The Beauty...

On Easter we got to see an amazing sunrise over the city. For those of you who remember my obsession with sunrises last spring you can imagine how exciting this was for me. I was thinking of all my Prairie buddies!


Look how the light shined onto everything....

Here are Roomie A and me at Easter...

Besides this beauty Roomie A and I more recently went on a hike with some of our friends and got to see more green in one place in these cilantro, parsley and corn fields than I have in months...


It's been a good restoration and reminder of The Beauty. I am reminded of the Sara Groves album Add to the Beauty, which is worth checking out and quite inspiring. The song Why it Matters has become one of my favorites to listen to as I ride the bus around town in between random conversations with girls getting on and off the bus. Here are a few lines:

Speak to me until I understand
Why our thinking and creating
Why our efforts of narrating
About the beauty, of the beauty
And why it matters...

Show me the love that never fails
The compassion and attention
Midst confusion and dissension
Like small ramparts for the soul
How it matters

Girls' Flat Cleaning Day!!

Well, when you have a flat that is home to 5 girls who seem to constantly rotate in and out things can get a little out of control. We had one storage area with cardboard boxes piled up from 2 years ago! So today we had an official Girls' Flat cleaning day. After I went to the new "park" (dirt area with bushes and a few rides, pics to come soon) with a couple girls this morning, paid our Internet bill, met Roomie A at her school, went and got lunch we commenced the cleaning. I made a mix of 56 of my favorite cleaning songs (playlist available upon request), and we got to work...

BEFORE:


AFTER:


Then we tackled the kitchen. Our cupboards are not attached to the wall and sealed off like many of you are probably accustomed to in your kitchens. Because of this dust, crumbs etc. fall beside and behind our cupboards. We pulled them and our stove away from the wall today and gave the floor, walls and cupboards a big scrub.

This is just one more grand example of "a day in the life..." =^)

He lives to intercede for us...

Easter has never meant more to me than this year. When I was back at home it was a significant event in the year, but often was marked by crowded churches and restaurants. It is no one’s fault that this is the way things go in a Western Christian society, but here I have been given so much perspective.

The last few weeks I have been dwelling on Hebrews 1:2-4 and 7:25...

"In these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs."

"He is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them."

It has become a really awesome and powerful thing to me that the One who intercedes for us is LIVING. In the states this was important, but I didn’t realize the full significance until I lived around people on a daily basis who trust for their intercession someone who is not alive and presently with God. This whole year studying has give me a ton of perspective on my own faith. The great hope that we have is truly and “anchor for our souls.” Because of this ever present intercession of Jesus we are able to with great anticipation await a future city and the fulfillment of the Kingdom.

So let us rejoice and praise the Living One!

Hey Cucumber! Knock it off!

First you'll need a quick language lesson then I'll tell you a funny story. The word in the language I'm learning for donkey is "Himaar" and the word for cucumber is "Khiyaar."

Roomie P was awakened in the middle of the night by a young man who wanted to pursue a conversation with her once he realized she was a foreigner. Well, that's just extremely inappropriate so she intended to call him a "Himaar" ('donkey'), but slipped up accidentally and called him a "Khiyaar" (cucumber). Not so intimidating. It's interesting the way our brains work in associating words with each other that sound similar, especially when you're tired!

So now in our house we occasionally like to randomly yell..."Hey Cucumber! Knock it off!!"

Wedding Week

Roomie A and I spent a week with our friend the week before her wedding. Here are a couple photos and some stories from the week...

The first few days were pretty chill without much extended family around. The afternoons were simple visits with close neighbors and friends. The party really got started on Tuesday.

Tuesday: Zuqara Day - The bride dresses up in traditional clothing and wears all the old traditional silver jewelry. In the morning neighbors and friends visited and in the afternoon there was a party for her. At the party we danced to LOUD music, drank tea and talked with friends in between the songs.

