11/6/2017 0 Comments Three Short Essays1. What the cleaners wanted
* time to talk to me * tokens of appreciation * to treat me like a hapless eldest son * never to be spoken to like that again * to tell me she used to be a teacher * to tell me that all of her siblings moved abroad * to remind me of the state of the economy, since I seem so aloof from it * to get me to take better care of myself 2. Five paraphrases from a letter the hotel sent me * Unfortunately, with the economic climate worsening, we fear more and more brazen thefts from our hotel rooms * Regrettably, as the economy tanks, more of Us will steal from You * We will do the best we can, but we hope you understand that with the economy like this, we shall have to steal from you more often * Maybe because you're American and rich you don't understand this, but the economic situation here is frightening, and we are doing the best we can, which may or may not involve taking additional monies from our guests * You couldn't possibly understand that 2017 feels like 2008 and that feels like death, because our families left, our money dried up, our industries died, as did our hope; and there's but scant hope left even now; and when you, and others like you, travel here, you come with reserves of hope, and bundles of US Dollars that you don't even bother to lock away, so rich are you, so carefree, when we, those who serve you, are suffering 3. Things they keep behind the counter at Choppies * cigarettes * deodorant * liquor * condoms * tampons * sweetened condensed milk
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AuthorFulbright Core Teaching/Research Fellowship to Zimbabwe, 2017-2018. Will teach at the National University of Science and Technology in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, and conduct research on the city's literary history, its cultural infrastructure, and its outlets for creative writing. Archives
February 2018
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