April 5, 2011

It must have been the combination of a stein of beer and the Benadryl, but I had the hardest time putting myself together in the morning and could barely remember that my schedule had changed and I was due at the PedInst by 9:30 instead of 11:00. To my shame, the dean had to call me to remind me and then I flew out of my flat, forgetting my watch, but remembering to take the laptop with me so Khurshed could take a look at it. The first mini-van went by completely packed with passengers and then, low and behold, Khurshed and the driver pulled up alongside the road and offered me a ride relieving me  along the way from the burden of having to carry the laptop all day. At that moment, I had to believe in miracles as I was at my classroom by 9:50.

First tangible evidence that my students are replicating what I am teaching them as this student made her own cards for the game "Concentration". I couldn't be prouder.

The two classes went well as by now the students are used to my style of teaching and are more than happy to participate in whatever activity I suggest in order to relieve the boredom of their other classes. I think that they have come to realize that in my class they might have their only chance to really acquire fluency instead of parroting what’s in their textbook.

The soup place was jammed packed with customers and I had to share a table with a guy that would not make eye contact with me at all. I think he felt I was contagious in some way and it was better to keep his distance. I ran into Takhmina on my way to Caritas as she was returning from a meeting. Nigina has taken time off to be with her sister and her new niece. We played the conversation game with the dice and they kept bursting in laughter as none of them could even speak for even one minute without pausing, saying “ah” or “ohm”. We then talked about the burdens of being famous. I could hear thunder in the background, something rather unusual here, and then it started to rain. Takhmina and Khurshed insisted on having the driver take me home as I didn’t have an umbrella and was carrying my laptop. I told him I was afraid of becoming spoiled by such treatment. This time, the driver was able to drop me off right in front of my building. What a treat!

Elbek came in for his class, and then I confirmed that Ryan will come for dinner tomorrow along with Dagmara, the woman from Ecuador we both befriended through CouchSurfing and who is staying with him for now. Good thing I still have the beef I had cooked previously and only need to prepare black-eye peas with rice and a salad. Desserts are out of the question for now. I don’t seem to be able to bake a thing in this kitchen with its erratic oven and lack of proper baking utensils.