It's Friday night. It's been a long work week; and it was only 3 and a half days for me! I worked late every night and it's becoming frustrating. I need to have my personal life here-- as the hardship part of the job is wearing on me.
Here are some random things that have happened this week--things that don't usually happen back in the civilized world.
1. Yesterday, at 6:30 am I got a txt message from my upstairs Embassy neighbor. She had just arrived back from London and she was asking permission to use my shower. Apparently, because her water had not been turned on for 10 days, it came out of the tap cold and brown! When was the last time that happened to any of you? I told her of course she could come down, but by the time she got my message, her water was better so she didn't have to walk down to my apartment in her bathrobe!
2. On the way home from work today, there was a car accident. The cars banged into each other and decided to just stay that way until the police arrived. Really, there is no point in waiting for the police because no one here (except the foreigners) has car insurance and the policy here is that it does not matter whole fault it was...who ever has the most money pays the other person! The bad part of this accident was that both cars blocked the entire road, so the rest of us had to wait for nothing; or in our case because I have an SUV, my driver drove into the ditch to get around the accident. Thank god for my new driver, Kojo!
3. There is a good side to not having unpacked all my boxes yet. I have 3 wardrobe boxes that have random clothes in them. And by random, I really mean that: my monogrammed bowling shirt circa 1976, Laura's prom dress from 2001, wool sweaters from Germany, my graduation cap and gown, some old clothes that are too big or too embarrassing to wear, and a couple of cocktail and bridesmaid dresses from various functions over the years. I hauled these boxes out because I remember I had packed a couple of formal dresses in case we had formal parties here. Next weekend we are having a Mardi Gras Ball. We are mainly having his event to boost morale and to have an excuse to get dressed up! (this was a girls idea, of course!) I asked a guy from the Embassy to be my date....and so we will sit at a table of 12 friends and act like we are at the Adult Prom.....in Sierra Leone! Anyway, I spent this evening trying all the dresses and deciding on which one to wear. I really didn't love any of them. You ladies know how that is; you buy a dress for a specific occasion and that dress becomes "branded" to the event. For instance; I really love the dress I wore for Allison's wedding, but I wore it with Robert (an ex-boyfriend) so now every time I see it, I remember how beautiful I looked but that I didn't have a very good time with my date. Then there is the slinky, fitted black lame dress with the sparkles, but it shows off every curve and even though I look good in it, it's not the sort of message I want to convey to the Embassy crowd. I think I'll go looking for fabric tomorrow; you can get dresses made pretty cheaply here....and I can pretend I'm in an episode of Project Runway!
4. When you live in a place with very few things to do, you really begin to miss civilization. I know I have said that before, but I learned this week that I'm not the only one who feels that way. I talked to a fellow Embassy employee--a woman--and she told me she had a vivid dream....about shopping at Ann Taylor!! I could almost see the glitzy displays, see the pretty new styles, see the gay sales clerks waiting to help me. Oh, what I wouldn't give for a weekend at the mall...and I don't even like to shop! As for me, I miss other things. I miss going to a movie---sitting in a dark theatre, eating popcorn with tons of butter and feeling all cozy. I really miss having a real hamburger; at this point even McDonald's sounds pretty good! I miss having a manicure and pedicure...at a real beauty shop. Oh well, I get to go to the beach on Sunday, so I'm sure after I'm all tan and a little silly from drinking tequila, then I will feel better!
Gotta run. Birthday dinner party tonight...and of course I have nothing to wear!
Take care,
Becky
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