Sylvia's Journal

Today was one of those days when I wondered about the contributions I can make. It is so very difficult to work here, not just the work itself but the human relations part of the work. Sometimes that realization energizes me but today it depleted me. The emotions that were dancing below the surface in our interactions were stark and strong, like the ‘khakbad,’ the dust-filled winds that fill one’s lungs with unwanted particles of God knows what.

It was good that today was also SOLA teaching day as my interactions with the girls sweep the dust away and make me feel hopeful again. Today 6 girls showed up; I never know who will show up and at what level their English is. We had two newcomers, one a very young girl who has only been studying English for a few months. Although her English was far beyond my Dari at three months, we are reading a book that is way over her head. Still, at the end, she said she enjoyed the lesson.

I have them pick random chapters and then have these read out loud, everyone gets to read about half a page. Today’s chapter contained a love making scene, an illicit one between two unmarried people who have fallen in love but the fighting between the mujahedeen tears them apart as one of the families escapes to Pakistan. The love match is not to be because of family obligations – a constant refrain in this part of the world.

Reading Khaled Hosseini with the girls has made me realize how poetic his language is. When I read the book back in the US some years ago (in the summer after the crash), I read fast like a high speed train, not taking in the beauty of the landscape as I hurried along in the book. Now we are as in a local train that stops every five minutes and I see the beauty of every paragraph. It is a very different experience.

I explained about metaphors and had them pick them out from the text; every page has at least two. It has become a game, ‘who can find the metaphor?’ One of my students is far ahead of the others. She serves as my talking dictionary and stood in for me while I was away. She could be easily bored, having the most extensive vocabulary and having read the book already (in a record 3 days) but she is very engaged. She is the first to find the metaphors.

The first snow had fallen while we were away. I didn’t stay. Today the second snow fell. When I left the office the sky was white with flakes gently falling down. It is a lovely sight which is why I could never live for long in the tropics. I love winter for that reason. But when I came home the snow had stopped and our terrace was like a skating rink. That’s when I like winter a little less.