)May In Rearview(

Photo of the month
23.05.09
(Tanzil all skinny and pale after typhoid)

There are two more days left to go, yet I feel like recapping the events of May today.

May is the month when may flowers bloom. We used to have a potted may flower plant in our backyard. It died years ago, and I haven't seen a may flower since. Even without one big may flower to gape at and fuss over, this May has been a busy one.

It has been a busy month firstly because from this very month I have started blogging, thanks to George Chinnery and Tanzil Malek. I absolutely love blogging. This is one thing that I am doing completely for myself. Its my way of meditating and losing the scum of everyday life and (Tanzil includes) of facebook. I most definitely will keep W.O.R.D.S going all life.

With May began the Summer Semester of '09. Thus, the month has been quite full of activity at the University where I teach English, and also at the Unversity where I read Law. On the one hand, I got a fresh batch of students to teach and on the other, I got a freshly UK-returned barrister to be taught by. My students seem to like me a lot so far. (Wait till they have filled in the Feedback and Teacher's Evaluation sheets!) My Barrister Sir seems to have a skeptical approach to the level of my understanding. (Wait till I have filled in the Feedback and Teacher's Evaluation sheets!)

Apart from winning the challenge of making content-based lesson plans, grading ridiculously absurd essays without losing sanity and attending backbreaking workshops every Saturday and surviving, an amusing thing that has happened at work this month is the wedding of a dear colleague. Her marriage was arranged by her parents. She had seen the man only once (in person) before she found herself married to him!!! This was quite a shock for Beth (another colleague of mine) who is not yet fully accustomed to the Southeast Asian custom of arranged marriages. In spite of the little shocks that this wedding gave, everybody enjoyed it and the dirty jokes that were being cracked in the name of the newly wed.

On the contrary, I should say the month was jinxed in terms of my personal life. Tanzil came down with a set of itchy allergy plus paratyphoid, and on the very first day of his illness, I accidently got a piece of bone stuck in my gullet! I know this sounds hillarious; bone stuck in my gullet, but it was actually serious. I had to be rushed to the ENT specialist and he had to stick a long piece of metal down my throat! The bone's gone now but it still hurts a bit when I swallow food (apparently the bone had cut a wound in the wall of my gullet before it slid off! eeeeeeeeeeee!) Tanzil has now recovered from paratyphoid but he has lost so much of weight that his jeans keep slipping down!

To celebrate Tanzil's recovery, my good riddance of bad bone and Tanzil's best bud Musa's promotion to the position of an Asst. Manager at MGH, we went to Nando's for lunch. This is also the last (but not the least) worth-mentioning event of the month of May. At Nando's (which is famous for its extra hot and spicy chicken delicacies) I ordered an Espetada and choked over it because it was so hot! I couldn't finish eating my espetada but was glad to see Tanzil enjoying his a lot. He plans to eat at Nando's again next month, which means in the rearview of June, I'll have another choking incident to recount.

I think in the end I can say may such a May come again, without much reservations. It was a good one except for the typhoid and the bone. Afterall, May is the month that brings the rain and the gale. May is the month when my beloved flames of the forest bloom and paint the town red (both literally and figuratively). May my countdown to next May be equally good if not better. So long ~

p.s. This month Tanzil's kid brother Fahad (who is also my darling) has come home form Minnesota and has brought a beautiful makeup box for me :D I lurve Fahad!