at the end of the day...

D-now--this is a test

2011-06-28T04:05:00.000-07:00

Ketchup

2011-02-16T12:54:00.000-08:00

So, blogging must not be my thing, cause I just keep forgetting about it. And I feel like a person shouldn't blog apologies, so I just going to skip ahead and we will instead just celebrate when I do post instead of judging me when I forget to keep you updated--sound fair enough? Ok, moving.

So life has been crazy busy since returning. The week before I returned I came down with the flu in America, and have since recovered 100% only to come down with a cold this week. Although, I would say that I was expecting it since last week when the baby I am living week came down with one. I mean it is only a matter of time then, cause who is going to stay away from a little cutie like Maya to avoid a few sniffles? Oh, yah, in case you didn't know-while I was gone the people who had generously allowed me to stay in their house while they were in America returned. I ran outta time before I left to find a new apt, so they again graciously let me stay here until I found a place again. So in the month that I have been back I have been trying to secure a new apartment--which is not easy when you have a tight budget (around $500 a month) in one of the arguably top 10 most expensive countries in the world, and top 3 in the Middle East! The furnished apts (cause I don't have any furniture anymore)in the area I have lived in the past two years range from $800-$2000 a month from what I have found so far. But I think I found another sweet-hookup with another American family who are also in the States but have left an empty apt. Well, it is not completely empty, they have a Sri Lankan househelper who stays there as well. So if all goes as planned, I will move into their place soon, for close to free! I just have to get used to a whole nother area of town and uh, living with a Sri Lankan househelper!

Anyways, so in the midst of trying to find a place to live, I have been working! Fe shugal kteer! There has been alot to catch up on. After spending 10 days here, readjusting to the country, reading the news daily after the "government collapsed" (which is actually normal), getting over jetlag, and revisiting some clients, I headed to a neighboring country for 7 days of business training! After 7 days there, my boss came back with me to my country and we visited more of my clients for another 5 days and entertained him. Then we sent him back on a plane to America and worked to follow-up with all those visits and get proposals to companies. Now, we are working on our public training offering for March and training to make plans for the Chick-fil-A SERVE team's week in May.

Oh, and in the midst of these travels, I did manage to read the news everyday to know what was going on in the region! Change is in the air! It is amazing how quickly things have been changing lately! In case you missed it: here is a brief synopsis:
- TUNISIA: On January 5 the death of a young man who set himself on fire in despair over unemployment and harassment by officials provided a focus for endemic revolt.

On January 14 President Ben Ali, who had ruled with an iron hand for 23 years, fled the country, which is now ruled by a provisional government. The Tunisian revolution set off shock waves throughout the Arab world and beyond.

- EGYPT: Ten days after the fall of the Tunisian dictatorship widespread unrest broke out in Egypt, which is both the most populous Arab state and a key link in US strategy for the region, notably in support of Israel.

After 18 days of nationwide revolt including strikes and a million-strong march, President Hosni Mubarak left Cairo and handed power to the army on Friday February 11. Mubarak had been in power for almost 30 years.

On Monday the military government called for an end to widespread strikes.

- IRAN: The revolution of 1979 turned Iran into an Islamic republic and made it a key enemy of the United States. In 2009, contested elections sparked a wave of revolts led by two defeated candidates who claimed the poll was rigged.

Although the government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad officially welcomed the overthrow of the Mubarak regime in Egypt, security forces have cracked down on protests calling for a similar revolt in Iran. A bystander was reported shot dead during such protests on Monday.

- YEMEN: The fall of the Tunisian and Egyptian regimes have brought a wave of militancy by students against President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has been in power for 32 years.

Protests and clashes were continuing on Tuesday on Yemen, the poorest of all the Arab states.

- ALGERIA: After winning independence from France in a bitter war in the 1950s, Algeria has been under a state of emergency since the military stepped in to halt elections in 1992.

Since the revolt in Tunisia, its immediate neighbor, the country has seen a wave of protests, partly motivated by unemployment and high food prices. President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has been in power since 1999.

- BAHRAIN: Protests in the small Gulf island state, which hosts major US naval facilities, have centered on discontent among its Shia Muslim population, who form a majority but have little representation among the predominantly Sunni elite. Two Shiites died in violence on Monday and Tuesday after calls for protests based on the revolts in Tunisia and Egypt.

- PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES: The fall of the Mubarak regime brought scenes of jubilation in both the Gaza Strip -- which borders Egypt -- and in the West Bank. On Monday, the government of the Palestinian Authority resigned ahead of elections which are seen as a way of boosting its legitimacy in the light of the Arab revolt. However the Hamas movement which controls the Gaza Strip has refused to hold new elections.

- JORDAN: Since early February, several protests have been held in support of the revolts in Tunisia and Egypt and against high food prices. However King Abdullah II, who succeeded his father on the throne in 1999, has opened talks with Islamist opposition.

On Monday the situation in Jordan was complicated by a row with neighboring Israel, after a Jordanian minister described the killer of seven Israeli schoolchildren as a "hero".

- LIBYA: After initially expressing regret at the fall of the Ben Ali regime in Tunisia, which borders Libya, leader Moamer Kadhafi has expressed support for the Arab revolts. On Sunday he called on Palestinian refugees to march on the Palestinian territories.

Meanwhile Libyan groups using the Internet were calling for a "day of rage" in the country on Thursday.(AFP)

And Lebanon, which is known as the most unstable country in the region, went through a PM change about the time of the Tunisia uprising and is still trying to set up a cabinet.

Anyways, so there has not been a dull moment since I returned!

After working so much for the first 2 weeks of February, I was determined to take the weekend off! (I have been known to keep working on projects on the weekends, since my work schedule is flex---but I NEEDED a break) At first I was depressed that all my friends were busy on Saturday, so I would just be spending the time doing nothing but having my own "Office" marathon from the comfort of my bed. (Thanks Tyler for 4 seasons of "The Office!") But then at the last minute everyone called me back! So I had lunch with Natalie, then spent the afternoon with T&B and Jade, then had dinner with Megan! Sunday, a new American friend invited me to an English speaking Anglican church, which I had heard of for the past 2 years, but now visited, cause I felt like I should try to be more like the locals and do Arabic church, but I really enjoyed it and then ended up spending the afternoon with this new friend.

So then, it was back to work on Monday, Valentine's Day--which is actually a national holiday here, for other reasons that have nothing to do with love and everything to do with politics. But on Tuesday, I took the day off for Mohammad's Birthday (the third national holiday in 7 days). A friend Tina, who went to Egypt with me in October (yep! I was there just 4 months ago--when there were no signs of political unrest!)invited me and another American to day-trip with her and then have a meal with her family!

Originally, we were supposed to go see one of the new 7 Wonders of the World with Tina, but not so surprisingly it was closed on the one day we wanted to visit, so we toured a couple of high mountain-top overlooks in the Christian areas of the country. One I had been to before but the other was new--and gorgeous! The second place we visited was actually a nunnery, I believe. Check out the view with this link: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2046144&id=79800981&l=1b40b48fa2 I also bought some fig jam! Figs-something I never really tried till I moved here. Fig Newtons-I never liked, but real figs are quite tasty.

Her mom made up tabbouleh, hummus and then 5 meats! We had kebbeh (traditional ground beef dish (most similar to meatloaf-maybe), jumbo baked shrimp, fried fish fillets, whole grilled fish--as in with the head & tail & all, and another whole fried fish just bigger than a man's finger. It was so nice to meet her family and be in their home.

Okay, so that brings us to today. Whew! Glad to finally get ya caught up! Today was a work day. I was thankful that I could stay home and work today, because it POURED outside all day! And now I gotta get to bed so I can wake up tomorrow to work---well, maybe I have time for one episode of the Office, first! :) night, night!

Top 10 Lessons Learned in the Last 2 Years in the Middle East

2010-12-11T06:59:00.000-08:00

Time sure has flown this last month. We hosted a volunteer group from home and then I have been busy trying to finish end-of-the-year work so I can leave on Dec 17 to spend Christmas in America!! I am excited to be "home" for Christmas! At the same time, I am a little nervous about America. I know I am a very different person than I was just 2 years ago! I was going through some of my monthly updates the last 2 years and wow, I was just a little embarrassed about what I used to write in updates, but I guess that is just part of the growing up process where hind vision is 20-20.

Here are some things I know I have learned in the last two years:
10. How to live alone and with some half-crazy strong personality roomies! You know I love you, but ISTJs and ENFPs are very different and I think we can both admit we learned a lot from each other!

9. How to clean mold off walls and couches! Bleach water is a cure-all, unless it is rain season, and then it is an almost lost cause. It is important even in the cold winter to crack windows so your bed/closet/couches get some airflow and don’t breed mold. Mold comes in many colors too!

8. Politics. Drama. Instability. Yes, Soldiers on the street with m16s and army tanks are normal to me now. As well as the resistance militia. Hmm, this probably sounds really weird. I have learned the major political players and how to follow what they are saying in the news, and am getting better at keeping the 16 different political parties straight and who is on each side-even as they switch alliances!

7. Dancing. I am the first person to admit that I am a WHITE, BAPTIST girl, who has no dancing or rhythmic abilities what-so-ever. But that is not a legit excuse at parties here, so I have learned to dance, or how to entertain friends by letting them teach me to dance each time. I have had many Arab friends teach me Dabke (more of a village line dance) and Arabic Dancing (lots of hip twisting and wrist rolling).

6. Working for a start-up business is not easy! You don’t just go to work and do the same thing everyday. Each day you analyze what you are doing, and how it could be more effective, or successful. Strategy and vision are vision are very important.

5. Don’t spend 10 days in Cairo. If you want to see the pyramids and mummies, spend one day there, not 10! Don’t eat the food unless you are prepared to get a parasite/food poisoning and be sick for the next 3 weeks. For a wonderful vacation though, the Greek isles are everything you have heard that they are—pristine beaches and cute villages, so relaxing and perfect and with much better food!

4. Wasta: “connections” it all comes down to who you know. Especially as a foreigner, once you make the right relationships you are “in” and have someone who can help you get anything done. I have learned to make wasta and to use wasta from people.

3. My vocabulary has changed, and I don’t just mean I have learned Arabic, which has been a huge learning experience the last 2 years, but the Arabic speaking mindset comes out in my English and in my thought processes now. “Inshallah” (Lord-willing) and “lhumdillia” (thanks to God) come out a lot more. Living here I have learned very well, that I can’t make plans cause they can change so quickly, so plans are always “inshallah” and I give God praise for so many more things that he deserves using “lhumdillia” daily.

2. Flexibility. Like #3, plans are ALWAYS going to change, multiple times. Internet, water, and electricity are not givens, but factors that play into most plans. I recognize so much better now that I am not in-control, and when I thought I was in-control of my life when I lived in the States, that was just an illusion. You never know what each day will bring, but lhumidllia, we have a God who is with us always and never surprised by each new day!

1. The Power of God’s Word. The Word of God transforms lives, and even though it is thousands of years old, it has a fresh teaching everyday. It is also a much better witness than I am. Too many times I can be defensive or try to phrase things so as not to offend people, but the Bible doesn’t do that. It is direct and divides marrow. It is the Words of Life and leads people into the way of righteousness, and transcends all cultures! I have seen the Word of God change my life and the lives of others the last two years-Lhumdillia!

Picture time

2010-12-11T06:40:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving Volunteer Group Pictures:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2044097&id=79800981&l=78d8ce7add

My friend Maya's engagement party:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2044092&id=79800981&l=c1a6028d39

Enjoy!

Egypt

2010-11-12T13:33:00.000-08:00

OH my goodness! How could I have gotten this far behind in posting to my blog.

It has obviously been a busy time. There is so much to update you on! I spent 10 days in Egypt: click here for pictures. That was probably the worst vacation of my life--not that I have had many bad vacations. But I now understand why there are songs like: "Pharoah, Pharoah, wooah, let my people go!" Thankfully, everyone has said that they can't tell my disappointment by my pictures. Cairo and I just didn't get along. It was dirty, busy, chaotic, left me holding my breath trying to avoid inhaling the air pollution, and then I left Egypt with a parasite that took me over 2 weeks to get rid of! Egypt will be forever remembered in my stomach and not in my heart. So if you ever get the chance to go, do go, but only spend 2 days max in Cairo! The pyramids and mummies are a must see---have to be on your bucket list. But then venture out to Alexandria--never been so excited to visit a library as there! And I hear that Sharm El Sheik is wonderful as well, but unfortunately that part of my trip was cancelled, so I can't speak from personal experience.

Hopefully, I will have time to post more later. But my parents and some friends are headed here for Thanksgiving next week, so I will be a little busy, but that will give me something else to post about, inshallah before I head to the States for Christmas! SO excited about being in the States for a bit. And for Christmas too! If you want to see me while I am there, please make arrangements with my social coordinator, aka my mom! :)

Farm Day: Meat your Milk!

2010-09-18T12:56:00.000-07:00

I have learned that blogs on the day of are much more exciting, so here it goes:

Today was Farm Day with the young professionals club I am apart of! And I loved every minute of it. In Oklahoma, the idea of vising a farm would not be all that exciting to me, but living here, I was thrilled to get out of the city and be around something more natural! Oh, how I have changed living here!

So this was advertised to the club as a once in a lifetime opportunity to milk a cow! (Please hold back your laughing till later, all of you from Oklahoma and Texas!) Even though, I grew up in Oklahoma and have been on farms/ranches before, I had yet to milk a cow, and always thought it would be fun. Plus as said before I was excited for an opportunity to get out of the city (that I do love!), but the valley and fresh air are so nice! Even more than all this was I was excited to see my friends be on a farm. This group of friends are definitely all pretty much city people. Most drive BMWs and wear name brands even more expensive than the ones that people in Tahlequah drive to Tulsa to buy! They like luxury and I have never seen them "rough it." And when things are not up to their standards, they clearly make it known. Thankfully, almost miraculously, God has given me favor in their eyes as the cute American girl who tries to speak Arabic!

So the night before (because why would you tell people where/when to meet until the night before?--it can change many times and you are always waiting to hear from someone else---a lesson I have learned more than once!) I got a text saying to meet at 8am in the parking lot of a local shopping center. So (Finally learning!) I left my house at 8:10 and arrived at the parking lot before 8:20--and was amazed that I was not the first one there, but I was not the last one either! We waited till 8:50 for everyone to arrive. Even the thought of just saying you are left behind if you are not somewhere on time is rude here! So from the parking lot we caravan-ed along with a hired bus for the day. I will spare you the details of the trip to the farm--let's just say we stopped over 6 times for varying reasons (picking up more people-this one alone was at least 3 times, stopping for water, stopping for breakfast--even though the first thing on the agenda when we arrived was snacks, and stopping to wait for the bus to catch up). It was after 11am when we finally arrived at the farm! The schedule had us arriving at 9:30!

Driving into the farm, we passed two fields of hashesh. This country is actually famous for its grass, and this valley is full of it. A large portion of their income is made from the grass. Continuing the drive into the farm everyone was greeted with the smell of.......a farm! This was a first for many of the 40 people of the group! Let's just say that MANY complaints/comments were made. I saw one girl spraying air freshner/body spray outside her car! Even over an hour later, I saw a girl still fighting a gagging reflex! Seriously, people!

Anyways, so we were educated about the process this dairy farm of 55 cows was going through to become the first official organic dairy farm in the country, and about the ethical slaughter of animals. The farm proprietor said for religious reason (according to the Bible and Quran), you are not allowed to kill cows in front of other cows and a few other dont's I have already forgotten--never heard this before. It is also against the law, although there is only one place that slaughters humanely in this country according to this proprietor. And then for the sake of the cows who she said actually cry when they are distressed and see another cow killed!

Next we painted the outside of the (Barn?-best word I can think of.) It was a concrete building where they milk the cows on the bottom floor and a family lives on the 2nd floor. Hay is stored on the open rooftop. This was fun! The group got really creative--or stole picture of cows on the internet the night before of cows they thought were cute to paint! There was a cow drinking chocolate milk that I am sure I have seen before. A cow in overalls and then one of my friends, who had been to the training that Chick-fil-A did last year had the 3-cow logo of Chick-fil-A cows holding up the "Eat Mor Chiken" signs that were going to be changed to "eat more veggies," or "drink organic milk." We ran out of time to get the Chick-fil-A cows on the barn. Someone did ask about copyright issues on that one, but I highly doubt that the American company that has no overseas locations would care about a random barn in the middle of a valley in the middle east having their logo painted on a barn.

After painting, we were brought lunch around 3PM-tawouk sandwiches (chicken kebab sandwiches in pita bread), and then it was milking time! The cows gathered around the barn door desperate to be milked. They led them in and feed them as they waited their turns to be milked by the 2 portable machines they had. Then a few at a time, we each got a turn to go and milk a cow! It was fun and not that hard! (Hopefully this newly acquired life skill will help me on the Amazing Race in 2012! haha)

Then it was group picture time. They love to take pictures here! And they love to pose for pictures and have their pictures taken, and are quick to tell you that you have to delete a picture if it is not flattering. This was annoying at first, but after posing for a few pics myself today, I think it may have rubbed off on me---forgive me if I am a vain picture taker in the States!

We left the farm about 5:20 and I was all the way home by 7:00--a much faster ride without any stops!

It really was a great day!

For pictures, click here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2042462&id=79800981&l=f42cf3bd19

Where am I?

2010-09-11T04:40:00.000-07:00

Friday night is the start of Eid of Fitr, a 2 day holiday celebrating the end of Ramadan, so the Muslim half of town closes down. This holiday is a very important family holiday, so I had planned on not being able to see many friends, and just staying at home (needed to catch up on work and clean the house anyway.) A colleague who knows I am American and not Muslim still asked me if I was going to spend time with family in my village? Seriously? I must fit in better than I think.

So half the town is closed while families are visiting each other. My Armenian friend who lives here (but whose family has homes in Cyprus, Lebanon, Armenia and the UAE that I know of) calls and invites me out for drinks. She is Armenian Orthodox so not celebrating Eid. A friend of her sister’s from the UAE is visiting and she needs to show him around—he is from Sweden, but has lived and worked in Abu Dhabi with my Armenian friend’s sister for the last 1.5 years. She is planning to take him to my favorite city. I had only been there during the day, and loved the small quaint sea port, ancient Crusader’s Castle and souk market. And this would be a chance to get out during the Eid and hang out with a good friend, so I was in.

The nightlife in this town was great! The cobblestone streets of the souk are filled with bars, couches, and stylish chairs at night! Bar right after bar each blasting their own techno/electronic/pop music dj-ed mix down through the cobblestone alleys where souvenirs are sold during the day. Just to get through you had to weave your way through the couches, chairs, and people, lots of people, while watching your step to not trip on a rock that had fallen out of place.

We had a very nice dinner at an expensive restaurant overlooking the castle. For some reason, the wait staff looked like pirates with black bandanas and shirts for the men and the women in low cut red blouses white bandanas—even my friend who has lived here for many years couldn’t figure out what style of “native” dress this was. But the food was great. The fattouch and hummus were a spin off the traditional but very tasty—and it is hard to improve on 1000+ year old traditional foods like fattouch and hummus. The Armenian and the Swede tried the dark house beer, then a red wine with the meal. So to not offend by toasting with my water, I ordered a Pepsi. And of course my Armenian friend insisted on paying for dinner. Hospitality is not lost by this hostess. We finished dinner around 11.

Then we wandered the streets till we found the first bar they wanted to stop in. We didn’t really go in, there is no “in” because everyone is sitting out on the cobblestone streets under the stars framed by the old buildings with French styled architecture. We were there for an hour when the Swede paid the waiter before we could object. Okay, so I have to pick up the tab at the next place—so far I have gotten a free meal and a free fruit punch, I made a mental note.

About 12, after walking the streets for several minutes trying to decide what place had the best music, of course defined by a standard very different than my own. It had been noted that the American was not such a big fan of techno/electronic music, but preferred country music, which you can’t find here. We found a small place with 4 tables next to the entrance of the souk. It was kind of far from the center of the party that I am sure the Swede was longing for, but I appreciated the nice fresh salt water breeze. As they sat drinking their local beers out of longneck green glass bottles, and I sipped my bottled water with a lime wedge, the Swede commented on the old rock arch over the street with a small statute of the Virgin Mary. Oh, how we have disgraced this place! What would the Saints have thought if they could see what we have turned this place into, he exclaimed sipping his beer. My Armenian friend agreed and added that right next to the Virgin Mary is a tattoo parlor. But of course these thoughts were passing and the next topic was the gay club in the capital city that had been recommended to the Swede as a joke—the Armenian’s eyes widened and she burst out laughing. She had been once just to see what it was all about, and quickly recounted the story as best she can between fits of laughter. Then it happened—Johnny Cash was mixed into the electronic music! “I Walk the Line” for a whole 30 seconds! The Swede and Armenian eyes immediately turned to the American who instantly mouthed the words and slapped her knee! We really did find the place with the best music—and the Swede and Armenian each heard some of their favorite songs too, like “Sex on the Beach” and “When Love Takes Over.” I took the bill from our third and final stop of the night. I gave the bartender a $50 bill and got $40 back in change but in the local currency, not USD.

