Hilarious!!

I know this doesn't really pertain to what I'm doing here, but I was just reading the Kalona News online, in particular the "Looking Back" section that looks at "news" from the past, and it is hilarious! I highly recommend it to anyone who finds humor in what small towns find "important" enough to print. You can find it here, and then scroll down 'til you find the article called "Looking Back". This week my uncle Jeryl and my aunt Sheryl even made it into the section. :)
In other news, real news, you should all rest assured that the riots happening in other countries in this region have not come to this country. I am perfectly safe here. :)

A Week In Germany

I had an amazing week in Berlin with two wonderful friends I hadn't seen in almost two years. :) They just had a little baby, Mira, who is precious and who I held as much as possible. One evening she even fell asleep on my chest as we watched a movie...I loved it!
We spent hours talking about every subject under the sun, we went to a nearby mall one day where I stocked up on chocolate, we spent part of a day at Ikea (I love that store!), and I got to just be a part of their lives the rest of the time. :) They are a part of a wonderful group of people there and it was exciting to see what's happening in their neighborhood and the connections they are making.
I was anticipating freezing temperatures, but it was actually quite nice when I first arrived, and the temp hung around freezing the whole time I was there...they even had a few snow flurries which I enjoyed at least. :)

Here are a few pictures that they took...I haven't gotten my pictures off my camera yet.

Having lunch together the first day

Lunch at Ikea...Mira was fast asleep in her stroller almost the whole time.

Holding little Mira. Even in the week I was there it seemed like she grew and changed.

I got back here last night and am slowly unpacking and settling back into life here. On Friday my roommates and I are hosting a birthday party which will be fun, and I also have some things to get done this week. Inshallah everything will work out. :)

A New Roommate!

Last night I went to the airport with my roommate to pick up our third roommate who is coming to study Arabic. :) Our roommate from this fall had moved home about a week ago, so it's nice to have a full house again.
I am balancing my checkbooks and getting everything in order today for tomorrow when I leave for Germany. The cold temps have really set in this week...I'm pretty sure the temperature is hanging in the 40's somewhere which you might not think is that bad, but since all we have to stay warm inside is a gas heater and blankets it can make it somewhat chilly. :) The sky has consistently been getting darker all morning and I'm wondering if it won't rain before the day is over. They are even talking about snow for this week, which would be great, as long as it doesn't delay me tomorrow. :)
Well, I should go start thinking about packing...or maybe I'll make lunch first. :)

Nothing to Blog About

Hi Everyone!
I guess the title of this post isn't exactly true...I do have things I would like to share my thoughts about, but since I'm not usually that open about certain issues on this blog, I won't go into them here. It just seems like there are things on my heart that I'm thinking about, that are making me sad, and that are causing me to ponder a lot of things. (That was cryptic wasn't it?) If you want to hear more about these things, drop me an email and I'll send you a book in response. :)
Anyway, please don't think I'm depressed or anything like that...I'm just a bit introspective at the moment. It might not help that I have been a homebody the last few days, which is giving me lots of time to think. :)
Last night I went to the building next door to babysit a couple of kids to give their parents a chance to get out for a bit. I had fun hanging out with kids again and they were really easy to be with. The little girl who is almost four had trouble falling asleep by herself, so I held her until she dropped off and I loved it. :) I hadn't realized until just a couple of weeks ago that I have hardly spent time with kids at all since I've been here and I missed it. I miss having cousins around, and Gehman's kids on Saturdays, and all the little kids at church every Sunday. It's funny the things you take for granted until you don't have them anymore. :)
So, that is probably the exciting event of the week, besides the preparations for Germany. Oh, and I might possibly be connecting with a friend who is coming through with her study abroad program on Saturday. If I don't see her Saturday I'm sure I'll see her later in the semester, but it would be fun to see a friend. :)

Good deals

Yesterday and today became shopping days, and I found some amazing deals, especially yesterday. :) Every Friday there's a huge market that is held, and there are rows and rows and booths and booths of used clothes and shoes and about anything you could want, for great prices. I ended up spending only 9 JD (less than $13) and I got two hooded sweatshirts (a Nike fleece and an Abercrombie hoodie), a pair Aero lounge pants and nice boots for winter here. It was definitely successful. :) Today I bought a skirt that wasn't as good of a deal, but it was still 50% off, so I'm happy. 

So, I guess that's really random to share, but most of my posts end up being random, so it fits right in. :)

Tomorrow and Monday I'm going to help out at the English Center, which will be fun, and tomorrow night my roommate gets back from her Christmas break, so it will be good to see her again. My other roommate left today actually to go back to her home for awhile, and her room will be taken on Friday or Saturday by another woman. :) It will be nice to have a full house again.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the new blog look...I was ready for a change. :)

Video of Roa'a

Over Thanksgiving I took advantage of a nice sale to purchase a video camera (a super small one) and had it sent to my home in Iowa, and so on Saturday I finally got it when I met up with a friend from Kalona who is here on business. :) So, naturally, I took it to school the next day to try it out. This video I took of Roa'a, and I had her speak in Arabic so that y'all would be able to hear how it sounds coming out of a native speaker's mouth, instead of my pitiful attempts. :)

*This is where the video was supposed to be...I tried several times and it won't upload so I'll try again later, maybe in Germany and maybe you'll eventually get to see it. :)

I'm hoping to get some video clips of the city and my apartment, and maybe I'll even attempt to piece it together, so we'll see how that goes. I just had my exam today, and now I'm done with the semester! Classes start again the 9th of February, and I will take the placement test on the 7th. My teacher thinks that if we (her students) take the placement test we'll be moved up to Level 3, instead of going into Level 2. That would nice I think, because we basically finished the Level 2 book this semester.

Anyway, in less than 2 weeks I'll be in Berlin, getting to see little Mira Miller. :) In the meantime I might get to see my Kalona friends again, and also I'll probably help out a bit at the Language Center where my roommate works. They are starting a new term and need some people to help direct students to their rooms and such. So hopefully I will be able to keep myself busy. 

Happy New Year!

I just got back from ringing in the New Year with some friends from my apartment building and some of their friends. :) We even had fireworks (not just firecrackers, mind you) that we shot off at midnight. And it has been raining for the past two days, so that made it feel a bit more like winter and not fall or spring. :)
Anyway, I'm going to go to bed now, and sleep while the rest of you in the States ring in the New Year there.
May you all have a wonderful start to 2011!