Birthday Weekend Pictures

I know you're expecting pictures from Israel/Palestine, but I'm too much of a perfectionist/someone who likes order to not put these pictures on first. :) The next post is about Israel, I promise.

Roommates! This woman is super dear to me...I have been so blessed to have her as a roommate this year.

With Roa'a

With Haneen

The two of them...I think they might actually become friends...maybe. :)

Opening my gift from Haneen...Roa'a had already given me a gift at school. Haneen made the sign and the crocheted doily type thing.

These are paintballing pictures from my one friend, but she didn't have her camera around when we were all decked out in our gear so those will come later. :)

This little guy fell asleep in mid-bite. :) And yes, it is a boy...I made the wrong assumption when I first saw him.

Enjoying the view and the green-ness while it lasts. :)

With my friend overlooking the valley below

My Exciting Life

I feel like my life has been pretty exciting last week, and this coming week will just add to it. :)

On Friday for lunch/supper my friend took me to and Indian restaurant, which was amazing! The food was very authentic, even more so that what I've found in the States, and it brought back lots of good memories of India.

Saturday this same friend and I went with two of our other friends to a country club type place where I got to experience something for the first time...paint-balling!! I never thought my first time going paint-balling would be here, but it was great! There are a ton of pictures of the event, but none on my computer yet (I have to get them from my friends) and so eventually I'll get those posted. 

Tomorrow my friend and I will head to Israel/Palestine for a few days of vacation for Easter. We're first going to Nazareth and then Jerusalem. I'm so excited to explore some of these ancient places, and to have the Word come alive as I visit these cities. I had been hoping to actually be in Jerusalem for Easter, but since entry into the country is hard on Saturdays (Sabbath) I'll settle for Nazareth. :)

All that to say, I don't have any pictures yet of all these great things I've done, but I will hopefully by next weekend, and speaking of which, May 1st is Labor Day here so we'll have that counted as break as well. (The university doesn't actually give us a spring or Easter break...May 1st is the only day we don't have class other than weekends...so we are giving ourselves this break)

So, for the next few days I'll be away from my computer, although I'm hoping to maybe connect on my ipod once or twice to check email, but I'm not promising anything. If you need me...well, I'll be back by Wednesday night. :)

I hope you all have a wonderful Easter celebration! I know I will.

Pictures from a classmate

Here are some pictures that my Russian-Swedish classmate gave me. She has a super nice camera and took lots of pictures, which I'm grateful for. :)

Eating lunch at the camp with my friend classmates, one from Norway and one from the U.S. Guess which one is which. ;)

What the tents looked like...there were three rows like this with two cots per tent.

Out in the desert

Walking down from where we watched the sun set

Dancing in full swing back at the camp

The view from our beach chairs...we camped out in the shade since the sun was almost too hot. It was great because we were at a private beach so we could feel a bit more at ease in our swimsuits.

The clear blue water of the Red Sea

Birthday Blessings

I have some pictures ready to go from my classmate, of the desert trip, but I will post those later...right now I just wanted to let you all know how blessed I've been today.

Today I was extremely blessed by friends and family. :) I woke up to flowers from my friend and a wonderful conversation over coffee. Then I talked to my parents and Reg, Stacy, and then Kerri on skype. :) And then I received a gift from one of my roommates, before we went out to eat for supper at Fuddrucker's. Well, when we showed up who should be waiting for us but my friend who I got the flowers from, and my two closest Arab friends. :) It was a delightful surprise and we had a wonderful time together. And then the four of us Westerners came back to the apartment and had a dance party. :) We went from modern dance music, to "Achy Breaky Heart", to Grease. Let me just say that I will sleep well tonight. 

I know sometimes celebrating holidays and other special days far away from home can be hard, but I feel like it can also be a chance to experience blessings and surprises that wouldn't otherwise come your way. While being away from home has had it's challenges this year, it has also yielded incredible blessings and memories that I wouldn't trade for the world.

