It’s been 7 days since summer “officially” started but we’ve tasted temperatures in the mid-40s degrees Celsius even before that. Hence I decided to book my taxi rides and spare myself from heat stroke. Then again moment I stepped out of the apartment, I thought I died and stepped out into hell. It was less than 15 steps to the car but I can feel my brain juices starting to boil. Trust me, desert summer has no chill.
My task today is to get some company documents attested at a consulate (name withheld for privacy reasons). The moment I got there, I felt something was off… I completely forgot that electronic gadgets are forbidden inside the consulate premises. A huge facepalm moment for me because I know the processing takes time and God knows when I’ll be finished! I should’ve brought a book with me to kill time.
After submitting my docs to a window, I sat on the cold metal bench and the waiting commenced. I tried to watch the TV news to entertain myself but I don’t speak their language so decided to check their reading materials – the same story.
Tick tock tick tock…
Without my phones, I was left with nothing but my own thoughts to stew in. I would’ve resorted to people-watching (everyone is cute and pretty) but in their culture, checking out others is rude so I only have to listen to my thoughts for entertainment. It sounds weird, but at times I’m terrified of being alone with my thoughts – the reason I always listen to music for distraction.
My head is a noisy space constantly bombarded with various ideas – from lesson plans to film/novel plot ideas, weekly schedules to pending Excel sheets, to dinner plans to fantasizing over my man-of-the-month (Canadian actor Osric Chau for June 2022). Sometimes it’s like verse jumping ala Michelle Yeoh’s new film “Everything Everywhere All At Once”, wherein I see myself in one scene as a homicide detective gathering evidence or an illegal courier bearing stolen artifacts to private collectors the next.
My thoughts of making chicken donuts were on pause when the handsome bald counter guy called my number to proceed to another cubicle for payment. The elder good-looking cashier guy mentioned my fees and I forked over the amount in Dirhams. He raised his eyebrow at me and said “In US dollars Miss”.
“I’m sorry Sir, I don’t have dollars with me and nobody told me it should be in USD. Do you accept card payment though?” I mumbled still flustered from his expression.
“Then go out and come back when you have dollars. No card. Next!” He said nonchalantly. Ang taray ni Uncle Pogi!
By virtue of no choice, with an umbrella in hand and cocooning myself in a giant shawl I braved the midday sun to get my dollars. The 7-minute walk to the money changer felt like an eternity… wait, was that Lee Min-Ho driving by in a Rolls-Royce winking at me and a shirtless Chris Evans pouring water on himself by the parking lot?!?
I think I need to go inside somewhere and have a cold drink, my brain was far damaged by the heat than I thought.
ladyveilchen writes 