Blogs and Boredom

Well here we are, four months since I last posted. To be fair, these last few months have been very busy: in April we went to Italy with my parents for Easter vacation. In May I was finishing up the school year with lots of projects and stress. In June we went to Morocco (to buy cheap, beautiful leather products and eat) and Senegal (to visit Katie over at Niger-Mania) for three weeks. We came home in the beginning of July with a nasty, nasty flu virus that knocked me on my ass for a week. Now I have no excuse for not writing. But laying it all out like I did above, I'm realizing just how many things I have to write about. Good, something to sink my teeth into in these weeks of inactivity. July is turning out to be a bit of a bust. Read on:

I was hoping to get a job in a tiny town in the interior of the province teaching English at a summer school, but because of my student visa they couldn't hire me. (The student visa allows me to work a very limited number of contracted hours  --  I'm paid under the table for private classes and my job at the academy, but the director of this summer school wouldn't hire me without a contract. And therefore didn't hire me at all.) I've been teaching some private classes, but with people going on vacation and working and kids not wanting to study in the summer, my schedule has been sporadic to say the least.

On top of that, it's been cold (in the 50s! I've been wearing a jacket! It's JULY for god's sake!) and very rainy for the last few weeks. Of course, the week I was sick in bed with chills, a fever, body aches, and a terrible cough (I am such a baby about illness), it was gorgeous, hot and sunny outside. The weather has made it difficult to enjoy the beach and go on adventures and revel in summer. Not to mention the darkness, cold, and rain make for cranky, mopey moods.

I have lots of things to write about. But I just haven't been able to get it together to sit down and write. New personal mantra: "I will use my time productively and write instead of moping around the house and taking too many naps." Mantras are supposed to be short and easily memorized, no? Oops. How about "Get off your ass. Be creative." Better.