November 9, 2011

Put on my thermal t-shirt, leggings, hiking boots and wrapped my shawl around my neck before facing the still falling snow. At least the temperature had not dropped overnight and the snow was still slushy and easy to crunch with my boots. First stop, the pharmacy to buy a hydrocortisone cream for my bedbug bites which keep getting bigger by the hour. Stopped at the secondary school where Ryan’s neighbor teaches and was ushered into a classroom just slightly bigger than a broom closet. At least the blackboard wasn’t pitted, but she only had the customary wet rag to erase it. The students were reviewing fruits and vegetables and I took over to quiz them about their favorite ones. They all wanted to talk at the same time and it was hard to impose order. The teacher complained about the lack of a teacher’s manual for the textbook and her inability to carry out some of the exercises contain in it. Her next class contained 47 hyperactive teenagers as her colleague was absent and she had to combine both classes. You couldn’t hear yourself think in that environment. No wonder she wants to quit her job!

                                                         Still snowing

                                                   Icicles

Next stop, the Slavic Russian University where the dean was not present once again, but I was directed to another office near the American Corner building. I was directed to the wrong building and had to ask Baktiour, the coordinator at the American Corner, for assistance. Wrong building once again and this time they assigned a statuesque woman from the Pamir area to take me to yet another building very close to the university where I had just come from. The dean agreed to have me come in on Wednesdays at 9:30am to teach a conversation class for fourth year students. I really want to see the difference in the caliber of the students at a private university to compare it to the state-run one.

Took the trolley to go to the PedInst and half way there the cables failed and we were instructed to get out and wait for another one. By happenstance, it stopped in front of the bookstore where I need to get the beginner’s textbooks for my students and I told the clerk to have 90 of them ready for me tomorrow. I will need 3600.00 somonis and don’t know quite how I’ll get that much cash as they do not take credit cards. Continued walking to the institute to talk to the dean about the book purchase and found his office locked, Pariso was not present either and all classrooms were dark and closed. I left a message for the dean and proceeded to the Morning Star Café to have lunch with Peter. Noticed that the banana trees adorning the entrance to the institute had been wrapped in cardboard and plastic as protection against the elements.

Peter is all excited about the possibility of traveling to Iran during our winter break and I hate to rain on his parade for I doubt that the embassy is going to approve our plans and we can’t travel to any area where they impose restrictions. He loved the soup and sandwich special and the dark roast coffee we ordered, and having a sweet tooth, ordered a scone which came with butter and strawberry jam.

I continued on to the embassy where payment for my visa extension was overdue. I got off at the wrong stop and then didn’t recognize anything around me. Elena, at the embassy, texted me at just moment to let me know she was going home in 30 minutes and needed the money before then. She wanted for me to take a taxi right away instead of retracing my steps and finding the right mini-van. Easy for her to say, but I don’t speak Russian or Tajik and can’t hire a taxi and explain where I want to go much less negotiate a fair rate. I disregarded her comment and took the next van. I arrived with ten minutes to spare and the cashier had already closed his window. She wanted 1400.00 somonis or almost $295.00 on the spot. Vali was still around and agreed to cash a check for me, but Elena was furious as she gets a ride from the embassy driver and was in peril of losing it. She kept reminding me about having informed me about the amount and the dateline and I wanted to tell her that I didn’t think anything would happen if I was a day late in paying for the fee. After all, what was the government going to do? Deport me and forfeit the chance to pocket $295.00? I don’t think so.

Found some new books at the CLO office and picked up two of them. Tahmina saw the books and asked if I was taking them. I said yes and felt like asking her if she was planning on reading them or whether we weren’t entitled to take books like everybody else there. Sometimes I feel like English Language Fellows are looked at as a nuisance around the embassy. Spoke to Sandy afterward about our plans to travel to Iran and got a resounding no from her. She’d like to have the Security Officer reply by email to our query to make it official. So much for that.