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 :)

knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's door

so, you may be curious as to why i have this title? just maybe? well, when i went to another neighborhood's starbuck's knockoff earlier, this is one of the songs i heard. actually i heard about 3 Guns 'n Roses songs. it was quite fun. i always seem to get a kick out of hearing english language songs in taxis, restaurants, and out in public. so, i thought i would recap the last several days with a list of highlights:

• i passed a man the other day while walking and he was carrying two dead (at least i am pretty sure they were dead) chickens by their feet. they still had feathers and still had their heads. i think he was carrying a basket of eggs in the other hand.
• we have one of the most progressive neighborhoods in the country in our city. it kind of catches me off guard when i am over there.
• i really like walking around the city. it has helped me in getting my bearings of the layout and it is great exercise (i try to get in hour walks everyday).
• by ignoring people or situations, you really aren't dealing with people or situations--you are simply not taking initiative or making a decision
• there are some decisions i need to make soon
• i got to meet a lady in the train station and it was neat. i got to practice language and i actually understood some of what she said. i was limited in what i could say back, but it is progress.
• there are lots of concerts going on around town this week. it is fun to see that folks all over the world like to have fun and celebrate music (i haven't gone to any of the concerts yet, but maybe will one night)
• i have finally seen people around town more than once. it is starting to feel more and more like home. having a taxi driver for the second time made me think of this.
• oh, i got stopped the other early evening by some university students doing a project on the renovations being done to a nearby river. they wanted my opinion on the matter--whether or not it was good for the city/country. it was quite funny as they video-ed my response and everything. they were very nice.
• i have grown more sensitive than i think i ever have in my life--this has been a suprising development
• i totally saw a toyota old school landcruiser here with razorback stickers on each side of it! not the hogs kind, but a really good depiction of a wild razorback. it made me really happy
• i am actually craving olives! this is a seriously new development. i think the olives seem to counter the sweetness here.
• each day i feel more and more at home.
• so, cat calls are universal--in their logic, not neccesarily their sound. see, the noise that guys make at ladies here is the same noise that folks use to solicit cats here. interesting, huh? who knew it really was a cat call?
• there is word of labor strikes happening this week--exciting!
• that it is important to be the person G created me to be

TGIF...really

so, today is Friday and what better way to celebrate than by going to T.G.I.Friday's? there is one here and it was quite an experience. my excited friend took me there to step back into the Western world. here you can see the outside of it! pretty snazzy, aye?

i had to laugh when we got up to the entrance and ladies with huge smiles opened the doors for us and welcomed us into the fine establishment. we were given english/french menus and had quite a time. i had a chicken finger BLT (with real bacon), fries, and a strawberry lemonade. for dessert, we split an oreo sandwich ice cream dessert. we even got to see some flair! it was fun and kind of odd at the same time--just being amongst locals that were relatively westernized. a much different neighborhood than ours.

so, onto this past week's exciting cultural revelations:

• it is best to just look straight ahead and to not make eye contact
• there are Wrangler jeans here (which i guess could mean Wrangler rear ends:)
• bread is a sacred thing here
• as is water
• the first car at a stoplight really doesn't have to worry themselves with watching for the light to change as all cars behind him/her will honk profusely to let them know that the light has changed to green
• sometimes the stoplights have no authority over traffic
• that kids on rollerblades love to grab ahold of bumpers to catch free rides up hills
• the locals don't like the diesel fumes much either
• the more bees surrounding a sweets shop, the sweeter their pastries (this is quite a compliment)

today i realized just how content i am...being here, right now and still so thankful to be here learning the language, about the people and about the culture. i have been suprised i think in some ways how things that would plague my heart and mind in the States haven't even been much of a thought or heartbreak here. i really can't imagine being anywhere else. and wow--does that make me joyful. don't get me wrong, life is different and has its own set of challenges, but i am taking them one day at a time.

so, TGIF, cause i am going to play a game (maybe scrabble!) with my friend. :) until next time...

airing out my dirty laundry

so, i decided it might be interesting to give you a glimpse into the day to day life here. laundry is one of those things that we all get to do, so why not start here with day to day life topics.
to start the process, one must clean off the line in which the clothes will be hung on to dry with a napkin(as pictured). we especially have to do this task, as our street is frequented by every single city bus (and it just so happens that they emit an immense amount of diesel fumes). if one does not clean off the line, you can see the nice black layer that will promise a new black stripe on one's clothes.
then the clothes go into the front-loading washer. it is probably 2/3 the size of washers in the States. loads are smaller and we seem to have an abundance of warm to hot water--only. this part of the process takes about one and a half hours, so one knows their clothes are squeaky clean.
after one's line is free of the black soot, one is free to arrange clothes on the line to dry. drying takes from one half a day to a good 24 hours. sometimes it can be advantageous to move items around to give them maximum drying power. it is also very wise to take dry clothes off the line as soon as possbile to not take away air-time from those clothes that are still wet.
when clothes are dry, one takes them off the line and folds them to then put into storage. in the folding process, one can spy a hole. these holes come from clothes bugs. these bugs eat holes into one's clothes for a tasty snack. grrrrr.





i hope you have enjoyed this glimpse into the day to day life...stay tuned for more exciting adventures!

from pine trees to palms

i just wanted to give a quick look at some fun observations in my time here thus far:

• palm trees are all over the place here and that just makes me happy. there are some types of evergreens and hardwoods as well, but i love to just take in all the palms (i actually want to do some research on them to answer my many questions about them)
• some taxi drivers like to put on music with English lyrics when we get into their rides. here is a sampling of what we have heard: Pink Floyd, Kenny Rogers, Bob Marley, Marvin Gaye
• when you watch folks play American baseball--only here can the players have names like: Muhammad, Ibrahim, Belinda (a young man), Saul, Hans, Frans (just kidding on that one), and Soffa
• smoking is still allowed inside the airport here and in many other public places
• there aren't any capitol/lower case letters in Arabic--just one version
• one night we were out to eat and our server said that we would need to wait on getting our change as the cashier went to go pray, so we waited about five minutes for them to finish their prayers to get our change and leave (oddly enough it was a woman that was the cashier--the majority of women here do not stop and pray at the observed times)
• i have decided that ramen noodles are available in just about any location on the planet, including here
• they offer birthday parties in McDonald's for kiddos all around the world as well
• and you can also hear fun music ranging from Shakira to The Wedding March in the McDonald's
• i really think that the majority of little girls all over the world wear the colour pink, wear ribbons, bows, tights, and skirts
• little boys all over the world wear clothes with animals, trucks, and sports on them
• babies are babies all over the world, too :)
• that i really like it here and am thankful to be learning the language, the culture, and how others live even though it may seem hard at times