We left the quaint sea port city, turned nightlife hub around 1:30 and made it home just after 2:00AM.

So where am I? Where do I live? Where could a Christine, Peter, and Laura have such a night? Seriously, where could all of this exist at the same time? Who knew such a place even existed? God where have you brought me?

Maamoul

2010-09-06T13:38:00.000-07:00

making up for lost time. Thought I would share with you what I did tonight. Well I actually didn't make them because I was too late, but I wrapped two of them.

I went to my language teachers' mom's restaurant to hang out with her family and see how they make maamoul. Visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ma%27amoul to learn about maamoul--it can explain better than I can. These were filled with pistachios.

Here are some pics: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2040373&id=79800981&l=9b9d547551

Enjoy!

G R A S S

2010-09-05T09:51:00.000-07:00

I went to a sahour event last night. Sahour is the middle of the night meal that Muslims eat during Ramadan. This event was put on as a charity event to raise money for the children's cancer center and several of my friends from the young professionals club and I went. The invitations said the event started at 10:30 in a town 45mins to 1 hour south of our city. I was supposed to meet up with friends at 9 at a local hotel. So I arrived at 9, and waited till our ride got there at 9:20---I should have known better, and then we didn't even leave the city till 9:45. We reached the restaurant at around 10:45. This restaurant is right on the boardwalk next to an old Sea Castle. The boardwalk was crowded with lots and lots of people! Most of the time when people fast here they sleep all day and stay out all night. So the boardwalk was full and there was even a parade complete with marching band at 10:45 PM when we arrived!

The restaurant was very nice. We sat outside on a small manicured lawn next to the Sea! Yes, that is right grass!!!! For an Okie I was never much a fan of grass--I mean there is always dirt, ants and bugs under the grass. But I really miss it living in this city where there is no grass!! The nice cool squishy grass!! Anyways, so I asked my friends if it would be weird if I walked bear foot on the grass, and they said it was fine. So I took off my wedges sandals (and had to then roll up my jeans) to walk on the grass. They thought this was hilarious and then needed a picture of my bare feet in the grass. My friend Natalie though was in very fashionable high heels---very typical of the ladies here. So we took a feet pic together!

Gotta love it---Okie girl meets Middle Eastern Fashion Diva on the grass!!! haha! This pic says so much about our different cultures--had to share it!

Oh and to finish the story...the meal was served at close to midnight. We had saj-sandwiches made on a round raised griddle with thin batter with zaatar and cheese, Arabic beans (2 different kinds), made to order omelets, watermelon, cantaloupe, and Arab sweets. My group left after about half the people had departed at 2AM, but there was still many people there! And lots of traffic on the way out of town. All the restaurants remained full! So I made it home at 3AM after my first sahour! It was a great night with friends!

Greece Pictures

2010-08-31T08:25:00.000-07:00

Well, I have gotten a little behind on my blogging. Apologies blog world. I will write more soon. Till then, enjoy pictures from my Greece vacation in August: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2038673&id=79800981&l=7a7e5fc923

The Dermatologist

2010-07-24T06:07:00.001-07:00

well after that post, I am just in the blogging mood, so I won't make you wait for the Dermatologist visit post. I know my family will be excited about that.

So my boss's wife recommended a dermatologist for me to visit. I called and made an apt, and was able to be seen the next week. I arrive in the building and take the elevator to the 5th floor, just before the doors close a mom and daughter also jump in. Turns out we are going the same place. But, since they got on the elevator first, they were the first ones out, the first ones in the waiting room, the first to talk to the receptionist, and therefore the first to be seen by the doctor. Which could have been annoying, but I had a book with me that I was excited about reading. (What am I reading? I am glad you asked!)

Right now I am reading: "Understanding Arabs: A Guide for Modern Times" by Margaret Nydell. I found this on the bookshelf where I am living now. It was been good to read this book and see yes, it is not just me the last year and a half, this is just is how the culture works! And then learn tips for Westerns living among Arabs. For instance, Westerns usually think of a friend as someone whose company they enjoy. A friend can be asked for a favor or for help if necessary, but it is considered poor form to cultivate a friendship primarily for what can be gained from that person, or their position. Among Arabs, a friend is also someone whose company one enjoys. However, equally important to the relationships is the duty of a friend to give help and do favors to the best of his or her ability. The book then goes on to explain then that when an Arab friend asks for a favor, if you say no, that is rude and harmful to the friendship and may even make the friend question whither or not you are friends. The much better response then is to say you will try or see what you can do, or even commit, and then later express that you were not able to complete the favor. This way it appears you tried. And because this is an honor/shame culture, they will not ask you why, because the reason could bring shame to you if the reason was you were incapable. This is great to know, when I have Arab friends, and it explains some of their behavior that I did not understand before. She also has a great chapter explaining Anti-Americanism, and how America misunderstands it. I haven't finished the book, but I would recommend it.

So I am waiting in the waiting room, reading my book, while the receptionist takes care of the mom and daughter ahead of me. Then she asks for my name. I spell it--and she still writes it down wrong. Then she needs my father's name. They have a different filing system here that uses people's father's names, because people don't have middle names here, and if they do 90% of the time it is their father's name. For more info read the Understanding Arabs Book, there is a great section about this. And finally she writes down my year of birth all on a scratch pad. Then she starts clicking away on her laptop. I assume she is putting me into their computer system. A few minutes later she asks me a question, I can't remember what, but I go to her desk, and discover that the whole time....... she has been looking me up on FACEBOOK!! haha. So she asks if the first picture is me, which it is. And her first comment after doing a double take is "You have lost weight!" My profile picture that she is looking at is less than 3 weeks old!

Augh, for some reason, people feel the need here to tell you if you have gained or lost weight in between seeing you! I still don't fully understand it. It's not like we don't have mirrors or scales that tell us these things. And it is not that they are trying to compliment you, because just as often as they tell you have lost weight they say you have gained weight. I need this book to explain this to me. (I left this out in the "eat fish and swim post, but Natalie told me that I looked thinner in my swimsuit. And that I should wear clothes that looked better on me! (ie, tighter) I took this as a compliment. Here I have to wear modest somewhat baggy clothes, so I guess it is good, that she thought I was thinner than I looked.)

So back to the dermatologist waiting room, I told the receptionist to add me as a friend. I started to wonder if I could be missing an opportunity of a new friend if I read my book instead of talking to the receptionist. That could even be the reason why the mom and daughter were before me. So I talked to her about her nieces and how expensive things were in that area of town.

Then it is my turn to see the doctor. In her office, she puts me into her computer system--not real sure what the point of the receptionist is at this point. She asked me how I heard about her, and I told her through my boss's wife (Ann King*), and the doctor gets excited and asks if she moved away. She has a paper that she has meant to give to her for a year, but has not gotten ahold of her by phone. Then looking through a file folder on her desk she retrieves a paper, no this is (Amberly King*). Do you know her? I have never meant Amberly, but I have heard Ann talk about her sister-in-law Amberly who also lives overseas and has visited several times. And it would make since for her to visit doctors here, since they are some of the best in the region, so I say, yes, I know Amberly, and explain the sister-in-law of my boss's wife connection. The doctor was very excited at this and took the page out of the folder, sealed and stamped it in an envelope as confidential and then gave it to me. You tell me: what are the chances of this in the US?! Never, right?! After the visit I called my Ann and yep, Amberly had visited the dermatologist more than a year before! small world, I guess. So I passed on the envelope, never even peeked, I mean it was stamped and all!

The whole Amberly incident didn't make me question the doctor's capabilities though. She seemed very intelligent and had a name tag from the local American University, so I am sure she is well educated and a good dermatologist. So she examined me. What my hair stylist freaked out about was not even a mole, but a collection of blood vessels that I were assured were nothing to be worried about. She froze off a few little bitty warts on my knee. And then prescribed me some meds for acne. I never had acne very bad at all before I moved here, but it has flaired up since I moved. She said it was not the water here, which I had been told could have been a cause. She prescribed an oral med and a creme the same prescription. I corrected her at my name spelling on the prescription, and she said that it really didn't matter---I didn't want to get the the drug store and them refuse to fill it or anything---little did I know about the pharmacy here!

Before I get the prescriptions filled, I do some online research. I have heard bad things about some acne meds so I don't want to take anything with bad side effects. I discovered that this was a light antibiotic, so it was fine.

The next day I went to the pharmacy and they were out of the oral and the creme. She told me that they could get me the creme the next day inshallah (lord-willing) or the day after. I read between the lines and though maybe someday next week they will have it. They were also out of the oral med. So I went to pharmacy #2. Thankfully there are pharmacies everywhere here! They had the oral, but not the creme. The oral was only $7-$8. Prescription drugs are cheap here. And most of the time you don't even need a prescription for them. They did not even take my prescription or mark off that I had it filled! So on the way home I stopped off at pharmacy #3 still looking for the creme, and no luck. Then when I got home I realized that she just gave me a box of the oral med at pharmacy #2 and it only had 10 pills in it, and I was supposed to take 1 a day for 2 months! So later that night when I was out for a friend's birthday, we stopped in a pharmacy to buy gum, and I asked about the prescriptions again. They had the oral at pharmacy #4 although when I wanted to get 5 boxes to last for 2 months they only had 4, but gave them all to me. They didn't have the creme. So now, inshallah, next week I can go back to pharmacy #1 and pick up the creme. I am waiting to start the oral until I can do the creme at the same time. Although, these drugs can make you sunburn easier, so it would probably be wise not to take them when I am in Greece!!! yay, I leave in 10 days. So maybe I will wait till I return to start taking the meds, inshallah, that should be enough time to find the creme somewhere, inshallah!

Hair cut: (The Dermatologist prequel)

2010-07-24T05:12:00.000-07:00

okay, so this story actually starts 2 weeks ago when I went to get my hair cut. I have attempted to get my hair cut at least 4-5 times since I have lived here, but it has not really worked out, and at the first sign that it might not work out, I chickened out. Curly hair is very common here, and the people here are very beautifully put together (cough*vain*cough). So I should not be afraid, but I have had some bad haircuts in my life, and really wanted to make sure that I would get someone who would know what she was doing.

So, one of my friends and her mom were getting their hair cut one afternoon, and decided to go with them. This friend has wavy hair, and is a great English speaker, so I knew that 1)they lady should be capable, and 2)my desired cut could be communicated correctly. I just wanted a trim. Living here for 1.5 years without cutting my hair, it has grown long, and I really like it. Some of the ladies here have gorgeous long dark curly hair, and I have turned into a wanna-be, I guess!

The lady trimmed it, but suggested that I cut the front a little shorter so that it would fade to the length in the back. But on the first cut in the front I held my breath as she cut 6 inches (I am NOT exaggerating!!) So then I started praying (also not kidding!). For those of you without curly hair, when my hair is wet it is long. As it dries it springs up--which is why my hair looks shorter latter in the day than the morning. (It has taken me years to learn curly taming skills!) So when you cut my hair it looks longer than it is, and then I lose like 2-3 inches as my hair dries. Oh, and some hairs are curlier than others, so there are always a couple straggling ringlets that I have to trim a second time later, because they hang lower than the rest of my hair. So what she said was a fade is now like a steep incline! Thankfully she cut very little off the length in the back.

Anyways, she straightened my hair after she cut it. Which I love! I only do it a couple times a year, because it is so much work. Here though because of the 90% humidity. My straight hair lasts only 45 minutes to an hour. And then it is wavy (which is still cute!) and that will last 2 days till I wash it. So as she was straightening it, my friend's mom (who I really love. I even gave her a mom's day present in the Spring) starts oohing and ahhing over my straight hair. Afterward, we had a miniphoto session in the salon. The stylist was telling me how to pose while mom took pics on her cell phone. Mom even told me that I had to stop by her office building on the way home and get a picture made with my straight hair for her. She insisted, even after I tried to get out of it with the excuse that I didn't have any make-up on. It had all melted off in the blow-drying straightening process. (the stylist took at least 2 breaks in the process to wipe sweat from her face with a tissue!)

So I loved my hair straight, but now that I have washed it, and it has curled back up the front is a little too short (it comes to my mouth and is just barely long enough to tuck behind an ear), and she cut alot of it short, and didn't leave as much long as I wanted. Self consciously, I feel like it is a grown out mullet look, although friends assure me it is not.

I don't have any good pics yet or I would post them. Those are coming soon. Wow, this is a long post and I have not even gotten to the reason for the dermatologist visit which was supposed to be the subject of this post. Please bear with me a little further. Sorry dad and any guys that you had to read all about boring girls hair.

So in the midst of cutting my hair, the stylist stops, because her fingernail ran across a mole on my scalp. She very animatedly proceeded to tell me that I should have it removed because it could break off and get sucked into my brain and possibly kill me. She said that moles below the chest were fine, around the neck was sorta dangerous, but on my head was very dangerous. Then mom starts telling her story about getting a mole removed once. (this is a typical living overseas/difference in culture, and medical practices example. Ask anyone who has lived overseas and I am sure they can list all the medical advice they were freely given which is not true. Like ac or cold water making you sick, or a personal favorite: in Turkey I was told if I sat on the cold concrete patio I would not be able to have children--in the summer heat I took the risk and sat on the cool concrete!)

Back to this story though: I have known I had this mole since I was little, but I had not thought about it as a problem, it is hidden by a lot of hair. Anyways, so after this incident, I decided to look at it for the first time--which involved several mirrors and then a digital camera. haha. And I realized that it was oddly colored red. I had an RN friend and her visiting mother, who she called sorta a mole expert look at it and they suggested that I have it looked at. So I made an apt with a dermatologist. And that is the set-up for my next blog post which will be the visit to the dermatologist this last week.

(As I write this, I am wondering if moles are a taboo subject? Do we talk about them in America? Is it gross that I am writing about them? I mean everyone has them, so it must be okay, right? Also are warts okay to talk about? I need to know about this for my next post.)

Okay, now after proofing my blog post, I wonder if I write poorly. I rarely finish a thought without interrupting it with another thought in a parenthesis (kinda wonder if this is annoying, or makes the story hard to follow?). This would not fly in English class, but this is a blog not English class, so inshallah (Lord-willing) it is okay. One of my pet-peeves about myself is when I don't finish my sentences. It is a bad habit that I do way too often. Even yesterday I caught myself saying, "maybe up on that hill over there, we can ...." instead of a complete sentence "once we arrive at that hill, we can look around, and I can tell if I have been here before." This could be attributed to being an introvert and lots of times we don't vocalize thoughts, comments, or ideas, because we think others won't care or they are not important. I need to work on this. Wow! so that is a whole other topic for a whole other blog post. I was just wondering if using parenthesis to insert little comments, is like speaking in incomplete sentences. (hmmm....)

ANTS in my ......

2010-07-18T07:32:00.000-07:00

okay, now to the post I indeed to make yesterday before I realized that I had not shared my "eat fish and swim" story.

ANTS have invaded! Last weekend I woke up to ants coming out of my laptop! I had left my laptop on the coffee table in the living room overnight. Not the typical place to find ants. After killing at least 20 mini ants, and using an can of air on the keyboard, the ants still crawled out of the keyboard! I did a little research online and it looks like some ants are actually attracted to warm electronics! weird?! I know! So I bought some ant pesticide powder. But I didn't want to just sprinkle it on the coffee table, so I put it in a bottle cap. Not sure if it is working. I used a brand called Baygon. Is that used in America too? Umm, I don't think it is working, or maybe I did not use it right, cause there are still ants on the coffee table. I was reminded of this the other day, because I woke up and realized that I had forgotten to put my computer on the dining room table (which lhumdillia has remained ant free!), I left it on the coffee table and it was once again infected with ants!! I killed over a dozen again!

Any suggestions?

And to the wonderful people who are letting me stay in their house for these last 6 months, who happen to also read this blog: I am sorry that I have let ants invade your house. I will do my best to get rid of them before your return! sorri :)

Come, eat fish and swim!

2010-07-17T00:21:00.000-07:00

I have gotten kinda bad at updating the blog. I can't believe it has been almost a month since I updated--and it has been a busy few weeks! This is one story that I intended to post from July 3! So I will do this now and then write what I was going to write about for today.

So one Friday night, I was on facebook, and my friend Natalie started chatting with me and asked me what I was doing on Saturday. I didn't have any real plans, so she invited me to go with her and her friend to "eat fish and swim!" It was going to be fun and we would do it in the cultural traditional way, she explained. Well, how could I resist that?! So we worked out the plan for me to take a bus to a city an hour south of where I live--that is where he parents live and she lives there on the weekends. She would pick me up from the bus station and then we would go "eat fish and swim!" Just for you outsiders-the $1 bus did not have ac or comfy chairs, but it did have open windows carrying a nice salty breeze and a great view of the Sea--and it all its blue hues (some days it has a least 5 different blue hues!)

The bus trip went fine, and Natalie picked me up then we went to go pick up her friend Hussein. By the time he was ready the fresh fish market was about to close, so we settled for the fresh fish flown in from Turkey at the local grocery store. You go and pick out which fish you want (there are 20+ varieties) and they clean the fish for you-which is nice! And of course this area of the store had a very fishy smell. So we got 2 kinds of fish and shrimp!

Then we headed to a second town, even further south. This town has a special area, called camel-although I am not sure why it is called camel. (It has long been joked that here there are only 1.2 camels in this country--at one of the famous tourist places just to keep the stereotype of camels in the middle east alive for tourists.) Anyways, to get to camel, you go through narrow, windy, 1 lane roads that cars drive in both directions on. But when you arrive the area is full of small family restaurants on the Sea, from which you can swim. So we chose one of the less crowed places, so they could cook our fish faster. It was past 2 by this point so we were hungry! While we waited we swam.

Then the food came:
first came the shrimp:

and then the fish!

They also ordered some traditional appetizers. We had hummus, baba gnanoush (pretty much hummus, but made from eggplant), fattoush (salad), french fries, and grilled eggplant with a pomegranate sauce that I loved! when you grill eggplant, it gets this savory texture and then with sweet pomegranate sauce it was sooo good. I didn't get a pic of the last kind of fish but it was also deep fried whole with head and tail still attached!

After lunch, we rented jet skis by the minute. Natalie and I rode ours for 10 minutes and I got to drive for half of it! It was so freeing to go whatever direction I wanted to go and as fast as I wanted and to hit the waves! I don't drive here so it was kinda nice to be in control of a vehicle for a little bit.

Close to sunset, we settled our bill. I think it was about $20 for lunch--which is the same price just to get into some of the beaches around here, and we got a great meal with our beach day!

On the way home, we had to take an alternate route, because fans of Germany were celebrating their 4-0 World Cup game win! Seriously, there were teenage guys on scooters with flags and cars parading with people hanging out with German flags. And we were leaving an hour after the game had finished! We made it back to Natalie's home, where I met her mom. Her brother was there and was going to give me a ride back to my house in my city, because he was going there anyways to watch another World Cup game with his friends. But first we had to all sit and talk and have their Filipina maid serve us juice and a snack first-which is culturally appropriate.

I got home almost 12 hours after I left from a full, but yet relaxing day! I should "eat fish and swim" more often!

The Wedding!!

2010-06-22T08:04:00.000-07:00

This Saturday night was my language teacher, N's sister's wedding. I have gotten to meet all of their family, so I was so excited to be invited to her wedding. She has been engaged to her fiance the whole time I have been here and the wedding was really a celebration that she was finally able to get married. I would love to share the story behind it, and about all the wedding traditions here---and how much I LOVE them! But that is going to have to wait. I have been packing and moving ever since then, and am exhausted.

If you can't tell by my facebook status: I love dancing here!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2037278&id=79800981&l=6d931b6fb0

Enjoy!

Un Noche Mexicano!

2010-06-16T05:09:00.000-07:00

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=31258576&l=fb3574897a&id=79800981

So last week, one of the young professional clubs here hosted a Mexican Night! They put alot of work into it. They got authentic costumes from the Mexican Embassy. A local Mexican restaurant (which is decent, but nothing like El Zarape) serve tastes of quesadillas, nachos and tequila. Actually, the quesadillas that I tried were either just motzerella cheese in a tortilla or chicken, peppers, onion, and OLIVES!

