Just like old times

We got to go to the pool at the American School today - my first pool ever! I imagine that it hasn't changed much in the 26 years since I was last there, but it was funny to be walking around the school and not know if it all looked familiar because I remembered experiences, or because I remembered it from pictures and stories. They have a little water slide which was fun, too. Lois, the prinicpal, asked them to turn it on for us. The Urdu word for water is "pani", which is "bread" in Italian (slightly different spelling), and pronounced much like the French word for bread as well. So Lois, in her very thick Midwestern accent, could be heard bellowing "TURN ON THE PANI!" across the pool to the lifeguard. Heh.

I was very proud of myself, as I actually got into a swimming "zone", which hasn't really been the case...ever. I've been back into swimming for less than a year, but my time in the pool has been sporadic, since the best time to go at my health club is first thing in the morning. By "best time", I mean "the time when large men in teeny bathing suits are least likely to ask my breasts if they've had a good workout." And I think that anyone reading this probably knows me, and therefore knows that mornings are not my friend. I'm not a naturally late sleeper, sadly, but getting up at 5:30 or 6 am...it's just not a very Mandy-friendly type of thing. (But Dad, just for the record, sleeping until 7:30 or 8 am does not mean I've "wasted half the day.")

In any event, much to my amazement, after doing some of my traditional "swim a lap, take a little break, swim another lap, repeat as necessary", I actually plowed through the water for seven straight laps. I realize that this is not a grand accomplishment that will change the sport of swimming, but I have to admit, I was proud. I'm going to get a summer membership and see if I can spend my free time on the weekends swimming. (When we're not working. Have I mentioned the part where we work six-day weeks and only get paid for five? I haven't? Well, we do. I also probably won't get the bonus pay that I was expecting to get for being here so long. Apparently, that's not an across-the-board policy. But I digress.) And, as much as the Pakistani people that I've met have all been wonderful so far, it's still a culture that is very confining for women, so it'll be nice to be able to have some sunlight hit my limbs, even if it's only for two days a week.

I don't know exactly what the next eight weeks will be like, but I know I've gotten through the first one with no illnesses, no witnessing mob scenes, and no one shouting a version of "Yankee go home!" in Urdu. So really, it's been quite successful.