We all know how the US has terror alerts and they change the color every so often...I don't really know what that does as far as affecting people's everyday lives, but we have it and that's good I guess.
Well, over here, we also have our own terror alert system, but it's a little different than the colors. How it works is: On each side of each bridge there are several soldiers stationed and they have a truck with a 50 caliber, plus they each have AK-47s and then some smaller guns just laying around. If the soldiers are sitting up in the truck paying attention to things, maybe even with a guy behind the big gun, then you know something is going on. However, if they're picking their noses with the ends of their guns, laying flat on their backs underneath the truck in the shade, or lounging around just reading the newspaper and drinking tea, then you know there's nothing to worry about that day...and also, you can feel very safe and protected!
And yes, I have actually witnessed ALL of these things!
29 September 2006
swamp coolers
Around here, we don't have regular air conditioners, just these swamp coolers that rely on water to be pumped into them. Well, yesterday 2 of our 3 coolers weren't working. My neighbor, D, had volunteered to come over and look at them, but I didn't really want to bother him, so I decided that I would fix them myself before he came over...I can be self-sufficient.
I could see exactly where the problem was. There are these clear plastic tubes that carry wter from the water pipe into the cooler, but they were filled with leaves and things. I figured that all I needed to do was take that tube and clear the stuff out, then the water could flow again and the problem would be solved...right? I had several thoughts running through my mind, but one of them was about turning off the water. How the coolers work is, before you turn it on, you have to turn on the water pump for at least 10 minutes. Since you have to turn on the water pump before you use the cooler, I figured that meant that if I didn't have the water pump turned on, things would be fine.
So I went out on the balcony with my gerber tool and went to work. I detached the plastic tube and no water came out so I figured I was good on the water issue. I pulled out the leaves and stuff, only to be sprayed down with water. Apparently you DO have to turn off the water. Problem was that I had no idea how to do that and I was wedged between the cooler and the railing to the balcony...I couldn't really do anything about it but try not to get it in my mouth! I finally got it to where it wasn't spraying on me, but off the side of the balcony and into my landlord's patio. I looked for a way to turn off the water but couldn't find it and, by this time, the landlord's family was all in the hoosh looking up at me like I was crazy. So I had to go next door and get D and ask him how to turn it off.
He came over and fixed it up in no time. He was not impressed with my idea of not turning off the water. He was, however, impressed with how far I'd gotten in the process by myself and by the fact that I actually had brought this fancy Gerber tool with me. Thanks Dad!!!
While we were out on the balcony a bus full of young guys drove by and they were all yelling inappropriately, nothing abnormal or anything. But D just looked at me and said 'do you ever just want to yell back 'Umak! Umak!?' Meaning 'your mom!'. I was in the mood to yell it, but couldn't stop laughing long enough to do it. Maybe next time!
Hope ya'll don't mind lots of stories and few pictures. I still don't have the official govt permission to be taking pictures and the Internet still just isn't up to par when it comes to loading pictures...although I was able to buy a cd last week from itunes and it took less than 2 hours to download, so maybe we're moving up in the technological world!
I could see exactly where the problem was. There are these clear plastic tubes that carry wter from the water pipe into the cooler, but they were filled with leaves and things. I figured that all I needed to do was take that tube and clear the stuff out, then the water could flow again and the problem would be solved...right? I had several thoughts running through my mind, but one of them was about turning off the water. How the coolers work is, before you turn it on, you have to turn on the water pump for at least 10 minutes. Since you have to turn on the water pump before you use the cooler, I figured that meant that if I didn't have the water pump turned on, things would be fine.
So I went out on the balcony with my gerber tool and went to work. I detached the plastic tube and no water came out so I figured I was good on the water issue. I pulled out the leaves and stuff, only to be sprayed down with water. Apparently you DO have to turn off the water. Problem was that I had no idea how to do that and I was wedged between the cooler and the railing to the balcony...I couldn't really do anything about it but try not to get it in my mouth! I finally got it to where it wasn't spraying on me, but off the side of the balcony and into my landlord's patio. I looked for a way to turn off the water but couldn't find it and, by this time, the landlord's family was all in the hoosh looking up at me like I was crazy. So I had to go next door and get D and ask him how to turn it off.
