I mentioned in a previous post that one of my goals for 2009 is to read at least 30 books and that another one of my goals (at my husband's urging) is to write more. Isaac consistently writes reviews of the books he reads (check out his blog), and I think this is an excellent idea. I have decided to follow suit, at least as much as possible. This endeavour will also help me achieve another one of my goals: to be a better blogger. Oh, how I love thee, multitasking! In the future, I'll be reviewing the books as I finish them. Hang with me now, though- I've got several to review. And do yourself a favor and read through the entire review; I've saved the best for last.
The Tale of Despeareaux by Kate DiCamillo
Who says you have to be a child to enjoy children's books? I especially look forward to a good children's book after I've been reading something laborious or, to put it in the words of the famous Marty McFly, "heavy." And no, Doc, there isn't anything wrong with the earth's gravitational pull in the future.
Despereaux is a sweet story of a little mouse who finds himself the hero of his own story through his surprising courage. I enjoyed Despeareaux's blights and plights, and though the book doesn't make my list of most beloved children's stories, I did find myself becoming attached to the little furry rodent as he experienced new adventures. And potential learning bonus: though written as a child's story, I guarantee reading it would increase most American adults' vocabulary. The author, Kate DiCamillo, makes a point of introducing a new word to the reader and then taking a break from the storyline in order to further illustrate the concept.
Princess, Daughters of Arabia, and Desert Royal by Jean Sasson
These three books aren't necessarily a trilogy, but they are definitely worth the extra time to read all three. They are the autobiography of one of the Saudi princesses, Sultana, written and published with the help of one of Sultana's American friends. Of course, Sultana is not the actual name of the princess, and the author tried to disguise the true identity of the princess so that in the event that somehow a copy of the book fell into the hands of another member of the royal family, the princess would not be recognizable; remember that the Saudi royal family is huge, and this idea of protection through ambiguity is not as far-fetched as we might be inclined to think.
The first book was published in the early nineties and served as an eye-opening expose on the inner workings of Saudi royalty. Sultana describes her childhood, telling specific stories which help to paint a picture of the typical life for a female member of the royal family. While there are many instances of unbelievable cruelty and sexism located within the pages of these books, I don't think it was included merely for the shock value. There are incredibly horrific things that happen in this culture of complete male dominance, and the books serve as a way to allow outsiders to see and yes, perhaps even understand a little, what goes on behind the closed doors of the Kingdom. That being said, I in no way believe that all the males of Saudi Arabia are all ignorant, sexist men. Reading the two follow-up books help to demonstrate the presence of good, and even great, men within the royal family. If you read these books, expect to be shocked and even offended, especially if you are a woman. But like I mentioned before, the point of writing these books wasn't necessarily to make readers' jaws drop while reading, but to allow the readers to see inside a world so often completely shut away from everywhere else so that maybe, just maybe, someone will more fully understand these women and the lives they lead.
Girls of Riyadh by Rajaa Alsanea
Continuing with my Saudi theme, this is a the result of a somewhat social experiment from Saudi Arabia. A young woman begins an email ring, detailing the lives of four of her friends. The email ring became such a sensation in the Kingdom, receiving both good and bad press, that it was eventually turned into a book. This book has more of a modern flair and focuses more on the characters and less on explaining the daily life in Saudi. In the Princess books, the reader is disgusted with the societal system in place, whereas in Girls of Riyadh, the reader finds herself more disgusted with the personal behaviors and actions of particular individuals. The book is less of a social commentary on the aspects of Saudi society and more of a typical coming-of-age story. I still recommend it, especially as the read does learn a good deal about Saudi Arabian culture through the characters' lives.
Eats, Shoots and Leaves by Lynn Truss
When I say, "This book should be taught in schools, studied, and memorized above all other books (excluding the Bible)," I am not exaggerating. It's about punctuation and grammar- how wonderful can you get?
