Hanifa

12:47pm

In the cellar 30 men and women are taking the paper based TOEFL test.  I am sitting at my computer in the blue room, the door is open wide when a young woman walks in and draped over her arm is the medieval blue burqa.  She is sporting a serious nickel sized wound under her bottom lip.  She says she fell down but she was probably hit.  She is told by a voice I hear in the hallway she is not supposed to be in my room but she doesn’t care.  Her color is deathly off and twenty minutes since she left lingers a smell of waste.  She has dancing eyes and she asks many questions how can I help her learn English and she goes on laughing nervously until I give her my email.  Hanifa.  This is the woman who needs to be freed from the shackles of Pashtunwali.  Nothing in the damn Koran says a father or a son or a husband can keep this poor woman caged like a dying raven.  There is no damn honor in that, gentlemen. 

4:20pm

I have eleven movies in the ‘with subtitles’ folder and I don’t know which one they’ll choose but I’m giving them the choice.  No notes, no idioms, just popcorn if someone brings it and dried apricots which I bought a week ago and they are too hard to eat, though they did show me which tooth in the upper left side is cracking like an egg. 

Should I tell them today is a holiday in America?  Oh, they’re gonna let me choose.  In that case I choose…

8:42pm

They choose Will Ferril’s ‘Elf’ and…it was sort of ok.  I saw the lone kiss coming up but I didn’t move to cover the screen and I looked at the three women who covered their eyes when I looked at them…and I said sorry.  They were real sweet, Koshay and Runa, bringing two bags of popcorn and cans of mountain dew and pepsi.  Yes, the popcorn and the pepsi helped make the experience but ya don’t have to be polite, that movie kind of sucked. 

Wait a minute.  They covered their eyes when I looked at them.  What the Sam Hill was that?

Fezal is trying to start the space heater, there’s enough gas, something mechanical isn't right and…whatever, let the room get cold. 

One of my students came by and gave me a pizza.  Thanks, dude, that was very kind of you.  ‘you need anything, anything, you call.’  Same old story friend, what I want is out of your leagues.  Besides I don’t really need what I want, what I want is what I need and what in God’s name do you need? 

Fezel just cranked up the generator.  Let’s watch Indiana Jones. 

11.27.15

The space heater stopped working and I have a bummer headache which has left me in bed for the most of the day.  Now that it is sunset Hanukkah fires up the generator and we are no longer in the dark, but we are still in the cold and I have nothing to wear to fight inside coldness.  The only heat comes from the stove when I rub my hands over the boiling pan of water for my coffee. 

There are six remaining lessons for the advanced conversation class and I want to give them the best and before I had to retreat to the bed I scoured the internet  looking for any inspiration and my hands are almost too cold to type.  Anyways, I’m still looking because I didn’t find much.  This class could be so much better in the hands of the more competent.

9:54pm—I watched Rush in spite of not having prepared too much for this week’s classes.  I tell ya, I’m tired of thinking sometimes.  I just want to hear the deep dark silence of nothing when I’ve heard and done too much.  My headache persists, my body appears to have adjusted to the indoor chill.  I hard boiled two eggs Razzaq left for me and a couple of slices of toast that were almost toasted before the generator gave up.  This week two classes will finish and I will be glad for the 7am to be done with.  This will leave me the evening conversation group and the one thirty class until I leave.  We’re good with this I hope.

11.28.15

6:48pm—The new space heater works three feet away.  Saffiq via mobile wants to continue the seven am class even though we will only meet for two weeks before I leave.  I have to explain this to the men tomorrow but I am a little reluctant only because seven am is seven am.  I’ll ask if they could do seven thirty to nine.  Or I’ll ask if they want to wait.  I told the afternoon class I’d be back on January 13, which from this week is six and a half weeks.  I hope they don’t ask for the two weeks.

Tomorrow it's off to the bank in order to pay for the tickets and for travel money.  This is shaping up to be the most expensive trip in my life.  Any guess?  I shudder. 

And with still 19 days to go it is too early to plan though I am visualizing the pre-pack.  The flight to the states will be 14 hours.  Omigod.  I gotta get something strong for this one, mother of pearl should I do the Novena and pray for strong pain killers.  Naem Kabar