This is me modeling one of the bride's scarves. At this party she usually wears a scarf like this that only shows her eyes along with all the silver jewelry. I found it interesting that they actually don't have antique jewelry passed on in their family, but rather they rented it from the silver market!

This is how we dressed for that party...


Wednesday: Washing Day - In the morning the bride bathes in scented oils and perfumes for hours while her family and neighbors sing, chant and play drums for her. In the afternoon there is another party where the bride wears a prom type dress and has her hair styled. Again, there was loud music, drinking tea, snacks, and of course dancing!

They use this to scent all the clothing the bride wears during the week before the wedding on the honeymoon. They burn incense over coals in the white thing on the floor all the way on the left and put it under the “birdcage.” They sprinkle the clothes with a couple perfumes and stack them over the cage.


This is my roommate modeling the Washing Day dress. We had 'henna' done our arms also, which is typical for close friends and family to do the week of a wedding. The bride also has it done.


Thursday: "Free" Day - We were told this day nothing was going on; however, they killed three sheep and invited at least 30 women and at least that many men to eat with them. Afterwards we went to pick up our dress from the tailor, meanwhile back at the house they were having another party with loud music, drinking tea, and dancing!

Friday: Wedding Day - By Thursday night Roomie A and I had reached our breaking point of culture and language so we left and slept in our own beds. Friday morning we missed all the craziness of fighting over mirrors and everyone doing their hair to get ready for the wedding. However we did show up to the wedding much more sane after our restful morning. The wedding is held in a reception hall. Only women are allowed in the hall and no cameras or cell phones with cameras are allowed in so that their picture will not end up in the hands of any men. When you enter the hall you are handed a bag with water, soda, and a snack inside. There is loud music playing and girls dancing. At around 6pm the bride enters and slowly walks down the elevated aisle (catwalk) while all her friends clap, sing, and chant for her. At 7:30 or 8pm the announcer warns the women saying "men are coming" and all the women put on their black robes and head scarves before the men enter. The bride's father and brothers come
in and take her back down the aisle to meet her groom. She and the groom come up the aisle again and take some pictures while everyone else is chanting and clapping. The bride and groom cut the cake and feed each other and give each other a drink of soda. They sit awhile and then leave down the aisle for the last time. After family and friends ride in a parade of cars and buses behind the bride and grooms car chanting and clapping and driving crazy until they finally arrive at the bride and groom's new house.


These are the dresses Roomie A and I had made for the Wedding Day...

It was a fun, but exhausting week with so much activity (in another language!). I hope you enjoyed this glimpse of a local wedding!

Good Advice

I've had this calendar since April 29, 1990 and sometimes it just seems right to take advice from a "Kids Thot-a-Day" calendar...

So on March 1 Roomie A and I headed down to the beach. We played frisbee, swam, napped, and listened to music. Outside time is a highly treasured thing around here!

Take your pick...!

My roommate and I decided that it would be a fun adventure to buy a local live chicken. I pass by this place on our street all the time and have been wanting to get one for quite awhile. So after some investigative work on how the whole process goes we finally went. The best part? You can even pick which one you want!

First you tell this man how much chicken you want. For example...I want a $2 chicken. Then he picks one and you can hold it to make sure it's okay. He's holding our pick in the photo:

Then you stand there and look cute next to the chicken cages while he cuts its head off, sticks it upside down in a hole in the table while it kicks and kicks, skins it and chops it up. (Actually, we watched it all after taking this photo):

Next you bring it home and wash off all the blood and feathers:

Now you have to put on your toughest carving face and chop off all the fat and other parts that we don't usually get in the states, like the neck. Might I add, dealing with warm meat is not something I'm used to at this point? It just doesn't feel right.

Now you're all ready to make lunch! Yummy!


*We can sometimes find frozen chicken breasts or thighs at one grocery store here. So really this was just for fun. I don't know if that makes it better or worse that we did it, but just FYI.

Play Time

Aren't these kids cute? There is a house being built on the corner next to mine so we frequently have large piles of dirt in the road. It's entertaining for these guys.