The author, Lynn Truss, is witty and informative throughout this short read; she is British and does a wonderful job of delving into both the British and American usage of punctuation. Truss explains the beginnings of certain punctuation marks and the reasoning behind them, opening our eyes to how gloriously meaningful that little mark called the apostrophe can be, how the common comma can change the meaning of text so utterly, how that often-neglected semi-colon can imply so much! I know all of the writers out there are salivating right now while others probably have befuddled expressions on their faces. "Punctuation? She's getting all excited about punctuation?" they wonder...and the answer, my dear friend, is a glorious yes!
Please, please, please read the book. Even if the thought of reading an entire book on punctuation sends chills down your spine, reminding you of eighth grade English class when you were forced to diagram sentences for an hour straight, I still think you'll enjoy this book! And if you read it, then you'll know why I'm putting my punctuation mark outside of my quotation marks here: because I am a "stickler". And, I want to be British, and adopting this method of punctuating makes me feel more authentic...
More reviews to come!
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Friday, February 20, 2009
Beautiful Blessing Number Two
Less than 24 hours after G. arrived, she made her appearance. Welcome to the world, E. And thank you for making my day so much better...
...and she was born on Chin National Day- how beautifully and utterly fitting.
...and she was born on Chin National Day- how beautifully and utterly fitting.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Maximum Frustration Level Reached
It's been one of those weeks- the ones when you seem to run late every morning, your house is always dirty, work is ridiculously stressful, everyone is in a bad mood, your blood pressure goes through the roof, and everything that can go wrong does go wrong.
But this...
...makes everything better.
But this...
...makes everything better.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Trip of a Lifetime...Part Two
On Friday, I visited with some of my Somali refugees who had lived in Yemen prior to coming to the United States. I told them all about my trip to the Middle East, and they were howling at some of our experiences I shared. On that note, here is the conclusion to our trip.
For our second week, we tagged along with Jen's American friend Todd. He is a tour guide, and he was taking care of a group of university students who had come over as part of a cultural exchange program. Since he knew we were also visiting at the same time, he graciously asked Jen if we would like to consider joining their entourage. And of course, we did.
Monday, we visited several places. Our first stop was to see a hot spring. To my knowledge, I'd never actually set foot in one of these until that day. I'll be honest, it wasn't that hot, but it was definitely warm. I guess "warm spring" just doesn't sound as if it could bring in as many tourists... While we were there, we saw several locals washing their clothes and even bringing their donkeys to drink water.
Interestingly enough, Todd randomly started a conversation with a young man who spoke good English. After only a few minutes of conversation, he invited us (all fourteen of us) back to his house in the village for lunch. This is an excellent example of how open and hospitable these people are. More to come on the lunch in a bit. After briefly visiting the hot spring, we made our way to the Nakhal Fort, which is an absolutely ginormous fort from the middle ages. It is remarkably well-preserved and had some beautiful views of the town it once protected. Unfortunately, Jen got into a little trouble while there and had to be put in jail for a few minutes.
In case you don't know, people who live in the Middle East love dates. I mean, absolutely love them. I know this from working with my refugees, but even more so now. You go into a store, and there is a plethora of date brands available. Visiting this fort only reinforced this knowledge; the fort had two stores: one for dates only and one for everything else.
After we left the fort, we went "wadi-bashing," meaning we drove all crazy through Wadi Abiad. It was the first of many let's-watch-Jen-drive-like-a-madwoman-and-scream-our-heads-off-while-she-does-it moments of the week. If you don't know, a wadi is basically a valley; many times there is water in the wadi, depending on how much rain has fallen. At this particular wadi, there wasn't much water, but where there was water, we insisted on driving through it, competing with each other for the best would-be off road vehicle commercial. Evidence below:
Of course, the pictures don't do it justice, but I honestly had visions of the cars getting stuck somehow and our group of fourteen extremely white people wandering in the desert trying to find a tow-truck. Nevertheless, we did survive the trip, even if I did retain a slight injury (no, I will not delve into this, for it is quite embarrassing). After this adventure, Todd called the young man we met at the hot springs; we met him at a nearby gas station, followed him home, and got a tour of their lovely farm and gardens. One of the guys from the university group even learned how to climb up a date tree to harvest the dates. I would have snapped my spine in half attempting it, no doubt. We met the whole family and then they served us lunch. For free. All fourteen of us- strangers whom they just met that day. I wish I could be as open and accepting as these people are. Truly, we can learn from each other!
