July 4

July 4, 2013

Diana had agreed to come by before nine in the morning to pick the rent payment in lieu of my landlady who was leading a group of trekkers into the mountains at this time. When she didn’t show up, I called her and rearranged the time to around noon.

The weather felt a bit cooler when I stepped outside my building. I stopped at the ATM to withdraw what I hoped would be my last cash one, so I could pay the dentist the $80.00 he’d be charging for a dental cleaning. I had goggled the clinic and it placed it  right across the International University, a place I knew very well.

I walked up and down the street, but was unable to find a sign for the clinic. I called the place and the receptionist, who spoke little English, said someone would call me back. We went back and forth several times, but no one could explain how I could go from the university to their clinic. I got fed up and went back home.

Diana came by and collected the $220.00 I had to pay to stay at the apartment until late Thursday the 11^th. When I mentioned my dilemma about not wanting to go to the airport too early in the evening, Diana said the person entrusted to collect the keys and the payment for the utility bills lived right around the corner and could come as late as 11:00 pm if I wanted to. We agreed on that time for sure. What a relief!

I spent the rest of the afternoon working on my expense report engaging in the tedious task of scanning every single receipt, in case of loss of its original, completing an explanation sheet for each, and attaching the original to it. I had a chance to go through all the paperwork on my desk and discarded what I no longer needed.

Willoughby called to say she’d come from the picnic at the U.S. Embassy, which had been pretty much a rerun of the previous day’s affair with the same band playing music and the food being served cold. She mentioned the Peace Corps volunteer constituted the largest contingent as they’d come from all over the country just for the celebration.

I told her about Rebecca calling to set up a dinner date for Saturday night to celebrate her birthday. I had called Damira, who’d invited me to her house on the same night, to postpone it for Sunday and she had been OK with doing so. Willoughby agreed to go as well. I sent Luann a text message to see if she wanted to join us for the celebration, too.

Amanda and David had also been present, and Amanda reiterated her plans to visit the Alar Cha forest on Sunday for a good hike. I sent her a message through FB to see what the arrangements would be in terms of place and time where to meet before the departure for the park.