Today is Tuesday

As exciting as yesterday was, today was not. This has been a day to assess projects and work on projects, and figure out how to communicate writing skills to a young woman who has less-than-basic English writing skills – but she has a beautiful disposition and works very hard. I taught a technical writing class to several young Afghan men who will be out looking for jobs soon, and in as delicate a way as possible, told them that they need to be ready for an interview at all times – meaning that they must be showered and clean, have clean hair, and wearing clean clothes, so that their pheromones will be the good kind instead of the “we’ve been inside all winter” kind. I have tried to get Google Voice to work on my computer and iPad to no avail, and my package arrived from Max, leaking Swiffer Wet Mops liquid. Fortunately, nothing in the box was contaminated with the lovely “cleaning” smell, but the box was about ready to fall apart. When it arrived, the mail people almost sent it back because the address was wrong (Max got it right; the person who gave it to me gave me the wrong one) but their better judgment kept them from doing so. Now I am going to have to tell all the people who have asked for my address NOT to send anything until I get the correct one. You would think it wouldn’t be a big deal because we are all on the same campus, but you would be wrong.

It took me a while to put all my lovely life stuff away – things such as my winter coat and my NEW PILLOW! I have been sleeping on thousands of foam rubber lumps that are pressed into a bag of sorts and then flattened out. To support my head, I have supplemented that “pillow” with my travel pillow. I have no idea what it will feel like to sleep again on a normal pillow, but I am longing to find out.

The young people I talked to about resume writing and interview skills are nothing short of delightful. They are pretty fluent in English, and they will someday be leaders in this country. They are so willing to learn; it is a pleasure to try to teach them. They ask to be corrected so they can learn more. I know I have said that before, but every time it happens, I am pleasantly surprised again.

The days are still beautiful, with brilliant sunshine, and just enough warmth to keep me out of my long black coat. Nights, however, are much colder, so that I have to keep the heat on in my room, and even so, as I sit and write to you, my feet are pretty cold. I have tried to figure out a better way to configure the room so that I will sit in the heat stream as I talk on Skype and write my blog, but nothing has jumped out at me.

I will close for tonight, because for the first time in a long time, I am tired and ready to go to sleep before 11. I think that bodes well for my new pillow’s job tonight. Until tomorrow.