Before we left, we got to see the hole where the bury the shooa, visit with the family inside their home, and even see how they harvest and prepare the dates. And oh yes, the ladies all got bakoured so we could smell...'lovely.'
We went back to Jen's apartment and packed for our next adventure- camping in the desert! Tuesday morning, we left the city and began our journey. We made a pit stop along the way and stopped at a sinkhole to go swimming. This sinkhole was massive; apparently no one even knows how deep it is, but I'm telling you- it's deep. The water was an absolutely beautiful color in the shallow areas, but in the deeper areas....freaky! I definitely do not like not being able to see my feet at all when I am swimming in unfamiliar waters. I am terrified the great white shark from Jaws is lurking just beneath my feet, waiting to take a huge chunk out of my leg. Nevertheless, Jen and I were brave and jumped off a ledge into the water- probably a 12-foot drop. We weren't as brave as some of the guys who jumped from the very top, but we weren't as sore as they were the next day! We swam for a while and then loaded the cars back up to continue on to our next stop.
But on the way there, we saw CAMELS first! It was my first glimpse of a camel that wasn't penned in at a zoo. I absolutely flipped- and I mean flipped-out!
After our sidetrack of camel cuteness, we made our way to Wadi Sha'ab (see the picture at the top of the page). I have to say, this was one of the most awe-inspiring places we saw on the entire trip. I could not help but start humming praises to the Wonderful Maker for the beautiful land He gave us. We hiked back into the wadi after eating lunch (on our mats, of course), and continually stopped to look around us, snapping photos along the way.
We hiked into the wadi as far as we were planning to go and prepared to go swimming in the water there. We left our bags, jumped in, and swam our way to a narrow inlet that lead to a cave. Of course, I don't have any pictures of this scene, but I wish I did! There was a waterfall in the cave, and there was also small cracks between some of the rocks, allowing a small sliver of sunlight to peek through. It was truly gorgeous! Being in the cave with the waterfall reminded me of the scene in The Goonies where they find One-Eyed Willy's pirate ship, except our cave wasn't big enough to house a ship by any means. But you get the idea.
We swam back to our belongings and hiked back out of the wadi, drying as we walked along and climbed over the rocks. We loaded the cars back up and continued to our final destination of the day, but not before making one last pit stop. Sunset was nearing, so Todd decided to take us to the beach to watch the scene unfold. We found a spot by the Arabian Sea, on the eastern-most point of the Arabian Peninsula, and watched the sun set behind the sands.
Finally, we arrived at the turtle camp, which is owned by Ali.
When I say that this guy is awesome, I mean it. After feeding us dinner, we sat around a campfire, he offered us sheesha, and then continued to sing songs to us about "the love." I'll tell a few more Ali stories in a little bit. After it got late enough, we drove (or should I say raced?) a few miles to the beach where the green sea turtles lay and bury their eggs. January is not the high season for the turtles to lay eggs or to hatch (no small baby turtles, Jen and Paige), but we were able to sea a turtle laying her eggs and covering them up. They won't allow anyone to bring cameras because of the possibility of some idiot using their flash and blinding the poor turtles. Alas, I have no pictures of the event, but I was able to snap this picture of the turtle tracks while we were at a different part of the beach earlier in the evening.
After returning to the camp, we slept outside underneath the stars. I was sleeping blissfully until some buzzing bug began a battle with me that would last throughout the night. Needless to say, I woke up with a huge bump (that is, a bug bite) on my cheek and one on my eyelid as well...yes, a bug bite on my eyelid.
