time flies...

greetings! it has been an eventful past week or so. i have found that time here is flying oh so quickly! i can't hardly believe that Feb is just around the corner. well, here is an update from some recent activities and just some life stuff. hope you are well and staying warm...some of you may be reading this late since your power was out. know that i am thinking about you all! i just love the view from my room sometimes. this day just made happy with these beautiful clouds rolling in and finally we had a few days of sunshine. it is actually quite warm today, but i think we are about to get that storm system that swept across AR and KY here in the next few days, cause we have rain, rain, rain forecasted. really the winter has been pretty mild here. i feel like a house that i lived in in AR helped prepare me for the temperatures here since we don't have central heat or air.

so, the photo above may seem like a mix of misc things...and you are right, they are! but this gives you a glimpse of one of my favorite perks about NA. you can actually buy only what you NEED. instead of having to buy a package of this, that, or the other thing, one can actually purchase a half kilo of this or one or two of that. above are just the recent purchases made this way: plastic paper covers to help protect papers and these even allow for them to be put in a binder (they are really popular here actually). i just wanted like 4, so i walked into a bookstore and asked if they had any. the man asked how many i wanted and i said four. he gave me four! and they were like 10 cents a piece. sweet! then i needed some needles to work on the cross-stitch you can see below. well, i went into the m'dina, found a shop with thread and needles and got two different sizes...just one of each! both for less than 50 cents! okay, so then i have been looking for cocoa (without sugar) and haven't been able to find it at the grocers, so i mozied on down to this shop in the m'dina that sells chocolate chips, party supplies, etc. (it has turned into one of my fav spots) cause i thought surely they would have cocoa! and they did! actually it was in a large trash barrel, but it was what i wanted:) so, he asked how much do you want and i told him to give me 200 grams. and i got 200 grams! the choc chips pictured there were a total bonus! i have purchased choc chips here in the past, but they are larger and a more circular shape than the chips in the States, but when i was going to pay, i looked down and saw these in a plastic container. give 200 grams of these, too, please! fabulous!

so, then i needed a ring for the cross-stitch and went back to another sewing notions store in the m'dina and ordered up just one! my oh my. i just love this type of purchasing power:)

so, we were offered the opportunity to cross-stitch an animal as a part of a quilt. i got the horse and this was my first time ever to cross-stitch! i don't know if i will be doing it a lot, but it was fun. i enjoyed doing the detail work, but wasn't sure if the quality of my cross-stitches are really great. oh well, i had fun anyways! giddy up!

so, last weekend my roomie and i went to watch a film at a local cinema. i really wanted to see this film as it was filmed in a nearby city to where we live and the language in the movie is the same as the one i am learning. i thought it would be a cool cultural experience as well. also, i wanted to make my mom proud by going to the movies (her favorite activity in the States). it was fun for sure. we actually met up at 3pm to try and see the film at one theater, but the show was sold out and the next showing at that particular theater was at 9pm. since we didn't want to see it at nine, we just walked over to the other theater (like a block away) and found that they had a showing at 5pm. so, we met back up about a half hour before the show and got our tickets. we opted for the most expensive ones to ensure we would get a seat (the most expensive ticket being like $5). so, we wait and watch the lobby of the theater fill up quickly. people were anxious to get inside. well, the other show let out and we were let in. we go upstairs cause my roomie sees that our color tickets are being taken upstairs. we get to the top and go in and another ticket person asks for five more dhs. i gave it to her and she directed us to our seats. we totally had box seats! it was really kind of cool. the theater was an old orchestra theater maybe, so there was even an orchestra box down below. so, we actually sat in chairs, not like the foldy type of chairs in theaters normally. so, we enjoyed the movie. it was funny to hear the responses of the people to the film. it was a bit teeny bopper as they would applaud or whistle at different scenes. you could even bring in your own food--and not even have to hide it! it was fun for sure. the movie was good in my opinion. i thought it was filmed really nicely...i loved the colors and all. the story was about two young guys just trying to make it in their city. it was fun for sure and just another fun cultural experience. my lang helper was suprised we went. not sure why, but i am glad we did! below is a link to a trailor for the film if you want to check it out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ym6ojpPrwRM

hope that you are having a great week and staying warm! i am getting ready to take a trip to see some friends, so hopefully i will have some fun pictures and stories from that. oh, and the superbowl is coming up, along with a fellow student's birthday...so lots to update on next time i am sure! :) thanks for reading and joining me in this journey. grateful for you.

