day 3 :: Christmas

It’s like Christmas in, well, November

I guess that’s not that strange, really. It’s actually close enough to Christmas that I could be listening to Christmas music. I’m not one of those only-after-Thanksgiving people. I think November is a fine time to start the Christmas music. I like Christmas music.

After weeks and weeks of waiting, so many that I’m now about to leave this place, I finally got four packages that were sent not long after I left the US. There was chaos over these packages. Every few days for the last two weeks, we’ve been told that they were coming, on the World Food Programme flights (the UN flights) or on the plane of some organization with an office here in Tilt. And every single time, I’ve been disappointed. We’ve waited on the airstrip for planes to land. I’ve walked over to the other offices to plead for my packages. Nothing.

Today they all showed up at once, and I’m overwhelmed with riches. Our (bore hole) water tastes funny, so the little sugar-free drink packets make it almost worth drinking again. I haven’t had fruit since a wrinkled apple in Bigger Town Three Hours Away – three weeks ago – so the dried cranberries and blueberries are like a little bit of heaven (with anti-oxidants!). I’m tired of tea every morning, so I’m greatly looking forward to consuming the world’s largest can of cappuccino mix. I can’t even list all the goodness. I scattered packaging all over the mess hall as I tore them all open.

And then, the moment of truth: a half-inch thick envelope full of all the materials required to apply for admission to the bar in the state to which I’m moving when I get back to the US. Eleven references? ELEVEN? Do I even KNOW eleven people? Non-relatives? Preferably members in good standing of a bar association somewhere in the US? I think not.

...

Also, I really don’t think I should have to step on a new toilet seat wrapped in newspaper to get to the fuse to switch on the power for the internet.