21 October 2001

 

15 October – 9h15 – CNN now has the Northern Alliance’s “Foreign Minister,” Abdullah Abdullah, dressed in western clothes instead of Afghani clothes. That’s probably to make him seem less threatening to western viewers.

 

10h08 – According to BBC World, the FBI is saying that the fact that two of the hijackers rented a house from the wife of an editor of American Media (the place in Florida that is having the Anthrax scare) is only a coincidence. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Yeah right. Who in their right mind would believe that that’s a coincidence!!

 

23h – This evening was fun. I usually don’t go out on work nights, but Saikat and I met Bernard, the other native speaker in town for the first time tonight. We met at the bus station and went to a small café from there. We talked for a couple of hours then left. It was a good time and I invited Bernard to pizza night. I hope he comes.

 

He’s quite interesting. He’s from Liberia, but grew up in Nigeria. He lived in Warsaw for the last five years and now has come to our town. I hope he likes it here.

 

Before work, I went to Saikat’s flat to walk him to school for the first time. It’s a bit tricky to find, so I agreed to that. I took him through the town centre and showed him where the internet café was.

 

16 October – 9h31 – More Anthrax infections in the USA..A son of an employee of ABC in NYC and a 73-year-old man in Boca Raton (FL), who was a colleague of the man who died two weeks ago. 

 

There have also been Anthrax scares in Australia, Canada and Germany, with white powder being found. All are being tested for Anthrax.

 

10h56 – Rudy Giuliani is to receive an honorary knighthood from the Queen of England for his leadership and support of the families from the NYC tragedies.

 

21h – Saikat came into work today and asked me if there was anyplace in the area to get fast food. I told him that there wasn’t. All of the places in our town are sit down places. I guess he isn’t used to cooking yet.

 

17 October – 7h30 – It’s been ugly, gray and depressing all week. *sigh*. It’s been quite a bit colder, so I wore my winter coat yesterday.

 

Today a senior Israeli official was shot and killed by a Palestinian group. The leader of Israel, Ariel Sharon, has said that this changes everything. Does it? I’ll direct you to my opinion on it, however, before you read it, I have a comment to make. With the following link, I tread into new territory. I’ve been following the Israel/Palestine problems for the last year and have largely remained silent on the matters. However, that time is now over and I find it necessary to make an opinion. I know that there are people in this world who call anyone who voices an opinion against Israel an anti-Semite, but anyone who knows me knows that I am not. If you still want to read it, see My Soapbox.

 

11h – The Travel Channel disappeared from my telly at 8h30. I was distraught. I thought that they might have changed the frequency in which it broadcasts, so I reprogrammed my T a few times. It appears that that wasn’t the case, it just left for a while. It’s back now. Whew! That was close! I don’t know what I’d do if it went away permanently!

 

21h41 – The Alternate Routes show on the Travel Channel is on again. I don’t really like it as it mainly shows backpackers where to stay to party, where to go to party, etc. It doesn’t show much of the sights.

 

I consider myself a backpacker, but I don’t go places to party. I can do that at home. I go to see sights, learn about the people and enjoy the diversity of a different culture

 

18 October – It’s a wonderfully sunny day! It’s about time we had one!

 

10h30 – The sun is gone.

 

11h30 – Just as with yesterday, the cable keeps going on and off.

 

21h – Another question from Saikat about fast food. He said, “Is there a McDonalds in this town?” I laughed. I told him that he needs to come to terms with the fact that other than the supermarket, there is NOTHING in this town except small mom and pop shops. That’s what I like about it (usually). I told him that supposedly there is a McDonalds in Olsztyn, but I’ve never seen it.

 

21h – WOW, more anthrax scares… Dan Rather’s assistant has contracted it through a letter that she opened for him. 

 

19 October – Another rainy, gray day.

 

I’ve been very busy this week and am glad that it’s Friday. If the weather is nice I’ll ride to Olsztyn with Lucja and Zdzislaw tomorrow, If not, I wont. I don’t really have a reason to go, but since they are going, I wouldn’t mind going by car for once to get out of our small town. If I go, it’s mainly to take photos to upload to my website, but don’t feel like walking around Olsztyn if it’s cold and/or rainy.

 

Daylight report – Sunrise 7h08, sunset 17h33

 

20 October – 9h27 – There was a show on the telly about Florida. It covered Miami, Naples, Orlando (including all of the Disney parks) and the Space Coast.

 

It’s a miserably gray day, so I didn’t go to Olsztyn.

 

12h – The price at the internet café has been reduced from 4zl to 3zl!

That’s great! Too bad I don’t have enough time to use it more.

 

18h30 – Inside Africa talked about a letter with Anthrax being received in Kenya (sent from Atlanta to a private citizen), the Muslim riots in Kano (Nigeria), World Food Day, the hungry situation in Burundi and a village In Rwanda where Hutu and Tutsi kids are learning to live together.

 

19h15 – Yet a different wonderful show on Miami Beach on the Travel Channel. It was a brand new show, not one of the many repeats o Miami that the Travel Channel has.

 

I’ve learned a new term on the travel channel..“financially challenging”. It means it’s expensive.

 

21 October – 15h – Saikat and I met for lunch today. We had a nice chat.

 

19h14 – According to MSNBC, a postal worker who worked in the facility that processed the letter that was sent to Senator Daschle is “gravely ill.”