ARRIVAL IN SACHKHERE

I've made it to the town of Sachkhere... well I made it here Sunday evening.  Initially I was going to stay in an apartment, then with a family, but in the end I'm in a kind of boarding house.  It took me a couple of days to figure out what the situation was, but I think I've got it.  There are two really old wonderful ladies who share a two story house that looks like a Stalinist ruin from the outside but is all fountains & rose gardens inside the giant metal gate.

Fortunately for me, there is another young tenant who speaks a little English.  Through her I was able to borrow an iron yesterday morning to get my shirt in shape before my first day at school.  Meri, the landlady, not only got the iron, she ironed the shirt... thank goodness, since I have no idea how to do it.

Later I asked how I could wash my clothes & my interpreter said with hands.  I didn't know if that meant I had to wash them myself or could pay someone else's hands to do it.  Today I learned that Meri will do it... thankfully....