Hunkering Down

I got to go to the grocery store yesterday - my first time out, albeit with a small man with a kalashnikov, but still. OUT. Sigh. It's hard to be cooped up, gym or no gym. When I go up on the roof, it's almost like being free. I don't have to cover my head here (even if I did, I'd still be at least 6" taller than everyone else, and wearing western clothing), but sometimes I think it might be nice - it's HOT here. Keeping the sun off my head and face would be welcome.

For the next four days, we're all under curfew and lockdown, because of the referendum. No one's allowed to go out between 6pm and 4am, and the only place we can even think about going is the office. There will also be checkpoints everywhere. The silver lining is that we somehow wheedled a reprieve out of the powers that be, and we don't have to go to work until 10am.

It's funny, because I don't really go anywhere else, anyway, but having it written in stone makes it a little harder to swallow. I'd far rather it was written in strawberry syrup, or something.

I decided not to take a full-time position here, at least not right now. There are too many loose ends back in the US that I'd rather not leave dangling. And besides, I don't think I can spend my days doing USAID approvals - I'd keel over from sheer boredom. I'd think about coming back for a longer stint, sometime, though. Keep all my options open? I suppose that'll put a damper on my boss' diabolical plan to marry me off. Ah, well.