Day 70 Wednesday

The combination of dust from the construction and the beginning of springtime pollination beginning to come in really has given me some grief--my nose has been running and my eyes watering. So on the way to the Training House this morning we took our last remaining allergy-relief pill down to the local pharmacy to see if they had something like it.


Interesting side note, you can purchase amoxicillian over the counter here...


We talked a little bit and the phamacist figured out what we were looking for and sold us 10 little tablets, “take one each morning.” I’ve taken them two days now and they do seem to help. Funny thing, the expiration date was July 2010! Oh well, they were cheap!!

Got down to the Training House at about 10:30 and started laying tile. The work progresses slowly, there is a lot of cuts to be made working into the corners and around the radiator, but we fall into a steady rhythm and begin to make pretty good progress.


Lunch time is coming up, and I am not looking forward to another donar. A donar is sandwich-type thing that is made of chopped up meat, sometimes beef sometimes chicken sometimes lamb, mayo, and cucumber. So I asked if Indy would be willing to go to Ala Turka and pick up some pidas for us. She agreed and headed that way, about 20 minutes later I get a call from Farshid--he was calling to make sure what we wanted. He is such a good waiter! Indy arrived back about 20 minutes after that and we had pida! Much much better...

Manchester came by tonight. She just “popped in” to use the telephone--she had been to Baku for the weekend and left her mobile phone there. She and I have been having some fun with me learning how to serve a decent English tea. It is a whole ordeal, but lots of fun to try and outdo the last time that I served tea to her! The tea is prepared in a little teapot--very strong, and hot water in the kettle. The other elements are brought to the table--the milk in a small pitcher, the sugar (in cubes of course) and the bisquits (cookies), and a napkin or two. The cup is warmed (hot water from the kettle is poured in the cup and then tossed out) then brought on a saucer to the recipiant. The tea is poured, about a quarter cup, and then topped off with the hot water. It is a lot of work but a lot of fun to make her feel so special! She and Beloved talked for almost two hours catching up on her trip to Baku.