fromage, moving, leaks, and everyday life

so, on a trip down south to a larger city i had gotten a hot tip that there was cheddar to be found! i didn't realize how much i missed this yummy kind of fromage (the word they use here for cheese, french actually). we have only had it a few times in our 'hood grocery store, but when i found it down south i bought as much as i was able with the money i had on me. here, my roommate is measuring it out so we can distribute some to our friends here. she is trained as an engineer, so she did all this amazing math to figure it all out. we are planning to shred it to freeze (since we have realized the scarcity of this precious cheese here in these parts). just another night in NA, right? :)

moving day! we were so excited that it didn't rain on this one Saturday. it seems to be raining pretty much every Saturday and well, almost every other day, too. here, you can rent these trucks pronounced: lori

this one was great as it only two took loads to move all the big stuff and on the second load we were trying to gather as much stuff as possible to fill it up. you will see below that we even decided to have folks ride in the back to save on taxi trips. it kind of felt like a parade!

loadin' up the help! it was a great, great day for moving. i know the young boys (older ones, too, maybe) really enjoyed getting to ride in the back.

as a part of the move, the family wanted to trade my roommate a shelving unit for the table picture here. so, i was cleaning stuff out from under it and realized that we have a leak...there was mold and mildew developing as well. so, i tried to air it out, bleach it and even bleached part of the table to help with the mold/mildew. i have to admit that this turned out to be a good thing to realize as it could have gotten really worse and i bet that is why i have had some head coldish stuff going on. thankfully we really haven't had any mold/mildew issues to speak of and the only reason why we had this one was because of a leak. but speaking of the leak...

this is what is on the other side of the wall. our tile isn't quite tile, but laminated brick. so, that is what may be causing the leak. turns out there is water that has even been leaking out into the hallway of the building. yikes. well, hopefully we can get in contact with our landlord soon to have it fixed. i know that i was holding off on this fix of the tile cause i can only imagine what may go into the repair of this:) but now that it is obviously more than just this faux tile peeling and a leak into more places than one, hopefully it will be resolved sooner than later. but this is the benefit to renting, right?

so, onto more exciting things...i have a bit of a victory to share this week. i was so happy when i was called a word by my friend this week. this word actually means ugly, dirty, not good, but trust me...it was turned out to be one of the best compliments i have received thus far.

so, i was walking out of class and turned my phone back on to see who i had received a call from earlier. turns out i had also gotten text from a local friend saying that she was in the area and wanted to see me to go hang out. well, i texted back to tell her that i had to go help my roommate first, but would love to meet up with her. normally when she says that she is right on my block she is en route or just around the 'hood. well, this time i was walking up to my entry door to our apartment building and saw my two dear friends hunched over the mobile phone reading my text message as i had just sent it. so, i decided to go up behind them and say Ahalan! a little louder than normal to sort of scare them. well, it indeed startled both of them. after that i was laughing and so was one friend, but the other really got startled. she started calling me khaiba, khaiba which really struck me. like i said before this word can be used to describe something that isn't good or unpleasant or someone who is maybe untrustworthy...you get the gist. but in this context it gave me this feeling that i was in. no longer were we just face value friends, but we could laugh and joke and she could call me horrible (just like my mom would say for startling her as i tend to do from time to time:). so, the rest of the night was great. we had a really fun time doing our normal routine: heading to the coffee shop to drink hot chocolate or cafe' au lait, talking about life (where this time i was able to learn even more about my friends), talking about things going on around the world, then mozying on over to the m'dina for a stroll, and then to the snail man to eat snails and drink the roux from the snails, and then part ways (all of this being communicated in solely Arabic). awh. what a great night! i am just so thankful. really.