Wednesday morning, we headed to Ali's village, which is a fishing village along the coast. He invited us into his home because he and Todd are good friends; his mom cooked us some amazing food, and he offered us laban. I'm usually up for trying anything, but I almost wish I didn't drink it...it's yogurt milk, but it's chunky. No kind of milk should be chunky. In any part of the world.
That day, we travelled to the desert camp, also owned by Ali. The desert camp was a few hours away from the turtle camp, so along the way, we stopped at Sur, a coastal town. All the guys went to the barber shop to get a shave and a massage. Apparently, these barber shop massages are really something- your face, neck, shoulders, arms, and something or other with your eyelids. Since we ladies were unable to indulge, we walked around for a while and returned to Isaac enjoying this:
The fun thing that we noticed was that rain seemed to be rolling in to the area. You may not think it's a big deal, but remember it's the Middle East. And even though we were near the ocean, they still don't get much rain- a few days a year at most, if even that. Of course, Jen was about freaking out she was so excited about the possibility of rain. It didn't rain while we were in Sur, but it did cool off noticeably and get rather windy. By this time, all the men were finished getting pampered, and we were off to the desert camp!
Upon our arrival at Wahiba Sands, which is on the very edge of the desert, we unloaded our stuff into our 'cabins' and began playing in the sands. Some individuals were brave and tried going down the dunes via the snowboard.
Others of us were not so brave and relied on our friends to help us 'sled' down the dunes, which was quite enjoyable.
About an hour after arriving, we went 'dune bashing.' I have never screamed more in my life than during that hour on the dunes. Basically, you drive like a maniac all over the dunes, hoping your car doesn't flip or get stuck in the sand. Meet Abdullah, our driver.
Now, don't let this sweet smile fool you. This man is a lunatic on the dunes. I seriously thought I was going to die at least seven times during during our excursion. The funny thing was that he was very quiet- until the backseat full of women would begin screaming because- oh, I don't know- we thought we were going to flip and end up dying in the desert sands! Then he would laugh at us. Yes, he enjoyed the fact that we were terrified! Honestly, we enjoyed being terrified ourselves; we knew we were in good hands with Abdullah; he was born in the area and had been driving the dunes since he was eight. Some scenes:
Dune-bashing is so much fun! Isaac likens it to a roller coaster without the track, and I'd have to agree with him on that point. Of course, the pictures I've got don't put the intensity into perspective, but in case you're wondering, this is what we look liked before:
And this is what we looked like during:
Needless to say, we did survive this adventure on the dunes. I have a video of the adventure I'll probably load onto another post; it basically consists of the three girls screaming ours heads off while Isaac and Abdullah laugh at us. Near the end of our time of the dunes, we went down this huge dune. Our car went first, followed by two more and then finally Ali, who was driving two British tourists in his car. Ali put the car in neutral, letting the car slide down the dune slowly. And then this is what he did:
He gets out of the car, climbs on the hood, and sits there! Then he shuts the driver's side door and walks along beside it. The he acts like he's being dragged by the car. All of the above while there is no one in the driver's seat! If I were that sweet British couple, I would have had a heart attack during that last dune!
We went back to the camp and enjoyed Todd getting his car stuck in the sand, almost taking out one of the cabins, as well as dinner and good discussions with some of the staff members and other guests. It rained that night in the desert; Jen enjoyed every minute of the rain shower since she gets to see rain maybe once a year.
The next morning, I fulfilled one of my life's dreams: I rode a CAMEL!!! This is Barhume:
After our brief camel riding experience, we travlled back to the city to begin packing, as our flight left at 5:00 the next morning. Our trip was coming to an end, and all too quickly. I learned so many things while in the Middle East; I feel I haven't done a good job of communicating not only the exeriences we had, but all the lessons I learned while there. I wish I could better explain everything in this post, but I'm honestly still processing the trip, even after almost an entire month of being back in the States. Perhaps I'll touch on all these things in another post once I've soldified everything in my mind; I'm also working on getting a good slideshow together that is representative of the whole trip. I hope you've enjoyed reading about a few of our experiences; I'm sure I'll be alluding to this trip for years to come. If it's at all possible, I encourage you to go and experience them for yourself too!
