trip #2

i was able to take an overnight trip to visit some friends in another city. it was great to check out what it is like in their neck of the desert-ha! it was also fun to learn some interesting history and let them tour me around their city as i was able to have them to my city about a month before.

here is the bab (door) into a pretty swanky golf course. i was told that even the king plays here! fancy!
here is me and my riding buddy. we took all the sites in via horse drawn carriage. it was a fun way to see the different sites and was ultra convenient as the guy would stop at all the sites to let us out and take tours and photos. it was a perfect way to stay out of the 104 degree F sun.
this archway was at a mausoleum we visited. it was an interesting set up as we walked through several rooms to get to the actual holy site. the tile work and architecture is just so fabulous. this was the mausoleum of a king that claimed this particular city as the capitol of the country for a period of time. he was part of different dynasty than the one currently ruling today.
so much interesting stuff!






we were also able to visit the stables and granary that once held/served thousands of horses. the inside part was naturally cooled and our guide called it natural air conditioning. and these stalls in which i am posing with in the photo were set up so that from one spot a person could see every stall--not sure how they did it, but great minds were at work here.

it was a blast to of course see friends, but i also enjoyed learning more about the culture and life here in another city. cool!

friday afternoon: take 2

mmm good! the couscous is ready and is served! it is quite funny cause it got a little warm that afternoon, so the ladies insisted that we all strip down to our tank tops to eat this oh so delicious lunch. i started out eating with a spoon cause they gave one to me, but they were all eating with their hands. i decided that i wanted to join in on the fun and...
...i learned how to roll the couscous in a ball just like they do! my couscous balls weren't as large as theirs, but is was a great start. they were very happy to teach me and see me get the technique down. i was so stoked!
it was seriously delicious and they insisted that i keep eating and eating and eating--even after they were finished and left the table!
i was oh so full to say the least.
well, then everyone started getting all cleaned up and dolled up. i wasn't really sure what was happening next, but figured out that we were going somewhere else. i thought maybe we were going to a friend's house for coffee, but realized that when we arrived to the other house, it was the mama's sister's house and all of her family. and it was just after the call to prayer, so they were about to dig in on couscous! so, i had another round--they insisted that i eat, eat, and eat some more! it was fun to practice my arabic for sure. they were a really neat family.
the ladies let me help prepare the batter for what i like to call north african pancakes. it was so cool! i felt so welcome and this family loved to laugh and enjoy one another. it was an honor.
it was interesting because in some families the men will not be in the same room with the ladies, but this family wasn't like that. these brothers wanted me to drink some tea with them after couscous. the one on the left was enjoying his tobacco pipe while enjoying his afternoon tea. then the pancakes were served with apricot jelly. mmm delicious! i was so full by this point though.

i am just so thankful to be here and learn about this place, the people, the food, and the language. what a joy!

friday afternoon: take 1

so, i was invited by my friend (that i mentioned earlier taking me captive for a day:) to join her and her family for the Friday couscous. it was a really great time to spend with her, her mama, and two sisters. it started out with my friend meeting me in town and then we took a bus to her home in a neighboring city. we then went to her house so i could meet the family. i felt so welcome and was excited to be there. the food was not quite ready, so i went with the older sister to go call a friend at a teleboutique. then my friend decided to go for a stroll and sohw me the neighborhood. it was funny cause we ended up stopping off at a salon to have her eyebrows done. that was an interesting thing to watch happen:) my friend hasn't quite gotten used to tweezers, so part of the way through she had the lady shave the undesired sections off. hmmm.
well, then i mad a comment about the tikshetas/caftans that they wear here (we were passing by a boutique with them) and asked if she had one. she got really excited that i asked and i mentioned that i had my camera, too. so, we got back to her house and ended up doing a fashion show! it was a blast!
the first photo is of my friend's sister and i in tikshetas--i loved the one that i tried on cause the under-layer was blue and the top layer was yellow (one of my fav color combos). the ladies also decided to khl me, which is the black eyeliner that they wear in a traditional sense. it is pretty intense as it kind of burns and lasts for a few days!

now, i am here with mama and the younger sister. we were all wearing caftans. the difference between a caftan and tiksheta is that the caftan is just one layer and isn't quite as dressy and the tiksheta is two layers and a bit more formal.
now i am with my friend! she is wearing a tiksheta and i have another caftan on. these ladies had the hook up on some formal wear! it was a lot of fun to get all dressed up and take photos of all the outfits.










