A Not-So Potluck Dinner

We got an invitation to a potluck dinner with some of our very fine friends here. They are part of another NGO. We've really connected with them, rotating houses for dinner, movie and game nights. Two of the guys are bachelors and the others are a couple that run the ladies' center where I teach. 

Last night, we decided to bring a dessert to the potluck. We showed up at our friend's little shack. It's basically a lean-two with a bedroom attached. We all huddled in the room, hungry for dinner after a long day. It turned out that one of the guys made a tiny bowl of salad and the other one brought "raw" chicken to cook. The other couple brought a dessert as well, so our potluck turned out to be a salad and two desserts. 

I laughed so hard because this is exactly the kind of thing I would expect single guys, living in Afghanistan, to do. One of them yelled at the other asking him, "why the heck did you bring raw chicken? I guess we'll just eat it tomorrow, but I am not cooking it right now." So, we ate coffee cake, a spoonful of salad and baklava for dinner. Yum. As dysfunctional as our potluck was, we had an incredible night all huddled around the fire in that tiny room, playing Farkle, laughing, drinking tea, and listening to music. 

After we got home, I told my sister the story of our grande potluck. We laughed so hard as we always do. I got really tickled because we always find the same things hilarious and she tends to draw funny scenarios out of me. "So, you went to a potluck in a shack and ate 2 desserts and a bite of salad?", she asked. "Yep, I guess this is Afghanistan", I said. You really can't have high expectations. 

It got me thinking. It's when you give up those demands for normalcy that you come across some of the sweetest experiences. You get surprised by how such small, seemingly insignificant things make you happy. Life is really about that you know. Enjoying what comes your way, not just looking for something better. I feel like I can finally say that with conviction and sincerity now; I couldn't before. 

Even if coffee cake and a cilantro salad really don't go together, life is still delicious.