Dealing with Kabuli on Ramazan Eve

September 12th-950pm Kabul time

It was on tv yesterday and the news spread very quickly. Ramazan was to be today. Everyone was excited. The Mullah in Saudi Arabia had looked at the moon and deemed it was thick enough.
The month of fasting was to kick off today, and was also a holiday. No eating or drinking(even water) during the day. Families eat after the sunsets.
Yesterday Besmallah, program manager for CIPE took me to look at 4 kittens he was given by relatives. Cristina from CIPE had told him I was wanting a kitten. So I went. None compared to my meo con Phillipe yet I still felt obliged to get one because I'd been taken all the way to his house which was like 45 minutes away one way.
So I chose one, a white and yellow one. I didn't choose over cuteness, I chose over quietness. He was the calmest looking one cause the other three were running around like wild cats.
So I chose him. I named him Kabuli.
He came home with me. He, like the rest of us living in Kabul, was filthy covered in dust. I bathed him, and since all I had was body shop shower gel so he got spa treatment lathering in mango scent.
As I bathed him I started to see fleas all over him. I started plucking them off with my tweezers. I got over 30 out. I checked him well and he looked pretty clean.
After the bath Ryan held him for a while. He seemed ok.
But then bedtime came along.
And then the nightmare began. I have never heard a kitten yowl as loud and as much as this one did. I'm too tired to give you the whole story, so to get to the point I wasn't able to go to sleep until 6am. Poor Cristina suffered as much as I did, as our rooms are next to each other. Finally at 6 am I took him to this room that's between the living/dining room and kitchen. I left him there and collapsed til 8am when Ms. Nikidar opened the door to my room. I was so startled. She wasn't supposed to be there, it was supposed to be the 1st day of Ramazan, she was supposed to be on holiday.
I saw her take my dirty laundry and leave. I thought, "Maybe she felt obliged to come and work the morning since we'll be without a helper for 3 days."
Then around 1030am Ryan knocked on my door. He wanted to let me know today was not the 1st day of Ramazan. The Mullah had looked again and realized the moon was not thick enough.
I must have looked like a 'cacho quemado'(slang for burnt out person-literal meaning: burnt horn) cause he quickly reassured me he was still letting us have the day off because we had worked on Sunday(Staff Planning retreat) and it had been a holiday.
So I was relieved.
I got up, did emailing, had a couple peaches for breakfast (yes, they are in season here and are SOOO tasty). Kabuli on the other hand, was lying on a towel, sound asleep. The culprit looking as the most innocent kitten.
After lunch( 2 burritos, yes! Jane, an ATA consultant brought me a ton of mexican foodstuff), I went to the office to get some books and ran to a supermarket. Before leaving I went to Besmallah's office and told him I couldn't handle Kabuli. I had to give him back. Thankfully, Ralph, the country director for CIPE was pretty upset with the kitty and really wanted me to give it back. So Besmallah understood and took him back.
For those of you who know me well, let me just say: "I've never been more relieved to get rid of a kitty!!!" It was a nightmare.
He peed on me, on Ryan, cried non-stop for over 12 hours at the top of his lungs....It was a harsh 24-hours.
Farewell to thee Kabuli, I ain't gonna miss you.
So, after all the fanfare, I am now resting in the living room. Tomorrow is(so far) Ramazan and we DO have the day off plus Friday as it is the only day off during the week, so I get 3 days off this week.
Truthfully, it never really feels like time off. I still have to stay put at the CIPE house and I keep myself busy with work stuff, specially emailing and reading up on material that is useful for my DMP.
But I CAN sleep in tomorrow and I sure WILL.
Yippie!
So Ramazan eve turned out to be a pretty interesting day. Starting tomorrow Afghans will fast all day long. Thank goodness we will still have Mohammed cooking for us.
I wonder if he sneaks food into his mouth while cooking. I'd love to know. Will probably never find out.
Anyway, I'm off to relax a bit more before calling it a night.