They had a mariachi band and everything. Let me tell you that the people are here are so educated! They knew many of the songs already! La Bamba!

Even the local MTV station was there-which I thought was cool. You know how part of you always wants to make it on tv. Yah, I thought that would be cool too, until it hit me that they were broadcasting in Arabic when they were interviewing one of my friends. So then I tried to hide behind my friend, but that didn't work! The reported asked me in Arabic where I bought the flower in my hair. (see the picture link above) I panicked. I can definitely answer that question in Arabic. "starat hayde warde min Marji 500 mahal bihamra." But as I learned when a camera is shoved in your face, and you realize you are about to look like an idiot on tv, all the Arabic somehow just falls out of your brain! So I answered in English. And the reporter looked at me funny, realizing I was not from here. And asked me again in English, and wanted to know if I studied here or not. Thankfully, my friends helped me out, so I didn't look like a complete idiot--at least that is what they kept telling me.

Oh, and let me explain to you where I bought the flower. I got it at the local version of the Dollar Store---not the typical place the MTV watchers shop! That was kinda embarrassing! Many times, covered ladies will put these flowers under their veils, because they give the illusion of more hair--which is supposed to be attractive. Yes, just because you wear a veil, doesn't mean that you don't know how to dress to attract attention! Maybe this is similar to the poof alot of girls wear in the States! But my red flower was a huge hit! I bought extras for friends and they all wore them. And even had a couple people want to buy them from us! And it was my flower that originally attracted MTV to me, they thought I was dressed authentically! With my skirt from Turkey, and top from here! lol! fun times!

Random Pics

2010-05-30T01:37:00.000-07:00

some random thoughts and pics from this last week:

I found this at the Dollar Store today. I have not seen one like this in the States with interchangeable cutters. I bought if for $2.

Just in case you buy one, oneday, I thought I would share the instructions and warnings with you (also because the English is horrible!)
“Multi-use Strip-Cutter: The main body mixes theresin metal stainless steel”
Characteristic
1. This product specialized uses for to cut the fruits and melons class vegetables and the fruit, for example: the potato, the apple, the advantage, the cucumber, and so on, cause it to become the strip shape or the laminated shape.
2. This product makes for the high quality material and the staibless steel, environmental protection product, clean health, durable.
3. Easy to clean, disassembles and assembles conveniently.
4. Is the modern family essential good helper.

Attention
1. For the health in order to, please first cleans this product before the use.
2. After the use please clean this product, in order to avoid multiplies the bacterium, and lays aside in the suitable position
3. Cannot let the child independent employment
4. When use please note, do not have to use the finger to push the bit directly, in order to avoid cuts the finger

Also it is cherry season! I love cherries!

I just bought some HUGE cherries for $1 a pound! I also bought some plums. But look these cherries are huge (the plums are a little small) but still the cherries are almost as big as the plums!

And since cherries, plums and peaches are in season, I got all these below for $3.60! Yep that is 9 plums, 6 peaches and 2.5 pounds of cherries, 1 pound of plums, and ½ pound of peaches.

OH and while I am sharing pics. I came home late on night this week and found a visitor in my living room. I leave all my windows open, because I live on the 10th floor and can get a nice breeze through the apt with the windows open. Being on the 10th floor, I hardly ever get any bugs or mosquitoes, but this huge cockroach made all the to the 10th floor! 10 cm-really! This is after I stepped on it. Look at the hairs on its legs!

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

touring the country

2010-05-24T10:33:00.000-07:00

Last week, I got to travel around the country to places I have never been before with some other Americans.

Here are some pics from the week: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2036627&id=79800981&l=ce30df99ed

We had the rare privilege of seeing how clay is made, molded into jars and water pictures, fired, and then painted by a man who has been doing it for over 50 years!

Shopping

2010-05-22T12:28:00.000-07:00

I went shopping with a friend for a baby swimming suit. I was not looking for anything for myself, but you know how sometimes dresses jump out into your hands and say “BUY ME!” So, I ended up buying a dress and a pair of flip flop sandals too. I needed a good pair of shoes for summer. I walk so much here I have worn out the soles of my sandals from last year-except my Chaco’s-but those are not always good when I need to dress up. Anyways, I found a good pair of sandals that will be dressy with nice soles, which are comfortable and all at a reasonable price—which is just about a miracle.

I really did not need the dress, but at this store, which is similar to a Ross, I found this dress that I am pretty sure is from Ann Taylor Loft! (they mark out the brands so you can’t tell) Like I have said before quality clothing is rare here, so I tried it on. It is a simple black dress that is long enough and has sleeves so I won’t have to layer-and it will be cool in the summer time. The dress was actually 1-2 sizes bigger than I am, but I tried it on anyways, and it didn’t look too bad. A national definitely would have worn it tighter, but I am not into tight clothing so much. Haha

My friend talked me into getting it, affirming me that it looked good on me. OH and my dad would be disappointed in me if I do not include that everything was on sale, so I got both my items 25% off! Lol. So when I go to check out, the lady at the counter looks at the dress and then at me and tells me that the dress is too big for me. She sees that the size in the dress is an American size so she converts it to metric sizing and asked me if I realized the dress was a 44-48 or something. I smiled and said yes I know. But still she held out the dress and was not bagging it for me. I explained that I did, in fact, try the dress on and I liked it big. For a moment there, I actually thought that she may not let me actually buy the dress. I would have to either lie and say I was buying it for someone else, or just not buy the dress at all. And then she decided to let me buy the dress. I thought she said that it was okay, because really she likes bigger clothes too. My friend thought she said it was okay, because bigger clothes liked her too. Either way it was funny! We both left the store laughing that only here would the sales clerk tell someone that the clothes they were buying were too big for them!

You have to love living here because you can never predict what will happen or what someone will say.

Oh, and my friend did find her baby swimming suit, so it was a successful venture for everyone. She got the swimsuit for $6 too-can’t beat that!

PS-I have not forgotten about Joha, but like a girl, I wanted to share this shopping story with you.

Joha and his sheep

2010-05-12T08:12:00.001-07:00

I thought I would share with you some of the stories I have been reading in language class the last few weeks. I think you could classify them as Arabic fables—but I could be wrong. Unlike the ones you and I grew up with, these don’t really have a moral to the story, except to connive and trick people-which makes the stories even more interesting. I was sharing the stories last night with a friend and that is when I realized that they would encourage kids to lie and cheat. They definitely illustrate how this is a shame culture and you never do something wrong unless you get caught doing something wrong.

In class, my teacher reads the short story and then I butcher the story trying to read it as fast I as I can just to get through it. And then we go through and translate sentence by sentence. A lot of times I know the words, but the sentences don’t make any sense until we translate them. It is a good sign for the teacher then that on the third time around, I understand and laugh in all the appropriate places! I am not blonde, I am just an Arabic student! Lol. And then after reading the story, I have to answer questions about the story do excercises using putting new vocabulary words in correct forms in sentences. And conjugate the new verbs in past, present, and command forms for I, we, you (masc.), you (fem.), you (plural), he, she, they.

Here are the stories in my rough English translation. I think they are funnier (and of course less time consuming) if I don’t clean up the stories and translate literally.

Story #1: Joha and his sheep.

Joha cared for a sheep very pretty that he loved. His friends wanted to mock him because they wanted Joha to kill his donkey for them (“him to slaughter for them”=all one word (6 letters) in Arabic---let’s just say verbs are complicated in Arabic) to eat the meat from the sheep. So one of them told Joha: “what are you going to do with your sheep?” Joha answered: “I am going to hide it for my winter supply.” (meaning: care for my sheep and save him to eat in winter). His friend said: “What? Are you crazy? Do you not know that judgment day is coming tomorrow or the day after tomorrow? Bring your sheep here that we may eat of him.”

Joha didn’t care about what his friend said, but his friends came one after another and gave the same speech, until Joha was bored. So Joha promised them he would slaughter the sheep the next day and would invite them with a special invitation to the countryside to slaughter and eat the sheep. So Joha started a fire and began roasting the lamb on the fire. But his friends left him alone with their clothes while they went skinny-dipping in the river while Joha worked on the fire. Joha became angry that they left him and did not help him, so he gathered all their clothes and threw them in the fire, until they burned. And when they returned to him, they looked for their clothes, and saw that they had burned. They wanted to attack Joha, but Joha told them: “What benefit do you have from your clothes if you are sure judgment day is coming today or tomorrow?”

Joha always wins! Here the “phrase tomorrow or the next day” is very common. Nothing is ever for sure, but I have learned that if a repairman says tomorrow or the next day that maybe he will come the next week. The phrase is used to get out of a lot of things. Originally when we read this story his friends went on a stroll leaving their clothes with Joha, and this didn’t make sense to me, so my teacher and I both agreed that skinny dipping made more sense so we changed it!

Okay, this is a long post and it’s dinner time, so I gotta run, but I will post more stories of Joha soon!

Sandwich Etiquette

2010-05-02T12:48:00.000-07:00

So a friend and I walked downtown to go to H&M at a new outdoor mall yesterday. After H&M we went grocery shopping at a brand new special gourmet “signature” grocery store. It has lots of special imports, sushi, live lobster, and veggies I have never even seen before. My friend and her family don’t like taking taxis though, so as we were leaving, she called her mom to pick us up. She didn’t want to walk up hill with our groceries.

Anyways, so her mom picked us up. My friend asked her mom, what we she wanted to do with her evening and her mom, “have dinner with Laura.” So I accepted the dinner invitation on the first offer, which maybe I should have waited till the second one. I did want to eat with them, but you only know if they are seriously offering if they offer more than 3 times. I feel close enough to this family though, I didn’t think I had to go through all that. Mom said we were going to just have yogurt sandwiches. My heart sank a little. I am not a big dairy person. I don’t even drink milk. On the occasion that I have cereal, I just “wet” it with milk, and drain the milk from my spoon before each bite. I know, I know, I need to drink milk, but moving on…..

So I was discouraged that I would be having yogurt on bread for dinner, but I really wanted to hang out with her family, so I was going to do it. Then my friend spoke up and remembered that I don’t like milk products that much, because she didn’t think I would want the squeaky chewy cheese on my sandwich. Testing the honesty bounds of our relationship, I said that I would rather have the squeaky chewy cheese than the yogurt. And I got my wish! They offered me the turkey that they had left instead!

Okay so that was all in the car ride home. Once we got home, mom started washing up veggies for the sandwiches. We had cucumber, tomatoes, and then fresh mint, and 2 kinds of fresh thyme. She set out the yogurt, cheese, and turkey. And then she set out an assortment of jellies: fig, walnut, pumpkin, and strawberry. Oh and before we could eat our sandwiches, we each had a cup of lentil soup. Then it was sandwich time.

I should interject here, that Mom had her stomach stapled last summer. She was not large, but the people here are VERY conscience of their appearance. My friend and her mom are very health conscious and eat only health food. I had New Years Dinner with them, so I had seen that she eats in a very unique way. So I followed her lead in how she made her sandwich to know how I should eat mine….bet you never considered eating a sandwich this way.

She gave us each a sliced multigrain baguette. She took out the center of the bread and ate it separately, then she would tear a piece of the bottom, piece by piece and make mini sandwiches out of it by putting a spoonful of yogurt and then a piece of cheese and then top it with a tomato and either thyme or mint. When it was my time, they realized that I would need something to wet my sandwich so they offered me some fat free mayonnaise that they had just bought but never tried. So I had mayo, turkey, tomato, iceberg lettuce, cucumber and mint on my sandwich. When I put the top of the bread on my sandwich, I was asked what I was doing. Mom informed me that I was to only make a sandwich out of the bottom of my bread, and was supposed to save the top of the bread for the jellies later! (this is not the national way---this is just her way) According to Mom, it is better to separate your bread out and make 2 sandwiches so that you are not eating so many empty calories. So I took the top of the bread off and ate my half sandwich. Then when she noticed that I had put mint on my sandwich, she told me that was not good, and thyme would be better, so I had to add that to my sandwich. Evidently mint is best with dairy and not with turkey, in case you ever need to know. The thyme was good, but I thought the mint was good too. What little did I know! ;)

When I finished the bottom half of my sandwich, I was then permitted to try out the jellies. Actually, I should say force, I was not too keen on trying fig, pumpkin, or walnut jelly, but they were not bad so I did not mind. The pumpkin was actually chunks of dried pumpkin that were then jellied. So I broke apart the top of the bread and ate it with the 4 different kinds of jelly. They ate their jelly with cheese. Mom says there is nothing better than jelly and cheese; they are just so perfect for each other!

Anyways so that was dinner! That is their common dinner, but they usually did not set it all out on the table this way. So now, you know how to properly eat a sandwich!

Traveling and Noise

2010-04-07T10:22:00.000-07:00

I just got back from a packed vacation visiting family in Istanbul. We saw alot and played alot. Check out the pictures at: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2035584&id=79800981&l=ac76db103e

Oh, and on a random side note, as I traveled home, the people got louder. Istanbul was much quieter than my city, even though it is at least 4 times bigger than where I live. Traveling back was an interesting experience, because the airport check in counter was louder than the ferry that I took across the city to the airport, and people were speaking Arabic. I was glad that it felt comforting to hear Arabic; I must be doing decent in Arabic then, if I miss it. And then waiting at the gate, everyone was loud and there was no real line, just a mass of people. It is scary how good I have gotten at pushy through and cutting in lines, just like everyone else. Please forgive me if it takes me a little while to readjust to in the US, and I push or cut in line in front of you. ;) No one yelled on the plane, but it was not at all quite like the busses in Turkey. And, like normal for Arabs, when the plane landed everyone on the plane applauded.

Anyways I am still waiting for the noise to fade away again, but it hasn't. I came back to find that they are daily doing construction on the roof of our building and we live on the top 10th floor. So they are drilling at 8AM and it sounds like it is in my room! I can hear the motorbikes on the street from the 10th floor, and I started counting seconds between honks, and the highest I have gotten is "8 mississippi." Right now two cars are holding down their horns, cause we all know this gets the problem solved faster!! anyways, sorry for that rant. I am sure this is just a culture shock thing, but thought I would share.

Sweet Talk

2010-03-12T01:43:00.000-08:00

God has blessed me with 2 really great roommates here. I have learned so much from them both. Today, J and I went to the university that we attended last semester to try and get our deposits back. Through the 3 different offices we went to today, J used all her Texas girl sweet talk! The process was so much easier, because she was so gregarious with all the people! She even made a friend with Mohammad in the last office. We have to go back and see him tomorrow to Lord-willing get our $200 deposit refunds.

But while we were there, she asked him something that I would have never asked him. She asked him for a Spring Sticker for our ids. I don’t know about your universities, but to get a semester sticker is the same as validating your id that you are current student. The problem is although we have current ids, since we are not taking classes this semester we don’t have Spring Stickers, and therefore cannot work out in the very nice university gym. J worked her God-given magic to see if Mohammad had any wasta (or connections) to get us into the gym. You see, here there are NEVER any hard, fast rules here. There are always exceptions. So J pushed to see if we could be an exception, and finally he told us to go and talk to Joelle in another building about it. You see we thought this meant that he would call Joelle and tell her to give us stickers or something, but of course he didn’t.

So we show up and explain our situation to Joelle, and that Mohammad said that they were good friends and that she could help us. Her boss just happened to be there at the same time. And to make a long story short, we did not get stickers, but they told us that we could work out there, and that they would not be so strict about the stickers!!! So, instead of getting our stickers, it seems that now a lot more people can get into the gym, because they are not going to be checking for stickers!! All because J asked Mohammad, the registrar!!! Gotta love that there are NEVER any hard, fast rules here. I hope I don’t go back to America and expect to get outta rules all the time. That won’t be appreciated in America, but it is very normal here.

So then J and I take a taxi home and the driver knew English, French, and Arabic, which is very common. We talked on and off with him. I was a little disturbed when I first got in, because I felt like he was staring at me through the rearview mirror. So finally he expressed what he was thinking. In Arabic, he told me that I was very pretty, but would be much more pretty if I put my hair in a ponytail!! The taxi driver was giving me advice on how to wear my hair. He was trying to say it is better in the summer to wear a ponytail because of the heat and that it makes your face look better. I asked if he meant like a facelift and he agreed!! He also said J would look nice too in a ponytail! Oh country that I live in! Never would I have thought that a taxi driver would tell me that my face would be much prettier if I wore my hair in a ponytail. And he was not even trying to hit on us, he was just giving us advice. Oh, and J being in a great mood after getting into the gym started singing in the taxi, to which he wanted us to sing the oldies song Twist, so just before we got out of the taxi we sang “Twist again like we did last summer, twist again like we did last year!!” Oh country, how I love your randomness!!

When was the last time?

2010-03-08T05:04:00.000-08:00

When was the last time you wanted to cross the busy intersection during rush hour, but you couldn't without the help of the Policeman directing traffic at that corner? Okay, so when was the last time that that you had to wait on that Policeman to finish texting before you could cross the busy intersection? Mine was last week! Oh how I love this place!!

When was the last time your street was decorated with multicolored streamers connecting all the buildings back and forth across the street? That would be Feb. 26th the prophet's birthday here. The ribbons are still up, making our street quite festive!

When was the last time you had dinner by a small quaint little port and watched the Mediterranean waves crash against the rocks? Not to rub it in, but that was Saturday night here!

When was the last time I posted? Sorry!!! I am trying to do better.

Flexible Weather

2010-02-15T05:56:00.000-08:00

Skiing Attempt: We got all the way to the ski town, but had to turn around on the way to the resort, because the army said you had to have snow chains to go further. So instead my friends and I played in the snow and had a nice warm lunch. Check out the pics at: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2034438&id=79800981&l=2c09ca63cc

It is a good thing I grew up in Oklahoma and am used to frequent changes in weather! Last week was really cold and I went to the snowy mountains twice, but these last two days have been warm enough to open all my windows and wear shorts in the house. The high today is 82 and the rest of the week is in the high 70s! I know all you snowed-in in Oklahoma must be jealous, but try not to covet.

I have noticed that the nationals are not too good about changing as quickly as the weather changes. Even though it is warm, they still dress in warm coats and jackets. I think this is because they don't check the weather everyday to see what to wear, so they just assume because it is winter it will be cold. How silly is that?! lol, just kidding. Seriously though, in Oklahoma I would check the weather everyday, but the longer I live here the less frequently I check the weather forecast. Most often I just look outside or stick an arm out on the balcony to determine which jacket to grab.

I have begun many posts that I never finished, since this one goes along with the crazy weather and the new picture album (see the link above) I thought I would share it with you:

My ears are cold, because I forgot to turn on the hot water heater.

Okay, are you ready for this logic?
1. In order to have hot water, you must turn on the hot water heater. (they don't run all the time like the US)
2. In order to shower with hot water, you must leave the hot water heater on for several hours (usually overnight for a morning shower...unless you choose to get up in the middle of the night to turn it on--no thank you!)
3. Last night I went to bed and forgot to turn on the hot water heater.
4. This morning there was no hot water.
5. Because there was no hot water, I chose to not shower. Don't worry I used body spray so I was not smelly! :)
6. So I put my hair in a ponytail, no big deal.
7. But the weather finally decided to act like it is winter here and be cold. (this was last week)
8. So on my 20 minute walk to work my ears froze!
9. I had a scarf on and everything, but my big hair is usually always down in the winter to keep my ears toasty, but that was not the case today, because I did not turn the hot water on.

This is not at all to complain, but just to laugh at the logic of living overseas and how one random thing affects so many other things that you don't plan on (even for a known planner like me). Lets just say I have learned how to be really flexible living overseas. You never know what your day holds, because so many random things happen that plans constantly fluctuate. (like my first ski trip above!)

Now I am off to wash the pants that I just got hemmed, but because the tailor smokes in his shop while he works they all smell like cigarette smoke, so I must wash them before I wear them. (but I got 5 pairs of pants altered for $20, so it is still good) But because we will be on generator for another 1.5 hours, I can't really start the washer till 6PM, and by the time the washer goes through its 1.5 hour cleaning cycle process it will be dark outside so these pants and jeans will not dry till tomorrow afternoon, but I am not complaining, just making observations, because the weather is going to be warm this week so they should dry in 24 hours! Which is very nice! :)

okay, now that I have sufficiently bored you with the daily details of my life, I am really off. Now you see why I saw not much was blog worthy this week....this post just really lowered the small worth of all my other blog posts.

Mohammad's Birthday!

2010-01-29T02:08:00.000-08:00

So, in my young professional’s club meeting, we are trying to plan a one day ski trip. And realizing that it costs more to go for a weekend than a weekday, they get the idea to go on a national holiday day, because then it would be in the week and everyone would have off work. And this country is in the top 10 of countries with the most national holidays. So they are trying to think of what National Holiday is next.

