Education Day?

On the spur of the moment, the Afghan government declared Tuesday a holiday -- Education Day, to be precise. Think about it, Education Day, and all the schools are closed... Am I the only person in Kabul who finds this ironic?

And in honor of the day, a Kuchi (Afghan nomad) joke I just heard:

A Kuchi takes his son to the local Mullah and asks him to teach his son to read. The Mullah strokes his beard and agrees. "Thanks," the father says. "Can you do it now? We're leaving for better pastureland this afternoon."

Hey, the Kuchi think it's funny.