so, i hope you are having a great week where you are and are able to share friendships like these. shine the Light you have been given. thanks for your support.

approaching month 9

so, i wanted to update this week with some reflections of a few things that have happened recently and other just every-day type of things that take place here. recently, i went to spend the night with a friend and during my stay we went next door to visit a woman that had just returned from the Hajj (Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca--part of the 5 pillars). since she has returned she is now deemed a Hajja as she has completed the Hajj. while at her home we were served dates and some interesting water. it was actually served in this little glasses that had Mecca printed on them and even had a little handle on them. picture a souvenir shot glass from Mecca...in it was this special water that they actually drink while there, but then bring back home with them to share with visitors and family. below is a photo i found online when doing a bit more research on the water and below the photo is some more info about this magical water...Muslims believe that the water of the Zamzam Well is divinely blessed. It is believed to satisfy both hunger and thirst, and to cure illness. Pilgrims make every effort to drink of this water during their pilgrimage. The water is served to the public through coolers stationed throughout the al-Masjid al-Haram in Mecca and the Masjid al-Nabawi in Medina. Pilgrims also fill water canisters from special taps, to take home as gifts for relatives and friends, and some of them also dip their pilgrimage clothes, ihram, in the water. The ihram are then preserved to serve as burial clothes when the pilgrim dies; thus he or she will go to the grave touched by the Zamzam water.
As the Muslim population of the world has grown, and air travel has made the Hajj more accessible to them, the Hajj has become increasingly crowded. There can be up to 3.5 million pilgrims performing the Hajj. Even though it is believed that the Zamzam well will never run dry, the Saudi Geological Survey has set up a Zamzam Studies and Research Centre, which is charged with keeping the Zamzam water both hygienic and plentiful.
Islamic history states that Zamzam Well was revealed to Hajar, the wife of Abraham (Ibrahim) and mother of Ismael,[2] around the year 2000 BC. According to Islamic tradition, she was desperately seeking water for her infant son, but could find none, as Mecca is located in a hot dry valley with few other sources of water. Muslim traditions say that Hajar ran seven times back and forth in the scorching heat between the two hills of Safa and Marwah, looking for water. God then sent the angel Jibril (Gabriel) who touched the ground with the tip of his wing and caused the spring to appear. On finding the spring, Hajar confined the pool of water with sand and stones. Other versions of the story say that the water just suddenly appeared at the feet of Ishmael, or that the angel Jibril scraped the ground with his heel or brushed it with the tip of his wing and the Zamzam appeared.[3]
The name of the well comes from the phrase Zomë Zomë, meaning ‘stop flowing’, a command repeated by Hajar during her attempt to contain the spring water.[1]
According to Islamic tradition, Abraham rebuilt the Bait-ul-Allah (House of Allah) at the site of the well, a building which had been originally constructed by Adam, and today is called the Kaaba, a building towards which all Muslims around the world face in prayer, five times each day. The Zamzam well is located approximately 20 meters east of the Kaaba.[1] All italicized info copied directly from wikipedia.org.
I just thought this was interesting. The doorframe of the Hajja's home had palm branches also from Mecca hanging from it. The actual Hajja was not home when we visited as she was at the mosque for prayer (and i would assume sharing with folks there about her Hajj experience).

