March 5, 2012

There’s one cat that insists on trying to come into the bedroom I’m sleeping in and unable to do so, it scratches the door and growls outside trying to get my attention and succeeding in interrupting my sleep. The other one comes and goes through the window in the next room waking me up when it lands on the desk. I have yet to sleep through the night in this house. Two more nights and that’s it as Marydean is scheduled to arrive early on Thursday morning and told me there’s no need for me to spend the night then.

The teachers at the professional development center were waiting for me and had a present ready to celebrate International Women’s Day which is actually a holiday here. They presented me with a pair of silver earrings in a really cute box. After the warm-up activity, I had the teachers take part in one of those “Find someone…” activities this time focused on particular aspects of vocabulary and believe it or not, the teachers didn’t know what a “dozen” meant. The questions read: “How many are there in a dozen?” and the guesses ran from inches to yards and many others in between. Sanifa, our most articulate and veteran teacher, said 10, but wasn’t sure. Is it really possible for a teacher to graduate from a pedagogical institute and teach for 10-15 years and not know the meaning of “a dozen”? I was simply dumbfounded.

I got on the trolley to travel to the PedInst and struck a conversation with a young woman who claimed to be a law student at the Tajik State University. I remember opening my bag and offering her one of my new business cards. When I entered my classroom, the whiteboard as askew and missing one of its wheels. The students tried to fix it and even called on the dean who came in with a few tools, but none helped as we really needed a drill to open other holes on the metal legs. One of the students suggested nailing the whiteboard to the wall as the product had been made in China and was of very poor quality. I asked him to check with the dean and if he approved it, it was fine with me.

                            Spring has sprung as the female crews prepare the soil to plant new flowers.

Someone knocked on the door and told me he needed to see me after class. I walked with him to the soup place and when I was done eating and went to pay the bill, my wallet was gone. The guy was a teacher at the Pedagogical Institute in Khulob and he wanted for me to review a collection of fables he had put together for his students. We were discussing how to go about transferring the files to my laptop when he was forced to cover my bill. I was extremely embarrassed and told him I was not certain where exactly the wallet had been taken.

I have a hard time believing it could have taken place in the trolley since I carry the bag in front of me and whoever reached in could have been seen by me. I don’t even want to contemplate the idea that a student could have taken while I was dealing with the whiteboard issue. My bag was sitting open on top of the table I as need to reach into it to retrieve my eraser, markers and handouts. It bothered me to no end that I had just exchanged $100.00 into the somoni currency Saturday afternoon and had only spent 30.00 somoni for coffee. The latest receipts for my expenses for lamination, photocopies and snacks for the presentation were also there along with at least 10-12 blank checks.

I had six somoni in loose change in another pocket and thus could make back to my apartment. When I was done at Caritas, I stopped at the PedInst to return the JumpDrive the guy had loaned me to look at his stories and to go back to my classroom on the odd chance that my wallet had been dropped there. The janitorial staff was hard at work cleaning and all the chairs were already placed on top of the chairs and there was no sign of my wallet anywhere.

I went back to my apartment to pick the cord for my laptop, toothpaste and other materials and walked to Marydean’s house. I fed the cats and got online only to be told there was no balance on my modem, the same one I just paid last Saturday. And to think that I don’t even have a receipt to prove I paid since it was inside my wallet. This is going to be a fun week I can tell.