That is when I (THE FOREIGNER) chime in. “ Mohammad’s Birthday! That’s soon right?” To which the guy sitting across from me and the most devote Muslim in the club says “Mohammad who?” I am like “Mohammad.” We go back and forth a couple of times, before someone corrects me with “The Prophet’s Birthday!” Okay, so I got the title of the Holiday wrong, and he was trying to figure out which one of our million friends named Mohammad had a birthday coming up, BUT I think I deserve credit for knowing the next national holiday as a foreigner. In any case, I provided the whole club with a good solid 2 minutes of nonstop laughter over “Mohammad’s Birthday!” And that is what language and cultural learning is all about…being humbled and learning to laugh at yourself while others are laughing at you for messing up.

Just FYI, The Prophet’s Birthday is February 26th. I was the only one who had a planner out and they wanted me to look it up in my calendar, but I had to explain that my calendar was from America and would not list The Prophet’s Birthday! Lol

Hummus!

2010-01-25T02:11:00.000-08:00

I just finished my Advanced Arabic final presentation! I was supposed to talk about something authentically Arab. Lots of the students spoke on politics, but I am not into politics, so I chose to speak on hummus! Everyone loved it, they all laughed at the right times and enjoyed snacking on the hummus. (yah, that might have been a bribe for my teacher, but oh well, I think it worked)

I thought I would share my English version of the presentation with you. I was really intrigued by hummus for a week! I was surprised about how interesting it is!

Hummus: God’s gift to the region

“Currently there is a war between Israel and Lebanon. In October 2008, the Association of Lebanese Industrialists petitioned to the Lebanese ministry of Economy to request protected status from the European Commission for hummus as a uniquely Lebanese food, similar to the Protected Geographical Status rights held over regional food items by various European Union countries. Fadi Abboud (president of the Lebanese Industrialists Association), stated that "Israelis have usurped several Lebanese and oriental products Israel has stolen our land, and now our civilization and our food!” As a response, food critic Janna Gur wrote: "The success of certain brands of Israeli hummus abroad may have been what brought about Abboud's anger", leading him to claim that Israel has been "stealing" their country's national dishes, like hummus, falafel, tabbouleh and baba ghanouj. Shooky Galili (an Israeli journalist specialising in food who writes a blog dedicated to hummus), claimed in reply that “Hummus doesn’t belong to the country that invented it, but the people who love it”.

In October 2009, Lebanon made the world’s largest hummus. They made 2 tons (900 kilos) of hummus to prove that hummus was Lebanese. But then this last month, January 2010 Israel took the world record from Lebanon by making 4 tons of hummus (1853 kilos). Lebanon will not let Israel wins, so they already have plans in place to take back the world record title.

This is one of the nicest/tastiest wars in the region. If all the wars in the Middle East were like this, there would be peace everywhere.

There are many different kinds of hummus and several differences between Palestinian, Lebanese, and Israeli hummus. In Lebanon, hummus with Tahini (sesame paste) is the norm, while other traditional kind adds ground beef and pine nuts. Palestinian hummus has mint in it, and paprika, parsley, and cumin. They also substitute yogurt for the Tahini that Lebanese hummus has. Israelis like hummus hot (unlike Lebanese or Palestinians who eat it cold.) Israel also adds olive oil, cumin and Tahini in their humus. Also in Israel, there are places that sell only hummus, called Humsoit.

Hummus is cheap, nutritious, and tasty. It is good for your health. It is high in iron, vitamin C, protein, and fiber. But be careful, because hummus can give you gas! There is only one thing that can unite all Muslims, Jews, Christians, Israelis, Arabs, Phoenicians, and Palestinians, and that is a love of hummus!
Hummus is one of the oldest known prepared foods, eaten in the Middle East for centuries. In 400 BC Plato and Socrates wrote about the benefits of hummus in their diets. The chickpea was used in Palestine before 4000 BC, and was one of the earliest crops cultivated in Mesopotamia (which in Arabic is translated as the land between 2 rivers---that thought was cool!) And according to Wikipedia, Cicero, the Roman orator was named for an ancestor who had a wart on his nose shaped like a chickpea.

So, how do we make hummus? If you are me, I use a can of hummus ready to serve with Tahine and add garlic, a little lemon juice and olive oil. And then I would eat it with Arabic pita bread.

But this hummus (whip out the famous restaurant hummus) is homemade. They even make homemade Tahine. They add garlic, lemon juice, olive oil. And this is the traditional bowl that hummus is served in. When it is finished, spread it in this bowl, and top it off with a few whole chickpeas and a little oil. (The bowl is small and rust colored with large smudged triangles of a tanish/orange on this sides pointing to the center of the bowl.)

Hummus is to be eaten as an appetizer with Arabic flatbread (pita) or you can add it to a schwarma or falafel sandwich, or eat it with grilled chicken or fish.
Finally, I closed my presentation with this video. It is in English but about hummus and Arab life, so my teacher let me show 30 seconds of it, before my time ran out. Enjoy the hummus rap: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIybz6axr1Q&feature=fvw

If you wanna try:
- Mix/blend 10 oz. chickpeas (aka garbanzo beans in America) with 2 large cloves of garlic, salt, 8-12 tablespoons tahini (pureed sesame) 10 tablespoons lemon juice, 1 tablespoon olive oil
- Serve in a large flat bowl
- Sprinkle paprika over the hummus
- Add more lemon, salt or garlic for taste
- For softer/richer add oil

December Pics

2010-01-13T05:25:00.000-08:00

Picture Time! December was really great! It was packed full of traveling, my brother visiting and celebrating Christmas. Earlier this week, I celebrated my one year anniversary of living in the middle east! Yay!

There is so much to update you on, I hope you got a email from me about all the great things in December. If not leave a comment below, and I will send an email with more details.

For now, though enjoy some pics:

Travels:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2033663&id=79800981&l=e9d1f5a8dd

Christmas:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2033591&id=79800981&l=7684e9a639

BCRAC:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2033590&id=79800981&l=53a026008f

Holiday Pictures!

2009-12-07T12:26:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone! Here's some pictures of our Thanksgiving and of the Eid (Holiday) that the Muslims celebrate here - they were only a day apart this year!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2032706&id=79800981&l=9da5296c04

Also, just an update on the hot water, we got HOT water on Friday. I actually forgot how nice hot water was. I had just been trying to not complain about lukewarm, but as the temperature of our house drops from the 80s of the summer to the 50s of the winter (62 in my room as I type), lukewarm, just doesn't quite cut it anymore. And I was a little timid about pushing to get it fixed, wondering well maybe this is just common here, but when our landlord's assistant says he has good skin cause he showers with 80 Celsius water! and we were just trying to get 40 degree Celsius water, I no longer felt like we were asking for something unreasonable!

We never had good water pressure, but somehow in the process to get hot water, we lost our water pressure. Now, it goes in and out and sometimes, if you turn the shower head upside down, no water shoots up, it only trickles down! But we all agree that we would rather have hot water than water pressure. Hopefully in the next week they will get it fixed, although if we understand correctly, the only solution is a motor installed in my room, that has a loud voice, that will wake me up if someone uses it. But I am heavy sleeper, and it will just be something that if it is really loud, we won't use late at night.

Anyways, just wanted to give you an update on that. Enjoy the pictures!

Villages and Minutes = nefsa she!

2009-11-22T05:39:00.000-08:00

So today, I ran into our repairman on the street walking home with several bags of groceries. I have been meaning to call him, so this was a great opportunity to tell him that our hot water heater is still not working. When I told him, he acted shocked. How could it be broken, when he “fixed” it just a couple of weeks ago? (It was never “fixed!”) Usually before I have a conversation like this in Arabic, I have time to prep myself, and bring to mind all the vocabulary that I may have to use. I told the repairman that (after leaving the hot water heater on all night*) we only have only 3 minutes of hot water, and then it gets cold (ice cold) for 2 minutes, and then is warm again. Well, that is what I meant to say, but I said something like. “There is no hot water, maybe have hot water 3 VILLAGES, and then cold water for 2 VILLAGES” Yes, I am not positive, but pretty sure as I was walking away that I used the word for villages instead of minutes!

He was surprised that it was still not working and said he will come on Monday to look at it. So inshallah (Lord-willing) he will actually show up Monday to fix it, although this will be at least the 4th time someone has looked at it or tried to fix it in the 7 months we have lived here. Is it wrong that I want to really break it so that we can just get a new one?

Actually, I have kinda worked out a system with our water heater. I shower as quickly as possible before it turns cold, and then when that happens, I turn the water from the shower to the faucet, and shiver in the shower for 2 minutes before tuning the shower back on and thawing myself out again. Inshallah (Lord-willing) though, this can be fixed before this winter, when it gets really cold!

*Here you only turn on your hot water heater when you want hot water, it is not on all the time like in America. Some water heaters only have to heat for 30 minutes to have enough to shower with, while others you leave on a few hours or all night.

Food for Thought

2009-11-13T11:45:00.000-08:00

The Dr. Pepper ship arrived! After about 3 months of not having Dr. Pepper, I had my first one tonight. I must say, after being Dr. Pepper-less, getting this one is so sweet….it makes me think of cherry vanilla Dr. Pepper’s from Sonic! It is glorious. Anyways, it seems that a fresh shipment of things for American holidays came in. I have seen cranberries out…Ocean Spray cranberries!

Also, while we are talking about food. I made some homemade salsa/picco de galo, whatever you want to call it fresh goodness. It was really simple and easy, and I made it up so I made it to my taste. I took a can of rotel, plus 6 tomatoes, a red pepper, a green pepper, a purple onion, a can of corn, a can of kidney beans (can’t get canned black beans here), a little garlic, and a dash of red crushed pepper. It made a lot of salsa, but it was pretty darn good, if I can say so myself! Oh, tomorrow I am going to add the juice of a lime! This is fun!

All in a Day OFF of work

2009-11-10T12:17:00.000-08:00

I am realizing that I am no longer a kid who gets to have lazy days of doing nothing. Today (Tuesday) was my day off for the week, because I will be working Saturday. We will have training for the young professionals club Saturday. So I slept in this morning till 9, which was intentional. I stayed up working last night till 1, knowing that the power would be off from 6-9AM, and it is always easier to just sleep through that power outage if you can. I have mastered showering in the dark, but it is still kinda scary what I will look like in public when I put on my makeup without any light.

After a breakfast of a yogurt and a granola bar, I headed to the gym. Where I cranked out 6.2 km on the elliptical while watching the Sea, and listening to my Arabic monologue recording for class the next day.

Next, I went to the grocery store. It was one of those days when you only need a couple things, so you decide to plan ahead and gather extra supplies that are harder to carry when you have many groceries, i.e. laundry detergent and softener. I really only went for some yogurt, red kidney beans and face wash. However I left with 6 six sacks and $70 less in my wallet. (The face wash did me in, hygiene products are expensive here-and I was just buying Neutrogena!)

I walked all my groceries home and my fingers went numb with only about 3 blocks left, but I made it home with everything anyway. I made some homemade guacamole with chopped tomatoes, onions, a garlic clove, and lime juice; and burrito meat with sautéed onions and beans. I tend to cook a lot of one thing one day and then eat on it for 5 days, so this is enough to make one Mexican meal a day for the next several days.

After cleaning up and doing a load of laundry, I was pretty exhausted, from all this work on my day off. I needed to practice my Arabic monologue and work on my MBA class, but lacked the motivation, so instead I rested on the couch for a little while with the help of the TV remote. I chatted with my college roommate on skype, and watched Tim Allen on Home Improvement.

When I finally was motivated to work on my MBA class, I realized that for my next assignment I had to research forklifts, and suggest 3 forklifts for the imaginary company I work for on the MBA program. And I can’t make these up, so I had to actually research forklifts on the internet. I was definitely spoiled with wireless internet in the States. Here it is sooo slow. Youtube videos can take 20 minutes to download, no joke. So researching forklifts was very discouraging use of my very slow internet. So I watched more pointless TV (a very old season of “Beauty and the Geek”) while I researched forklifts.

And now it is 9PM and I am writing this while waiting on the next video in my MBA class to load (which will be another 12 minutes according to the status bar, and has timed out at least 6 times.)

I guess I am just entering the real world. And realizing that in the real world, we don’t get to stay in pj’s all day and watch movies and eat moma’s leftovers. Oh, those were the days! (Although I probably did less of that than I am imagining)

They look good even in the Rain!

2009-11-01T05:38:00.001-08:00

Forgive me for not posting. I go through dry spells of not being able to come up with anything that I think would interest you.

On Friday it became Fall here. Overnight it went from warm and sunny to cold and rainy! It has not stopped raining since! It is nice to finally be able to join the rest of you wearing your sweaters and scarves.

In October, I started taking Arabic at a local university. And unlike university in Oklahoma these people dress nice everyday for class. It is like a fashion show everyday on the way to class. I can't get by with a tshirt and jeans like at OBU. Since I am taking Arabic at the university, there are only foreigners in my class. When the rain started on Friday, me and a Swedish girl were talking and she commented that the girls here dress nice even when it is raining. She was shocked that they even had cute rain clothes! It is true! The tall leather boots with skinny jeans tucked into them have returned. Us foreign girls can't get a break even on a rainy day, when you would rather go out in a comfy hoodie!

I also visited the dentist this week for the first time here, and it was a good experience. The dentist cleaned my teeth and not a hygienist. And my cleaning was about half the price of the States, only $40. He spoke very good English and was friendly. Not everything is so foreign here.

Well, that was this week, I think. I will do better to keep you updated, on the weeks ahead!

Mom and Dad's Visit

2009-10-06T10:39:00.000-07:00

Here are some picture's from mom and dad's visit last week:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2031378&id=79800981&l=b78aa9fb81

Enjoy!

Do I tell 20 people that they may have been exposed to H1N1?

2009-10-03T07:45:00.000-07:00

I had a great visit with my parents here this last week. They have made it safely home now, Lhamdillia (thanks to God). But dad got sick the last day, and now mom is sick. Earlier in the week, my supervisor got sick, and is still sick and now his wife is too. Then sometime around Wednesday night, my dad and roommate came down with something similar to what my supervisor had come down with. That same night I had 20 people over to my house for "Laura's Mom's American Homecooking Night!" (which was amazing by the way).

So after my roommate was still sick today (Saturday), she went to the doctor; it was confirmed that she has the flu (what kind is uncertain). She is on medicine now, and I have a preventative med to take as well.

So that left me with the dilemma of if I should I tell the 20+ people that were at my house on Wednesday night and if so, how? Or let it go, not wanting to scare them? I called a trusty national friend to ask what is culturally appropriate. And he said, "NO, don't tell them. That will just scare them and if there was sharing of H1N1 (which is not confirmed) they will not all get sick. There is no reason to worry them all."

Who knew when this swine flu first started (and the end of the world was pronounced...lol) that it could have made it here, and to my family during the 10 days that they were here in whole 2 years I will be here. I never thought I would have to worry about this. And honestly, I am not worried, just surprised about how everything turns out. Thankfully, no one seems to be much sicker than just having the normal flu. Please don't worry, no one is in the hospital or anything.

So as you think about it, remember those who are sick around you and over here: my supervisor, his wife, my parents, my roommate, and inshallah (Lord-willing) none of my friends from Wednesday night, or me.

Cultural Lessons from the Hospital

2009-08-29T02:57:00.000-07:00

Just to clarify, I was helping out a friend who was in the ER. She is doing better now after staying overnight in the hospital and getting her appendix out the next morning.

In the hospital here:
1. You pay cash for any procedure before they will perform the procedure.
Thankfully, my friend knew this and stopped at an ATM and pulled out $2000 on the way to the ER.

2.You can bargain the hospital cashier how much you are willing to pay him!
At first, he told me that a surgery usually costs about $7,000. He was not looking at a computer or a paper, he just looked at the ceiling and then at me and said $7,000. I was shocked and made it apparent that I was not going to pay $7,000. He said that they just needed a deposit, because my friend was being admitted and the decision for surgery would be made the next morning. So he asked for $3,000. I knew I only had $2,000. (I was prepared to use my own money and ATM card if needed) I had already paid $300 for her catscan, so I only had $1,700 to offer him. Thankfully, he took my offer.
Like everyother place here, the cashier had to scan every $50 bill that I gave him. Through this process of scanning 30 $50 bills, we jokingly asked he had found bad bills before, and he said he had found 1 or 2. Well, you probably saw this coming, but the second to last bill I gave him was rejected. He tried many times but it would not go through! Thankfully, I had more bills to exchange for it.

3. After the ER staff were ready to admit her, I had to first pay the cashier, and the cashier is the one who looked for vacancies. Yes, he told me to wait, while he looked in the computer for vacancies! And then he asked which class I wanted. After checking with my friend, we got 1st class. So her room has a couch, a rocking chair, another chair, and a flat-screen tv.

4. My friend has a 3 month old baby. The hospital staff did not want the baby in the ER room. But we could not take the baby away, because she was still feeding her, so had to keep the baby in the ER room. Are there really less germs in the waiting room that the ER rooms?

Just wanted to share with you the cultural lessons I picked up on from the hospital here. I was very surprised to learn this, especially the first 3.

I have eaten more Ramen noodles in the time I have been here than in all my high school and college years combined!

2009-08-21T01:16:00.000-07:00

Yes, the national brand of Ramen noodles is soo good here! And still cheap! I am a big fan.

I guess I am trying to make up for not posting for awhile. Ramen is really not the the topic for today, the real title is: Ramadan Moonwatching, and once again involves my language teacher educating me.

Yesterday in class, I asked her if Ramadan had started yet, it is hard to tell when it starts as you will see below. She was surprised that I wanted to know. I wanted to know for many reasons, the least of them being so I would know what was going on in my own neighborhood, and if I could serve her a drink of water or 7up. She explained that had not started yesterday, but probably was starting tomorrow. "What's this probably?" This very scheduled person thought to myself. She continued to explain, what I did know that the Sunnis and Shi'ites celebrate at different times, but it looks like this year they will be pretty close.

So at the end of the lesson, I asked if our next lesson would be the following day. She told me that it would depend on if Ramadan was annouced that night or not. Because if she was fasting, she would need to get into that schedule, and would not be available for class, and we could meet on Monday, which I understood. So that left me wondering, why does it have to be announced? Why is it so vague, and you have to wait on the others to announce when it starts?

I asked some friends, and then a little online digging and discovered:
There is a debate among the Muslim community on just how to calculate the beginning of the month of Ramadan (or indeed any month, but Ramadan takes on special importance). The traditional method, mentioned in the Qur'an and followed by the Prophet Muhammad, is to look to the sky and visibly sight the slight crescent moon (hilal) that marks the beginning of the month. If one sees the hilal at night, the next day is the first day of Ramadan and thus the first day of fasting. At the end of the month, when the community sights the hilal again, the Festival of Fast-Breaking ('Eid al-Fitr) begins.

Questions and debates have arisen around the following questions:

* What if people in one area sight the moon, but those in another area don't? Is it okay for them to start and end the fast on different days?
* Should we follow the moon-sighting in Saudi Arabia (or any other area of the world), or should we in our local community sight it ourselves?
* What if our location is overcast and cloudy, and the moon is not visible to us?
* Why do we even bother looking for the moon, when we can astronomically calculate when the new moon is born, and thus when the crescent should be visible? That eliminates human error, right?

Over the years, various scholars and communities have answered this question in different ways. The prevailing opinion is that one should commit to a local moon-sighting, i.e. begin and end Ramadan based on the sighting of the moon in your local vicinity. Astronomical calculations can help us predict when the moon should be visible, but Muslims still tend to follow the traditional method of looking at the sky themselves and physically "sighting" the moon. Thus, the exact day of the beginning of Ramadan is not generally known until the night before the fast begins, when the moon is actually sighted and confirmed.

My thought along the way, was that I took McWilliams Earth Science class, and we can know exactly when there is a full moon, but however we can't predict if we will be able to see the moon behind clouds or not. I was very surprised to know that the Muslims may use a local moon or the Saudi Moon to decide.

Oh, and it has been announced here:
The highest Sunni authority, announced that the holy fasting month of Ramadan begins on Saturday.
The start of the ninth and holiest month of the Muslim calendar is traditionally determined by the sighting of the new moon, often dividing rival Islamic countries and sects over the exact date.

Because it follows the lunar cycle, Ramadan comes 11 days earlier every year on the Gregorian calendar, bringing the fasting month this year in the summer.