Then we had Ashura the first week of January here:
For centuries the Jewish people have observed Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, with fasting and ritual. According to hadith, the tradition of the Jews of the time of Muhammad was that on this day, the 10th of Tishri, God delivered Moses and his people and drowned Pharaoh and his forces; so Moses observed it as a fast out of gratitude. This date has also been commemorated as the anniversary of the creation of Adam and Eve, life and death, heaven and hell, the Pen and the Tablet; the deliverance of Abraham from the fire; and the reuniting of Jacob and Joseph.
In the early days of the Qur'anic revelation, Muhammad ordered that the corresponding date in the Muslim calendar — the 10th of Muharram, known as Ashura (Arabic for "tenth") — be observed by Muslims with a day-long fast. Although it was eventually superceded by the month-long fast of Ramadan, the Prophet continued to fast on Ashura, and recommended that Muslims do so, saying "I seek from God that fasting on the day of Ashura may atone for the sins of the preceding year."
Ashura is mainly observed by women and children. Here, the practice of mourning the death of an old year and celebrating the birth of the new year predated Islam; the extension of the practice into an Islamic context likely began in Shi'i communities that existed there between the 9th-12th centuries, and was perpetuated by the Sherifs, the descendants of the Prophet. Though the custom of mourning persists, it no longer has a specific focus. For the occasion, women make special raisin and nut sweets called krishlat, couscous made with the preserved tail of a sacrificial ram, and special fritters, flat cakes and porridges, eggs and poultry dishes. Also there are some pranks that get played on this day similiar to those on Halloween. There is egg, water, and tomato throwing at people even!
Just more interesting information about come of the celebrations known and acknowledged here. Italicized information from http://www.superluminal.com/cookbook/essay_ashura.html

on to much different topics...

above is yet another feast of ham! my roomie always seems to manage finding it at different places. this came from our Wal*Mart-esque store. We had quite the Sunday dinner on a Wednesday night:)speaking of the Wal*Mart-esque store...i was walking there the other day in search for raspberries and just thought this view was fabulous. it has been raining a lot this winter, which has been a blessing yet troublesome at times with flooding. i have even heard that some crops may ruin cause there has been too much rain. yikes! well, you can see how full the river is here. this week it has happened to get colder, yet i think we are in for some sunshine! yeah!
birthdays are just so fun to celebrate! recently our program director's wife celebrated 39! i made the ultimate brownie on the left from scratch (i am really getting into this whole from scratch thing) and my roomie made a great dark chocolate cake with funfetti icing imported from the States! it was a fun night ending with some Wii playing to help work off some of the sugar highs we had all gotten.
i actually captured this shot this morning! i was going out to check laundry and had been hearing some serious honking. well, the green bus was stuck. it just couldn't make the turn! there was an empty trailer in the way, so these guys from the auto repair shop had to come out and move it. and of course there was agruing to go along with it! you can see the congestion it caused. exciting times in our 'hood!

i was so delighted to receive a package on Saturday (making good with our package delivery guy has its rewards now!) morning from some dear Arka friends. in it was some taco and ranch seasoning packets and a recipe for some amazing taco soup. i was quickly inspired to make the soup and found myself cooking it up and now enjoying it with cheese, our version of sour cream, and/or homemade chips. yummy!

so, i can't hardly believe it has been almost 9 months since flying here back in April! time is flying and i am thankful for each every opportunity that have had thus far. sometimes i have to pinch myself. know that i love you and think of you often as i have encountered so many reminders of friends and family like you.

hope you have a great day and thanks again for all of your support, love, and for staying in touch:)

Sana saʿida (Happy New Year)

and a Happy New Year to ya! it was interesting to see how folks celebrate the New Year, since they had two in one week! since Muslim holidays are based upon their lunar calendar, but they also observe the Gregorian calendar, as does most of the entire world, this year the New Years of both calendars fell in this same week! also i noticed that many people would ask if i were going home for the rasel alm (which literally means head of the year) and i was surprised that they would ask about the New Year versus Christmas. well, i realized that many sorta group the two together in that they are both celebrations so close in time and gifts are given and Papa Noel is present. it has been such an interesting mix of French influence along with their own celebrations or lack thereof. Christmas isn't celebrated as the birthday of Christ, but is seen as a time of gift-giving maybe or is just clumped together with the New Year's celebrations. at our lang school we had a great party between the Islamic New Year (1430) and 2009...