For our second week, we tagged along with Jen's American friend Todd. He is a tour guide, and he was taking care of a group of university students who had come over as part of a cultural exchange program. Since he knew we were also visiting at the same time, he graciously asked Jen if we would like to consider joining their entourage. And of course, we did.
Monday, we visited several places. Our first stop was to see a hot spring. To my knowledge, I'd never actually set foot in one of these until that day. I'll be honest, it wasn't that hot, but it was definitely warm. I guess "warm spring" just doesn't sound as if it could bring in as many tourists... While we were there, we saw several locals washing their clothes and even bringing their donkeys to drink water.
Interestingly enough, Todd randomly started a conversation with a young man who spoke good English. After only a few minutes of conversation, he invited us (all fourteen of us) back to his house in the village for lunch. This is an excellent example of how open and hospitable these people are. More to come on the lunch in a bit. After briefly visiting the hot spring, we made our way to the Nakhal Fort, which is an absolutely ginormous fort from the middle ages. It is remarkably well-preserved and had some beautiful views of the town it once protected. Unfortunately, Jen got into a little trouble while there and had to be put in jail for a few minutes.
In case you don't know, people who live in the Middle East love dates. I mean, absolutely love them. I know this from working with my refugees, but even more so now. You go into a store, and there is a plethora of date brands available. Visiting this fort only reinforced this knowledge; the fort had two stores: one for dates only and one for everything else.
After we left the fort, we went "wadi-bashing," meaning we drove all crazy through Wadi Abiad. It was the first of many let's-watch-Jen-drive-like-a-madwoman-and-scream-our-heads-off-while-she-does-it moments of the week. If you don't know, a wadi is basically a valley; many times there is water in the wadi, depending on how much rain has fallen. At this particular wadi, there wasn't much water, but where there was water, we insisted on driving through it, competing with each other for the best would-be off road vehicle commercial. Evidence below:
Of course, the pictures don't do it justice, but I honestly had visions of the cars getting stuck somehow and our group of fourteen extremely white people wandering in the desert trying to find a tow-truck. Nevertheless, we did survive the trip, even if I did retain a slight injury (no, I will not delve into this, for it is quite embarrassing). After this adventure, Todd called the young man we met at the hot springs; we met him at a nearby gas station, followed him home, and got a tour of their lovely farm and gardens. One of the guys from the university group even learned how to climb up a date tree to harvest the dates. I would have snapped my spine in half attempting it, no doubt. We met the whole family and then they served us lunch. For free. All fourteen of us- strangers whom they just met that day. I wish I could be as open and accepting as these people are. Truly, we can learn from each other!
Before we left, we got to see the hole where the bury the shooa, visit with the family inside their home, and even see how they harvest and prepare the dates. And oh yes, the ladies all got bakoured so we could smell...'lovely.'
We went back to Jen's apartment and packed for our next adventure- camping in the desert! Tuesday morning, we left the city and began our journey. We made a pit stop along the way and stopped at a sinkhole to go swimming. This sinkhole was massive; apparently no one even knows how deep it is, but I'm telling you- it's deep. The water was an absolutely beautiful color in the shallow areas, but in the deeper areas....freaky! I definitely do not like not being able to see my feet at all when I am swimming in unfamiliar waters. I am terrified the great white shark from Jaws is lurking just beneath my feet, waiting to take a huge chunk out of my leg. Nevertheless, Jen and I were brave and jumped off a ledge into the water- probably a 12-foot drop. We weren't as brave as some of the guys who jumped from the very top, but we weren't as sore as they were the next day! We swam for a while and then loaded the cars back up to continue on to our next stop.
But on the way there, we saw CAMELS first! It was my first glimpse of a camel that wasn't penned in at a zoo. I absolutely flipped- and I mean flipped-out!
