December 16, 2011

What a tumultuous day! I taught my three classes and said goodbye to the students as I understood they will be having exams for the rest of the month and then their winter break. We played several games, none of which they had ever played before, and the time just flew. One of my students invited her girlfriend to come and observe my class and I learned she was earning a Ph. D. in English at the PedInst. I had no idea doctorates were offered there.

The dean came in while I was teaching and handed me a wad of bills and told me that was my salary for the last two months of teaching: a whopping 165.00 somonis or about $38.00. Most of my students humorously extended their hands and asked me to give them some of it. Pariso found a student who is willing to change the lock in classroom #12 for 20.00 somoni so I can finally move in. I then went to the embassy to pay for my airline ticket to Kathmandu for the upcoming NELTA conference where I’ll be presenting along with Caroline and Corrie.

On the way to the embassy, I got a call from Caroline informing me that both Elisabeth and Peter were being forced to leave the country on Saturday after the police had detained all three of them temporarily the night before for not carrying any documentation on them. Apparently, Peter had offered to walk Elisabeth and Caroline to their respective apartments after watching a movie and having dinner, but neither Caroline nor Peter had any identification on them. The police indicated there’s a law requiring all residents of the city to provide identification if they are out after 10:00pm. We had never been told about this law. Peter called his former supervisor and Elisabeth, the one carrying her embassy ID and list of phone numbers, called the security officer on duty that night who promptly arrived and kept them from being hauled into jail.

Shortly thereafter, Peter and Elisabeth were notified that since they had both resigned from their posts they were no longer employed by their host institutions thus making their work visa an invalid one. They were told the embassy had arranged for them to fly to Frankfurt at 3:00am on the following morning. Caroline wanted for me to rearrange the dinner party for tonight and I promised her I’d do so upon my return. Peter had agreed to sell me his printer and I called him to meet with him on my way home. He was having tea at a gorgeous new place with lots of carved wood, low tables and beautiful cushions. The only discordant note being played was the loud American music, mostly rap and hip-hop. Elisabeth joined us shortly thereafter and indicated she was doing all she could to get packed and say goodbye to everyone who had helped her here.

Peter had been told that he had never been properly registered with the corresponding authorities and need to pay an additional $200.00 on the spot to get his passport properly stamped before his departure. We went to pick the printer and he showered the kitten with kisses while showing me the destruction the kitten had caused to the drapes in his apartment. Caroline had agreed to take the cat back until she finds it another home.

Everyone converged in my apartment, instead of going to the new Iranian restaurant, where luckily I had cooked the night before and picked up some flat bread along the way. Peter, Corrie, Daroush, Caroline, Elisabeth and her teaching assistant, Azizah, were present and I made tea several times and passed around chocolates. It was so disheartening to see everyone trying to put on a brave front while we all felt like crying. Even Daroush refused to talk about the eventuality of seeing each other again as group so the waterworks would not start flowing. Peter was the first one to say he needed to leave as he had less than five hours to pack and had just being informed he needed to print his own ticket and Elisabeth’s before heading to the airport. Caroline offered to print them and then pick up the cat. Elisabeth and Azizah left together with Daroush and Corrie stayed for another hour to catch up on our respective lines of work.

                                           Daroush, Peter, Corrie and Caroline

                                                     With Azizah and Elisabeth

                               The former five ELFs and the teaching assistant Azizah.

Pariso called to tell me she was expecting me tomorrow for lunch with her family. I never did have a chance to rehearse my presentation tomorrow at the American Corner.