A few months ago Roomie A and I were walking through a hotel where we sometimes eat lunch. We unbuttoned our balto jackets and just then a breeze came through and swooshed them up behind us. We quickly realized (maybe as a result of too much Alias?) that we could play Matrix and Sydney Bristow in our floor length black jackets. We went to pick some things up at a little store in our neighborhood a couple weeks ago and saw these beautiful toy guns. Well, the urge to play Matrix and Sydney quickly overtook us. We found ourselves for about an hour taking pictures and videos fake fighting. It was quite fun, and stress relieving!

SURPRISE!

My roomies threw me a surprise party for my birthday after I got back from the Big City...it was loads of fun!

Here's me being surprised...





Some of the most fun kids ever waiting to jump out at me when I walked through the door...


Blowing out the candles...



A beautiful balloon bouquet...



Me and the lovely roomies...

Welcome Home!

I finally have made it back to Q'ville from the Big City! Upon my arrival my roommates made me breakfast and greeted me with two signs...The first is what you would expect.



The second represents the new round of posters that have recently exploded on most every car and shop here.

Beautiful Birthday...

So I've just recently celebrated my 23rd birthday. I was here in the Big City still with my good friends A & J who made the day splendid. I woke up to a bunch of balloons in the hallway. Then we went out for American breakfast, shopping, Chili's for dinner, then chocolate cake and ice cream for dessert. I got to celebrate with a group of super cool kids who have made their way into my heart and onto my cool list over the last month. I will be sad to leave them and will miss them for sure. They made my stay here in the Big City wonderful. I feel refreshed and ready to head home. These kids played a big role in that.

Pretty in Pink

I found this jacket at a huge mall here in the Big City last night. I'm going back to the pyramids today with another friend who hasn't seen them, but I thought you should see this instead. We can't find clothes like this in Q'land so it was quite exciting!

Big Brother

I was telling these stories last night and it dawned on me that they may be good to share here to show a little more of the culture here.

A couple months ago Roomie M and I were coming home. The group of boys who hangs out on our street and plays soccer said some things to us in English, that were not-so-sweet and meaner than just your usual "Hey, whatisyourname." We were a little fed up with these boys so we called the family we rent our floor of the house from and they sent "Big Brother" downstairs to help us. He went out on the street and we pointed out the main culprit. He grabbed the kid by the forearm and told him to leave us alone then he grabbed that kid's Big Brother and told him to take care of his brother or get his dad to do something. This is a totally normal interaction. Big Brothers are really important over here. We found out a few days later the same kids kicked their soccer ball over our gate and our "Big Brother" slashed it and tossed it back over, telling them to play in their own neighborhood. You just don't mess with his sisters! These boys are SO polite to us now. They never talk to us and always stop their game while we walk by so they won't accidentally hit us with the ball.

This family is awesome. When we had a rat in our house we trapped it in the bathroom. I slipped some poison-on-tuna under the door which the rat consumed. Unfortunately, the rat was bigger than I had estimated and when we went to check on it, the poison had obviously not done its job! The Mom of the family came down and being an amazing village woman, she chased the rat around the bathroom and killed it with the wooden stick end of the plunger!

I hope you are all happy to know that we are well taken care of in our house...

Eating Trash and Donkey Carts

"I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you. Be not like a horse or a mule, without understanding, which must be curbed with bit and bridle, or it will not stay near you." Psalm 32:8-9

"Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flows the springs of life." Prov. 4:23

I have been around animals way more in the last seven months than have in my entire life. Almost everyday on the way to my language lessons I walk around (or through) a herd of goats and cows. I have observed a few things about these animals. They love to eat our trash. They always hang out on the corner where my block puts our trash. They are skinny and help me to understand the need to add oil to the frying pan when making hamburgers out of Q'landi beef. But most relevant today - they are never alone. There is always someone from the village with them that herds them to my street corner. These animals are without understanding of the path they should follow. The same thing goes for donkey and camel carts. Have you ever seen one of these? In case you haven't here's a picture of a donkey cart:



