ADL: activities of daily living

so i figured it was time to share a bit about my daily surroundings.
the apartment.
I am renting an apartment, a pretty fancy newly remodeled apartment in the center of the city. it is a two room, huge kitchen, two bathroom (why the hell do i need two bathrooms??) apartment in a new high-rise on the main street. there is air-conditioning and satellite tv. there is a queen mattress in the living room, pillows and bedsheets, which i, at first, wanted to drag into the corner, but the rest of the furniture is set so oddly, against the wall, that this bed has become my life. i work on it, watch tv on it, drink coffee on it. there is a questionable McBurger joint downstairs that makes my apartment smell like meatloaf, despite the apartment being on the tenth floor. the height also doesnt help street noise. my sleep is completely wonky: i start with air conditioning on, mostly because i have to close the windows due to noise form crazy cars driving by, i wake up in teh middle of the night, to turn ac off and open windows because i'm chilly, i then wake up at 5am daily because of roosters. i waste the first 2-3 hours watching various news sources--Moscow, euro, al jazeera. whenever home, water must be boiled, boiled and consumed because it is hot, always. then i get ready to head and wait for Jonbek to call and tell me there are women waiting at the office.
the office.
the office is located up the street, about a 10 minute walk. it's actually not that far, but i think i walk slow because it's hot. it is in an old soviet building that belongs to the consumer union of Tajikistan. the office is on the fifth floor, the elevators frequently stop working due to power outages, there are signs on the elevator doors that warn against more than 2 people riding the elevator at once as it may get stuck. the office itself is a two room place, down a winding hallway covered with worn out carpet. the office is equipped with ac, but no overhead light, as i found out one night. there is no wi-fi and my attempts at stealing Aga Khan foundation's connection (which is located one floor below) result in nothing. there is tea and coffee and a water cooler, for visitors and workers (that's me and Jonbek) alike, but one must drink carefully: the bathroom is a bit tricky. it is unisex, three stalls behind doors, no toilet, but a hole in the ground. when going to void, one must lock the door behind to make sure no dude busts in on you, and then cautiously aim into the hole, in complete darkness, while avoiding any contact with anything but the floor, and under no circumstance letting go of your skirt. the bathroom is off to the side, slightly hard to find at first (certainly took me two tries and detailed explanation from jonbek), but due to its unisex-ness and the 40C degree heat, you can pretty much smell it around the corner.
nightlife
at night i make a daily pilgrimage into the center of the city. there, usually at the public pub, i peruse the interwebs, delete emails (god, so many emails) and write silliness in my blog. at night, the walk back is cooler. there are families and hoards of women walking with their children. there are also teenagers strolling the streets, and men in groups catcalling.