well hello. it has been a while...i may not even have readers at this point! (and i can't say that i would blame you!) amazingly enough, i am winding down my last days here in south asia. i myself am struggling to realize that i will be on a plane back to the US as of monday morning. for now i am trying to take everything in and store it away in my mind for the days when i won't be here. let's catch up on some things.

my mom and her friend, lisa caramagno, visited recently! it was incredibly fun and exciting to have them here and show them what my life has been like for the last ten months. we went to lots of restaurants, did some shopping, and headed down to a beach resort area for a day. all in all i think they were ready to return to the States, and may have even kissed the ground upon landing in NYC. South Asia is no easy place to visit or live in, but they were champs!
i have a few things on my "to do before i leave" list. i accomplished one of them last night. i had my hair chemically straightened, or "rebonded". 4.5 hours of treatment, 48 hours of no washing, and you can have lovely straight hair too. you may be thinking to yourself, "Marianne, your hair is straight already.." well, that is thanks to my dear friends blow dryer and straightener. there are a few challenging things in addition to sitting still for 4.5 hours:

• not getting your hair wet when it is monsoon season. i should probably receive a prize for my efforts.
• not washing your hair for 48 hours. in addition to not washing, i am not supposed to put it in a pony tail, clip, use bobby pins, or anything else that will disturb the now straight hair. this essentially means i cannot hide my un-washed hair, which i hate.

our maid, whom the faithful readers may remember from her famous appearance on my blog around thanksgiving time, had a marked leave of unexplained absence for about 1.5 weeks. this behavior was unprecedented, and we were convinced that she may have randomly quit without explanation. however, much to my surprise on monday morning at 8:30 as the doorbell rang and i peered out the peep hole, her little 4'6 self was standing outside. i joyfully opened the door and in my best mime+english abilities attempted to ask her where she had been. to which she responded by making a face (tilting her head to the side and sticking out her tongue) and saying "husband". i took it to mean that her husband had died. i immediately felt awful, and attempted to convey how sorry i was. she however, did not seem phased by discussing this most recent death of her spouse. i was surprised, but chalked it up to being one of those things lost in translation. i came into work, and later on in the morning was talking to one of my co-workers about it, and before i could even finish, she said, "ugh..these workers are always kiling off so many family members!" she proceeded to tell me how it is common for domestic workers to claim death in the family instead of asking for vacation. goodness. this makes more sense now seeing as how our maid's uncle, mother, and husband had all "died" within a three month span, with no remarkable sadness or grief being displayed on her account. i'm still slightly unnerved by it though.

there is a strange dichotomy going on regarding the internal vs external reality of my leaving. externally, everything is the same. i take the same autos to work, drive on the roads, see my same co-workers, hang out with my same friends, etc. internally though, there is a storm that surges from time to time demanding to attempt to recognize and deal with the fact that life as i have come to know it for the last ten months will be ending on monday. it is very strange and makes me feel unsettled.

so, that is a jumbled bunch of snippets from life right now. my hair and i (it takes on an entity of its own when it requires this much care) are about to head to the gym (with my rain jacket on, of course). i would greatly appreciate prayers as i transition back home.... and i am incredibly excited to see everyone again!