I was invited to have lunch with my colleague's wife's family in her village of Paaghman. It is 30 mins drive from Kabul with spectacular views of the country side on the way and there. A number of Aunts live along one street with huge houses and yards full of fresh fruit and vegetables. We had a treat of fresh cherries and peaches while we visited the gardens.
There was a special Afghan dish laid out called Aashak, dim sum covered in layers of yoghurt, minced meat and dal. It's a local delicacy and absolutely finger licking delicious.
As the cultures in this part of the world go, the guest is king, so I was treated like a queen. Not used to so much formality, but in order to respect their hospitality, I accepted all they offerred garciously.
Communication was minimal with the older folk but some of the younger ladies spoke English and Urdu. We ended the afternoon with a hindi sing song session - my conclusion is that these ladies spend far too much time watching Hindi movies!!! I just couldn't compete with them.
Actually Indian TV is very popular here, and they've dubbed famous Hindi serials into the local lingo and everyone is glued to their teles in the evenings.
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