In Search of Recreation
The relations among the expats these days isn't quite at high level it used to be. This is most likely due to the fact that after such a long period of time, you are more than fully aware of people's faults, especially in the working environment, and there is no way to escape them. So, a culture of gossip and over-analysis is born.
The main escape from this is simply to focus on the work, which mainly involves 12-14 hours a day with my "constant companion" - otherwise known as my computer. However, such devotion to a machine is a bit depressing and I've started to think that while I am out here with absolutely no social life, I should try to learn something that I wouldn't take the time to do in the real world. While the most obvious choice is to learn Arabic or Kurdish, I find that to be too monumental of a task to qualify as recreation. So, my current resources give me the option of learning to play Scrabble, Chess, darts, or cribbage. We've thought of getting a Foosball table from Baghdad - but that may take some time to actually procure. I've already started running on our treadmill, so at least that's a healthy habit I've adopted - even if I'm not always regular with it.
I've started reading books for fun again as well and just finished The Good Earth and am about to start on The Iliad. There's a bit of guilt involved in that though since I feel I really ought to be reading news about Iraq or something related to the job. Usually the non-work related literature wins out though - big surprise.
The main escape from this is simply to focus on the work, which mainly involves 12-14 hours a day with my "constant companion" - otherwise known as my computer. However, such devotion to a machine is a bit depressing and I've started to think that while I am out here with absolutely no social life, I should try to learn something that I wouldn't take the time to do in the real world. While the most obvious choice is to learn Arabic or Kurdish, I find that to be too monumental of a task to qualify as recreation. So, my current resources give me the option of learning to play Scrabble, Chess, darts, or cribbage. We've thought of getting a Foosball table from Baghdad - but that may take some time to actually procure. I've already started running on our treadmill, so at least that's a healthy habit I've adopted - even if I'm not always regular with it.
I've started reading books for fun again as well and just finished The Good Earth and am about to start on The Iliad. There's a bit of guilt involved in that though since I feel I really ought to be reading news about Iraq or something related to the job. Usually the non-work related literature wins out though - big surprise.
posted by SBM @ 7:34 AM
1 comments
1 Comments:
Hey Sarah!Its great to see you're doing well although you're bored apparently.
As for excessive free time, I highly recommend exercise DVDs. They kept me sane while I was living in the forest of evil last year. Billy Blanks and Cathe Friedrich are my favorites at this point.
Beyond that there is always an opportunity to try and learn some local handicrafts. If you don't care to learn the language try learning how to make local pottery or traditional dishes...or hone your scrabble skills.
When are you done over there? How long have you been there? As of next week I will have been in Macedonia for 21 months. Weird! Yes, my field paper is not finished. YIKES!
Lets keep in touch!
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