July 5

My fourth of July was actually kind of fun, in spite of the fact that I am constantly reminded here how privileged our entire existence is. The party at the American Embassy was on Saturday. I went to a friend's new house yesterday mid-afternoon, and we just hung out for most of the evening talking. She landed this house-sitting gig for an embassy employee whose MANSION is the biggest, most disgusting house I've ever seen. It overlooks a huge ravine full of shacks with destitute people. It was bittersweet, and it continues to be for the housesitter I think, but fun to be in a posh place for the afternoon. It's four stories (more than one is unheard of here) and it has three balconies, four full baths, a trampoline, air hockey table, gigantic bedrooms, two refrigerators and a deep-freeze (when most of the country is on power-shedding mode these people have cold beer, which my friend kindly shared with me), and Department of State security detail, not to mention a huge generator in case the power goes out (which it does for only six hours a day between midnight and 6 AM). Our tax dollars hard at work. It's so wrong, and yet somehow it's so right to be just living there a short time, you know?