Eureka!

I seem to have found a way to resolve the samosa issue (the issue being that I am so sick of fried food), by doing a big ol’ grocery shopping trip yesterday. I actually had Hamid take me to the fancy-schmancy market that’s farther away than the ones we normally go to, but I think it was worth it. Now I just need to find a good vegetable stand, and I'll be set for a while. (Although, produce here doesn’t get the preservative bath that it does in the States, so you need to eat it quickly.) I bought a large bag of lentils (some of which I cooked up with some ginger last night…yummy), and a large bag of rice. I’m likely to grow tired of lentils in the near future as well, but at least they’re good for me in the interim. And this means that I can make my lunch! Since the house is not equipped with a Pakistani Fry Daddy, I should be able to explore the wonderful world of NON-fried foods. Yay!

As I got in the car yesterday afternoon, I noticed that the radio and tape deck were back (they were taken out for repairs), and I mentioned this to Hamid. He cheerfully said “Yes, Miss! Radio is fixed!” and turned on the only English-language radio station he knew of (“This is English!”). I can’t fully describe how surreal it is to be cruising down Sharae Faisal (one of the main drags in the city) listening to “Heart of Glass”. It’s only slightly more surreal than cruising back the other way, listening to Indian hip-hop. (Hamid really likes Indian music, and I’m game to try anything, so I don’t mind.) I realize that when I describe Hamid’s speech, I have a tendency to use exclamation points a lot, but he just sounds so darn chipper most of the time, it seems appropriate.

I spoke with my boss about the situation here at work, and he was appalled, and said that if, at any time, I feel unsafe, to just go to the airport and get on a plane, and he’ll approve whatever expenses are necessary. I really don’t think it’s going to come to that, but it’s nice to know that I have support in this situation. I’m still trying to get in touch with the project manager, who should be back in town today, and I’m hoping that this will get resolved. It just really sucks, because the IMing guy is our local resettlement specialist, and I had wanted to do some resettlement work while I was here to gain experience – but I don't know that I want to work with someone who thinks it's okay to ask a female colleague to send him pictures of herself. I’ll have to see how that works out – since I put the smackdown on his IMing, I haven’t heard a peep from him. Also, having so much support from people in the company, I would feel more comfortable confronting him if it the unprofessional, lecherous behavior surfaced again.

G-man is supposed to be back from his field trip, so I’ll need to get some information from him and am likely to have to meet with him again. I would imagine that it will be fine, and if I get another dinner invite, I’ll just tell him that it would be most appropriate to keep our contact to work-related matters. At first I had thought the dinner invitation was a “have dinner at my house with my family because you’re here alone” nice gesture. The second time he made the offer, it was clear that his wife and kids would not be included... He also offered to take me shopping to show me where to get furniture (I’m on a quest for some of that beautiful Pakistani furniture that my parents have – I’m also taking requests – I’ll see if I can negotiate a flat shipping fee! It’ll be a sea shipment, so as long as you’re not in a hurry, let me know!), when what would have been appropriate in this culture would have been for him to say that his wife would take me shopping. It’s a strange landscape for me to navigate in a lot of ways, but I really appreciate the support I’m getting from people at my company, and I’m feeling far less adrift than I was last week.

Still sucks, though.

There’s a possibility that I may get to go to Vietnam for a couple weeks to work on a project there, and I would LOVE to go. It’s one of those places that I’ve always wanted to see. And it would be a nice break from life here, to be honest – I’d get to walk around by myself and everything! I had wanted to take a lot more pictures while I was here, but since my mobility is so limited, there haven’t been as many opportunities as I had hoped for.

It’s funny, because one thing that I’ve noticed about being over here is that, all difficulties with my current assignment aside, and as much as it was really hard to leave, the thought of going somewhere else next doesn’t seem so bad. It’s hard to explain, because I miss all of you a lot, and I love my home and my life in the States, but I’m also aware that so few Americans get to see the corners of the world that I could have the chance to see in this job, and that’s not something I want to take for granted, or pass up while these opportunities exist. Ah, the eternal conflict. (Well, maybe it’s just my eternal conflict.) Wanting home and the world at the same time.

Well, look at me, getting all philosophical. I can be, like, totally deep and think-y when I want to, you know.