He came over and fixed it up in no time. He was not impressed with my idea of not turning off the water. He was, however, impressed with how far I'd gotten in the process by myself and by the fact that I actually had brought this fancy Gerber tool with me. Thanks Dad!!!
While we were out on the balcony a bus full of young guys drove by and they were all yelling inappropriately, nothing abnormal or anything. But D just looked at me and said 'do you ever just want to yell back 'Umak! Umak!?' Meaning 'your mom!'. I was in the mood to yell it, but couldn't stop laughing long enough to do it. Maybe next time!
Hope ya'll don't mind lots of stories and few pictures. I still don't have the official govt permission to be taking pictures and the Internet still just isn't up to par when it comes to loading pictures...although I was able to buy a cd last week from itunes and it took less than 2 hours to download, so maybe we're moving up in the technological world!
28 September 2006
Floods!!!
Last night it rained like I've never seen it rain before. It was a long night.
It started around 6pm, the sky was cloudy and you could hear thunder. I figured it would rain pretty quickly so I headed home. But I was wrong, it didn't rain, not until 9:30. It's interesting here because the air is already so dry, you can smell rain long before you see or hear it. When I smelled it, I made a comment to my roommate about how stupid it was that I hurried home 3 hours ago and how the smell of rain in the Sandbox is so great...well...
You know how I've mentioned that around here your brain and logical skills really don't work the same as they normally would and I'm not really sure why? Well, here's another example of that. The power went out right as it began to start raining hard and so I walked into my room to turn off the cooler and things. When I walked in the door I immediately felt rain on my face like I was standing outside. Instead of an immediate reaction, I stood there for a few seconds, realizing that there was something odd going on, but not quite sure what that thing was. I actually even turned around and started to go back into the living room before I realized that I was INSIDE and it's not supposed to be raining. Sure enough, it was raining sideways like a hurricane and my windows were open. Big deal right? You just close them. Well, that would be true in a normal world, but this is a special place...this is the Sandbox.
You see, my windows don't actually close. They're the kind that swing open from side to side. They have screens on them, so usually it's not all that important that they close all the way..usually. I actually can't reach all of the windows at once, so I'm going back and forth between them, trying to wedge them closed while the wind just keeps blowing them wide open. In the process, I'm getting soaked, but I can't wipe off my face b/c then more windows blow open...and all this in the dark. I yelled to my roommate and she came to help. We each held some windows closed with one hand while we moved the stuff from underneath the windows so it wouldn't get any wetter. It was actually pretty hilarious!
Once we got stuff moved we began looking for the extra towels...which consist of 15 washcloths that someone just happened to leave here last month (thanks Megan!!). The problem with my windows is this; they used to fit exactly right when we moved in during the dry season, but then the rainy season came and everything that was wooden expanded so that we either couldn't open OR couldn't shut any of our doors and windows. We had the carpenter come out and shave things down, but we didn't want him to shave too much off the windows for the next dry season when they shrink back down. I don't want inch wide gaps during a dust storm. That plan seemed to be a good one at the time...now I might be rethinking that.
I got my friend D from next door. My idea was to duct tape the windows as far shut as we could get them so that at least they wouldn't be wide open. That way the rain would just hit and drip in and onto the 'towels' instead of hitting me while I was laying in bed agains the opposite wall! But that would require digging through trunks in the dark to find the duct tape (I still haven't really unpacked). He had a better idea and got some wire to wire them shut, which worked well and didn't mess up the paint on the wall. Just about the time all this had passed and we got the windows adequately shut it stopped raining and we didn't need it!
We had water coming in from that entire side of our apartment, in every window and underneath every door which was a problem. But then there was the stairwell. We live on the second floor and above us is just one apartment that is on the roof. There's not an actual door to get to the roof, just a piece of sheet metal that has hinges and doesn't actually close. Well, the rain was blowing in that door, down the stairs and right into the front door of my friends apartment. So they had a bucket in the stairwell trying to catch some of the water before it came under their door and then towels (and water) everywhere too, plus they also have balconies on the rain side of their apartment.