Trip to the Desert and the Red Sea

Sorry it's taken me so long to get these pictures posted...I was recovering from lack of sleep. :)

So, the trip was as follows:

leave from the school at 8:30 9:20

travel 3 hours south (which takes about 4 because of stops)

eat lunch at the campground/Bedouin camp/tourist trap

enjoy the blistering sun and try to find some relief in the shade

load up in jeeps/trucks and drive around through the desert for a couple of hours until the sun sets

return to the camp to find alot of Arabs dancing and eating and smoking nargeelah (water pipes)

watch the dancing for an hour or so

eat supper around 9, and climb into bed around 10-10:30 while the majority of my group drinks the night away

wake up, eat breakfast and leave for the Red Sea at 8:00 8:45ish

arrive at the 5 star hotel, change and stake out a lounge chair on the beach

enjoy the refreshing sea, the beautiful day and some delicious ice cream :)

find supper/lunch outside the hotel

load up and head back to the capital at 5:30 6:15

finally get home at 11:30 pm, exhausted :)

Here are a few of the pictures I and my friend took during the trip...we didn't end up getting any pictures of the Red Sea for some reason

A meeting of ancient and modern cultures in the desert

Sitting at the entrance to our tent at the campground...at least we had beds and weren't on the ground :)

With a Russian-Swede from my class who was on the trip

A complaining camel...they make the most unusual sounds :)

Driving through the desert...it was so different than anything I've ever seen before

Standing to look above the cab of the truck

We ran/walked/staggered up the sand hill to the left...it's taller and steeper and much more difficult than it looks. The sand there was this reddish color that was incredible.

At the bottom of the hill on our way up...this was when I thought it wouldn't take that long

Halfway up people are collapsing along the way and it seems like I'll never reach the top

Finally at the top! Going down was a hundred times easier.

The view from the top...the tracks are the ones we followed in and out of this area. The area is called Wadi ___ (blank for security reasons) but another name is Wadi Al-Kamar (kamar means moon) because the landscape looks like the moon.

Atop another hill-type thing where we watched the sun set into the haze. :)

 The setting sun

In the desert...you can't tell how far up we are, but let me assure you, it was high. :) Some of the rocks had a purple-ish tint to them that was unreal...so I picked one up to prove it later.

I might get some pictures from the Swedish girl from my class, and if so I'll put some up of the Red Sea.

Yesterday Roa'a came over for lunch and a visit. We enjoyed haystacks (taco meat, rice, tomatoes, green peppers, cheese, yogurt in place of sour cream...) and then she taught me how to make Arabic coffee. It is very strong, like expresso, but the grounds are boiled with the water and then you sip off the top and allow the grounds to remain in the bottom of the cup. Arabs grind cardamon with their coffee beans and so the flavor is also a bit different, but I've learned to enjoy a cup every now and then. :)

When she was ready to leave she went to put on her hijab, and so I asked her to show me how to put it on. She put it on me and thankfully I remembered to pull out the camera for some pictures. :)

Here I am with the hijab on. This is only one of the ways the women wear it.

Roa'a in the midst of putting hers on. The lighter colored piece is an elastic-y thing that most women wear underneath the scarf to help...what I'm not entirely sure. :)

The two of us :)

National Celebrations and a University Party

Last Tuesday I spent the entire day at the university since there was a reception/party for the Language Center students in the evening.
So anyway, after class I met Roa'a for awhile and there was a huge commotion going on by the main library, so of course we went to check it out. Apparently it was the anniversary of the time that this country repelled the country next door, the only time this other country has yet been turned back, which was cause for celebration I guess. :) There was someone asking questions over a loud speaker, and shabob (guys) were repelling off of another building. It was interesting to observe their celebrations, because I don't think the U.S. would celebrate quite the same way, although the 4th of July is somewhat because of the same reasons. Inside the Language Center they had a bunch of pictures up about this war, and one of them had pictures of all the soldiers who lost their lives during the conflict/war/whatever you call it. Some of the soldiers were really young, maybe even 19-20.
So, after observing the festivities my American friend and I went and enjoyed some Pizza Hut stuffed crust pizza for lunch. :) It was the first time I've eaten it here, and it was delicious!
In the evening we went back to the university and joined the crowd of students waiting to get into the restaurant for the party. We waited outside almost 45 minutes until the president of the university showed up with his entourage so that we could go in and greet him and then eat. We ate lots of good Arab food and then it was nice to head home.
So that was my exciting day last week that I haven't gotten around to writing about until now. :)
This Friday and Saturday the university trip is first to the desert, where we'll ride jeeps (maybe camels!!) and sleep in Bedouin tents overnight and then down to the very southern tip of the country, to their only port city, located on the Red Sea. I was looking at the weather for the port city and it's supposed to be between 80 and 90 degrees down there over the weekend, which I'm excited for. :) I might actually get some sun, although we're going to need to find some sunscreen so I don't burn. Inshallah I will put pictures up on Sunday or Monday from the trip. :)