freezing time

time flies!!! i wish we could just freeze it, in the same way that the water is freezing in the pipes, to give a little chance to get some things done that never seem to reach the top of the pile. today my harmonium teacher, ustad Jawed, was far from pleased with how little i had practiced... that's one of the downsides of living in a fort with lots of people that don't necessarily appreciate hearing me practicing my scales and trying to learn ahmed zahir songs. but i guess that's just an easy excuse. i used the same one when i was in boarding school for not practicing clarinet (although it was probably quite legitimate there as well, apart from without the singing... but then there were squeaks and squaks instead). i'm also not doing so well with my dari homework... huy huy. but i did use my sketchbook last night for the first time in a hundred years=). i drew a picture of my lovely bukhari which makes my room really warm, aah i love it. (the bukhari i mean).
and i've had quite a few of those good moments the last few days when i realise how happy and lucky i am to be here working with these amazing potters (they really are great i wish you could meet them). then there are other moments of being overwhelmed and feeling incompetent and not being able to communicate, but i guess you need both ups and downs, eh.
the gaskiln is slowly slowly getting finished, tomorrow we'll finish the door (inshaAllah), then just need to install the burners and finish the chimney, i can't wait to see how it fires!!! (please cross your fingers if you're reading this...) and next week a tilemaker is coming from mazar-e-sharif to teach us, which will be really interesting. another thing i'm very much looking forward to is the hamam (bath-house, here in the fort!) being finished~ warm water, warm floor, warm air, will be super. speaking of baths; i also need to give nehru and pahlawan (the fort dogs who i love) a bit of a wash. i'm not sure though if everyone else will be very happy if i wash them in the hamam, though... maybe it's ok for them to be a bit dirty until spring... it's a bit cold to be running around with wet fur.
there's a good proverb to remember
"qattra qattra darya meshawa"
drop by drop makes a river.