So, to sum up, we were all a mess, running around in the dark trying desperately to keep rain out of our apartments and just when we thought we'd succeeded, it stopped raining. I never thought that, in moving to the Sahara desert, I would need to worry about my 2nd floor apartment getting flooded...guess I was wrong!
It started around 6pm, the sky was cloudy and you could hear thunder. I figured it would rain pretty quickly so I headed home. But I was wrong, it didn't rain, not until 9:30. It's interesting here because the air is already so dry, you can smell rain long before you see or hear it. When I smelled it, I made a comment to my roommate about how stupid it was that I hurried home 3 hours ago and how the smell of rain in the Sandbox is so great...well...
You know how I've mentioned that around here your brain and logical skills really don't work the same as they normally would and I'm not really sure why? Well, here's another example of that. The power went out right as it began to start raining hard and so I walked into my room to turn off the cooler and things. When I walked in the door I immediately felt rain on my face like I was standing outside. Instead of an immediate reaction, I stood there for a few seconds, realizing that there was something odd going on, but not quite sure what that thing was. I actually even turned around and started to go back into the living room before I realized that I was INSIDE and it's not supposed to be raining. Sure enough, it was raining sideways like a hurricane and my windows were open. Big deal right? You just close them. Well, that would be true in a normal world, but this is a special place...this is the Sandbox.
You see, my windows don't actually close. They're the kind that swing open from side to side. They have screens on them, so usually it's not all that important that they close all the way..usually. I actually can't reach all of the windows at once, so I'm going back and forth between them, trying to wedge them closed while the wind just keeps blowing them wide open. In the process, I'm getting soaked, but I can't wipe off my face b/c then more windows blow open...and all this in the dark. I yelled to my roommate and she came to help. We each held some windows closed with one hand while we moved the stuff from underneath the windows so it wouldn't get any wetter. It was actually pretty hilarious!
Once we got stuff moved we began looking for the extra towels...which consist of 15 washcloths that someone just happened to leave here last month (thanks Megan!!). The problem with my windows is this; they used to fit exactly right when we moved in during the dry season, but then the rainy season came and everything that was wooden expanded so that we either couldn't open OR couldn't shut any of our doors and windows. We had the carpenter come out and shave things down, but we didn't want him to shave too much off the windows for the next dry season when they shrink back down. I don't want inch wide gaps during a dust storm. That plan seemed to be a good one at the time...now I might be rethinking that.
I got my friend D from next door. My idea was to duct tape the windows as far shut as we could get them so that at least they wouldn't be wide open. That way the rain would just hit and drip in and onto the 'towels' instead of hitting me while I was laying in bed agains the opposite wall! But that would require digging through trunks in the dark to find the duct tape (I still haven't really unpacked). He had a better idea and got some wire to wire them shut, which worked well and didn't mess up the paint on the wall. Just about the time all this had passed and we got the windows adequately shut it stopped raining and we didn't need it!
We had water coming in from that entire side of our apartment, in every window and underneath every door which was a problem. But then there was the stairwell. We live on the second floor and above us is just one apartment that is on the roof. There's not an actual door to get to the roof, just a piece of sheet metal that has hinges and doesn't actually close. Well, the rain was blowing in that door, down the stairs and right into the front door of my friends apartment. So they had a bucket in the stairwell trying to catch some of the water before it came under their door and then towels (and water) everywhere too, plus they also have balconies on the rain side of their apartment.
So, to sum up, we were all a mess, running around in the dark trying desperately to keep rain out of our apartments and just when we thought we'd succeeded, it stopped raining. I never thought that, in moving to the Sahara desert, I would need to worry about my 2nd floor apartment getting flooded...guess I was wrong!
25 September 2006
WalMart Bags
You know how, in the States, there are rules for getting gas. For instance, you're not supposed to smoke at the same time, if you are putting it in another container, it has to be made out of a certain type of material and it is supposed to be sitting on the ground, etc.
This morning, at a full service station, I witnessed a man, smoking, holding a plastic bag out of the window of his running pick-up while the man who worked for the gas station filled up the bag. Can you imagine the reaction that you would get if you showed up at a gas station with a Wal-Mart bag and said 'fill'er up!'?!?!?
