest and the sweetest pomegranates that I have ever eaten. He said that they came from Kandahar which is in the southern region.

While we ate the pomegranates we had a great discussion about a number of different topics because I was finally given my own dedicated interpreter. One of the main past times in Kabul is kite flying. I find it to be very interesting. Every Friday a lot of people gather at the main stadium and engage in a kite flying competition. 2 kite flyers fight with their kites and attempt to cut the others string. It sounds really fun. There are different dirty little tricks that you can play to gain an advantage with your opponent. The interpreter was explaining how you can embed fine glass particles into your string by gluing crushed light bulbs to the string. The interpreter said that he will try and take a short video of the flying and I will try and load it onto my site.

We also talked about the famous Kabul museum. Before the Taliban and the mujaheddin came it used to be absolutely amazing with all kinds of really old artifacts. Remember, Kabul is 3,000 years old. A lot of the artifacts were Buddha related and the Taliban did not like it so they destroyed a lot of the pieces. I am not sure if you remember but the Taliban also destroyed the Buddhas of Bamyan in March of 2001. Here is a link to a Wikapedia article on the topic. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhas_of_Bamyan

Here is a word-for-word summary on the topic from Wikapedia.

"The Buddhas of Bamyan (Persian: تندیس‌های بودا در باميان tandis-ha-ye buda dar bamiyaan, Pashto: د بودا بتان په باميانو کې De Buda butan pe bamiyano ke) were two monumental statues of standing Buddhas carved into the side of a cliff in the Bamyan valley of central Afghanistan, situated 230 km (143 miles) northwest of Kabul at an altitude of 2500 meters (8,202 feet). Built during the 6th century, the statues represented the classic blended style of Indo-Greek art.

The main bodies were hewn directly from the sandstone cliffs, but details were modeled in mud mixed with straw, coated with stucco. This coating, practically all of which was worn away long ago, was painted to enhance the expressions of the faces, hands and folds of the robes; the larger one was painted carmine red and the smaller one was painted multiple colors[2]. The lower parts of the statues' arms were constructed from the same mud-straw mix while supported on wooden armatures. It is believed that the upper parts of their faces were made from great wooden masks or casts. The rows of holes that can be seen in photographs were spaces that held wooden pegs which served to stabilize the outer stucco.

They were destroyed in 2001 by the Taliban. Japan and Switzerland, among others, have pledged support for the rebuilding of the statues. "

Lastly, we also talked about the Kabul Zoo. The interpreter made a really funny joke when he said that there is not very animals left in it, maybe a dog, pigeon cat, etc.. At one time there was this well known lion named Marjan. He was half-blind, lame and almost toothless. The story behind Marjan that had made him so well known stemmed from an incident that occurred while the Mujaheddin was in power in the early 90s. A member of the mujaheddin had been high on hashish and decided to enter the lions cage and challenge him to prove his bravery. Marjan ended up killing the man and the next day his brother returned to the zoo and threw in a grenade which caused his injuries. He ended up become somewhat of a symbol of endurance for the war torn city. He eventually died in 2002.

Here is a link to an article

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/1783910.stm

After we ate the pomegranates the head nurse decided to treat us all to lunch. We had a delicious meal of naan, lamb kabobs and rice. The rice is a very important staple for ever Afghan meal. Rice and naan is pretty much what is eaten every day. Here is a recipe for the rice.

AFGHAN RECIPE
Qabeli Pilau (Yellow Rice with Carrot & Raisins)

1 lb (2 ½ cups) long grain rice
4 oz black seedless raisins
6 tablespoons of vegetable oil
2 tsp char masala or cumin
2 medium onions, chopped
¼ tsp saffron
1 ½ - 2 lbs lamb on the bone or 1 chicken
salt
2 large carrots
pepper

"Directions:
Rinse the rice and leave to soak for at least half an hour. Heat 4 tablespoons of the vegetable oil in a large pan and add the chopped onions. Stir and fry them until brown. Add the lamb. Brown well on all sides in the oil. Add about 1 cup of water, and salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat, cover and simmer until the meat is tender. While the meat is cooking, wash and peel the carrots and cut into pieces the size of a matchstick. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a small pan and add the carrots. Cook the carrots gently until they are lightly browned and tender. Remove the carrots from the oil, add the raisins, and cook these gently until they begin to swell up. Bring 5 cups of water to a boil and add about 1 teaspoon of salt. Drain the rice and add to the boiling water. Parboil for 2 to 3 minutes before draining the rice in a large sieve. Put the rice in a large casserole and sprinkle with char masala and saffron. Then place the cooked meat on one side of the casserole and the carrots and raisins on the other. Cover with a tightly fitted lid and place in a preheated oven at 300 degrees F for about 45 minutes. Remove from oven and serve."

This recipe was copied directly from The Survival Guide to Kabul website. Let me know how it turns out if you decide to make it.

We have started to get into the Christmas spirit over here and we have put up our Christmas tree. A very nice person from back home sent us one. Take a look.

Thanks for reading.