May 20, 2013

When I fired up my computer this morning, I was glad to see that I had no commitments for the day for I really needed some downtime. I ate the pieces of cake I had brought from the Royal Beach hotel and got caught up with my emails and Facebook postings before deciding I really needed to shop for food and a new handbag as mine was falling apart.

I decided to try the Orto Sai bazaar since I’d only been there once in the middle of the winter season and then for just a few minutes. The marshrutka ride was excruciating since most of the streets surrounding the bazaar were full of potholes. I got off at the same spot as I had done last January when I visited with Cristina and looked for a place to have lunch first as I was famished.

The first place I walked in reeked of tobacco and I had to back away quickly to avoid the assault on my nose. I then walked around for several blocks looking for another cafeteria where I could enjoy a simple plate of plov and some salad, but had to return to the bazaar itself to find one. The plov was all right, but my order of salad consisted of a handful of shredded carrots only.

Fortified now, I faced the daunting task of finding a handbag in the shape of a laptop carrier that would not be too bulky, but offered outside pockets to carry my cell phone, change and other accoutrements. After stopping at four or five stalls in the airless corridors of this bazaar, I found a very cordial vendor of Russian appearance who had what I wanted, so I didn’t even bother to try and bargain, something I’m horrible at anyway, and paid the 1,000 soms or $25.00 for the bag.

It was then time to seek out the butcher shop where I could buy pork meat and the vegetables needed to start cooking at home once again. I managed to fill my shopping bag to the very top including the purchase of some luscious cherries which I ate the minute I got home.

Getting home turned into an ordeal because I boarded the wrong marshrutka which instead of taking back to Manas Avenue traveled on Sovietskaya all the way to the city center and then turned on Kievskaya. I had to get off at Isanova and walk back the three long blocks barely able to carry my shopping bag. That should teach me to just buy a few essential items at a time.

When we were traveling on Sovietskaya, passengers kept getting on the minivan even though there wasn’t any room for them. I looked at my watch and noticed it wasn’t even 2:00 pm, so where were all these people going in such a rush they couldn’t wait for another marshrutka to come by? I’ve come to dread having to travel in these conveyances as they make me feel claustrophobic and I start to sweat the minute too many passengers crowd around me to the point I can’t see where the vehicle is going.

I got home totally spent from that frustrating ride and promptly went to the couch to take a nap which turned into something like a two hour siesta. I really must have been tired.

Natalia wrote to say she wanted for me to meet her and Jennifer on Wednesday for lunch and then from there to attend the meeting at Lingua that would review how the preparations for CATEC are going. I confirmed my attendance glad to hear I didn’t need to be present at the meeting on Thursday as well.

Johanna wrote back confirming her approval for me to travel to Naryn next week with Gulnara and Willoughby to conduct a full day of teacher training in that city, one I have never visited before. She mentioned nothing about representing her at the American Pilot School next Saturday when we also have the last of the Forum sessions and Jill will be conducting a session. I had explained that few teachers would be present since their schools required their presence for a variety of activities designated as the “Last Bell” ceremony.

I got some work done in my e-book and now will wait for Asel to come by with a student of hers who has offered to take a look at it and help out with the cover page design. I’m still having trouble getting some pages to fit the one-page format and some of them are in the wrong place. I do hope he can get these issues resolved.

There was a reply from my landlady explaining she’d come to my flat to be able to read the electric meter as the numbers were needed to provide an accurate statement for the next bill. I really don’t understand why these meters are on the inside of the apartment thus necessitating such access.

I told her not to rearrange anything in my flat, if and when her presence was needed there, as that had really freaked me out, and she countered by saying I was not supposed to leave the window open as dust was getting into the apartment. The nerve she has to tell me what to do in the flat I’m paying for! And she expects me to recommend her unit to my friends when I leave at the end of June. Well, good luck with that!