This morning, at a full service station, I witnessed a man, smoking, holding a plastic bag out of the window of his running pick-up while the man who worked for the gas station filled up the bag. Can you imagine the reaction that you would get if you showed up at a gas station with a Wal-Mart bag and said 'fill'er up!'?!?!?
24 September 2006
French Culture?
Last week my friend Ashley invited me to an event at the French Cultural Center. She speaks a little English but she’s not fluent and she invited me over the phone so it was really hard to understand her and I had absolutely no idea what I was getting into. I didn’t know what to wear or where we were going, I just agreed to meet her and then she would take me wherever it was that we were going. PTL that she ran into my former roommate ‘R’ and invited her too, so I had another friend to share this experience with.
Fast forward to last night…We met at 6:30 and got on the bus towards downtown. Things were great until the bus turned a direction that we didn’t want to go, so we got off and walked about ½ mile to the club. Remember that I still had no idea what we were doing. I expected to see other foreigners at the French Cultural Club but I think I can actually say that the ONLY French person in there was the event organizer. There weren’t even other white people…we were it!
We checked out this art exhibit that took 5 minutes and then we sat while she chatted with some of her friends until Ashley suddenly stands up and says ‘the lecture will start soon so we’d better go’. She took us up to this rooftop with a stage set up and we sat for a while until the band came out!! It was a local band that sang Arabic type music and did a little cultural dancing so it was different, but they were actually really good and we enjoyed it a lot. The entire thing was in French and Arabic, so we really had no idea what was going on...we didn't even know when it was time to leave!
I'm still shocked that we went to the French Cultural Center and there were no French people! But I guess now I know a good place to meet lots of nationals from the Sandbox.
The very next day I went with some girls to meet some people at the German Cultural Center. Using my deductive reasoning skills, I should have suspected that the German Cultural Center would the same way, but I was busy that day and didn't even think about it. So when I arrived, I was, again, a little shocked that there were no German people...well, there were a few guys, but they were definitely in the minority. Seriously, the Sandbox does something to your brain, I think it takes the logic out. Maybe that's why there's no logic used around here!
23 September 2006
My Birthday!!
Yesterday was my birthday and I had a pretty interesting day. I went to language in the morning and then a friend and I crossed the river to go shopping. The trip was a long, we got pulled over by a policeman who was just standing in the middle of the road, we sat for a little while before our driver just paid him to leave us alone (aka. a bribe), then, for some reason, they closed the bridge. It’s not uncommon for the bridges to be closed or to be one way at certain times of the day. However, this wasn’t one of those times of day, the soldiers that ‘protect’ the bridge just thought that there was more traffic going one way than the other, so they made the bridge one way. So we just sat in the Amjad with the doors open dripping sweat, everyone else was out of their cars and visiting, but, seeing as how Americans are supposed to be keeping a ‘low profile’, we thought it might be best to stay in. Once we got to the other side of the river, the driver asked 'Do you want to go right or left?' I said 'right' and he said 'that's no good, this way is too fast. We will go this way because it is too fast'...not better, not faster, but TOO fast! So we went the long way, but we made it. The shopping was a little disappointing because we had high expectations for the souq that we were going to and then we didn't find anything, but we had fun just spending time together and the trip back was pretty uneventful.
Then in the evening, some friends had a little get-together for me. Everyone came together and we had cake and ice cream and spent some time visiting. We had two very delicious cakes, compliments of my mom and the package that she sent last month in which she included real cake mixes AND icing!!! Here's me blowing out the candles (obviously) but this one was requested especially by the Brown family.
We stayed and visited for a little while longer and then I came home to read my letters. I got through about half of them before the power went out…just another friendly reminder that, yes, this is still the Sandbox! But it was a wonderful day, especially topped off by all of your special messages that meant so much. So thanks to all of you who helped to really make my birthday a special day. I know that, from the pictures, it looks like I was the only person at this party, but for multiple reasons I can't exactly post pictures with other people in them, so you'll just have to believe me that there were others involved!