After our sidetrack of camel cuteness, we made our way to Wadi Sha'ab (see the picture at the top of the page). I have to say, this was one of the most awe-inspiring places we saw on the entire trip. I could not help but start humming praises to the Wonderful Maker for the beautiful land He gave us. We hiked back into the wadi after eating lunch (on our mats, of course), and continually stopped to look around us, snapping photos along the way.
We hiked into the wadi as far as we were planning to go and prepared to go swimming in the water there. We left our bags, jumped in, and swam our way to a narrow inlet that lead to a cave. Of course, I don't have any pictures of this scene, but I wish I did! There was a waterfall in the cave, and there was also small cracks between some of the rocks, allowing a small sliver of sunlight to peek through. It was truly gorgeous! Being in the cave with the waterfall reminded me of the scene in The Goonies where they find One-Eyed Willy's pirate ship, except our cave wasn't big enough to house a ship by any means. But you get the idea.
We swam back to our belongings and hiked back out of the wadi, drying as we walked along and climbed over the rocks. We loaded the cars back up and continued to our final destination of the day, but not before making one last pit stop. Sunset was nearing, so Todd decided to take us to the beach to watch the scene unfold. We found a spot by the Arabian Sea, on the eastern-most point of the Arabian Peninsula, and watched the sun set behind the sands.
Finally, we arrived at the turtle camp, which is owned by Ali.
When I say that this guy is awesome, I mean it. After feeding us dinner, we sat around a campfire, he offered us sheesha, and then continued to sing songs to us about "the love." I'll tell a few more Ali stories in a little bit. After it got late enough, we drove (or should I say raced?) a few miles to the beach where the green sea turtles lay and bury their eggs. January is not the high season for the turtles to lay eggs or to hatch (no small baby turtles, Jen and Paige), but we were able to sea a turtle laying her eggs and covering them up. They won't allow anyone to bring cameras because of the possibility of some idiot using their flash and blinding the poor turtles. Alas, I have no pictures of the event, but I was able to snap this picture of the turtle tracks while we were at a different part of the beach earlier in the evening.
After returning to the camp, we slept outside underneath the stars. I was sleeping blissfully until some buzzing bug began a battle with me that would last throughout the night. Needless to say, I woke up with a huge bump (that is, a bug bite) on my cheek and one on my eyelid as well...yes, a bug bite on my eyelid.
Wednesday morning, we headed to Ali's village, which is a fishing village along the coast. He invited us into his home because he and Todd are good friends; his mom cooked us some amazing food, and he offered us laban. I'm usually up for trying anything, but I almost wish I didn't drink it...it's yogurt milk, but it's chunky. No kind of milk should be chunky. In any part of the world.
That day, we travelled to the desert camp, also owned by Ali. The desert camp was a few hours away from the turtle camp, so along the way, we stopped at Sur, a coastal town. All the guys went to the barber shop to get a shave and a massage. Apparently, these barber shop massages are really something- your face, neck, shoulders, arms, and something or other with your eyelids. Since we ladies were unable to indulge, we walked around for a while and returned to Isaac enjoying this:
The fun thing that we noticed was that rain seemed to be rolling in to the area. You may not think it's a big deal, but remember it's the Middle East. And even though we were near the ocean, they still don't get much rain- a few days a year at most, if even that. Of course, Jen was about freaking out she was so excited about the possibility of rain. It didn't rain while we were in Sur, but it did cool off noticeably and get rather windy. By this time, all the men were finished getting pampered, and we were off to the desert camp!
Upon our arrival at Wahiba Sands, which is on the very edge of the desert, we unloaded our stuff into our 'cabins' and began playing in the sands. Some individuals were brave and tried going down the dunes via the snowboard.
Others of us were not so brave and relied on our friends to help us 'sled' down the dunes, which was quite enjoyable.
About an hour after arriving, we went 'dune bashing.' I have never screamed more in my life than during that hour on the dunes. Basically, you drive like a maniac all over the dunes, hoping your car doesn't flip or get stuck in the sand. Meet Abdullah, our driver.