During Ramadan, Muslims are required to abstain from food, drink and sex from dawn until dusk as life slips into a lower gear during the day. Activity peaks between "iftar," the breaking of the fast at sunset, and "suhur," the last meal of the day before sunrise.

I hope you found this at least half as interesting as I did!

Fairouz continued

2009-08-20T08:05:00.000-07:00

so after my language lesson today, I had to update you. My teacher wrote out the English translation for me of one verse of the song.

I thought I would share it with you: (this is how she wrote it)
By the latest days of summer, the young girl slowly, slowly went down to the village place (yard) (village called Mayss El Reem) and the carriage stopped.
We are late. We can do nothing, My lover. We are so late that we can't be on date. I wish if I could see you (with my eyes). The hell with the car, wether it works or not.

Okie, American, English:
On last day of summer, the teenage girl leisurely headed to the Mayss El Reem town square, when her car broke down. Oh no! She is late now, because she can't fix the car. She can't meet her boyfriend for her date! She so wants to see him. To heck with her car!

Also, she is tough! She made a whole lesson out one of the letters I have a hard time saying, the "Ayn." (You use the same muscles in the back of your mouth that you use when you gargle with this letter.) Trying to read the sentences that she wrote is like trying to say "peter piper picked a peck of pickled peppers" in a foreign language! But inshallah, after all the repetition I will finally pronounce the letter like an Arab!

Fairouz

2009-08-19T12:13:00.000-07:00

I have a new language tutor who is amazing. One of my homework assignments, was to learn a song, by the infamous Fairouz. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairouz) My roomate and I tried to come up with an American equivalent to Fairouz, but failed. She could be the Johnny Cash, Madonna, Sinatra all in one of the Middle East.

My teacher transcribed one of her songs for me, with blanks that I was supposed to fill in. I listened to the song at least a dozen times, and still could not read her writing and figure out where she was singing from. Can you imagine learning a new song in another language? Especially when they hold some words out longer than others!

Well, I finally cheated and got some help from a national speaker who informed me which parts were repeated and were the refrain! Which helped so much!

Next week, I get to do a Demke (dance) song! I like the Demke music because it is the closest to country music here, and the dance is very similar to country line dancing.

http://www.babulous.com/community.jhtml?community_id=189
If would want to hear the song I learned this week, go to this link. Select the song: "Akher Ayam Al Syfya." And use the controls in the banner at the top of this page. Hope it works.

Oh, and in case you want to know what the song is about. She is sad that the summer is over, and uhh, well that is the most I have for now, something about how they can't drive their car to their favorite spot anymore now.

Enjoy

Confessions of Comfort

2009-07-29T05:58:00.000-07:00

So, I have been thinking a lot lately of my comfort zone and all the ways I am being challenged to get out of my comfort zone. And today, walking home I starting thinking of all the things that God has blessed me with inside my comfort zone here. For example, where I was home from…

Around lunchtime, I was craving Hardees, which I don’t remember eating in the States, but here Hardees is really good! There burgers are my favorite, and I really don’t like the beef here, but theirs are good. And at this Hardees, you get to refill your drinks (very rare here) and the fountain drinks taste normal (even rarer here). So I walked to Hardees for lunch, about a 7 minute walk. I wanted it so bad, I even went and ate there all by myself. And after I finished my delicious lunch, I went to a rather large grocery store that is right next to Hardees. For those from NE OK, it is bigger and has more variety than Reasors, but not quite a Walmart. This store is also a favorite, because it has all these little incredible signs that say, “imported for you.” I have found this beloved sign on Dr. Pepper, Sarah Lee Lunch meat, Pillsbury frozen biscuits, and many delicious things! At this store, I picked up some chicken breasts for dinner, some lunchmeat, 2 Dr. Peppers, M&Ms, olive oil, granola bars, and some school supplies. Mom and dad know how much I secretly love school supplies! Yes, it is sad, I really am that much of a nerd! I was upset that last year that I didn’t get to buy school supplies. I got a cute notebook, which I did need, and some printable index cards (what a good idea!), that I can use for work.

I am always careful to not get more than I can carry at this store, which is probably a good money-saving tip, because I will walk home with all my things about 10 minutes. But on the way home, I just was reminded of all the things I have been blessed with in this country that are comfortable, that I did not have to adjust to from what I had grown up with. Even the fact that I can walk home by myself in public for 10 minutes wearing capris and a short sleeved shirt is more comfort than some people in other countries in the Middle East. Other comforts of my country, which I have enjoyed here: most of the people can speak some English, the clothing styles, the beach, the friendly people, flexible work schedule, the cinema, the shopping, the malls, and cable TV.

Well, not to complain, but to give you a better picture of life here for you, I wanted to share with you what I experience here that is outside of my comfort zone. Those with a *, I have adjusted well too, so they feel like normal now to me. My comfort zone has expanded to include those with an *.

• Tanks with Military Police on street corners in my neighborhood*
• Military Checkpoints (I even drove through these in Jordan)*
• Greeting women with 3 kisses*
• Greeting men with 3 kisses (this is rare, but with some people groups it is fine) {no * here}
• Parties, yes, I have been to more parties here with people drinking than in the US
• Swear words (thanks to Hollywood, people here think that we use curse words in our common language, and don’t realize that some of them are even inappropriate)
• Never flushing toilet paper (but hey, we have Western toilets)*
• Walking in front of traffic *
• Drinking chi and coffee when served in a home*
• Being without electricity for 3 hours a day {want to put an *, but still working on not grumbling and complaining about this on some days}
• Expensive phone and internet service
• Taking taxis*
• Hummus, and Arab food!*
• And eating street food, manaeshe and schwarma! * yum
• Walking past mosques, and the call to prayer 5 times a day*
• Seeing women in full black abbayas and men in full length white thobes with scarves (these are foreigners here, while the dress in common in the middle east, it is not common in this country)*
• Walking up and down 10 flights of stairs to my apt, when the power is out*

Well, I hope this was a nice little lesson on how life is different, but yet not completely foreign overseas. Lhumdililla (thanks to God) for comforting me enough so that I can effectively function here, while making me uncomfortable enough to have to learn that I need Him every day. Inshallah, (God willing) this will be an encouragement to you, that you could live or at least visit me here; life in this country on the other side of world is pretty nice!

More pictures

2009-07-27T05:46:00.000-07:00

More pics! http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30960630&l=e14bdda50c&id=79800981

Jordan

2009-07-20T09:15:00.000-07:00

So last week, I got to tour the country of Jordan with a college roommate and we had a blast!

Here are the 100+ Jordan pictures: (they don't follow the order below)
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2029514&id=79800981&l=f0eda5311e
(copy and paste the address in your address bar)

Here is the short version of all we did:

Day 1:
We toured old ruins at Jerash and Um Quays. From Um Quays in the North we could see the Sea of Galilee, and the surrounding countries. Had a wonderful dinner with friends at a traditional place. Then I met up with some young professionals for an after dinner party. It was great to reconnect with people that I had met the week before in my country.

Day 2:
My roommate arrives and we head to the DEAD SEA! Our first stop was Mt. Nebo, where Moses saw the Promised Land (Deut. 34) From there we went as close as we could to the spot where Jesus was baptized, without having to hire a bus and hike an hour. Then we explored "Prophet Lut's Cave and Monastery," aka Lot's Cave, where Lot and his daughters lived after Sodom and Gomorrah was destroyed. We were that close to where Sodom and Gomorrah used to be! (Gen. 19) Then we watched the sunset at the Dead Sea! The Dead Sea is so salty, that you just float in it. It was a really cool feeling! The mud there is supposed to be great for your skin, so we also enjoyed giving ourselves full body mud masks on the beach!

Day 3:
Off to Aqaba and the Red Sea. We stayed at a hostel less than 5 miles from the Saudi border, and could see Egypt across the Sea. We scuba-ed in the Red Sea; a first for both of us! We explored a sunken aircraft destroyer tank on the bottom of the Sea, surrounded by coral, fish, and a couple of snakes.

Day 4:
PETRA. Here we explored amazing, huge ruins carved into the mountains from on top of camels, and rode donkeys up 800+ steps to a Monastery. Oh, and got invited back to our donkey guides' Bedouin tents for the night, but unfortunately we had to get back to Amman! ;)

It was a great trip, even if we were a little under the weather most of the time!

What a Week!

2009-07-06T07:00:00.000-07:00

new pictures: (cut and paste, link below)
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2029106&id=79800981&l=165c20bf3c

Wow! This week was really busy!

Wednesday: The Launch of the new year of the young professionals club with a Gala Dinner at a 5 star hotel! This event was very formal, and we enjoyed a nice 3 course meal! Very important people and ambassadors were in attendance.

Thursday: 5 star resort beach with the young professional club members from other countries.

Friday: I had to do actually work, then met up with the young professionals at The Island Club.

Saturday: July 4th! another trip to the beach, and then American food with American friends, complete with fireworks!

Sunday: Sarah's Birthday with lunch by the Sea!

now, fast forward a few days to this Friday, when I head out to meet up with my college roommate in another country for vacation, and then coming back to show my country off to her!

Enjoy the pictures, DAD!

Teenage Dance Party

2009-06-29T07:08:00.000-07:00

Sunday was my friend Jill's daughter, Georgina's 15th birthday. My roommate and I went to celebrate with her family. It was a family party, we were the only ones that weren't family there. Several teenage cousins were there with their mothers. The party quickly became a dance party to Arab music. I really need to do so Arab music research, so I can say who my favorite Arab singers are. (along the lines of music, in EVERY conversation I have had with a national since Friday, they have always ask if I have heard about Micheal Jackson's death)

These girls were really good dancers! I wish I had video of their moves to share! Here the dance consists of shaking your booty alot, and turning your wrists with your arms up in the air. The national dance though is "Demke." Demke is kinda like a grapevine line dance, in that you dance in a line (or circle) and repeat the steps. It has some stomps and kicks in it. It took this white girl a little while, but I think I eventually caught on. The girls were very patient teachers.

After one girl said she liked my ring, I made the mistake of saying I liked her bracelet. Then she tried to give it to me. I knew this trick and knew that if I accepted her bracelet, I should give her my ring. After I refused over 3 times, and put the bracelet back on her wrist after she put it on my wrist, and she still took it off and put it on my wrist again, I put my ring on her hand. I was kinda sad to lose my ring, but it was just from AVON, so was not anything too special, but now I have an imitation diamond bracelet! Mostly I was frustrated, cause I knew this trick (that you never complement jewelery), but yet I feel for it, after she complemented my ring. In addition to good culture practice, the party was good Arabic practice, as well!

At the end of the dance party, we had a layered chocolate cake from a local bakery and orange soda. We all sang Happy Birthday in English and then in Egyptian Arabic, and then they ALL blew out her trick candles. They were all really excited to get to the cake, and pulled the trick candles off the cake before they were done. So they were stomping on the candles on the ground, like they were cigarettes.

Also to celebrate, they had fireworks, which is very common here. These were just really big sparklers. And for some reason they set them off right under the electrical cables. They made the mistake not aiming the sparklers away from themselves, and an 8 year old got a spark on his shirt!

Pictures are coming!

adding on and checking off life's to-do list

2009-06-21T05:35:00.001-07:00

Had a good week, last week doing some training in another city. Enjoyed meeting co-workers from other countries. The highlight was having MEXICAN FOOD at a fancy hotel! It was sooo good!

The lowlight was getting sick! I caught a virus the last day. Let's just say that although vomiting on an airplane was not on my life's to do list, it can now be checked off! gross, huh?! They take swine flu very seriously here, and I was really afraid that they would think I had it, but I just played it off, like it was the take off, or something I had eaten. Anyways, it was only a 50 minute flight, so the humiliation didn't last forever!

Cars and Traffic

2009-06-10T13:01:00.000-07:00

Everyone talks about cars and traffic overseas. It can get a little annoying, because it seems that traffic and driving is more difficult and crazy in foreign countries. The reason everyone talks about it is because it is true!

Two stories from today:
1) My first fender bender accident in a taxi. We were through an intersection, when another car hit my taxi's rear passenger tail light. I was sitting behind the driver, but of course without a seatbelt on, so I hit the drivers headrest. (please, don't tell safety officer, Rachel, that I was riding in a taxi without a seatbelt! :) ) We were not going very fast. It is rare to go fast here, because there is always traffic!

So, the driver and front seat passenger both get out, waving their arms to tell the other driver what-for, which is the appropriate cultural response. Leaving me in the taxi, wondering if I get out and get a new taxi, or just wait it out. After about 2 minutes of blocking the intersection and lots of cars honking at us, my driver returned and drove to the side of the street. They surveyed our car's damage and the other guy's damage, and then left. There is no exchanging of insurance here. What's done is done.

2) Cats are everywhere here. You know that I do not like cats. But today, I actually had compassion for a cat. A cat ran out into the street towards the car in front of us. And although the car in front of us slammed its brakes, the cat was hit. It was not killed, but scrambled/slithered across the street as fast as it could, on three legs. I did feel really bad for the cat.

At least now, I will have some stories to tell in Arabic class tomorrow. Yesterday we started our unit on cars. I can talk to you in Arabic about changing oil, getting gas, changing tires, and after tomorrow about car accidents!

When was the last time your cable man said you had gotten a little fatter since the last time he saw you?

2009-06-04T09:09:00.000-07:00

Mine was today! except he said it in Arabic, and then when I asked what he said, he struggled for 30 seconds to find a word in English and then resorted to using widening hand motions.

It might have hurt a little, but I know that if anything I have lost weight since the last time I saw him, so my clothes today, just might not be that flattering. But that is okay, cause I am not trying to attract the cable man!

The funny thing is that here, he was not being rude at all. Just making an observable comment. There is nothing wrong with telling people they are ugly or fat. Thankfully, I was able to just laugh this one off from the shock of it all when I got home.

Moving

2009-05-30T12:58:00.003-07:00

Where to start? Moving is a process in the States, but here it is an event and a half. To save you the details. Here are the highlights.

All the furniture had to be taken apart to be moved. We have armoires, because there are no closets here. I am very thankful for our armoires, cause they are really nice and big and hold a lot. Still they must be taken apart and reassembled to travel. Pretty much anything that wouldn’t fit in the elevator had to be taken apart.
Very little was damaged in the actual move. Half of our oven was hanging off the back end of the truck, so that was a little scary, but it made it. The most damage was done to my African Violets. My plant was looking really good, the best that it had been since I got it in January. Unfortunately, when I was not looking, the movers stuck my plant in a plastic bag with a lamp! Let’s just say that now, I have an A-symmetrical plant. But at least plants can grow back, right?! My TV could not grow back!
Speaking of TVs, for the first time since January, we have a TV with Satellite. Although our cable line runs from the roof of the building through our balcony door. We had to pay $75 for this set up, because we did not want the TV in the dining room where the cable line was. We fit more into the community now, before we were thought of as really odd for not having a TV. And we have about 80 channels in English, Arabic, and French.
It took 4 visits from our landlord’s assistant and 6 days to get hot water. Hot water heaters are not left on all the time here, like in the States, you turn the water on, and leave it on for several hours before you shower and then turn off the heater when you are done. For this we have to learn all the switches in our fuse box. Still not sure about hot water in the kitchen, but there is some in the bathroom now! LHUMDILILLA! (Praise God!)
Electricity, now that is a blessing, not a right. At the old place we had access to a generator line when the electric was off. We could not use many appliances on generator, but enough to function. We assumed when we were told there was a generator in our building that we would have a similar set up! SILLY AMERICANS! What were we thinking?! Of course, it is not the same! Every part of our city goes without electricity for 3 hours a day. At our new building though, they don’t turn on the generator for the whole period we are without electricity. I am sure there is some reasonable explanation for this, at least that is what I am holding out for. Here is the schedule:

Time without Power	Time with Generator
6 AM – 9 AM	7 AM – 9 AM
9 AM – 12 PM	None
12 PM – 3 PM	2 PM – 3 PM
3 PM – 6 PM	4 PM – 6 PM

Thankfully so far, we have been able to work around this schedule so that we have not had to walk up 11 flights of stairs to our apartment at a time when there is no electricity. I have only had to walk down 11 flights of stairs 3 times, which is much better!

Mysteriously, we had had water appearing in our bathroom floor. We could not figure out where it was coming from, until today. It was coming up from the floor drain! Yes, they clean their floors by squeegee-ing water here, which requires floor drains. We have since poured a product a step above draino, that would never be approved to be sold in America in the drain. The first time we did this though, the water came pouring up out of the drain. I waited 30 minutes, then went back in with a glove and a knife. Can you guess what I found in the drain? No, not hair or gross bathroom things. Rocks, gravel, and a few screws/nails! It is much easier to dig for these things. I can get my whole gloved arm in the drain. But this just felt like I was getting a water sample for earth science class, so I was not grossed out. In fact, I was joyful! For the first time here, we had a problem that I could fix and work to correct, I could not do too much about the water heater except depend on other guy and change my schedule so I could be home 4 times this week for them to come. I will post pictures of the drain finding eventually.
There is definitely more of a community feel in this neighbor, except for the school on our street (which has school on Saturdays instead of Fridays, because Friday is the meeting day at the mosques here) and construction across from our building. The vegetable/fruit man across the street from us is very nice. On my third visit there this week (cherries are in season!) he asked where I lived and I pointed and said the name of my building and he responded with, on the 10^th floor. He already knew where we lived. Word travels fast here. And it is the community mindset. But he welcomed us and said peace be on my head. He was not creepy at all, just welcoming me to the neighborhood!

I will post pictures of the apartment when we get it ready to be viewed!

Fun Videos

2009-05-17T10:21:00.000-07:00

Wanted to share some videos to make you laugh, about life here:
She thinks My Camel's Sexy: www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9b-8C5RONk

Food Here:

Tabbouleh: (finely chopped parsley and tomatoes) All my language teacher can get her girls to eat is tabbouleh and french fries
www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FaNzrtu0KM&feature=channel

Hummus:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIybz6axr1Q&feature=channel

Hope this makes you laugh!!

Happy Mother's Day

2009-05-09T11:35:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day!

In honor of Mom, I am posting more pictures of the Beautiful Boardwalk here at Sunset! We may be across the ocean, but we have the same gorgeous sky!

Love you Mom, and Mema and Grandma Sue, and family!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2027646&id=79800981&l=d52ffb6652

For the Oklahomans, out there!

2009-05-09T09:03:00.000-07:00

Some things that I think all the Oklahomans out there will enjoy! (now that I have the fidget, I can see when you all sign on, and there are so many of you, so this one is for you!)

Missin' Tornadoes and Thunderstorms in Oklahoma Springtime
It doesn't rain here during the Spring and when it looks the least cloudy, the Oklahoman in me comes out and I look for the big thunderstorm or tornado. Who knew I would miss those living here? I guess it is the excitement of the storm or how great it is to sleep through the storm. And I hear that you all in Oklahoma have had a lot of rain and storms recently!

Driving 4-Wheelers in the City
So I have seen a couple of four wheelers in the city over the last couple of weeks, alongside all the mopeds here. It is actually, odd to see full-sized motorcycles, cause I have gotten so used to just seeing the mopeds. But to see 4-Wheelers, which remind me of Oklahoma country on these busy city streets was a shock!

Ready for Memorial Day at Lake Tenkiller
Living this close to the beach, but not going to swim in the Sea yet, has been hard. The public beaches are to be avoided here, because of the kind of guys that hang out there. And the private beaches are expensive. Makes ya miss just going to Lake Tenkiller, or the Illinois River for free. For Memorial Day, go out and enjoy the water and grill a steak out for me!

Visit to an Old "Walled City"

2009-04-27T10:28:00.000-07:00

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2027386&id=79800981&l=285c3b2d72

Check out these pictures from a little day trip!

Karaoke pics

2009-04-26T11:10:00.000-07:00

Compliments and Arab life

2009-04-24T13:46:00.000-07:00

In foreign countries, I seem to be known for my baby face! In another country, I always got my cheeks pinched. Here, I have been asked what facial moisturizer I use and if you can get it here. (I have also been told my hair is a "camp" multiple times by a hairstylist here, still not sure what that means.)

My language teacher has called my face a "garden" before. I always thought she was talking about my crazy hair. But today I got the reason for it! There is this green floral shirt I wear that she really likes on me, and says that it bring out the color of my lips and just works...therefore my face is as pretty as a garden, (Obviously, right!?!) This is the shirt below, although, I wear a long sleeve shirt underneath it here, but I don't have a picture of that.