Then in the evening, some friends had a little get-together for me. Everyone came together and we had cake and ice cream and spent some time visiting. We had two very delicious cakes, compliments of my mom and the package that she sent last month in which she included real cake mixes AND icing!!! Here's me blowing out the candles (obviously) but this one was requested especially by the Brown family.
Then I got to open presents and I think the best one was the surprise envelope from home filled with notes from all of ya'll. I had absolutely no idea that was coming and it was such a blessing. As a sidenote, I got a present that was only chocolate and cheese...it sounds stupid but in a place where, IF you can get cheese it's ridiculously expensive, it was a very thoughtful gift!
We stayed and visited for a little while longer and then I came home to read my letters. I got through about half of them before the power went out…just another friendly reminder that, yes, this is still the Sandbox! But it was a wonderful day, especially topped off by all of your special messages that meant so much. So thanks to all of you who helped to really make my birthday a special day. I know that, from the pictures, it looks like I was the only person at this party, but for multiple reasons I can't exactly post pictures with other people in them, so you'll just have to believe me that there were others involved!
22 September 2006
Money
Last week myself and three girlfriends went to the Hilton for dinner. That’s right…we have a Hilton, although, I would have to say that it’s not up to Hilton standards at all (besides the fact that it’s extremely pricy). However, it’s air conditioned and they have regular hamburgers so it’s a special treat. This is only my second time to go there since I arrived in April, so I was pretty excited. We got there and had a lot of fun together. We’ve found that we can laugh at pretty much anything, which makes for a good self-entertaining evening. Our waiter brought us our bills when we were finished and we got everything together, then he came back to ‘check’ on us. He went around the table in order, so he started with my friend on the left of me. She had left an extra little bit for a tip which is perfectly acceptable. The waiter counted her money in front of her, handed her back the extra, a little confused as to why she’d given extra, but without giving her a chance to explain. We all picked up on the fact that he didn’t understand the tip, but my bill was actually underneath hers on the table, meaning that I didn’t get the chance to take mine back and pull out the tip. So he gets to mine and again hands the extra money back. The girl to my right was next, but she caught on quickly and took out the tip she had. The waiter counted her money and said ‘you really know our money well. How long have you been here?’ She said ‘8 months’. And He says (to her) ‘you really know your money well. (to us ‘tippers’) You don’t know our money. You should really learn our money. It’s not that hard’. The last girl handed him the correct amount but then handed him the extra and specified to him that it was a tip, for which he was most grateful. However, he NEVER picked up on the fact that we were all trying to tip. We just left it on the table and figured that maybe, at some point, he might realize that we didn’t just forget it but left it for him. Anyways, so apparently it takes 8 months to ‘learn’ the money here so I still have 3 months before I can be self sufficient…oh how sad! Too bad that the money is printed in Arabic on one side but in English on the other side, so, logically, it wouldn’t be hard for anyone to ‘understand’ the money. But that’s using logic and, as I’ve mentioned before, it’s a logic-free world out here.
16 September 2006
Amjad Rides
I had 2 interesting Amjad rides this week (amjads are the minivan type things). First was on Thursday. I was on my way home from language and my driver actually spoke perfect English. So we chatted it up for a while in English, found out that he was a University professor in London for 10 years and speaks 4 different languages. Eventually we got to the inevitable question of 'where are you from?' and I answered 'America'. The guy actually looked at me and said 'No, you are not and American, you can't be'. I couldn't help but ask 'why not?' and his answer was 'Americans always say yeah or yep instead of yes, and when you ask an American where they are from they always say 'the states' and never say 'America'. Therefore, you can NOT be an American. You're from Britain. You're British.' This from the guy who lived in Britain for 10 years!!! My thought was why in the world, given the current political situation between the Sandbox and the US, would anyone EVER claim to be an American when they really weren't?!?!? I couldn't even argue with him, I didn't know what to say!
