안녕하새요...
070603
I clean, attempt to unpack, and later, attempt to purchase furnishings for the very meager squares of feet of space that is my apartment. My apartment is too small to accommodate the contents of my two suitcases in a civilized manner. Everything requires stacking, packing, and piling away. Retrieval of books or clothes or electronics requires rummaging through one of the few cabinets or drawers provided and purchased. The watchword will be 'hassle'.
070602
I woke up today, Saturday, feeling less like having taken a flight half-way round the world and more as if I had stumbled upon a very secret door in the back of a magical bureau. Opening it upon a half-forgotten world, I am saddened to realize it is also somewhat familiar to me.
On my first visit I had landed on the very southern tip of the peninsula in a small airport made of cinder blocks. It was hot, and everything hummed electric in iridescent amber hues through my saucer-sized shades, of the type favored by dictators in this hemisphere. We passed by rice patties in the valleys of mountains and hills on our way to the small sea-side town of XXXXXXXXX.
Nearly 3 years to the day, and it is once again remarkably hot. XXXXXXX is land-locked. The woman who dropped me off last night, I am not yet aware of her position at the school, neglected to tell me where in the city of XXXXXXXXXX I am, nor where anything of necessity might be. I have her number, but no way and no reason to call her. The other foreign teachers, of which I am told there are two, do not stop by to welcome me. I go out wandering.
070601
I begin by calculating the time in XXXXX, Greenwhich mean +9. I leave the house at a little after 5am EST, about 6pm in XXXXXX. I arrive one day and four hours later at what is to be my apartment for at least the next year.
