So behind....

My readers (all 3 or 4 of them) have been complaining about the lack of material to read in my blog. Sorry, dear readers, I've been away for a long time and since I came back I've been busy. I'm teaching new courses and heavily revised courses which means a lot of brainstorming, material hunting, bookstore browsing, etc. When I came back from Thailand my house looked like an abstract installation of dirt patterns on the floor, dust mosaics on shelves and cupboards, twisted sculptures of displaces shoes, jackets, scarves... When I first walked in after the 3 week absence, I thought my house was broken into, but quickly realised - spotting my shiny microwave and laptop still where I had left them - that there was no messy burglar other than me responsible for the chaos. It took me good 4 days to have the place comfortably habitable. It looks quite nice now, actually, with all the little tinkets from Thailand and Nepal that I've ever so tastefully scattered about. It's very voyage chic.

As with my trip to Nepal, I have to postpone writing about Thailand, too. My 1000 or so pix are finally transferred from the memory card onto the hard drive, but I still need to sort through them. No time, no time. First I have to get my life back in order. Long vacations are great, but inevitably one loses all sense for normal living. I feel like I had been in a comma and now am relearning the basics of household chores and work responsibilities. I keep runnnig out of milk and coffee and forgetting to check my mailbox and make photocopies on time.
The time since I came back was quite challenging, emotionally and physically, and on top of it, I ran out of my thyroid regulating pills. I might still be recuperrating after the 9-day fast and liver flush program on Koh Samui. Man, was that an experience. I had lost 7kg, two of which managed to find their way back. Now I'm trying to hide from the rest of them behind cabbage and broccoli heads and lettuce leaves.
It is, however, good to be back in my now clean home. It's also good to see my friends. Clare had a nice birthday party at a new Italian Restaurant Sortino's in Itaewon which was a nice chance to see everybody and catch up. The picture shows our little birthday party before we headed to our favourite wine bar (so favourite that the name escapes me).