February 1, 2012

It was the day to make the embassy rounds. First was the American embassy where I cashed my check while making small talk, in Spanish, with Vali. Then to the mail room to send a letter to my friend Stephanie and to see Tahmina, who wasn’t in, but Shoafat told me there was package waiting for sitting on a chair next to her. Sandy appeared to be out as well, so I just went to the CLO library and took several books with me.

I then traveled to the Kazakhstan embassy where the security guard had been moved from the entrance to the door directly outside the office and asked to inspect my handbag. He also wanted to know what was inside the package I had just received and I decided to pull out my U. S. embassy badge and he immediately gave it back to me without any more questioning. The clerk appeared to have a supervisor, a male of course, watching her this time and upon showing my badge, she immediately retrieved my passport with the visa and gave it to me.

On to the Indian embassy where I was lucky to see the guy who would collect the money and who recognized me immediately. He was surprised to learn I didn’t need my passport as the badge from embassy was more than sufficient for me to get around and that he could keep it until the actual visa was stamped on it. He told me to call him on Friday to verify it was done, and gave his phone number on a piece of paper.

I went back home to have lunch and then received a call from Ruth who wanted to get together in the afternoon prior to attending the book club meeting. I traveled to Caritas International and asked Takhmina for directions to the Mercury Hotel where Ruth is currently staying and she invited me to ride with her as she could drop me off along the way. Just as Ruth had told me, the side street off Rudaki Avenue was one continuous sheet of ice as no sunshine penetrated between the tall buildings. I went up to her room in the lovely building all polished wood and graceful staircases. Her room was ample, airy and fully stocked with a flat screen TV, computer, AC/heating unit, portable heater and a nice bathroom. The first thing I fixed eyes though were the two huge zip lock bags full of pill bottles she had lying on her desk along with an insulin pump. I don’t know how she does it.

I took Ruth to the F1 cafeteria and we spent several hours there catching up on each other’s lives and family quirks until it was time to go to Yoomie’s flat. We bought juices to contribute to the potluck dinner and ran into other members of the club along the way. We went through a gate into a darkened courtyard full of ice and snow and both Ruth and I agreed that it hadn’t been the greatest idea to venture out on a day like this. Someone had to call Yoomie as we couldn’t identify the correct building in the darkness and finally made it there only to find the staircase in total darkness as well. A guy behind us had a flashlight and was graceful enough to patiently wait for Ruth and I to make it to the third floor. There was a good crowd already and more people kept arriving as the fact that Yoomie had moved into a centrally located place made it easier for people to attend. Rebecca was there as well as Marydean and a few people whose names I couldn’t remember, but who had been present at the December meeting.

Yoomie’s new place is as cold as the old one. No wall unit and couldn’t see any space heaters either. My feet were practically going numb from the cold and when book presentations were over, I was the first one to make a beeline for the door. Marydean indicated she wanted to speak to me before I left and then told me she was going to be out of town in March and wanted to know if I could housesit for her. Why me? I’ve only met her a couple of times and we’re not friends so to speak. I promised to call her later as I needed to get Ruth into a cab. When I approached one of the cabs waiting on the curb and said she needed to get to the Mercury Hotel, I just told the driver she was willing to pay 20.00 somoni and he accepted it. I felt quite good at accomplishing this transaction since he spoke no English and I no Russian. A brisk walk took me home and back to my book.