January 28, 2013

Hunger and a pounding headache drove me away from my bed at 3:00 am, so I made my pot of coffee and had more toast and Nutella but no amount of coffee could relieve the hammering in my head. I took two Advil tablets and went back to bed for a while making the decision at that time not to go to Lingua as I was feeling too tired to even move.

After sending Zarina and Gulnara an email that I was staying home, I watched the news for a bit and then set out to cook a lentil soup so I’d not have to go out at all. After making another pot of coffee, I felt somewhat normal again.

Willoughby called to let me how successful the Saturday session of Forum had been with more than fifty teachers in attendance to learn how to successfully complete the CATEC application to ensure selection. She also mentioned she'd doing the same thing tomorrow at two other places and I was invited to go along if possible.

I called my landlady and reminded her I was still waiting to get dining chairs, the oven knob, a set of table knives and a plumber to check the leak in the bathroom. She alleged she was taking an online course and had been really busy with quizzes and what not. She agreed to come on Saturday, in my absence, and bring in a plumber and the other things listed. We exchanged email addresses this time.

While looking through my Facebook page, I noticed a video on the reasons poverty still existed and went to the YouTube site to download and watch it at my leisure. It turned out this video was part of a series and I got to watch the one subtitled “The Birth Lottery” which basically states that a baby born in certain parts of the world has his/her life expectancy determined by that factor alone.

I created a FB album with the photos I had taken in Almaty and then read for a while. I noticed that most of the snow was already gone from the streets around my complex but I doubt we are out of the woods in terms of snow accumulation yet.