I'm so thrilled that I had a long weekend.. I worked 12 hour days both Saturday and Sunday, but Independance Day is a national holiday.. and as a result, I got to spend the entire day lazing around in my pj's.
Saturday and Sunday were great, in terms of getting reading done. I was just working security, which entails making sure that the painters don't walk out with generators and confidential papers at the end of the day. Which makes for a fairly easy job. (Generator big - man small.). I managed to finish a few books (as noted somewhere below) on Saturday, and then on Sunday...
Sunday I finished up "Bullet Points" by Mark Watson. Touted as "the love child of Woody Allen and William Boyd" (which is pretty strong hypothetical partentage to live up to..) it really was excellent. The faux autobiography of a psychologist and his somewhat strange career, it's full of humour, humanity, and a little heartbreak. It's incredibly well written - not a light read, but a good one.
Wrapped up "The Icarus Girl" this morning. I'd heard some complaints about the ending - but I think it might have been from people with little imagination. I really enjoyed it.. although I have to say, it's probably the spookiest book I've read in a while. Set in Nigeria and England, I'm glad I read "Things Fall Apart" first - they cover some of the same topics (mysticism, twins and superstitions surrounding them). Otherwise you'd have to do some anthropology research and some cultural digging to close some of the major cultural chasms. Where "Things Fall Apart" really gives you the background knowledge you need, the "The Icarus Girl" leaves you in the dark a little. I imagine you'd get along ok without knowing.. But I found it lent a bit more depth having read something about the major topics.
The workers ended up staying later than they were originally booked on Sunday, stretching our day 3 hours longer, and way past the dinner hour. The really lovely thing is, that they sent somebody out for dinner, and brought a little for me too! They were so sweet, insisting that I not pay, and they were getting overtime for this work, and they wouldn't have if I hadn't agreed to stay late. It was so sweet. So I was given a samosa and some gelabi (these really sweet, deep fried swirls of dough..) and shared dinner. It was fun.
As I said, today I spent the day in my pj's. I found "This Side of Paradise" (F. Scott Fitzgerald's first book) on my shelf, and realised I hadn't read it. It's touted as better than "The Great Gatsby", and semi-autobiographical. It's.. alright so far. Not that amazing. So I read that for most of the morning, and spend the afternoon with a cup of tea catching up on the New York Times and whatnot.
I'm so happy that I got an honest to goodness day off. It's been wonderful to just relax, take more than two deep breaths in a row. I only have 3 1/2 days of work left, and only 13 days left in India. Now comes the hustle. This part is never easy! On the upside, it means that I'm getting closer to seeing Bryan. There's an upside everywhere. You just have to look harder sometimes!
Take care all.
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