Sylvia's Journal

I am waiting for a car with several of my female colleagues to take me to a wedding hall in Karte Parwan. I am dressed in my finest; a gift from the company to all its female employees on International Women’s Day (bought by the women themselves). Somebody selected my dress, red with glitters and white glittery pants plus a shawl that looks like Mother Teresa’s except it has a red band rather than a blue band around the edges. Axel had me pose in the garden and made pictures.

When I unpacked the gift, early March, I discovered that it was a three piece outfit that was only partially sewn. It was more like a kit. The seams of the pants needed to be stitched and the dress had no opening at the bottom (huh?) but the sides were open and those seams that were stitched were not finished.
Over the weekend and tonight after coming home I put the finishing touches on the outfit – it was time to go out in public. I hemmed and stitched enough to keep the cloth from exposing me or unraveling. On the inside it would make by sewing teacher gasp. But it will do for now – its test ride.

It’s a week night and I wasn’t particularly keen to show up at a 5 PM wedding when everyone knows that food won’t be served till 10 or even later. It is apparently not polite to leave before the food. So Axel, Sallie Craig and I, in my finery, had dinner at home so I wouldn’t starve before 10 PM.

And then I discovered that the car that was supposed to pick me up with the ladies went another route, without me. The dispatcher revealed the miscommunication and I graciously backed out. But then another young staff member called up that she was waiting too. If I wasn’t going, she couldn’t either, on her own. That’s the way things are here. So the wedding party is on again. More later.