ftur with classmates and teacher

alrighty! so, i am a little behind, but that is okay, right?

my brilliant and amazing classmate decided to host a ftour for our teacher who is without his family during Ramadan. i think you will enjoy the footage!

it was a lot of fun to help put the tables together all nice and festive. she had many traditional and not so traditional foods, so it was fun for sure. there were like ten of us i think. it was great for some of the folks to practice their Arabic with our teacher.

here you see many traditional foods: the harira up top being served, the shebakia (the best i have had thus far), msmin, dates, honey. then my snazzy classmate kicked in some quiche, fruit, banana smoothies to add her flair. it was a lot of fun.

each night at to signal the ftour there is a cannon that will go off, along with the regular call to prayer. we can't hear the cannon from our apartment, but you can hear it from my friend's house. that was kind of cool. i had just missed it as i was walking outside to hear it, the guys were coming in after the signal. all in all it was delicious and really fun to serve our teacher in this way.

here's my fabulous classmate and me at another fun gathering we had. i am just so thankful for her and her hospitality!

USA labor day in NA

so, we had to celebrate the American Labor Day here cause we hadn't broken in our charcoal grill yet and it was the day before Ramadan, which wouldn't really allow for us to be able to use the grill for the next month. so, i emailed my aunt to once again get the family recipe for German style potato salad. started by boiling the potatoes.

then cooked up the onion, bacon (yes some friends found a pork butcher here!), mustard, vinegar, and water for the potato salad.

oh, look at that grill in action. these weren't our burgers, but the burgers of friends. it was quite a smoky evening, but a lot of fun and full of good Labor Day-isque foods!

my plate was filled with the potato salad, bean dip, veggie bake, a BBQ, grilled pork chop, and veggies! it was a lot of fun. hope you guys had a great Labor Day, too.

my first breaking of the fast in NA

so, i had the absolute privilege of breaking the fast the first night of Ramadan. i was super stoked about this and the idea that my friend wanted me to be with her family. it was great. here family had just recently moved to a new area that has grown tremendously in the last few years. it was interesting. i had decided to fast as well to get the full experience and learn what and why they do what they do. below are shots from the roof. we watched some men lay down mats to offer a makeshift mosque for men (and women) to come and pray close to home. there wasn't a mosque built yet, but i am guessing this may be the location for the planning of one. they had speakers as well to broadcast the call. while on the roof we also took a few photos of me, my friend, and her sis. it was an incredible view for sure. many of these apartment buildings you see in the photo with the makeshift mosque. i also got to practice language a lot as my friend knows just some English. i was also really excited about the fact that my friend even let me help prepare some of the food. normally you are commanded to sit in the salon (living room) while they prepare the food and all. so, we waited until the early evening call (and the TV) to signal that it was time to break the fast. you can see on the table the assortment of foods that are prepared and eaten for the ftur (as they call it here). there are staple foods for this occasion that are served every single night of Ramadan. those being: dates, harira (tomato based soup that is really, really good), shebakia (a really sweet candy almost), boiled eggs, rif (flat dough which can be filled with sauteed veggies and fat--yes f-a-t) these triangle things that can be sweet or salty (and are amazing!), milk, coffee, and tea. some of the other things here vary from house to house. it was really incredible and interesting of course. we watched TV while eating and not a lot of talking happened, but we did comment on how good the food was and all. after this meal we went and walked about the neighborhood for like two hours! just trying to help that food digest. it was incredible though as the streets came alive! see, a lot of places are closed during the day--especially cafe's and such, so the folks are itching to get out and socialize.
some families literally switch from day to night. they will still eat their dinner (which is normally served at 10pm or so), but just a bit later, like at midnight or 1am. then get up before the early morning call to prayer for a morning meal. then maybe sleep late as they have been up later and up again for that breakfast meal. then, other families may not do all three meals. i got exhausted after the ftur and walking about that i asked if i could sleep a bit before the next meal. i ended up not waking up for the midnight/1am tagine (traditional dish) dinner, but was woken up for the 4am tagine (again traditional dish) leftovers. then went back to sleep for a bit before i had to leave for school. i stayed at her family's house. really, it was an incredible experience. i am very grateful! stay posted for more ftur updates!

birthday part deux

so, here's the follow up to the exciting b-day here in NA. we had dessert a plenty for sure! i was so blown away that my dear local friend made me lemon tart cake and some traditional cookies. she really went above and beyond (you'll realize even more when you see what else she made below! i also received some neat gifts, a card from my da bomb mom on the b-day, and these little girls in our building came and sang happy birthday to me in English and gave me this sweet note with flowers:)














so, here is the amazing creation my dearest local friend made for me for my birthday! can you believe it? i absolutely love it and love her!


i was honored for sure and wasn't expecting anything like this, but He is faithful:)

just so you know that i am eating well:)

here's a glimpse of some recent delights...

my roomie made this great smoothie creation...mmm good! i also got to make a delicious turkey, cheese, lettuce, and tomato wrap. also made up this cucumber/tomato salad to go with it! just love the area veggie guys:)

sipping on some mint tea at the best place for tea in town, and a round of choc chip pancakes for brunch one day.

you know one of my love languages is food, so i just wanted to share these photos with you all!