banshees beware

One day off a week is ok here.  There is nothing else to do and today I taught one class which took me at least four hours to prepare.  Plans for tomorrow?  I’m out of milk. 

Fezel cooked up a delicious rice and beef biryani for lunch.  I was asked if I had ever had anything like this.  It took me a second, Omani weddings. 

S.W said he’d take me to pick up my measured to fit local clothes but when I finished class he was gone.  Should I call him?  Nah.

I slept poorly last night.  A combination of flying insects, a half of a hamburger and that Mountain Dew contributed to my discomfort.  The good news is I should sleep tonight but only if the solar energy remains on until I am good and out.  It will probably finish around three or four in the morning.  By then it will be cool outside and I should be ok.

So far the reading section of the TOEFL has been interesting to learn.  I’ll teach one more week of its skills and then we will begin the listening component.  I have no idea how this will work.

S.W printed out everyone’s timesheets and each man put his thumbprint on it and it was scanned and sent to HQ in Kabul.  What about me?  Where’s mine I asked?  You’re special.  I’m special I want to get paid.  If I am not paid I am going to complain like a banshee in heat. 

Saffiq left for Kabul this morning and will return on Sunday.  His wife lives with her family there and he hasn’t seen her in quite a while.  Not as long I’d imagine as Nepalese couples who get married and then the man leaves for work overseas and doesn’t come back in two years.  It’s the Nepali way, I am constantly told.  What a load of shite.  But hey, wishing to remain positive on this Thursday evening, good for them.

I was sent photos of the new guesthouse rising in front of the Superview.   Ya, you’ll have to change the name, but to what?  How about Tika’s View, because all you’ll see from the garden is Tika’s butt ugly building.  Shameless.

I rearranged the desks in the room and put the largest one under the windows so I’d have more light to prepare for classes.  How can anyone who reads live in the shade all the time?  My eyes tire so easily when there isn’t decent light. 

Well, as you already know this is not a reading culture, and what else reason do you need?

Younnis is on duty tonight.  He’s a nice man but he seems a little irritated that I don’t speak Pashto.  And I can’t remember to say how are you I am fine when I see him.  Do I wish to unconsciously keep him at bay?  Well he doesn’t cook, doesn’t fill the swamp cooler, he doesn’t do much though I did ask him tonight to turn on the solar.  I don’t want to sit in the dark until I am lying down in the dark.

So, is that it?  I know if I had the sacred plant I’d be buzzing on high frequency perhaps getting a lot done with no objective in mind, or I’d be working on a project I noted earlier, inspired by Anthony Doerr’s great novel.  Then again maybe I’d just pace more.  I don’t know but I do know once I have finished going through the TOEFL I’ll be a lot more confident and then, maybe then I can find solace in another dimension with a little help from my friends.