Serendipity rules...

Last week, I wrote about luck and getting what you need when you need it. No, I don't have any news on the job hunt front, but I have been looking for a roommate since my last one moved out in March without a lot of luck (unless you count the responses to my Craigslist posting from a "nudist" - and I'm totally OK with that lifestyle, but this dude was creepy with a capital "C," the 25-year-old Mormon college student who brought me some LDS pamphlets when we met, the 22-year-old sketchy "I might be going to college but I don't have a job and I want my boyfriend to stay over every weekend," and so on).

I had just about given up, but decided to post my ad for a roommate one more time. I got an email that night from a woman my age who wanted to talk immediately. We spoke on the phone and it turns out she's my age, a writer, Persian (from Iran) and has published six books in her country, and she came by the very next day to see my place. I've never met anyone from Iran, and I shamefully admit I don't know a lot about the history of the country (and tend to lump it in with other Middle Eastern countries). But we clicked, she's fascinating, thinks I am as well, was impressed that I have a copy of The Rubaiyat by Omar Khayyám, and she moved in yesterday. Her name is Fareshteh and I think it's going to be a great roommate situation. Besides expanding my own cultural horizons, she feels like it will benefit her to live with an American, especially an American writer. Her English is better than she'll admit, my Farsi is not at all, but we already communicate quite well. I've learned a lot about her country - one of the surprises is that I was under the mistaken assumption that women are not encouraged to be educated. Fareshteh has a Master's Degree in Urban Planning. Unfortunately, she has to do college all over again in the U.S., but she's also working on an English translation of one of her books, will be starting college next month, and my cat - who is also Persian - likes her better than me.

You get what you need when you need it - and then some. The Farsi word for "thank you" is (phonetically) "merci." Merci.