November 20, 2011

I got up early to clean the apartment and start cooking the beef so it would be very tender and tasty by the time Corrie arrived with the rice. The one good thing about having a small place is how quickly one can make it look presentable. I cleaned the toilet and sink, organized the coat rack, put away my textbooks, folded clothes, put others away for laundry day, did the dishes, and cleaned the kitchen table. Mariam knocked on my door to deliver a plate of persimmons and another pomegranate. I tried to tell her that I was about to make a tart with the persimmons and would be giving her a slice to taste. I then remembered that Caroline had sent her a thank you note and a post card from San Francisco and gave it to her. A few minutes later, Nilufar knocked on the door indicating she was wasn’t sure about the note and then came in and started to cry saying she had some big problem and needed an attorney to help her. I tried to calm her down and told her when Nigina came in I’d call her so she could talk to her. Rebecca called to cancel and offered to send her ingredients with Corrie who lives nearby. Zeinura never called or showed up and Caroline texted saying she wasn’t feeling well. Elisabeth called to say she had changed her mind about going hiking and would be coming to join us.

Nigina showed up with tons of vegetables, already cooked, to make a salad plus chocolates for dessert. Elisabeth brought drinks, as did Daroush; Ryan brought a bottle of RC Cola, and Yoomie showed up, late as usual, with another salad. Corrie brought the rice and the cashews and raisins Rebecca had handed her. I made a valiant effort at a persimmons tart with only a few of the ingredients the recipe called for, but everyone loved it. Nigina counseled Nilufar and gave her the telephone number of someone to call and I sent a piece of the tart to Mariam.

I added way too much rice to the plov and Daroush kept insisting I should not add anymore oil or seasoning to it. It didn’t taste as good as Mariam’s, but part of the problem was that I was trying to make practically double what she had made and had trouble gauging the measurements. I’m sure I’ll be able to do a much better job next time when I cook it just for me. We had coffee and tea and then I dealt with the mountain of dishes. Peter took some leftovers home and I saved some for Caroline. Peter insisted on giving me his old Nokia cell phone as it has Internet access and is of much better quality than the Chinese one I bought here. He previously wanted $40.00 for it, but I refused to pay it as I felt I had already spent too much money on phones.

Elisabeth called to say that talking to Nigina about her job for a State Department’s contractor made her feel uncomfortable for she doesn’t really want to know how the taxpayers’ money is being spent on buying batons, handcuffs and other equipment for the local police in addition to paying to renovate the police academy’s classrooms and the salary of its teachers.