Traditional Afghan Meal

I am once again photographing food, causing more comrades to question my sanity. This time it's the Afghan soldiers.

I ate lunch today with my Afghan counterpart, Colonel Khaliq, who I mentor on an almost daily basis. Here is a photo of our food. Everyone gets the same dish. I'll talk about that in a minute.

COL Khaliq is the top legal officer at the Kabul Military Training Center, and I am working with him to establish a completely new court system and I'm helping him handle all of the legal issues that come up at this huge garrison. I wish I could post a picture of COL Khaliq and my interpreter, but the enemy reads these blogs too.

There is a bounty on the lives of all those who work with Americans. My interpreter told me today of two interpreters in Khandahar that were beheaded for working with us. I can't endanger them by posting their pictures, especially showing them with me. That's sad, but it's reality. I previously had a picture of my interpreter posted, but after hearing this news, I took it down.

Ok, back to the meal. This is what the Afghans eat every day. There is always rice and nan (which is their word for bread, pronounced "naahn"). Look closely at the lower left portion of the plate. The nan is in a semi-circle shape on top of the rice. I'm not sure what kind of meat is used, but there are some vegetables mixed in. You are supposed to mix the meat and vegetables with the rice.

There's also fruit. Usually oranges or bananas. That's your dessert.

I was very honored that COL Khaliq asked me to come to lunch with him. However, I can't say that I'll make it a habit. For some reason, this food is very hard on our sensitive American stomachs.

I will spare you the details.