So, since she was complimenting me, I told her that "Fustanik hilwe" your dress is beautiful. {Tangent: Arabic is a difficult language to master, but very convenient, see above, what takes 4 English words can be said in Arabic in 2 words! There are several phrases like this. For indirect and direct object you just add an additional suffix instead of another word, this is nice, but just another thing to have to learn} And this was a new dress or at least one, that I had never seen her wear and it was "mov" (mauve) her favorite color. She liked that I liked her dress and said that it was the color her husband like the most on her.

Well, about 15 minutes later, her dress gets caught in her chair, and an about an inch of eyelet material is ripped....and I AM BLAMED! Because I complemented her dress, then something had to be done, so I would not covet! That is the jest, anyway. Here it is always good to stay away from complimenting someone about a material possession, because then that obligates them to give it to you, or means that now, something bad will happen to them or to that material item. BUT, I thought that since I had already been complimented on my garden face, only minutes before, I could complement her dress. I thought that my language teacher was more Western and had moved past that tradition. And maybe she has, but she still took advantage of the opportunity to blame me in a joking way, for the rip in "Fustan hilwe" (beautiful dress).

Other notes from class today on life here:

My teacher is very jumpy around loud noises. Which can be attributed to the fact that most of her life she has lived through harab (war). And this is the reason she has stomach ulcers. She was very sick (could have been anxiety caused by the war, or just a stomach bug/virus) during the war, when medical help was harder to come by. So she went untreated and without medicine for such a long time, that she has now developed ulcers.

She also does not like the Call to Prayer here, that is broadcast from the mosques five times a day. I have not heard Nationals say that they don't like the Call to Prayer before. Foreigners either think it is beautiful, or become annoyed by it, or have a very hard time with it because of the beliefs it represents. But to have my covered language teacher tell me that it gives her chills, I was very surprised. When she explained though, I remembered, that the call also goes off during a funeral. So she also links the Call to all the people she knows that have passed away. Something that I had not thought about before.

Karaoke...Arab Style

2009-04-24T13:19:00.000-07:00

Thursday night, the young professionals' club had a "social event," K A R A O K E! It said it started at 9. So being on Arab time, I left my house at 9, and walked the 10 minutes to the cafe. And of course the actually karaoke did not start till 10:30. But it was still a fun time. I had some "wing girls" come with me, that are not a part of the club. I have learned that I need to work on my small talk game. It was nice to have the girls with me to help with small talk, prove that yes, this poor foreign girl does have other friends, and of course to help me carry a tune! It was fun!

I was a little nervous about not being able to Karaoke, because I can't read Arabic fast enough to sing with it. But looking through the books of songs before we started, they had half-n-half English/Arabic, which was a comfort. And then it hit me, I really only know Ch and Country music enough to sing along with it! So, we looked and found 2 songs that I could sing: "That Don't Impress Me Much!" by Shania Twain, (listen to this song if you have it, it is very true about the men here, if I might add) and "Tim McGraw" by Taylor Swift. LHUMDILILLA (thanks be to God), my roommate sang with me on both of these, and the mic volume was low. We left the party at 12AM though, so I didn't get the worse voice award! Interestingly, only the chorus of one song was in Arabic, the majority of the songs were in English, with maybe a-third of the songs were in French!

So, I introduced the scene to my country music! I knew most of the English songs, some well enough to sing along to like "How To Save A Life," but there were a couple that I didn't really know.

Karaoke, Yes! A Success, and I think I could do it again someday! No one was all that great, but everyone sings along with you anyway. And now the ice is broken with the group, and we have things to tease each other about, which always helps in the small talk game! So a good night all around!

A day without weird looks!

2009-04-17T06:21:00.000-07:00

So today (it must be in honor of my dad's 50th birthday), I did not get any weird looks from strangers. Sounds like something odd to celebrate right? But I am so excited! I picked up some manache (fresh bread with cheese or spices)and a donut for a friend today. I ordered all in Arabic, and they understood me! It scared me that they did not have to repeat what I ordered, and I crossed my fingers that I had communicated correctly. And I got what I ordered! LHUMDILILLA! (thanks to God)

Then I bought bananas and clementine oranges from a street vendor's cart, which was a first, but I needed fruit and he was on my way home from school. I got 1/4 of a kilo (just over 1/2 LB) of each, and you know what? He didn't give me a second look either, but got me exactly what I asked for LHUMDILILLIA, again!

Going Native! Three months of language are paying off!

Good Ideas and Random Thoughts Come All At Once

2009-04-13T11:06:00.000-07:00

So after 2 weeks of not knowing what to update you, I thought of some things today to share, forgive the randomness: Mosquitoes, Driving, and Strawberries!

Mosquitoes
I take after my mom, in that mosquitoes love me! And mosquito season started about 3 weeks ago here. They are worse at night, so I have this "zapper," aka Glade Plugin that supposedly keeps mosquitoes at bay, while I sleep. But it has not been doing as good of a job as I would like, so I am sleeping with long sleeves, now, so that the bites are contained to my wrists and face. But if I forget and stick a foot out of the comforter, I wake up to bites the next morning on my feet! I whelp up bad from mosquito bites, and looking at my wrists, I know I have had some of these bumps for over two weeks!

So you know our house, has bad airflow, right? So if air can't get in, how can mosquitoes? Great question! During the day, we have to air out the house. And I was determined that they came in during the day, just to haunt us at night, but I am thinking their brains are too small to think ahead like that. We have lots of windows and doors, and if you forget and leave a window cracked after sunset, then its over, we will have mosquitoes all night!

In fact, as I write this I have had to get us twice to chase this big one that is teasing me!

Driving
Everyone says that traffic and driving overseas is crazy and dangerous. And well, my country is no exception. I have gotten so used to walking in front of traffic to cross the street that I am scared to show my parents around here, cause I know my mom is going to yell at me for crossing the street with traffic coming, but that is normal here.

Today, in a taxi, I was thinking of how boring driving in America is. You follow all the rules, and obey all the signs. Coming back from a retreat in the mountains, I was with 3 national college guys, and the driver told me that I should bring some American policemen over, because of all the crazy drivers here. I agreed, but said I did not think it would help any. And, no lie, less than 2 minutes later, what did the driver do? He ran a red light! There are not many lights here, cause what is the point, if no one obeys them, but still we got honked at by the opposing traffic. The rest of the guys in the car gave him a hard time, so this was obviously not an acceptable running of a red light. He just did not see the light; which considering how few there are here, could you blame him for not noticing? If the American policemen that he wanted, were here, he would have gotten a big ticket! Can't have it all, right?

Strawberries~
Angel food cake, strawberries, and cool whip is my favorite dessert, ever! And today, I bought strawberries for $1 here. I have never gotten them for so cheap in the States! There are almost overripe, but I am not going to complain...just gotta eat them faster. No cake or cool whip, but still, very good!

Oh, and yes, I do soak my fruits and vegetables in a bleach water bath before I enjoy them. (inside joke: I am just washing the strawberries!)

Village Pictures!

2009-04-09T09:17:00.000-07:00

http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2027017&id=79800981&l=7130532e7e

Can I make up for the lack of recent posts, with some good pictures from the trip to the village? I sure hope so! Enjoy!

New Post, Finally!

2009-04-06T10:49:00.000-07:00

I know there are so many things you would like me to update you on, I just can't think of what they would be. Unfortunately, I have hit the point here that I no longer laugh out loud seeing people feather dusting their cars. It seems common to walk in front of cars in the street here, and to be honked at numerous times by taxi drivers wanting to know if you need a ride. I love my country, but unfortunately it has lost it "newness" if you know what I mean. I have turned down food, cigarettes, and arguile countless times... I have the whole "la, shukran" (no, thank you) while putting my hand on my heart thing down.

I am very defensive of Oklahoma, but I have to say that for a state larger than this country. This country may have more to offer. Here we have the sea, and the mountains! We have snow and rain. We have modern urban city, and rural nomads. It is truly a diverse land!

I still can't wait to show off the country. Everyday, I find somewhere new that I want to take my family or friends when they visit. Know that you are welcome anytime!

Below are pictures from my most recent retreat in the mountains.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2026998&id=79800981&l=f0ddf00847

Mother's Day in the Village!

2009-03-21T13:02:00.000-07:00

Just a warning: this one is going to be long! I am still on a high from having such a wonderful day! Today was the first day of Spring, aka Mother's Day in the Arab world. My language teacher, Nevine had invited me and my supervisors to go with her, and her 2 daughters and her mother to her grandparents' village. Their village is about 1.5 hours from our city. (Let me clarify the term village...most of the people in the village all shared the same last name. And all the homes are concrete and they do have indoor plumbing (but can either have a squatty-potty or Western toilet, which I discovered!). And all the homes we were in had either a decent tv or a computer with internet in their sitting room.)

I love Nevine's family! They are so much fun to hang out with. I never feel awkward about making sure I am doing whatever is culturally appropriate with them! They are loud and we exchange kisses in greeting and leaving! We call each other "Habiti" (beloved) and laugh together! I got really good Arabic practice in throughout the day. I enjoy playing with her girls, who are 7 and 4; they say it is the true test of your Arabic if a child can understand you!

This country is so ancient! I mean, did you have ruins of an ancient temple as your backyard playground?! ANJAD! (really?!) And we can climb all over them, cause they are sooo common here, that they are not protected. They have lasted thousands of years, what else could we do to them anyway!

Cultural lesson: as long as it is an observable fact, it is culturally appropriate to comment. For example, I think that Nevine's aunt mentioned at least 7 times, that she thought that one of my supervisors was a guy, because her hair was short! We were both told that if we lived with them, we could lose weight! (Well, duh, they live on the side of a mountain, so are carrying groceries up the mountain daily!) I was offered advice for my the acne which has broken out on my chin, since moving here. But at the same time, I was told countless times, just how beautiful I am! And the same aunt that made most of these comments, wants me to come back and marry her son! So, they don't mean any of these comments in a negative way...they are just mentioning observable facts!

Lunch was wonderful! We sat on the floor around a tablecloth. We had french fries, salad, (another meat-rice-ish dish that was really tasty!) and bread. Of course we were not served anything to drink with the meal. But we had all shared sips of the water-filled pepsi bottle before lunch. And after lunch were served a very small class of tea, so who needs a drink, right? :)

After lunch we went up the mountain a bit to explore and take in a gorgeous view of the whole valley! Creation is amazing!

We gave our hosts, Nevine, and her mom, Mother's Day gifts. We gave them each a small plant and I made them each a picture frame of a picture of each of Nevine's daughters. (Last week, I went to the mountains with Nevine, her daughters and my school and had some gorgeous pics of her beautiful girls!) They loved the pictures! Pictures are a big deal here. They don't have many pictures to display in their homes, but the ones they do hang or set out are of their fathers, grandfathers, or political leaders. This was such a great gift, cause they loved having pictures of the girls. And across each frame I had written Prov.31:28 in Arabic.

It was a little heartbreaking that we did not know that grandma was blind, or had very bad vision (and missing all her teeth) until we got there, so she was not able to enjoy the gift as much. But everyone who comes to her home now, can praise her for her beautiful great-grandchildren! Grandma was so sweet. She recited a poem for us, that I think she might have made up on the spot in our honor. She definitely is loved by her family, who take care of her.

Okay, since it was Mother's Day, Nevine's aunt was given a new sweater set and scarf from her kids. She liked the set and the scarf was beautiful, but she made the comment, "you did not have to buy me this, you should have just given me money for cigarettes." You would never ever hear that in the States! Remember this mom, when next mom's day I just get you money for cigarettes, and say I hear it is what moms really want!

Okay on the smoking note, I do have a confession to make. The people here are chain smokers, who have no reason to make excuses for chain smoking next to you in small rooms! I did take some tylenol while we where there for the headache that I got from it all. Arguile (or you may have heard of it as Hubbly-Bubbly) is also apart of this culture. My language teacher smokes Arguile every night. And it is fruit flavored, the most common flavor is apple. And it really smells good, extremely good when compared to cigarette smoke. I have turned down Arguile and cigarettes countless times here. Today though, as I was sitting next to Nevine who was sharing an Arguile with another girl, she asked me "you can try." Which in her broken English is "Try it." Because when she tells me to what I am supposed to say in Arabic, she says "you can say." And I guess all my D.A.R.E. training failed me at this point, because I did have one puff, I confess. What can one puff really do after all the hours I have spent inhaling secondhand cigarette smoke anyway? And just cause I know you are wondering, I was surprised how good it was. It was apple flavored and nice. But I had pleased my teacher and she did not ask me to do it again.

I promise to post pictures of this glorious day, soon! Thanks for letting me share!

In Awe!

2009-03-15T04:52:00.000-07:00

This has been a great week! Monday was Teacher's Day here; it is a national holiday and school is cancelled for it. My language school decided to plan a trip then for Monday to go to the Snow! They were a little dissapointed when we got to where they expected to see snow, though and there was only patches. So we played in patches on the side of the highway! It was a fun day!

On the bus on the way there, our teachers danced in the isles to blaring Arab music! And of course, when the traffic was bad and people were staring into the bus, they said it was because they could tell that we were foreigners and not because of the loud music or dancing going on in the bus!

After playing in the snow, we toured some ruins. It is really is incredible how many ruins and evidence of all these famous historical periods are in this country! Def. makes me wish that I had paid even more attention in history class! Then we had lunch, which is the big meal of the day here. So we had our fill of ethnic food, before heading home!

This week the weather has been wonderful! On Thursday, I took advantage of the nice weather to enjoy the Sea. I don't want to forget how special it is to live within walking distance of the glorious Sea!

Then I had my first overnight trip on Friday night, to another city. We also enjoyed the Sea here, although most of the time it was from the car (it was extremely windy, but we got to see some awesome waves!). Once again, we toured ruins there! They are everywhere!

I really love this country! Can you imagine, snow is only an hour away, and the Sea is only a walk away! And history always at your fingertips!

Check out my Snow day pictures, here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2026386&id=79800981&l=f1c436089e

And, check out more Ruin pictures here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2026387&id=79800981&l=bb2e8354ef

What a Week! Lessons from MOLD

2009-03-06T06:24:00.000-08:00

I don't even know where to begin to update you on this week. I will try to spare you some details. Overall, I feel like this is home now. I feel comfortable walking all over, and my neighborhood and area seems normal now. Kinda hard to describe, but several times this week when I walking, I just got a sense, of "yah, this is normal, this is my life, this isn't weird, or unusual anymore." Which is good!

This week has been busy! We have had some issues with mold in our apt. The issues started about a month ago. I have an allegory for our mold problems for you. When the mold first appeared on the couches, we were a little surprised. We thought, that is weird, unusual, kinda comical. Where did that come from? But we thought we did not have time to clean it right then, and were not quite sure the appropriate way to clean it, so it got put off. We had the intention of asking people here how they cleaned their mold, but it seems you never remember to ask someone about mold when you see them. After about a week, I finally emailed my supervisor, to ask her advice. Then by the time she responded and I went and bought what she suggested, I am sure a week had past. Additionally, I noticed that puffy water rings were appearing behind the paint in my room, and several spots were mold had broken through the paint. I took my supervisors advice and cleaned the room and the couches. And then the rain came, and the rains came down and the mold grew more, and the rains came down and the mold more! After about 15 days of rain the mold reappeared, bigger and more colorful (we have black, green, gray, light blue, mint green, and a lovely pussy yellow) than every before. At this point we began to realize what a huge problem mold is. There is no simple fix. It takes time, and work, and dedication to getting it all taken care of. And of course, living overseas adds a different twist to everything. We had to wait for our landlady to return from France to have her come look at the apartment. Then she had have her brother-in-law, come look at it, and the next day bring a professional. So the mold kinda blew up this week in our faces, what was kinda comical at first, is now a huge problem. My roomate has been sick this week (don't know if it is from the mold, but the mold can only hinder our health). And I have been talking to many people through the whole process to get the problem addressed. We have had many people over to see the apartment, so we have to try to keep it looking decent despite the mold. I have learned alot more Arabic through talking with people about this. Nash (mold) is not in our Arabic/english dictionary! So I had to try to explain mold to people and talk around the word. Think about how would you describe mold, in a way that someone who does not speak English could figure it out? (humidity, water, not dripping, on wall, on couches, old bread, many colors, grow....can't even draw a picture!) All that to say that the mold problem is being addressed, but they must first figure out the problem with our neighbor's balcony and correct that before they can work on our place, because their balcony (they think) is the source of the water. This is a common problem here, but ours is definitly a more severe case than others. Our landlady is very upset, because they had just had the place redone, and repainted before we moved in, so it is nice to have her addiment about correcting the problem. I learned a lesson from this mold. How many times do we let a "bad habit" into our lives, thinking it is interesting or different, or maybe even comical at first. And then it continues. You have the intentions of stopping, but never really do. You might stop for a little bit, but then find yourself back in the "bad habit." Eventually, bad habits tend to blow up in your face, as our mold has done this week. You think if we had taken the issue seriously, addressed it, and taken the time to correct it in the beginning, it could have been nipped in the bud, but now all the problems are compounded. In our mold case, now we have to throw away our couches. It takes a couple of days to get things together so someone can get a car, and find a place to take them, cause we don't dare give away moldy couches. We can't have people over to our place, and we were expecting about 20 people for a get-together this weekend, but now we had to ask to have all the people go to someone else's house, with little notice. We even got scared, when my roomate got sick and slept somewhere else.

Sorry, I said I would spare you details, and that really is the spared details version, cause everything is complicated here. So this week has been very busy, but I definitly feel that I am adjusting and belong here, which is a big praise! And don't worry, I am not sick, and my roomate is feeling better. But I wanted to share that, so you would know that life is not always glamourous here, and you can learn many lessons, from things you would not expect.

I would also like to add that the rain has stopped for the last 2 days, and it has been HALU KTEER (VERY NICE) here! We are able to air out our apt, which it desperately needed, and for the first time in weeks, I was able to do laundry, and let it air dry outside, instead of inside! And it dried within hours! I have NEVER been so thankful for clothes that were dried so stiffly!

My roomate has taken pictures, so hopefully I can share those with you soon! We missed alot of good picture opportunities in the process, but I think if you could see it, it might make more sense.

Malls and Movies

2009-02-28T12:54:00.000-08:00

Well, since the last post got so many comments, I thought I would update you on this weekends' shopping adventures.

We saw a movie in the mall tonight, and when I was telling my parents about it, I realized how different the movies are here, and thought that maybe you would be interested in the differences.

You pick out your seats on a screen when you buy your tickets.
You are escorted to your seats at the movie.
It is comparable to a nice movie theater in the States with stadium seating and nice big chairs!
90% of the movies are in English with both French and Arabic subtitles
85% of the movies are Hollywood movies, a few are from the Arab world, and occasionally there is a Bollywood, I think.
The matinee is about $5 and the evening show is $8, so that is comparable or better than the States
Most of the movies from the States are fairly recent although we may be a month or so behind what is showing there, but if you want to see a movie here that is not showing in the theater, you can get a pirated dvd for $3.
And of course, there are still those same middle school/high school kid that sit in front of you, talk, and change seats multiple time during the movie!

Okay, so I have more stores to add to list that you may recognize:
Aramani
ESPIRT (I got 3 shirts there)
Guess
Nine West
Claire's
Mango

what have I done that is blogworthy?....SHOP

2009-02-24T07:30:00.000-08:00

So, I have not forgot about the blog, but I have had a hard time, thinking of what of my life this past week is blog-worthy. I have officially been here for 6 weeks now! So, lets talk about shopping, cause just cause I moved overseas, doesn't mean I gave up this pastime!

Shopping Here

Like Europe, the sales here are only twice a year, and all the stores have the sales at the same time. February and August are the sales months. We actually talked about this in our International Business class in college, but our angle was that a foreigner doing international business, you could encounter problems if you tried to have a sale that was not during the "sale season."
As a bargain hunter, I am having to get all my shopping done this month, cause otherwise I will have to wait 6 more months to shop!
My neighborhood has mostly higher end stores, but I have found one place that is more comparable to a Ross, so I have gotten several shirts there!
Shopping is great language practice! I am practicing asking how much? and Do you have this in black? And of course, you can listen to the others that are shopping too!
Like anything else here, you can pay with US Dollars, you will just get the national currency back in change! Not as many places here take cards, (no offense America, but it is a little ridiculous that we use our cards at Sonic's DriveThru) so I carry bigger US Dollars than I ever did at home! And you def. practice your math skills, cause not only do you have to take a percent off, you have to convert currencies!
Although there is less of a variety of sizes than the US (for the most part, the clothing here is much smaller) there is a much greater variety from sluty to ultra conservative! This def. makes this country much different than the rest of the region. But it is nice that conservative clothes are in abundance and are made to be cute!
Style is very important here! I am having fun, wearing stuff that I know I would not wear in the US, as far as styles go, but I get complements when I go with the new styles. It is fun to try new things!
For example, skinny jeans and tall boots... It seems every girl from 13-45 wears skinny jeans tucked into a stylish pair of tall black boots! Do I own a pair of boots tall enough to do this, or a pair of jeans skinny enough? No, but it is def. growing on me. Even my language tutor who covers her head wears skinny jeans tucked into a pair of black boots! But when I am used to American bootcut jeans, even if I got a pair of boots, my jeans would not fit in them, without puckering alot...see I have seriously considered this! Gotta join in the culture right?
Stores in my city, that you may know: Aldo, Clarks, Nautica, Puma, Yves Rocher, (my minds seems to have blanked, but I think there are more!)