we had loads of fun foods and a nice time just talking with the teachers and other classmates. we also shared what was something good about 2009 (or 1429) and what we look forward to in the future. i brought buckeyes and chocolate dipped pretzels you see there in the middle!
above is a friend's husband (on the left) and one of our lang teachers. i had some buckeyes left and they took care of them:)

i was so excited to get this mix from my dad and bonnie! i whipped it up for our New Year's Eve festivities. it doesn't taste just like it, but is close:)

had to get some decor up for the New Year's Eve celebration we had at our place. it was pretty low-key, but really nice and fun. jenn, kevin, sherry and i rang in the New Year playing games. we weren't sure what to expect on the streets, so we decided to stay in. there really wasn't any kind of hoopla going on at all. i actually found out today from my friend that people weren't celebrating because the King had said not to because of the situation in Gaza. interesting.

we had mostly just snacks, but my roommate made up a dish they eat in NM for New Year's: pesole. it was really good. it had pork, hominy, and red chili in it.
the snacks: veggies, the fudge, divinity, peanut brittle, buckeyes, and pretzels! and some yummy hot chocolate i got in the mail:) thanks guys!

ringin' in the New Year literally! i called all my family and some friends to wish them a Happy New Year a little early:)

so, Sherry found bratwurst on her last trip to the pork butcher! she grilled them up on New Year's day! happy 2009 to us:)

the brat paired with imported velveeta cheese to make up some yummy mac and cheese was a great meal for the first day of 2009!

Christmas in NA

well, Merry Christmas! we had a great one here full of fun, gifts, decorations, Christmas programs/parties, and friends to share it with. I hope you enjoy the photos that helped document this special holiday here...

this was right after we put up our tree. my dad had sent a basket for Thanksgiving, so i put the extra ornaments in there and put that under the tree as a little extra decoration. i bought the Christmas tree and ornaments from a friend that went back to the States. she was right in thinking that the holiday decor would help brighten up our season! i also was really excited to find this spray snow stuff for our windows. i knew that my roommate was used to snow, so i wanted to bring a little snowy feeling to our pad:)

nice and up close shot of the tree. in the middle there you can kind of see the genie lamp ornament--that was a gift from a shopkeeper in Egypt! fun!

so, my roommate suggested handing out goodies to our neighbors for Christmas. i decided to make up chocolate cookies, some mint candies, and these buckeyes pictured above! these are my most favorite things! i think i made close to 300 by the time it was all over. you will be seeing them in photos to come:)

my fabulous lang helper (and dear, dear friend) joined me for our Int'l Ch's Christmas program. it was a blast. it was a really neat, new experience for her and i think she enjoyed getting to hear more about why we celebrate. we had a really nice evening.

so, i got inspired by my lovely friend, Lesly, and made up some homemade gifts for my lang teachers, my classmate, and our building's concierge. i made up hot cocoa/mocha mixes. i was so excited to find everything needed to not only make up the mixes, but to wrap them up as well! the red and green wrapping is used for book covers here. it worked for me!

now, fast forward to Christmas day. my roommate was housesitting for a family, so we decided to have our group's Cmas there. here is lovely Shannon with a gift i got her and her family from Egypt. she cried, which in my family means SUCCESS! :) we had a really fun time opening gifts and sharing in the celebration.

of course we had to have great food! we decided that since we had gone all out for Thanksgiving, why not change things up a bit and go mexican for Christmas. i was in charge of the salad and fixins'. below was my first plate of food:) it was so delicious! enchiladas, beans, rice, pork tacos!

then came dessert! shannon made up delicious cherry and pecan pies (my two absolute favs). my roommate made up gingerbread cookies and of course there were buckeyes:)

so, after handing out the boxes of goodies to neighbors, we received gifts from two families in our building! one family brought flowers and a wonderful note of Christmas greetings while another family gave us this cute card with a wooden box for each of us! i was totally blown away! how generous and sweet this was!

after Christmas I had two friends, Ai and So, come over so they could check out our Christmas tree. they had never seen one before, so it was really fun to watch them check it out, take pictures, and comment on the tree and decorations. it was a really fun and the loved it all.

i have been so thankful for packages that have been sent! the one above came from Rogers and was full of some homemade peanut brittle, fudge, and divinity! i have gotten to know the package delivery guy and the folks down at the poste pretty well:) below are the goodies that my dad and bonnie sent to me along with the great box my dad painted up! i was so excited to receive these...thanks!