Tuesday, August 22, 2006

cacophony continued

Writing about the noise in Asia reminded me of this email I sent from Nepal in 2003:

Saturday mornings.

Question: What is the socially acceptable number of times to ring someone's doorbell at 8am on a Saturday morning? One? Two? Three? Maybe. Thirty-six? Definitely not.

Saturday mornings are my "Louise" time. The times when I can sleep in, bum around, drink lots of coffee and read for hours in bed. They are the times when I make the most of my one day off. When I do not wear a Kurta Surwal.
When I do not have to speak Nepali, drink Chiya or eat Daal Bhaat. They are the times when, as far as I am concerned, I am not in Nepal.

Saturday mornings are not however the times when I want to be woken by someone ringing my doorbell THIRTY-SIX times. At 8am. Get the hint: I am not opening the door. I am not getting out of bed. I am not going to chat to you about
cricket. I am not going to chat to you about your brother studying in Australia. I am not going to chat to you about your plans to move to America next week/ next month/ next year. I am not going to chat to you.

As you can see I haven't had the best start to my one-day weekend. I only have one day off a week here, and that means that I have huge expectations for that one day. On Friday nights I can almost feel the coming Saturday
cringing from the sheer performance pressure. It really is a lot to ask of one little day.


We all need a little "me" time every now and then.

2 comments:

Sharpie said...

Around here - 36 times will get ya killed on a Saturday OR Sunday morning. I'm just sayin. :-) Try to enjoy your day anyway!

Anonymous said...

I completely agree with you, Louise. I dream of not being woken up by a door bell or a phone one in the morning of my free day when the sleep is so sweet!