May 27, 2012

I was able to sleep somewhat better as my blisters are itching less and some of them have dried up completely. If only my hay fever went away for good. I got up at 4:00am, had my coffee and enjoyed the myriad of birds starting to sing from the tree outside my kitchen. I’m definitely going to miss this tree and its residents when it comes time to move out.

Zoir called at 8:30am insisting on coming to see me. He had called three times the night before and I had ignored his calls, so I asked if something was wrong and in his typically cryptic manner he responded by saying he needed to see me. He came in looking winded and pale again. When asked if he had had breakfast, he said he had had a glass of milk. I boiled two eggs and toasted flat bread for him and served him a cup of tea. When I asked him if he wanted salt and pepper, he had no idea what I was asking and then didn’t know how to open the salt container to get some out. He lacks in manners when it comes to the table and likes to slurp his tea noisily, something that usually makes me cringe.

I offered to walk with him as far as the Zeiloni Bazaar so I could check out the prices on pieces of luggage in case I need to buy another one. I was dismayed to learn that a 26’ inch piece of luggage, by an unknown manufacturer, would cost around $50.00. My two suitcases are already full with just my clothes and I haven’t bought any presents for family and friends yet, not to mention my intention of taking with me my all the materials I’ve spent so much time creating. I’m going to wait until tomorrow when I’ll have chance to stop by the Turkish Airlines to determine what the total cost will be for each additional piece.

I got a chance to stop by Tajik Air and asked if they still had seats available for the flight to Khujand on Saturday and apparently there are plenty as the clerk only asked me to return tomorrow with my passport. I want to double check with Corrie before going ahead and booking my ticket. The afternoon turned out to be warmer than I had expected and I was sweating buckets. The much forecasted rain didn’t materialized at all and I just went back to my flat to take a cooling shower and a nap from which I was quickly snapped by the people doing some kind of remodeling work in the apartment downstairs who must sense when I decide to go to sleep to start hammering and drilling then.

I finished scanning the pile of handouts and miscellaneous papers still sitting on my desk. I also managed to almost burn the apartment as I forgot I had placed a piece of flat bread to toast in a skillet and walked away from it thinking it was on low setting anyway. Until the smoke reached the living room, I had no idea the kitchen and dining area were barely visible and that it’d take all night for it to clear even though the smell didn’t go away entirely. I guess I have three days for the smell to disappear completely before the landlady comes by to collect her keys.

Esther came through on the arrangement to skype from my mom’s house on what is called the Dominican Mother’s day, or the last Sunday of the month of May. We had some technical difficulties, as usual, and the video from my side couldn’t be viewed without interfering with the sound. We had to settle for the sound only and I spoke to my mother for about 20 minutes about the usual topics: her health, the weather, how the garden is doing and the threat of a hurricane this weekend. She complained of pain in her legs but also stated she was coping with it. All in all, it was a pleasant conversation.

The smoke hanging in the apartment had exacerbated my cough. Since I had taken the precaution of closing the bedroom door, I retreated there to see if the air quality was any better and to continue reading the fascinating book, “The Tiger’s Wife”.