Diary Day
April 4, 2022
Today started early, about 6:40, before my phone alarm was set to ring at 7. I needed to get up early because I am still involved in teaching the Afghan women refugees English skills. The program is part of the Muncie Afghan Refugee Resettlement Committee (MARRC) that has previously been described. My role as an ESL teacher has continued 3 mornings a week since December. My 6 women knew a little English prior to moving to the United States. Their skills varied from knowing most of the alphabet to being fairly literate. Since mid-December, most of my students have obtained jobs so they are no longer coming to class, although some do come when they have days off. They are employed in housekeeping and childcare positions. I hope they are getting opportunities to speak English so they will continue to improve their skills. Muncie schools have loaned the students Chromebooks to practice English outside of class. Occasionally, my current students will bring the computers to class, and we work on some of the lessons together. This is what we did for most of our session today.
When I got home, I fixed a grilled cheese sandwich, pickles, and a banana. I felt kind of “off” so I decided to rest and read for a while. The book I’m reading is The Director about J. Edgar Hoover and written by an assistant, Paul Letersky. I am enjoying it and am curious to see if he mentions some of the more colorful rumors about J. Edgar. I took a nap, which I seldom do, and I felt fine when I awoke. So, maybe my earlier feelings were just from being tired.
About 5:30, I went to a neighbor’s house for dinner. My husband is out of town, so they were kind to include me in their evening. It was a very good meal of fajitas and other Mexican fare. She’s a good cook with everything she makes, better than I am. I asked if I could bring anything and since I know she’s a real good cook, I was sure she had all the food planned, so I picked about a dozen daffodils from our yard and brought them down. I walked down and back, about 2 blocks.
When I returned home, I changed into my pajamas and turned on the TV. The NCAA basketball finals were on, so I saw the start of the game; however, my “teams” were out of the tournament and I’d basically lost interest. I turned on a British mystery. My husband and I are very fond on the British shows. They seem to be so much better than the American produced shows. We love the casting of the characters, too. They look like real people; not all are beautiful. Some of the shows we enjoy are Foyle’s War, Midsommer Murders, Agatha Christie, Morse, and Lewis. I went to bed about 10:00.