then, it was time to get the couscous ready to serve. i was decked out in a jellaba this time to pose for this shot helping dish out the couscous. they were so great! there were very happy to let me document this neat afternoon. so, after the couscous was dished out of this pot, mama added some water to fluff it and then poured it back into this huge serving dish to then pour over all the veggies and meat. in the next post you will see more about the actual meal and what was to come later in the afternoon:)

trip #1

so, i have yet to update you on a few happenings in life lately and i apologize. please enjoy the next few blogposts--they are just for you:
to the right here you will be able to check out the fabulous steak i was able to enjoy recently at a french restaurant. we were travelling down south for a few days and had the opp to indulge a bit. it was an interesting visit as the city was so different than my home city here. the buildings were all painted a different color than the ones here and it seemed like a huge city. we got there and went straight to the m'dina. got some shopping in, which was quite interesting as the shopkeepers knew a lot of english. it would throw me off a bit cause it wasn't as easy to not listen to them. since this is a very touristy spot, they were very aggressive in wanting to show you things or make comments. i found a shop that had local-style clothes for a prefixed price and they were incredibly affordable. i was so stoked! we were pretty worn out from the hours of being in the m'dina and trying to wheel and deal with shopkeepers.
another day we took a day trip to a really neat city on the sea. it was refreshing and provided for some nice breezes and a more laid back feel. lots of kite and wind surfing. it was cool. actually it was so windy on the beach that the sand was blowing all over the place and covering our stuff. it was pretty fierce:)
so, here i am hanging out on a cannon from like the 1700s. so much history here for sure!
it was a neat day and relaxing.
so, then we made it back to our main city we were visiting to check out the m'dina at night--life is hopping here and it is a huge attraction! all these food vendors show up and start cooking away. one could find all kinds of delicious dishes here that include liver, hearts, etc. these hosts from each vendor were also aggressive in trying to get you to eat at their place. we actually ended up eating McDonald's salads just before arriving there.
the lights were beaming, the fortune tellers were giving tales, the henna artists were on the prowl. it was a lot to take in for sure! i was really suprised when there were a couple of male, cross-dressing belly dancers. this seems so counter-cultural for here. i took a photo from afar and was spied by one of the dancers and was asked to cough up some money for taking the photo--they don't play around here!
so, i was told that some of the best OJ in the country can be found here. since this has become my drink of choice, second to water only, i just had to check it out. oh, this OJ delivered for sure! very delicious and oh, so fresh! and cost a mere 50 cents for a nice tall glass.
overall the trip was fun, interesting, and definitely a learning experience. i got to practice some language, learn about the culture/people more, and spend time with my friends here. i was happy to be able to take this trip and see more of this incredible country. and also, now i can finally tell taxi drivers that i have indeed been to this infamous city!

thanks friends.

oh and the answer to the question from the title of my post was the movie, So I Married an Axe Murderer. If you haven't seen it, please consider doing if for me:)

happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, anniversary! happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, anniversary!

if you know what movie this title comes from--please leave a comment and i if you get it correct you will get something sent to you from me here:)

anyways. wow, wow, wow.
this day has been incredible. i mean. wow.
so, i had a great lang lesson, in which i learned body parts. then i had a great Chat with my lang helper. she is such a doll. so passionate. and she is a great lang helper, so i am oh so grateful. i am excited as she will teach me the real way to make mint tea later this week.
e-wa (anyways), i decided to go by this book/school supply/office supply store on my way home from the lesson that is just a block away from the dar (house). i hadn't been by there in a while, so i felt like it would be good to go and greet the ladies in the shop. well, i was immediately invited to sit where she was sitting just outside the shop and was asked if i had been sick since i hadn't been by in a while. that made me laugh inside cause it is so descriptive of the culture here. relationships are everything.
so, from then on we were communicating shwiya b shwiya (little by little). and turns out i was going to spend the rest of the day with my friend!
we started out by going to the m'dina to purchase veggies from several different vendors, then even stopped off to chat with some of her buddies that have shops in the m'dina as well, and even grabbed some fresh fish that the man would gut for us. it was such an interesting chain of events. my friend, La, was such a great bargainer! and she even had me drop off my lang book at a random (to me at least) shop-keeper to hold on to while we were shopping around in the m'dina getting the needed food. then we went to her place (this whole time walking around with arms interlocked--as done here) and cooked up and prepared the food. it was fun to be in her home! these folks here are just so together--i mean, i had a dude hold onto my book for me for like a 45 minutes or so, and got to go into a gal's home after seeing her only several times. i want to practice hospitality like that (that reminds me--i will have to write about my lunch with girls that i hosted another day).
so, from there i hadn't truly figured out what was going to happen next. i wasn't sure if just she and i were eating alone or if we were taking this lunch back to the bookstore. well, i soon figured out that we were talking this lunch (well late lunch) on the road. we walked ourselves and the food back to the shop to share with the other employees. it was way cool. so, then we ate (and they insisted that i ate more) and cleaned up and took the pan, plates, forks, etc. back to her house, to then make a carafe full of hot milk (which the milk was purchased on the way back to her place). this was then taken back to the shop (en route we stopped again in the m'dina to say hey to some of her buddies and even sat a spell and was served hot mint tea!) to be served with a bit of instant coffee and sugar. it was great. truly.
so, then i decided i really needed to get home since i hadn't been back home all day. i walked in the door and realized that it was just after 7pm--whoa! 7+ hours with my not-so-new-anymore friend! what a pleasure. i listened a lot and tried to practice the little Arabic i have learned thus far and try to piece together sentences. it was fun, really fun.
so, just thought you guys would enjoy that. i sure did.