another one bites the dust

hey friends! well, another week bites the dust. time seems to be flying these days. i think it may be because i have gotten a bit more responsibility, can actually do a bit more, and can even talk a bit more, too. this week has definitely been full of some good surprises, has been challenging, and allowed for some good language practice. i thought you guys might enjoy another round of photos with this post as well. so, to the right here you can check out my office space-not really, but looks pretty snazzy, aye? i really enjoy working at my desk and have realized in the lack of a public library here just how much i am grateful for free public libraries to go and study at. what a good investment with the tax dollars. in the past i have done best at studying outside of my home, but here i have tried to balance my trips out (as it usually will cost) with staying in to get good homework/study time in.


to the right here you can see a snazzy lunch that my roomie hooked us up with. one of our friend's house helper makes homemade bagels and our friend is gracious enough to share in the goodness. so, we made deli sandwiches on the bagels added pringles, a banana, and juice and had ourselves a pretty fun lunch. it felt like i was back in high school cafeteria.
still though on Fridays we try to go out and have the traditional Friday lunch. we just went this week and it was especially good. mmmm good food. :)

here you can see a now unused fountain washing area outside of a mosque. i hadn't seen this one before as it was on the other side of the grounds that i had not explored until just this week. i have doing a bit more walking and trying to get the lay of the land still and am feeling a bit more grounded in my cardinal directions to think in my mind, "Okay, where am I at?". and even the other day i had some folks ask me how to get somewhere and i could help them out. it was fun...leaving visitor status and actually feeling like i am a NA-an!
but back to this fountain/washing area, isn't it incredible? these colors, the handcut tile, and craftsmenship amaze me.






here you can catch a view of our version of W*M. there is even a pizza hut attached to this one. i also really enjoyed the gigantic pam that you see on the right. this is not actually a palm, but some kind of tower. i was thinking it would be rad if all the cell towers in the States looked like palm trees--maybe everyone wouldn't be so against the towers going up in prominent places, like the top of mountains and such--hehehe:)

anyways, just a glimpse into life here. i have a few little things that were on my mind to share about day to day life here:
*just the other day i seemed to be consistly seeing guys use the restroom on the side of the m'dina wall--one guy was even using it on the wall right beside a water closet
*to follow that morning of men taking caring of business, later that evening i was walking along another wall to a popular site here and it seemed like there were little boys taking care of business all over the place--that's just the way it is:)
*i have made a few new friends, which is really exciting! my language is definitely growing and i am grateful
*now when i go to my regular fruit/veggie stand they know exactly what i want: 2 bananas :)