Now, don't let this sweet smile fool you. This man is a lunatic on the dunes. I seriously thought I was going to die at least seven times during during our excursion. The funny thing was that he was very quiet- until the backseat full of women would begin screaming because- oh, I don't know- we thought we were going to flip and end up dying in the desert sands! Then he would laugh at us. Yes, he enjoyed the fact that we were terrified! Honestly, we enjoyed being terrified ourselves; we knew we were in good hands with Abdullah; he was born in the area and had been driving the dunes since he was eight. Some scenes:
Dune-bashing is so much fun! Isaac likens it to a roller coaster without the track, and I'd have to agree with him on that point. Of course, the pictures I've got don't put the intensity into perspective, but in case you're wondering, this is what we look liked before:
And this is what we looked like during:
Needless to say, we did survive this adventure on the dunes. I have a video of the adventure I'll probably load onto another post; it basically consists of the three girls screaming ours heads off while Isaac and Abdullah laugh at us. Near the end of our time of the dunes, we went down this huge dune. Our car went first, followed by two more and then finally Ali, who was driving two British tourists in his car. Ali put the car in neutral, letting the car slide down the dune slowly. And then this is what he did:
He gets out of the car, climbs on the hood, and sits there! Then he shuts the driver's side door and walks along beside it. The he acts like he's being dragged by the car. All of the above while there is no one in the driver's seat! If I were that sweet British couple, I would have had a heart attack during that last dune!
We went back to the camp and enjoyed Todd getting his car stuck in the sand, almost taking out one of the cabins, as well as dinner and good discussions with some of the staff members and other guests. It rained that night in the desert; Jen enjoyed every minute of the rain shower since she gets to see rain maybe once a year.
The next morning, I fulfilled one of my life's dreams: I rode a CAMEL!!! This is Barhume:
After our brief camel riding experience, we travlled back to the city to begin packing, as our flight left at 5:00 the next morning. Our trip was coming to an end, and all too quickly. I learned so many things while in the Middle East; I feel I haven't done a good job of communicating not only the exeriences we had, but all the lessons I learned while there. I wish I could better explain everything in this post, but I'm honestly still processing the trip, even after almost an entire month of being back in the States. Perhaps I'll touch on all these things in another post once I've soldified everything in my mind; I'm also working on getting a good slideshow together that is representative of the whole trip. I hope you've enjoyed reading about a few of our experiences; I'm sure I'll be alluding to this trip for years to come. If it's at all possible, I encourage you to go and experience them for yourself too!
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Fiesty Old Women
One of the things I look forward to the most about growing old is the fact that, as an old woman, you have leeway to say and do pretty much whatever you want. Seriously, think about it. How often do you hear some outlandish remark made by an old woman and then people turn to each other and say, "Well, she's an old woman- she can say whatever she wants!" It's true; if I ever said some of the things my grandmother says, I would have either a) received "The Look" from my mom as she glared me down, knowing that once we were in private, my impending doom would await me or b) heard the infamous, "Do you want me to smack you in front of God and everyone in this ______(fill in blank)? Then knock it off!"
Yes, I'm definitely looking forward to the day when I can be like this woman who called into the Ellen show:
Yes, I'm definitely looking forward to the day when I can be like this woman who called into the Ellen show:
Monday, February 2, 2009
Isn't he cute?
But beware, this adorable little creature is not your friend this year. Yet again, the famous (or shall I say infamous?) Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow after emerging from his stump at Gobbler's Knob, thus predicting six more weeks of winter. Now, I'm not one to be skeptical of the prognostication abilities of an adorable, albeit oversized, rodent who caused Bill Murphy's character to learn a few life lessons in the early 90s movie Groundhog Day, but this guy... ahem...groundhog has been in this business since 1887 and has seen his shadow ninety-seven times. Ninety-seven out of one 112? Come on, Phil. That has got to be statistically improbable.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
