Lunch Break with Instructors and Co-Workers

Allah Kareem!

After cups of coffee, cups of tea & sugar, Arab dessert, and chocolate pudding, sleep is difficult- even at 2:30am. The sleeplessness is worth it since tonight I celebrated Iftar (meal of breaking the fast) with six beautiful Arab sisters and two German girls. We cooked, talked, laughed, and... ate!

Food is the heart of this society, and women's lives are centered around these meals. Friendships are built in kitchens and dining rooms.


Making the traditional Ramadan desert. Basically a fried pancake folded over and filled with nuts and coconut and chocolate.


I am making my very own!


Bashara and her mother! She knows she is adorable!


Mother and sisters. Plus blond German. Plus strawberry-blond American.



Its now 3am, and I am yet not alone in my insomnia. The neighbors are playing hide-and-seek in the street, and I can hear the sound of food frying from their kitchen. I think I even hear a vacuum cleaner. Perhaps it will lull me to sleep!

A Few Pictures for You

From my bedroom window...


Where I buy vegetables and fruit...


View from our balcony...


“There was a warmth and joy in everyone and everything I saw, and I was entranced by the delightful harmony of past and present, of sheep grazing in fields and empty lots adjacent to sophisticated office buildings and state-of-the-art hospitals.” ~ Queen Noor, wife of the late King Hussein

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year... Ramadan

The prophet gave particular instructions on how to break the fast with... a date and glass of water. The 'Purpose Driven Mosque" (the largest and most modern mosque in the city, as we refer to it) hands out bags of water and dates in the street so that at exactly sundown, you can break the fast in your car!

"Ramadan lights" dangle on porches and balconies in the shapes of stars and crescent moons. Almost every restaurant and coffee shop is closed during the day, but opens at about 8:30pm in the evening. (It is illegal to eat or drink in public until after the evening prayer.) As you can see in this picture, it's in the middle of the day, and Starbucks is closed and empty.


For those of you who are less familiar with this holiday, Ramadan is 30 days of fasting during the daylight hours. This is a spiritual discipline that is required in Islam, as one of the five pillars. For those that participate in Ramadan, their prayers reach highest to God, and their chances of receiving God's mercy at Judgment Day are significantly greater.

Festive Decorations...

Eid al Adha

The past few days since Thanksgiving we've been celebrating the Muslim holiday Eid al Adha. This commemorates Abraham's journey up the mountain to sacrifice Ishmael. In Islamic tradition families slaughter a lamb and offer the food to the poor in memory of Abraham.

I spent the Eid weekend with some of my Arab friends from the university in their home. Here are pictures!















Wish her eyes were open...










dancing in the living room...













Eating one of many fantastic meals!

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is probably my favorite holiday. I missed my family yesterday, but I couldn't have asked for a better Thanksgiving here.

There was some pre-Thanksgiving drama, but it was all over by the actual day.

This is Kat, my roommate and co-worker who punched another co-worker in the face.









This is Austin, my co-worker who was punched in the face by another co-worker.









Here are4 of us making the pies- me, Kat, Aaron, and Luke.

















Eating!












The best part is relaxing after-wards! We read, slept, and watched Lord of the Rings.