April 14, 2013

Not much to report today. It had rained overnight and the skies remained overcast while the humidity skyrocketed. I was able to discard my heavy fleece robe for the cotton dayshift my sister had brought me from somewhere in the Caribbean and felt kind of weird to be able to see my legs once again after so many months of having them covered by leggings.

I had promised myself to devote the entire day to reviewing the pile of TEA applicants the embassy had burdened me with as the deadline is April 18, but after reading a mere ten of them, I needed a break. I started another presentation on basic writing skills, did the dishes, and watched TV for a bit as CNN had a documentary on about a group of West Indian cricketers who had refused to play for South Africa during apartheid.

The program was rudely interrupted to cover a press conference in Japan where secretary of state John Kerry and the Japanese prime minister were discussing the issue of North Korea. Knowing where the conversation was heading, I switched off the TV and returned to the applications facing one dismal prospect after another.

The landlady dropped by to return the utility bills so I can have Zarina review them before I shell out any money. I had questioned one item on her list: technical fee. She explained this was the twice-yearly fee to maintain the exterior of the building, something I know I’m not responsible for, but I let it go just saying I’d get back to her by Tuesday.

James, my brother-in-law, sent me some photos taken during my nephew’s visit to Florida with his young son. I asked if we could skype in the morning so I could say hello to them and he said yes. I posted one of the photos to my Facebook page as my mother looked particularly fetching in it.

I hardly made a dent in the pile of applications. Instead, I watched a movie called “A Time for Dancing” which turned out to be quite sweet and included scenes with superb dancing takes.