One scary thing this week was the news leak that a nun from my alma mater (Iona College) was fired for embezzling $800,000 over the course of 10 years. What's really scary is that I knew Sister Susie pretty well, or thought I did. Even more scary is that the school didn't report the crime, but only fired her and another employee who was involved. A lot of the alumni are quite upset, but the school is remaining tight lipped, only saying that they got "most of the money back". Even if they got all of the money back, I think she should be prosecuted. It's a big deal and it seems that the school doesn't take it seriously. I'd call that a big problem for a school that relies almost entirely on tuition and alumni donations.
Apparently, in the rest of the world, it's also daylight savings time, but not here. No, Tajikistan marches to it's own drummer. I have to say, it is kind of interesting to watch the days get shorter and shorter - the sun comes up later each day and goes down later each day - rather than the odd jump to a brighter morning that comes with daylight savings time. And now we're 10 hours ahead of EST instead of 9. This also requires an adjustment to the TV schedule.
Halloween was fun. Just like last year, the "door decorating" contest gets everyone excited and into the Halloween spirit. My office had quite a display this year, but we were outdone by another office that had a whole extra room to decorate. Many of us questioned whether awarding the prize for the "door decorating" contest to an office that didn't put anything on their door was really in keeping with the contest, but the point is we had fun decorating (mostly).
It was also fun to see the kids get all dressed up, although one of the local staff dressed their kids up in a white robe with a pointy hat. Very KKKish, but we don't think it was intentional. It's always interesting to see the power of cultural knowledge, or lack thereof.
On Saturday, Stephanie and I enjoyed the beautiful fall weather as we did some shopping in the afternoon and Stephanie made a delicious chili. Saturday evening we got all gussied up (well I did) and went to the grown-up Halloween party. It was fun to see the different costumes, but we didn't stay out too long. I went for a Goth look, and it was well received - maybe too well received. Quite a few people told me that the look really "worked" for me. I'll let you be the judge.
Sunday was another gorgeous day so Stephanie and I headed out for the afternoon. We spent a few hours at a nice coffee house that Stephanie found, snacking, drinking coffee, and reading our books. Just as we were wrapping up, a friend called and invited us out for shashlik. It was a place we hadn't been to and quite tasty. All in all, a good weekend.
Alas, the week returned all too soon and here we go again. But with all the holidays coming up it doesn't seem too bad. And of course, while I'm enjoying the leftover Halloween treats, there was one more "trick". Stephanie and I just got our absentee ballots today, even though we requested them months ago. We'll vote, of course, but I also intend to get in touch with our local election relatives back in New York about this. You would think they'd send overseas ballots out earlier.
And now for my little soapbox piece - whoever you support, just make sure you vote.
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