31May2011 Quickshot: Popular Request II

Not sure why but there have been requests for pictures of P.   Here's one from this week.  

30May2011 Quickshot: Walls

Just like where you live, there are a lot of walls here.  Language, culture, tradition, fear, deception, hurt, etc.  Please continue praying for walls to be broken down. 

28May2011 Quickshot: Terra Flora

A few of the flowers spotted on a walk to the bakery this morning.

27May2011 Quickshot: Finger Foods

Top 5 reasons eating with your hands is better:

1. It eliminates the possibility that you may poke yourself in the tongue with a fork.
2. There are fewer dishes to wash,  reducing water usage and thus saving the world.
3. Kids love it, dimishing the need to threaten them to, "finish your supper or else."
4. You can get more in your mouth at one time than with a utensil.
5. It's fun!

25May2011 Quickshot: Entrance

Love this shot as it illustrates precisely what we try to do with our website, usher our friends into our life in the Middle East.  Ahlan wahsalan! 

23May2011 Quickshot: Favorite Fruit

There is a tree in our garden that produces these wonderful fruit.  We'd never seen, much less tasted one, before moving here which is a real shame because the taste is outstanding.  In Arabic they're called إسكدنيا (iskadaneya), in English loquat.  We just call them yummy!

22May2011 Bridegroom's Horn

The groom's car.  This one is pretty mild.  Some look like floats at the Rose Bowl parade.

It seems wedding season has arrived in full force. On weekend nights there are weddings everywhere.  We love the pageantry, formality and customs that make an Arab wedding.  One interesting tradition is the arrival of the groom.  The husband-to-be, his friends and male family members will meet at a designated location.  At a specific time, they load up into vehicles and head toward his future in-laws' home.  Along the way they blow car horns, blare loud music and hang our the windows or sunroofs of their rides, shouting and singing at the top of their lungs.  From a great distance away the waiting bride can hear her bridegroom coming to get her.  Kindof reminds us of something.....

21May2011 Quickshot: Universal Language

Food is the universal language.  Every visit we make with friends here includes being fed from finger foods or sweets to a full blown feast.  It helps that the food here is wonderful.  Although the sheep brains and the warm, salty yogurt drink take a little getting use to.

18May2011 Quickshot: A little off the top

A sheep is shorn:  The deft and speed with which the shearer, Sabbah, trimmed the wool from his sheep was amazing.

17May2011 Want to hear more?

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15May2011 Quickshot: White Fields

We rode by this field yesterday.  The sun reflecting off the wheat made the crop appear almost white, white unto harvest.   What a great reminder of the importance of what we do.

14May2011 To Market, To Market

We love visiting this outdoor market.  There are all kinds of local crafts and tasty treats.  

Here are D. and A. doing a little window shopping.

(From L to R) 

1. A. doing some exploring.  He loves looking at all the people and neat stuff.

2. This is the guy who made our lunch.  He worked that dough over, put in some salami (beef of course), cheese, tomato sauce, olives, peppers and other stuff, folded the dough into a neat little square package and threw it in an oven. After this one he made us one with bananas, nuts and Nutella.  Have mercy! 

3. Here are J., M. and Z. checking out the wares.  They had a little bit of money burning holes in their pockets, the eldest two in particular, and there were plenty of vendors willing help them part with it.  We were surprised to learn that at the end of the day they still had their money.  Apparently they're saving up for something special in the States!

11May2011 It only took 2 years!

 It took us nearly 2 years but we have finally found a REAL burger place here.  Juicy beef burgers, cheese dogs, onion rings, curly and regular fries, milkshakes and Barq's root beer of all things.  It was a very happy mother's day indeed!

9May2011 Quickshot: Street Vendors

With warmer weather come street vendors selling all kinds of goodies.  The one above is selling roasted chick peas/garbanzo/hummus. 
Each afternoon Hommad parks in front of a local elementary school and sells little brown bags of peas to ravenous kids when they're released for the day.

8May2011 Quickshot: أمي

     قِرْد في عَيْن أُمّه غَزَال

Arab Proverb, roughly translated:  A monkey is a gazelle in his mother's eyes!  From 4 little monkeys, Happy Mother's Day

5May2011 Quickshot: "Bunny-eared"

A recent shot of our family.  Can you tell the photographer was getting bunny-eared?

3May2011 Great Distraction

Today's beautiful, spring weather is a great indicator of the mood in our community.  The darkened moods of yesterday have been replaced with the normal smiles and hospitable dispositions.  Our next door neighbors are the only ones that have even mentioned O.B.L's death.  P asked them about a wild chick they had been taking care of and they said it was, "...dead like Bin Laden." And, then the went on to extol the how wonderful the US is. 

At the barber shop today, where everything is open for discussion, the subject wasn't broached.  Even when the white guy (P) and his son (J)  came in for a haircut.  The four customers and the barber were too busy talking about The Game tonight, El Clasico.  We're grateful for the distraction.

2May2011 Somber

Like you we woke up to news that US forces had killed O.B.L in Paki. yesterday.  We watched the images of his compound burning, spontaneous celebrations in NY and Wash., and the multitude of talking heads and pundits discussing the unfolding event and giving their opinions of its ramifications.  It was just too much!  So P & A walked down the street to visit with friends, shopkeepers and buddies throughout the neighborhood.  It was an attempt to gauge our city's reaction and we needed some groceries anyway.  There is no dancing or angry demonstrations here.  Just silence.  A somber pale that seems to have settled like a fine layer of dust over everything.  Of course it's still fresh.  It should be an interesting few days.  Will keep you updated.