Sorry this was a girly post, but can you blame me?

Pictures!

2009-02-16T08:47:00.000-08:00

Check out my adventures in my Ruins in the Rain album! Follow the link below:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2025892&id=79800981&l=4ba85

And you can tour our apartment here:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2025893&id=79800981&l=927dd

And a big THANK YOU to the girls at home for the Valentines. I decorated my wall with them! I got them in about a week, but wanted to show you how cute they were with the pictures!

Vegetable Peeler English Usage Manual

2009-02-12T12:38:00.001-08:00

Beware, this is painful…

So I bought a vegetable peeler, cause ours was not very good, although I bought this at like a dollar store, so it might not be much better. Right as I was throwing away the packaging, I realized that it was all in English, and I was surprised. There are at least fifteen sentences on this package for warnings and instructions! For a vegetable peeler, really! So I tried to read it and it was painful trying to understand what they were trying to say. Do they not have someone check their packages before they print them? (It was made in China) So I thought I would share some with you. This gives a little perspective to why it is important that I learn to speak Arabic correctly, not just the way I think sounds better or is easier for me:

Peeler Usage Manual (printed on the back of the package)
[I am doing my best to type it all as it appears, so nothing is a typo!]

With gratitude meaning you use the product of the my firm, very much from the bottom of the heart. Please must take a look first this manual before using, in order to use in the exactitude. Pleasing furthermore must keep this manual.

Attention: Please at the time of dismantling wrapping, be careful and do not run into the knife blade, because of for mow the wound hand easily.

The attention that use the top orders:

Please at before using have a meal first rinse liquid that having and using cleaning empress use again.
Divided by the vegetable, fruit excluding, cannot used for the other. It is in view of the fact fo fake the thing of the bald, so while using please watch for safety.
The handle is placed in to slip away the slippery appearance descend (oil, water, wash away dirt etc.)to please do not use.
Were sliced the object accumulate the small time, pleasing watch for the finger do not want to touch with blade,because incaution cut the hand easily.
The absolute prchibition against child uses alone. While using must adult together,teach to the right operation method in chile,in well carefully of foundation,send greeting the whole usage.
Descend to please do not use at the apperance that transformed.
Under the heavy circumatance in burthen please avoid usage, for cause like this and easily the product transforms.
Please do not used for the strong and tough material, cause razor blade indentation,mistake an etc.easily.
Please do not put by the side of fiety and near.Because the resin may take place to melt, burn, transform the excrescent cirmcumstance in ect.
Please wash,clearly wipe after using to f*ck,make it kept to the best dry,whereas,cause easily the rust, germs breeds. (the asterisk is mine in this sentence, it is the only change that I have made to all this)
Such as usage the metals brush, grinds the powder etc.wash away dirt, cause the wear and tear easily.
Please place the place that can not take in the child takes care of.

This has to be a joke right?! Thanks for reading, can’t believe you made it through all that!

SNOW

2009-02-11T13:08:00.000-08:00

So I get a call late Monday night, inviting me to go with some of my co-workers to this touristy place about an hour from my city on Tuesday. I didn't take long to decide, of course! I had wanted to see this ancient place. It is known from Biblical times through the Middle Ages. It has alters to Baal, A Temple of Jupiter, and the largest free standing wall of columns in the world! As soon as I got off the phone though, I realized that Tuesday was supposed to be the coolest day of the week and had an 80% chance of rain, so I was trying to decide what to wear, however, since I had never been to this place before, I did not realize that it was in the mountains! And those I was going with did not think to check the weather...can you tell where this is going?

So, Tuesday, we make it to the town with the ruins, alters, and temples, and immediately all have to buy gloves, scarves and hats! Then we head to the ruins, temple, and huge columns, and practically run through all of it, because it is raining, and you can see your breath, and everyone but I forgot their camera. So I did not get as many pics as I wanted, but hey, the sky was not the best for a background that day!

So we get back in the car and try to head farther up the mountain to see this National Forest Reserve. And that is when we start to notice that the cars heading the opposite direction have snow on their cars. Eventually the road gets bad and we realize that the higher we go, the slushier the roads will be, or worse, so we had to turn around, but at this point, the roads continue to get worse as we leave the mountains. Eventually, we even had to pull over and the guys put chains on the tires! This Oklahoma girl has never had to put chains on her tires before, how ironic is it that the first time is in the Middle East?! We took some fun snow pictures, while the guys worked on the chains. I know everyone talks about how crazy people drive in foreign countries, and this one is not exception. We were driving on curvy mountain roads without lines, and people were still passing going fast in the snow...until the cars started having trouble going up the mountain. Thankfully, we were headed down from the mountains at that point, very prayerfully. Lhumdilla (thank God) we had bought the extra gloves, scarves, and hats when the weather was warmer earlier in the day, cause the guys really needed them when they were putting the chains on. We made it back to the city safe and sound!

In the city it rained and stormed that night. I think we went from a 20 degree change in weather patterns that day, in less than an hour and 45minutes drive max. Another Lhumdilla (thank God) we got our generator hooked up last week, cause the electric went out that evening for several hours at our apartment, but we still had limited power with the generator!

What an adventure! I will post pictures soon!

Lunch with my Language Teacher

2009-02-11T12:50:00.000-08:00

Saturday, I was invited to my language teachers’ for lunch/dinner. Lunch is the big meal here. And they eat it at around 3PM. I went with my supervisor and his wife, because we all take language from her. She is actually living with her in-laws during the week, and her parents during the weekends, cause money has been tight. She is not happy with the arrangement. But this way, I got to meet more of her family. She is 28, and has 6 and 4 year old girls. We met her parents, her husband, her younger brother, and one of her sisters and her sisters’ fiancé.

I had tried to make thin mints to take, but they did not turn out too well. They tasted good, but did not look too pretty, so I picked up half a kilo of goodies from the local bakery/candy shop to take as a gift. We were greeted very warmly with the cultural 3 kisses and ushered into the living room, where the tv was kept on the entire time on the National Geographic channel, until later when the girls changed it to Disney! And after the girls warmed up to us, we played, and read a lot of books. Thankfully, there is not much of a language barrier when you play peek a boo with a 4 year old, or just obey all their commands to stand here, now stand there!

We were served water, and then juice before lunch. Then for lunch, they spread newspaper out on the floor, and we all crowded around on the floor. We were all given our own plates and spoon (which is better than some meals I had in Turkey). About half way through the meal we were served Pepsi. (they don't drink with their meals). We had a beef and rice dish that was really good, with some spicy salsa, and fried potatoes, hummus, pita bread, and salad. It was all really good, and thankfully, nothing was too exotic.

After the meal, they set out the sweets that we had brought, and they smoked. Then we had chi tea. Then a little later, they served us fruit! So we ate, and ate, and ate!

It was fun to see my teacher outside of class, and watch her interact with her children. It is comforting to see how she teases her girls and talks really loud with them too. That way I know when she is talking really loud in language that, that is normal for her and she is not mad.

It was a lot of fun! I am sure I learned much more about culture than I even realized that I learned from the outing! Can't wait to go again, and her mom really liked me, because of my "baby face," so hopefully, there will be a next time!

Arabic Takehome Test, wait no its ORAL!

2009-02-09T04:14:00.000-08:00

I also finished the 1A level at my language school, and start 1B next week! I had my first test, which I thought was going to be take home. I had promised my teacher that I would not look at my book. She said she was close with God, and he would know if I cheated and tell her, so I better not cheat!

But then when it came time to take the test, she found out from the administration that it was oral! Oh no! But then again maybe that would be better. So she brought me my oral exam, which was several pages and not at all what I would call oral. And I completely blanked, more than I have on any other test in my life! And this time I had my teacher sitting just a few feet away from me, bored out of her mind, watching me struggle through the test. Can you imagine having to watch an adult that speaks another language take a kindergarten English exam, and they can’t seem to understand what they are supposed to be doing? Rightly so, it very boring.

She helped me through it, though, and it was not graded. And she did give me “bravos” the few times I actually got something right the first time, which helped, cause I lost confidence very quickly. It was comforting that she crossed out some of the questions, because she did not understand what they were wanting!

Now, maybe I will be a little more prepared for my next text! At least it won’t screw up my GPA!

Electrician: Is this normal?

2009-02-09T04:09:00.002-08:00

Yay! We got a generator set up for our apt this week! I have never had an electrician come to my house in the States, but here are some things I found interesting about the process. Maybe you can tell me if it is normal, or just cultural differences?

-He actually came early (that is really strange for this culture)

-He charged us more than he said he was going to, but then brought the price back down to what we expected all in the name of the son of the people who had recommended him to us. Steven, the fifth grade son of the couple who recommended the electrician to us, saved us about $30 because of his outgoing, outrageous, memorable personality!

-He smoked while he worked in our kitchen. He did not even ask, that is the culture here. But I was surprised to find cigarette butts on the kitchen floor and in the sink. The first time the sink was empty, the second time we had dishes in there!

-He asked us for coffee. I don’t drink coffee, but my roommate had some Nescafe which is pretty similar. But we had no milk. I had to figure out how to make it while my roommate was not there, using her hot pot, and in front of him too cause he was working in the kitchen.

-We had to watch and tell him which cord he was wiggling on the other side of the wall. I would expect that in the States.

-He came on his motorcycle, to assess, then leave and get supplies and come back with them on the motorcycle.

-He can install a generator, when we are without electricity.

-Of course, it is culturally not appropriate for me to be here along with a man in the apt, so I had to keep the front door open and have my roommate or a friend over here. Neighbors are always watching us American girls!

-He knew very little English and explained everything in Arabic, while I worked really hard to understand from all his hand motions how it all worked. Smile and nod.

-Since our walls are concrete, you don’t run wires in between the walls, so the cord goes around the room on the wall. It goes half way across the kitchen, then out the door, and from the door it goes across our courtyard, to the wall on the other side of the courtyard, which is a story taller than our apt. Kinda hard to explain, but it is just really long!

I am not Lasy!

2009-02-02T06:39:00.000-08:00

My teacher today said I was the opposite of "lasy" as she wrote it. She was searching for the English word, but none of the ones I suggested she liked, so I don't know what I am but I am not lasy. Although I am still very weak at language, at least I know it shows that I am trying! It made my day.

I also bought a rug today for my bedroom. I should have pictures of our apartment for you by the end of this week! Yah! Can't wait to share it with you.

Pictures!

2009-01-30T12:21:00.000-08:00

After much delay, I can now share some pictures of the views here. Take a look at:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2025595&l=bafe8&id=79800981

Sorry that they are out of order, the building pics are from a business lunch I had on the 21 floor of a building, and the boardwalk pictures are taken about a 15 minute walk from my apartment. Doesn't it make you want to come visit?!

University, Eyebrows, Rain, and Nouns (didn't think you could make a title out of those things did ya?)

2009-01-28T09:46:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I took advantage of my day off of language. I spent the morning cleaning the apartment, then in the afternoon I got a tour of one of the major universities in the city. It was beautiful. It was definitly different than the rest of the city here. The university is spacious, and has lots of nice landscape and big trees and a great view. It was odd, cause usually when I am at places like this, dad is taking lots of plant pictures. I almost stopped to take some for him, but then I would definitly look out of place.

Afterwards we went and got our eyebrows done. I know the stereotype here is that everyone has a unibrow, but not at all the case in my country. Although the men's may be a little bushy, all the ladies' are very defined and beautiful. They "thread" here, which means they use this thread to remove the hair. Really hard to describe.

Today, it rained. Have you ever walked in a busy city in the rain with an umbrella? It was definitly a learning process for me. Trying to keep myself dry, not step in the odd puddles formed by uneven sidewalks, and watch to make sure that my umbrella did not poke someone else's eye out all at the same time (in addition to the traffic)!

In Arabic, there are not any rules for pluralization of nouns (ie, tree => trees, box=>boxes). Well actually there is kinda one rule for anytime you have 2 of something. There is a singular noun, a 2 noun, and a plural noun used for nouns 3-10. So, since there are no rules, I have to memorize at least the singular and plural forms of all the nouns. So I get to use my handy-dandy flashcards! (I do admit, that I did have some fun making multicolor flashcards, nerdy, huh?)
For example:
1 house = beit
2 houses = beitein
3-10 houses = byuut

1 brother = xayy
2 brothers = xayyein
3 brothers= Aiwa

1 sister = Aixit
2 sisters = Aixtein
3 sisters = Aixweet

A funny thing happened on the way home from language school...

2009-01-27T06:14:00.000-08:00

So I almost laughed outloud today on the street. There was this taxi driver parked on the corner. You see taxis from waxy, bright red, almost antique-looking mercedes, to cars that it is uncertain what color they really are under all the soot, and with a bummer half on, half off. So some really take care of their taxis, and others well, don't at all. Anyways, the taxi driver on the corner today was cleaning his car. He was "dusting" the outside of the car. Can you guess what utensil he had chosen for this task?
.
.
.
.
.
.
A feather duster! yes, the taxi driver was dusting the outside of his car with a feather duster! I'll let you guess what kind of taxi he had!

Oh and another side note, when was the last time you watched the weather forecast to help you decide when to do your laundry? This was a first for me this week. And I think it is working. Lets hope that my laundry dries in less than 2 days. Oh, and I got up extra early to start the laundry so that the washer would finish its 1.5 hour cycle before the power went off at 9AM. Not to complain, but I am just laughing at myself and my daily life here today. Who would have thought?

Don'tcha just love surprises?!

2009-01-24T10:53:00.000-08:00

Here are some big and small surprises that I have had here. Some good, some not so good. Listed in no order. What do you think...surprise! or duh, Laura, you should have known that.

Pepsi is more common than Coke here. I though Coke was more international. While you can get Coke here, (and its many different flavors, I find Pepsi more)
You can use US dollars here
It is humid in this part of the Middle East. Yah, I knew that coming in, but still, it is a surprise!
There is not free wireless internet everywhere. yah, I knew it would not be the same as home, but you would think with so many people living in apts so close together in a big city would could pick up someones' unsecured interenet somewhere, but it is hard to come by.
You have no central heat and air? Huh, did not know that that was not standard, like putting windows in a building. I have never lived somewhere where a couple of small gas/electric heaters are my heat source. Can't wait till summer, to see how cooling works, we don't have ceiling fans, so we will just have to see!
My skype won't let me call people, because of the internet connection
Almost everyone here speaks some English
There are 3 Arabic langauge: the common spoken, the religious, and the one used in news and media. I am learning the common spoken (which includes slang). But every country has its own dialect, so good luck when visiting other countries.
They conjugate both nouns and verbs
Even though they don't write the vowels in print media and signs, there are still vowels, and I should know what they are, where they are and if they are long or short. huh?!
Everyone here that I have talked to watched the inauguration and is hopeful that the new administration will be better for them, and they want my opinion. Just smile and nod! Also several people here have mentioned JFK.
In Arabic class, I was learning how to ask and respond to who a person is and their name and nationality. All fine and good, except when my tutor pulled out cue cards to use. I knew Tom Cruise, Julia Roberts, Mel Gibson, George Bush, but did not know some of the other more local political figures that she put up. So I need to do some homework! I look like a stupid American who just decided to move to a foreign country on a whim!
I don't have a tv or microwave. (and that means no dvd player, tape player, or wii---Tyler)
I have not found in lunchmeat in the stores or cheddar cheese. I made a quesadilla today with mozarella. But hey, I found tortillas and salsa!
I have concrete walls, so to hang things we use these mount things, instead of nails. And we broke at least half a dozen of them today, while trying to decorate.
One of our neighbors that we meant has a lot of furniture. She invited us in and her living room, which is about the size of mine in Oklahoma, maybe just longer shaped, and it had 3 sitting areas. Each complete with a couch and 2 chairs all that matched, but each sitting area was a different color. Imagine trying to decide where she wants you to sit! But after a tour of her apt, she told us she had 5 salons (living rooms), because there is a bedroom also converted into a salon and a seperate tv watching room by the kitchen!
A can of Dr. Pepper is 75 cents and a bag of imported Tostitos (my fav) is $6.
We can rent the newest American TV shows by the episode here. Oh course, I don't because I don't have a tv, but I have watched some at other people's places.
What do you do when you have a break at your business training? Everyone goes and smokes outside.
It is not rude here to light up while sitting next to others, or even at the same booth in a restaraunt. Even before the almost complete no smoking laws in OK, we always sat in nonsmoking. So to have the people across from you or next to you smoking is a little different.

I am sure I have been surprised by many other things here, but I think this list is rather long so far. I will let you know other surprises as they come along.

A good day!

2009-01-21T11:06:00.000-08:00

I should be doing Arabic homework now, but I just wanted to update you all on my good day. Wednesdays I have off of Arabic, so I planned to sleep in. Well I got up about an hour later than intended, but that still was nice. I did about an hour of language homework, before my roomate and I got distracted by youtube videos (which take forever to download here.) I had intended to do about 3 hours of homework, opps.

Then for lunch/dinner, I went to one of my coworkers homes for an ethnic meal. It was so refreshing to talk with them! Next I went to another meeting and got to meet some locals and play games. And finally, on my way home, I stopped at our local convience store, to talk to one of our neighbors that works there. I was able to say, "hello," answer "I'm good," ask "how are you?" ask how to say a word that I am having trouble with, and say "thanks, bye." And of course I had to buy something to justify going in there, so I walked away with a Dr. Pepper, a dark chocolate bar, and a peanut butter granola bar, and a big smile! (I am saving all the food for later though! Dr. Pepper is expensive here, but I made out with everything for $1.50)
So today was good!

Yani

2009-01-20T03:56:00.000-08:00

Yani (so)... I kept hearing people say "yani" so I caught my language teacher off guard today and asked her "shoe yani?" (what yani?) and it means "so." Yah, I don't know why you need to know that, but anyways... Language learning is difficult.

I have a new teacher this week. It is interesting to see the different styles of both. I can laugh alot more at myself with my new one, but at the same time, I think she gave up on me today, when after 5 times I still could not say "gayn" (at least that is the closest I can type it) It requires a gargling noise. And there is also a simmilar letter with a sharper gargle "Gayn." So to say the least I am stuggling a little. But what can I be thankful for here? Let's see...I have a book with dvd that I can listen to to practice (which I have done for 2 hours a day for the last week pretty much). I have a teacher for 12 hours a week to spend one on one time with me learning the language. I have a roomate, who is 6 months ahead of me in language to help when I get stuck, and in the mean time while I am still learning, I do have most signs written in English for me in my city. And, of course there is what I hear my mom saying in my head, "you can do hard things!"

Yani, the apartment is coming along. We have curtains and have arranged the rooms a little better now. We have a washer which takes only an hour and a half to wash a load, which I hear is good, cause my roomate's old one took 3 hours. It is so humid here that I finally gave up on my clothes drying after I had hung them up for 2 days! The interesting thing is that in the midst of all the humidity that this chalk-fine dust collects everywhere! I mean, you can't even lean against the wall or a door without getting it on you. I guess I am going to have to learn better posture and not to lean. :)

Random Arabic Thoughts

2009-01-16T13:35:00.000-08:00

SO the first week has been good. I am learning alot and exploring alot. I took the taxi today by myself and took a different walking route to language study today. Language is 16 hours a week, right now with a private tutor. I have listening homework on dvds, and assignments to talk to people. So that is good.

I had my first dinner in a home here yesterday and it was soo much fun. We had french fries and fried chicken not very ethnic but good. We laughed alot!

I am here!

