A Strange but Special Christmas

Christmas in Kabul, and a regular work week. We had a sprinkling of snow on the ground and brisk, cold weather. On Christmas Eve, I arrived at work with a bag of Hershey’s chocolates and made my rounds to our office staff, saying ‘Ho, ho, ho’ (no one got that) and handing out sweets. I could see that some staff were a bit reluctant to even take a chocolate, as if that someone meant they would be participating in Christmas by taking a bite. Others, however, sent me Christmas cards and I even got candy cane (wonder of wonders!) and a bouquet of flowers. That was truly a kind gesture. The Italian Embassy in Kabul has a small Catholic church on its grounds, and at 9:00 p.m., my friend Fran from Florida and I made our way to the service to celebrate ‘midnight’ mass. That’s about as late as mass gets under security conditions, I guess.

The small church had a lovely Christmas tree and a beautiful nativity scene, including a life-size baby Jesus at the front of the altar. The place was packed with people from every corner of the earth – not an exaggeration – and a Phillipino male chorus. Christmas carols are probably one of my very favorite Christmas accoutrements (other than German Christmas baking, which I was definitely out of luck for this year). As we sang all the golden favorites, I noticed that the two Italian priests officiating were wearing beautiful embroidered robes – and of course – the sexiest and coolest shoes you can possibly imagine. Which goes to show you can be a priest, but you’re still an Italian! General McNeil of the US Army/ISAF occupied the front and center row, along with his German Shepherd (it was a bit surreal to see the dog calmly sitting in the pew next to the General) and his close protection. There were a couple of US Air Force men behind our pew, a smattering of nuns from various parts of the globe and all sorts of other interesting characters. I appreciated the entire service and remembered fondly my Big Fat Italian Christmas in Montreal a few years ago and all my Italian friends. I loved the part where everyone came up to the microphone to say ‘Merry Christmas’ in their native language. After the service was complete, General McNeil went to shake the priest’s hand, and his Shepherd followed him, unfortunately coming precariously close to knocking over the statuette of baby Jesus (to the priest’s dismay).

We were all invited over to the Embassy drawing room to enjoy panetone cake and torrone cookies and real hot chocolate. Now the Italians are classy, there’s no doubt about it. The Canadian Embassy in Kabul looks like four cement walls with a cheesy picture of a maple tree in Autumn on the wall. Well, big whoop. The Italian Embassy has gorgeous modern furniture, a grand piano, beautiful art on the walls and a collection of fabulous masks a la Venice decorating the environs. As I have asked myself many times in my life, WHY WASN’T I BORN ITALIAN???? I felt the same way today when my friend Antonella regaled me over the wires with a heart-rending description of her Christmas Eve feast, complete with homemade wines, truffles, seafood extravagances and on and on.

You are probably wondering: where was Tariq all this time? Well, before I headed off to the Italian Embassy, we had received a surprise visitor on our little room-on-the-roof. None other than Tariq’s uncle bearing a full mickey of Stolichnaya Russian vodka. He was walking and talking like he’d started the evening with two mickeys and there was only one left. ‘Christmas Mubarak!’ he slurred, sitting himself down near our wood stove, and pouring out the vodka. Needless to say, when I returned from mass, the party was still continuing with both pasted out of their wits. Let me assure you, this is not a normal occurance in Afghanistan!

So far, I’ve had a quiet Christmas today. I went to boxing practice and finally grabbed a snapshot of my little boxers (see inset). I’m theoretically at work but not getting much done – have spent some leisurely time on the phone making Christmas calls to family and friends. For those I haven’t reached, please know I’m thinking of you all and wishing you all the happiness of the season, love and hugs.