Tabaski is over.
The Muslim celebration is a lonely affair for me who has to sit guard at the hotel while everyone is at home with their families and friends. I don’t mind at all but relish the peace and quiet while I sink into a good book. This time I was totally absorbed by Khaled Hosseinis A Thousand Splendid Suns and finished it in one sitting. What a story teller! And how much I learned of recent Afghan history which to me had seemed just an incomprehensible blur of Kalashnikovs until today!
At one point I was pleasantly interrupted by Pudg, Papa and Khalilo who passed by, all pretty in their new Tabaski outfits, to greet me Sambe! Sambe! the Tabaski greeting which resounds through the streets of Djenne during the two days of feasting.