2009-01-14T05:35:00.000-08:00

Wow! I made it. Internet here is a little sketchy, so I am sorry that I have not been able to post sooner. I made it in Sunday at 2AM with all my luggage. Yay! Since then I have moved into my apartment. Pictures to come later :) It is nice. The team here is wonderful. I am getting my bearings in my neighborhood. There is a fastfood restaurant next door to my apartment building enntrance and a small "convience store" on the other side. We live on the 1st floor which is technically the 2nd floor. All of our neighbors on this floor are businesses so it stays quieter at night. One of our neighbors on the floor above us works in the convience store next door and she wants to help me learn Arabic. Another BIG yay!
The first day was spent meeting the team. The second day was shopping! We have 4 sets of huge sliding glass doors in the apartment that open up to our private courtyard, which desperately need curtains. We ordered some and they should be here Saturday along with a bookshelf. I bought some bedding and then was disappointed that it does not look anything like the picture on the package, so if I can I am going to try to exchange it. My roomate and I also went grocery shopping and created our own chili the second night.
Yesterday, I got to unpack somemore, get a little more oriented, and then we had ladies night complete with tacos! Today was my first language lesson. I learned 6 letters, some greetings, and here, there, what is this, who is this and the correct responses. For "who" my teacher had pictures of people like Tom Cruise, the Beatles, John Travolta, Julia Roberts, UK Royalty and then political figures here. Lets say that I was a little embarrased that I had no idea who the political people were.
Oh, and the second night I went to a Pro. Basketball game here, which is a 15 minute story in itself, so you will have to ask me about that in person.
Over all I am very thankful for all that I have found here. Can't wait to tell you more! Will update more soon...

Now I am ready

2009-01-03T08:00:00.000-08:00

Now I am ready! I am driving (or actually riding while mom drives) home from shopping in Oklahoma City. Just to answer the question everyone asks, yes I am ready. All that is left is the puzzle/challenge of getting everything packed into my four 50 lb checked pieces and two carry-ons! Today, I finally got my third and fourth (XL, 60 linear inches, lightweight) luggage pieces. I had my last American haircut for a couple of years. I got 2 pairs of really comfy walking dress shoes, and a really nice dressy light raincoat. Guys, keep reading… I also invested in an ipod touch! It feels good to have the shopping done, except for a few toiletries that I will get from Wal-mart! All ya’ll who know what I bargain hunter I am know how much work it takes me to find what I want, so it is a BIG blessing that I have finally gotten all that done.

Okay, if you can’t tell from that first paragraph, one of my biggest tempations is materials. So I have to watch myself. But these are things that I will need for two years (mom had to remind me of that several times).

I am also ready, now because I have gotten to visit with most of you in person, and say “see ya laters.” I have been encouraged by friends, spoken to likeminded groups, done some heavy lifting up and laughed at and with family. Thank you for taking the time out of your holiday season to go to lunch and hang out with me. (I really want to plead with you all to try not to do anything over the next two years so that I don’t miss anything, but I know that would just be selfish.) Thank you for asking the tough questions of me. I hope I answered them well, a lot is still unknown. But to answer the other most frequent questions, no I am not scared. He has taken any fear away; He is faithful. And YES, I am excited!

I am also ready, and feel prepared by my 2 months of training. It was a real blessing. I learned so much and met some amazing people. Even though I am ready, I think that once I get there I will be shocked. I will have to take a big look and around, pinch myself twice and realize that the place that I have been working to get to for a whole year is finally here!

Hopefully, I will update you before I leave on the 9th, but if not, then I will let you know when I arrive. (Or even possibly give you an update during my 11 hour layover on the 10th.)

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-24T08:39:00.000-08:00

I got home on Thursday and since then I have:

picked up and taken Grandma back to the airport

spent time with the crazy Christmas shoppers at the Tulsa mall, so I can buy 2 years worth of some essentials

hung out with Jennifer and Amanda

spoke at my home group

cried while speaking at my home group, cause they have really been a family for me that last 20 years.

Had Sam & Ellas Pizza

played with my dog, Oscar

played 42 with Grandma and family

laughed lots!

One of the best times we had was teaching Grandma how to play Wii. She really did enjoy it. I thought I would share some laughs with you, too. So, here is Grandma playing Wii. (Before you laugh to hard, do you think your Grandma could do this? We have taught both my Mema and Grandma how to play!)

*The sound is not that great, so make sure to turn up your volume.

I hope you all have a Merry Christmas, and enjoy your time with your family and friends as much as I am! May it be full of laughs!

"I'll be home for Christmas..."

2008-12-13T18:41:00.000-08:00

"If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together" African proverb. Thank you for going along with me on this adventure. I know that I could not go far without you.

This week has been good (if you could not tell by my previous post). We got "kicked in the behind" about important things that we honestly needed to be reminded of. We had a finance speaker about the finances of the company, and I am pretty sure that there was only one other person in the whole auditorium as interested as I. And I can only wait to share with you more about what I learned on Saturday.

This week concludes training and I head home on Thursday. So, as the song goes, "I'll be home for Christmas." Wow, I can hardly believe that Christmas is already here. Reflecting this week, I realized that it was this time last year that I began the application process. And trying to decide if this was really what I was supposed to do after college. I am thankful that I did step out on faith. I have learned alot this year. I know that I will learn even more this next year. It will be full of some high, highs, and some low lows, but "I can do hard things," especially knowing everyone is supporting me at home. Thank you all. I would not be here, or go nearly as far without you all!

I know it is still early but I want to miss you all a Merry Christmas. I'll be home for Christmas, so let's get together and celebrate!

Saturday School

2008-12-13T13:57:00.000-08:00

I am still processing and in awe of our speaker today! (yes, we had class on Saturday) When was the last time that you had a speaker so good that you intentionally did not tell him that class ended at 3:00, when he thought 5:00, even on a Saturday? He spoke earlier this week and did not give us our hourly break and went past 5:00, but no one cared at all. Today's session was optional, but even on our last Saturday here, there were over 100 of us that did not sleep in, but came to hear him. Are you intrigued yet?

You will have to ask me about what he taught that was so good. And he showed me how to share it too, so remind me when I see you and I will share it with you.

I can't think of much else right now, so I will have to just make a new post later.

Thank you Kids!

2008-12-06T13:02:00.000-08:00

First, I need to give a shout out to all the kids that sent me cards this week! Thank you to all the girls in Oklahoma and the kids in Texas. It made my day each day this week, and of course I had to share them with my friends here. All the kids from Texas wrote on their cards that they were from Texas, they must start working on them when they are really young!

This has been a long week, so I needed those extra cards. We had training through Saturday, although today was just in the morning and we went out for ethnic food together for lunch. This week has been specific to the area of the world we will be going. Most of it has all been about security, which is not a fun topic, but now I should be prepared for just about anything. Also, I worked on a strategy plan for my first year, which at first seemed Boring (note the capital B), just more paperwork. But it was really nice to take the time and think, focus, and ask yourself where you want to be at the end of the year, and what you want to see that has happened. I guess I will be making LOTS of New Year's Resolutions this year!

Looking forward, I will be here less than two more weeks. I found out that my overseas arrival has been delayed for almost a week-which is not a big deal, but it gives me more time at home, so if you are in the area, call me so we can do something, or you can call my mom as I found out some of you have already done. It is kinda nice having a "social secretary." just kidding! Hope you had a good week. Thank you for remembering me and checking in!

Thanksgiving Travels

2008-11-29T11:04:00.000-08:00

What a week! For Thanksgiving, a group of us were invited over to a friends house on the coast. It was nice to get a change of scenery; we saw the ocean, a harbor that was sending coal to Japan, and lots of cranes. It was also nice to get to hang out with people, while not having to work. Of course the food was good, and it was good to meet my friend's family.

Friday, we all loaded charter buses and headed to DC. We spent several hours there trying to meet internationals. I got to go to an ethnic restaurant that served the type of foods I will eat overseas. We took time to walk around the embassies of several countries where many of us will be working. I definitely felt like a small town Okie girl in DC! Just getting through Union Station seemed like an international city to me! We did not have time for any of the tourist sites, so it felt surreal to see the Washington Memorial from the bus. Now I can at least say that I have been to my capitol city. I did feel a little weird before, in that every other country I have been to I had been to their capitol city, but had not been to mine yet.

Give Thanks

2008-11-22T16:00:00.000-08:00

I have to confess that Christmas is my favorite holiday. I love the sweets, decorations, parties, The Christmas Story, Christmas movies, giving and receiving gifts, the whole bit. Ironically though, I think this is going to be a really good Thanksgiving.

Training has reminded me how much I really do have to be thankful for. Even though I will not spend this Thanksgiving with family, I think I will definitely be more in the Thanksgiving mindset this year. I would like to share my thankful list with you. Please share what you are thankful for by commenting on the blog. (Just click comment link below, type what you are thankful for, and if you don't have a google account, select anonymous.)

I am thankful for:

(in no particular order)
Clean water, that I do not have to boil or treat to drink
That all my food, clothes, and shelter needs have been met
That I have a job, especially one that pays my bills
Internet
Dark Chocolate

Chick flicks
My family

Time spent playing with my family

Laughter
My p. partners

All the technological help from my brother
The really cool place that I will move to in January
That I can carry the Word as I travel
That I don’t have to change my appearance or the clothes I normally wear in my new culture
Your support

Airplanes, so I can travel fast

(still working on being thankful for airports)
Wonderful Friends!
That all my needs are met by the only one who can meet all my needs, before I even know what they are!
The Orientation experience

Lunches at Red Lobster with mom!
My personal relationship with Him

Hope

My dad's lap

Y O U

Who are you and who am I?

2008-11-14T15:22:00.000-08:00

This week, we spent on anthropology, worldviews, and finally who we were as individuals. I learned a lot about the people I will be working with and how they think and process information and their environment. There really is a reason why they do what they do, even if it seems weird at first to us Westerns!

We all took the Myers-Briggs test and I am an ISTJ, as I predicted, although I am not extreme in any area. This stands for Introvert, Sensing, Thinking, and Judging (as opposed to extrovert, intuition, feeling, perceiving). This means I am responsible, dependable, practical, realistic (I get that from mom), and objective and logical, calm, orderly, prefer facts over ideas, detailed, accurate, and an organizer (agendas-though I get from dad!). I can relate to the president of the company--if I get something done today that was not on my list, I have to write it on the list so that I can mark it off! They had a list off all the prayers for the people of the different categories, and mine is "Lord, help me to relax about insignificant details beginning tomorrow at 11:41:23 AM EST." LOL :)

So, I am learning who I am and who the people are that I will be working with all so that we can communicate and work together better. One tip I got today was to take advantage of the first 2 weeks I am in country to make mistakes and be the tourist, the people are more lenient in the beginning. In the past, I think I have been too afraid that I would do something offensive in new cultures, so I was afraid to do much. But now I know that my first week I need to do everything! That way I can get all my mistakes over with, or at least several while the people are more forgiving! So, I need to overcome my introversion and DIVE IN!

Nature Walk

2008-11-08T11:21:00.000-08:00

This week was also really good. I continue to learn more each day at training. However, I was very thankful that today was a day off. TGIweekends! After sleeping in to 9, which is much later than the normal 5:30AM alarm clock Monday through Friday, I spent some time reading and then decided to go on a walk. I wanted to post pictures of the beautiful landscape around campus, but I had left my camera at home, so my parents graciously sent me a little package this week with my camera, and some warmer clothes. Thank you!

So this morning I went on a little nature walk, to take pictures to share with you. Although it was probably not really great exercise cause I kept stopping to take pictures, I am still counting it towards for as apart of my fitness report for the week! Yep, that right we have weekly fitness reports, it is not anything too difficult, and it is a good thing, but still I have never had to report my weekly fitness activities to my employer before! Anyways, just click the link and you can take a little walk with me around the campus! http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2023778&l=f31ba&id=79800981 The one below is just a little preview. Enjoy!

Eye Opener

2008-11-01T16:42:00.000-07:00

So, this week has been really eye opening in training. I have learned alot, and can see things that I thought I already knew in a different light.

I made it off campus with different groups to the VP's house for ice cream and one of our director's houses for dinner. We had 98 people at our dinner, and that was just the singles under 30!

Tomorrow I will go to a tea for the ladies going to the same region as me, and we are all going to where cultural clothes which will be fun. (For my job in my city though, I will not wear cultural clothes-pretty much normal business clothes.)

I can't really think of anything special to report right now, but I wanted to let you know that I had not forgotten. I will update ya tomorrow if I think of anything else.

First few days of training

2008-10-25T11:01:00.000-07:00

Currently, I am drinking from a fire hydrant of information at training, and getting soaked, but not drowning! Things are good here. It is so refreshing to be apart of a community that all has the same passion. I am living in a dorm with a beautiful view out of my window, I would post a picture, but I forgot my camera. The trees are all changing colors and there is a creek down the hill from my window that flows into a pond on the property.

It is hard to find a balance between meeting and hanging out with people, studying, and resting. Breakfast is only from 7-8 everyday, so that means you have to get up early, and go to bed early, which is hard. There are really cool people with lots of stories, but then there are really good resources to study here that we will not have overseas too! I am thankful that today is Saturday and I can get ahead on some assignments, take a nap, and then a bunch of girls and I are going into town for dinner and a Walmart run tonight, so I guess today is pretty balanced! :)

Don't let me get too far from the outside world--email me and let me know what is going on in your world!

Its as easy as Alif, baa, taa...

2008-10-18T14:26:00.000-07:00

It is really not as easy as ABC, for me yet, anyway. Just thought I would share the Arabic alphabet with you. Note that it starts in the top RIGHT and reads to the LEFT, and that at least 5 letters sound like a version of the English "T." Oh, and the letters change forms depending on their position in the word (beginning, middle, or end). But as mom always says, "you can do hard things, " and I am trying! Although I did not work, this week was very productive. I spent Monday at OBU and in OKC getting to visit old professors and people in Campus Min. that I worked with. I also got to meet with a business contact that hopefully, the training company that I will work for will be able gain additional training resources from. I had a lovely dinner with Emily at Cheesecake Factory (yum!) and then got to have a sleepover with Amanda at OSU (fun!). Oh, and I decided to get my hair cut too, while I was there. (It is below my sholders when it is straight, which I will get to do more often, because it is easier to straighten now that it is short, and now that I bought a quality straightener!)

I fly out to VA on Tuesday for training. I will be in VA for 2 months, studying and preparing to go. I'm spending the next two days getting things in order, cause the next time I will be back in OK will be for just 2 weeks around Christmas. I will be sending an email newsletter out to my update group before I go, so let me know if you don't get it and I will add you to my list.

Thanks for reading!

Things are coming along...

2008-10-11T15:58:00.000-07:00

Things are coming along. My car is now on the market! I need to spec it all out, but for now, I have detailed it and have a sign in it. So if you know anyone wanting a reliable, good condition, 25 mpg in town car in the area, send them to me! It is a 99 Saturn SL2.

I said a lot of "see-ya-laters," this week. Friday was my last day at work. I was really blessed to work with great people and friends since graduation in a good flexible job. I was so surprised, they even gave me a 5-piece luggage set, which will come in very handy as I pack to go overseas. (little shout out to everyone at BOCC! thanks for reading!)

My cards should come in on Tuesday, so be sure to ask me for one. I don't want to miss anyone, and I should have more than enough-I ordered 1000.

When you think of me,
-P. that I will accomplish all that is needed before training in VA
-P. that I will quickly learn Arabic (it was pointed out this week that even the numbers are different!)
-P. that my way be prepared overseas. That I will meet people and build good friendships, and that all the purposes of going will be met.

It's getting closer...

2008-10-05T19:40:00.000-07:00

Wow! I can't believe it is already October. I head to VA Oct 20. I have known that since May, but yet it still seemed soo far into the future that now it is weird that Oct 20 is getting even closer!

This week will be my last week of work at the bank. Working at the bank has definitly been a blessing. The bank has not been anything really challenging (mom says challenging is overrated anyway!), but it has been nice to have a good, flexible job. Even though it was just a transitional job, I have learned alot about people, working environments, the value of a small town bank, and the FDIC! The people there make the work more enjoyable too--even when you are cleaning out an attic, making parade floats, or calling customers that need to update their financial files! There are perks there too--Terris' lunch everyday, Relay for Life, and Girls Night Out just to name a few.

Then I will have one week to dot all my I's and cross all my T's before heading off to VA. I will be making a trip to OBU/OKC on Oct 13th, to meet with some people about the work I will be doing overseas, and to get a much needed haircut. (As a sidenote, let me know if you think I should keep my hair long or cut it to my chin/sholders let me know) I will also be having a garage sale on the 18th to get rid of some stuff that I will not need for 2 years-so if you are in the area you should come buy my stuff! :)

I started out to update you, thinkin' there was much to tell, but I guess I found some things, and hope I didn't ramble!

Fun with family!

2008-09-19T19:55:00.000-07:00

So, I finally figured out how to post pictures! Yay!! I am happy to report that the trip was great. It was good to see family, explain better what I will be doing, and get to spend time together before I leave.

I am also happy to report that now I can say all the letters of the Arabic alphabet with my flashcards, even out of order, and I can put them in alphabetical order! I got lots of rest in the car and started on some reading, but will need some help getting through these thick books!

Teresa, Mema, and I outside Teresa's new house. Why dad decided to take our picture right here, I don't know.

Quick grap the camera! Chloe and Rachel had a blast showing us all their new things. And of course we loved hearing all about them! Aren't we all so cute!

Chloe and mini-me, aka Rachel! I braided Rachel's hair so that she could have hair-just like Laura's! She even got to put mouse and hair spray in it!
Sunday afternoon in the park--Fun times. Note the curly hair on Rachel! So fun!

Headed South

2008-09-07T15:08:00.000-07:00

This week I am headed South to visit grandmas, aunts, uncles and cousins, from both sides of the family that I will most likely not get to see for another 2 years. They will all just need to get passports to come visit me overseas! My parents and I hope this will be a week of quality time that we can all spend together. I hope to gather support from fellowships of my family as well.

I enjoy road trips, because it is a time of guilt free reading, napping, or just staring aimlessly out the window, cause there is nothing else that I should be doing (or could be doing) right then. So, I will be practicing Arabic with my alphabet flashcards, reading some books about the region I am headed to, relaxing, and sleeping. Just felt like I should get in the habit of updating the blog for those of you who check for updates!

Introductions

2008-09-01T08:20:00.000-07:00

Welcome! My goal for this blog is to record "at the end of the day" what happened that day, at least for the next couple of years. (although, I admit that I may go several days without posting, so don't worry mom) This blog will be a great way to stay in contact with family and friends as I head overseas for the adventure of a lifetime. I will do my best to post photos and journal entries.

I just found out last week that I will be headed to North Africa and the Middle East (NAME) in January 2009. In NAME, I will be studying language and interning with a business training company. I am excited at the opportunity to use my new business degree overseas as a way to meet new people and experience new cultures! Thank you friends and family; your support is imperative as I take this step.

at the end of the day...

D-now--this is a test

Ketchup

Top 10 Lessons Learned in the Last 2 Years in the Middle East

Picture time

Egypt

Farm Day: Meat your Milk!

Where am I?

Maamoul

G R A S S

Greece Pictures

The Dermatologist

Hair cut: (The Dermatologist prequel)

ANTS in my ......

Come, eat fish and swim!

The Wedding!!

Un Noche Mexicano!

Random Pics

touring the country

Shopping

Joha and his sheep

Sandwich Etiquette

Traveling and Noise

Sweet Talk

When was the last time?

Flexible Weather

Mohammad's Birthday!

Hummus!

December Pics

Holiday Pictures!

Villages and Minutes = nefsa she!

Food for Thought

All in a Day OFF of work

They look good even in the Rain!

Mom and Dad's Visit

Do I tell 20 people that they may have been exposed to H1N1?

Cultural Lessons from the Hospital

I have eaten more Ramen noodles in the time I have been here than in all my high school and college years combined!

Fairouz continued

Fairouz

Confessions of Comfort

More pictures

Jordan

What a Week!

Teenage Dance Party

adding on and checking off life's to-do list

Cars and Traffic

When was the last time your cable man said you had gotten a little fatter since the last time he saw you?

Moving

Fun Videos

Happy Mother's Day

For the Oklahomans, out there!

Visit to an Old "Walled City"

Karaoke pics

Compliments and Arab life

Karaoke...Arab Style

A day without weird looks!

Good Ideas and Random Thoughts Come All At Once

Village Pictures!

New Post, Finally!

Mother's Day in the Village!

In Awe!

What a Week! Lessons from MOLD

Malls and Movies

what have I done that is blogworthy?....SHOP

Pictures!

Vegetable Peeler English Usage Manual

*SNOW*

Lunch with my Language Teacher

Arabic Takehome Test, wait no its ORAL!

Electrician: Is this normal?

I am not Lasy!

Pictures!

University, Eyebrows, Rain, and Nouns (didn't think you could make a title out of those things did ya?)

A funny thing happened on the way home from language school...

Don'tcha just love surprises?!

A good day!

Yani

Random Arabic Thoughts

I am here!

SNOW