The donkey is completely without understanding as to where to go without being curbed by its bit and bridle. I'm sure I must have read that verse in Psalms that I started with before, but I have never noticed it until today. I've been thinking on the word "keep" today from Proverbs 4:23. How must it be if I praise Him and continually cry out to Him yet, like a donkey with blinders, bit and bridle He has to keep reeling me in. The word KEEP in Proverbs 4:23 is a command - it doesn't instruct us that like donkeys we are to be kept - it directs us to KEEP. Do not be like an animal without understanding. Animals do not know the way they are supposed to go or why, but we do. We have been instructed in THE Way and should not act like foolish animals who wander away because they lack understanding. That's what the Book says about us - like sheep we had gone astray. Indeed, but that is not true of us anymore. When I think about keeping and donkeys I am drawn back to the word relentless. To keep is to be in a constant active state. It's static. No matter what else happens or how the scenery changes we're supposed to follow the Shepherd. This is not a one time action and we're done. It requires perseverance and is a choice we make every moment. I was talking about change with someone today and this is immediately where my mind went. Donkeys are distracted by their surroundings. I saw a donkey very up close and personal the other day. I was in a taxi and he was pulling a cart through a horrible traffic jam. The man sitting up on the cart was struggling to get the donkey to go the right direction. I saw it struggling against the bit, fighting against being pulled this way and that. As I think back on how uncomfortable that donkey looked it dawns on me that's not how He created us to be. He doesn't want to yank us around. He wants to instruct us, keep our feet from falling, counsel us and have His eye upon us. He wants us to walk the straight path no matter how things change. And that first part of the verse- I think it's a promise - He WILL instruct us, etc.

TRACK TRIP!!!!!

I went on the coolest 'track trip' (not a 'road trip' b/c we took the train) up to the Mediterranean Sea this weekend with my girls. It was amazing to see the Med again. I hope you all have an amazing new year!





(This picture was taken inside some catacombs. We weren't supposed to take pictures in here, but it was too cool to resist.)

My Christmas Eve...!

This is how I spent Christmas Eve with my girls!!



Here's us 'reuniting' at the airport:



Also, my super wonderful aunt made a replica of me (never as good as the real thing, but what are you going to do?) to be at the family Christmas:

Merry Christmas!!

Hey! This will definitely be a different holiday being so far away, but we've had a good time decorating and begining to celebrate here. We're doing a dinner and gift exchange in my house this week. Then Roomie A and I will be traveling to spend the actual holiday with two of my best friends! I hope you have a wonderful break. Know that I love and miss you all. Enjoy the pictures, and let me know how you're going to be celebrating too.

These are from some pictures we took at a castle/fort place recently:




This was a fun moment captured as Roomie M told a great joke:
How do you make a Kleenex dance?



You put a little boogie in it!

These are of our decorations around the house. Also, the plate cookies is from a Christmas party we had with some of our friends who wanted to know about our traditions and why we celebrate Christmas. The sugar cookies were a big hit. We also served hot chocolate that was pretty well received.

add to the beauty

i was talking about this song with E the other day and then it randomly came up on my ipod from a mix someone had given me. i thought i'd share it with you because i think it is just splendid. sorry for being so out of touch. not having my computer and getting caught up in life here has made my posting limited. i love you all and miss you tons! let's add to the beauty.

Add To The Beauty by Sara Groves

We come with beautiful secrets
We come with purposes written on our hearts, written on our souls
We come to every new morning
With possibilities only we can hold, that only we can hold

Redemption comes in strange place, small spaces
Calling out the best of who we are

And I want to add to the beauty
To tell a better story
I want to shine with the light
That's burning up inside

It comes in small inspirations
It brings redemption to life and work
To our lives and our work

It comes in loving community
It comes in helping a soul find it's worth

This is grace, an invitation to be beautiful
This is grace, an invitation