My second interesting ride was on Friday. I was on my way home from downtown and I always find it difficult to find transportation home, so I usually take whatever I can. This week it was an Amjad. He stopped on the right side corner of a one way street and I told him where I wanted to go and negotiated the price in Arabic. I got in and, obviously, he couldn't turn left across a 5 lane road, so he just went straight through the intersection. I expected him to just go up and turn on a different street, but, oh no, this guy cuts left across all of those lanes, putting us a good 50 yards past the street he needed. So he stops in the left lane, throws it in reverse, and proceedes to back up into oncoming traffic!!! We get to our street safely, but after a stunt like that, you pretty much just learn to expect a wild ride. (this isn't the first time I've had a ride like this and I'm sure it won't be the last!) This time my driver was pretty chatty and the first thing he asked me was if my husband was in the Sandbox. Instead of answering/lying, I just told him that I don't understand and I don't speak Arabic. (Keep in mind that this guy spoke absolutely no English, so EVERY word of this converstaion was in Arabic). He was amazed that I don't speak Arabic and asks me, in Arabic, if I only know how to say where I want to go. So I say yes, that and 'one, two, three, etc...' He just couldn't believe it and asked me how long I've been here, so I answered '5 months'. He responded, 'And you don't know Arabic? This is so sad. You should go to a school to learn the Arabic...this is so sad. You Americans, you come here and then you don't even try to learn our language.' To this I said 'Malesh' (or the all encompassing word for sorry). He goes on and on about how he just can't believe that I don't speak Arabic and I proceed to give him directions to my house in Arabic. For some reason I guess it never clicked to him that I was actually speaking Arabic to him that entire time...all the convincing that he needed was for me to say that I don't speak it...I think I might try this again the next time my driver asks me, first thing, if I'm married. Apparently it works!!!
My second interesting ride was on Friday. I was on my way home from downtown and I always find it difficult to find transportation home, so I usually take whatever I can. This week it was an Amjad. He stopped on the right side corner of a one way street and I told him where I wanted to go and negotiated the price in Arabic. I got in and, obviously, he couldn't turn left across a 5 lane road, so he just went straight through the intersection. I expected him to just go up and turn on a different street, but, oh no, this guy cuts left across all of those lanes, putting us a good 50 yards past the street he needed. So he stops in the left lane, throws it in reverse, and proceedes to back up into oncoming traffic!!! We get to our street safely, but after a stunt like that, you pretty much just learn to expect a wild ride. (this isn't the first time I've had a ride like this and I'm sure it won't be the last!) This time my driver was pretty chatty and the first thing he asked me was if my husband was in the Sandbox. Instead of answering/lying, I just told him that I don't understand and I don't speak Arabic. (Keep in mind that this guy spoke absolutely no English, so EVERY word of this converstaion was in Arabic). He was amazed that I don't speak Arabic and asks me, in Arabic, if I only know how to say where I want to go. So I say yes, that and 'one, two, three, etc...' He just couldn't believe it and asked me how long I've been here, so I answered '5 months'. He responded, 'And you don't know Arabic? This is so sad. You should go to a school to learn the Arabic...this is so sad. You Americans, you come here and then you don't even try to learn our language.' To this I said 'Malesh' (or the all encompassing word for sorry). He goes on and on about how he just can't believe that I don't speak Arabic and I proceed to give him directions to my house in Arabic. For some reason I guess it never clicked to him that I was actually speaking Arabic to him that entire time...all the convincing that he needed was for me to say that I don't speak it...I think I might try this again the next time my driver asks me, first thing, if I'm married. Apparently it works!!!
15 September 2006
Surprise!!!
While my friends were here last week, one of them celebrated his 5oth birthday. We had a surprise party all planned, the cake was made, the streamers were ready to be hung, all we were waiting for was for him to leave so we could do it.
One of the kids here is absolutely one of the cutest kids I've ever seen in my life. He's3 and is so hilarious. Anyways, he (J) and his brothers had already made signs that said 'happy birthday' etc to hang outside of the door.
So while we were sitting there eating lunch, J comes in from school and he has this bear necklace that he's made that morning with his name on it. So he flips the necklace around behind him (so that we couldn't see) and comes up to the table and says 'do you want to see my bare nakedness?' He got a pretty good laugh and an explanation that what he had to show was a 'necklace'.
Next, he says 'Uncle Scott, is it your birthday today? No, no, it is. Happy Birthday. Mom, is it his birthday today? yeah, happy birthday uncle Scott. I want to tell you what I made. Yesterday, I drew this big sign that says 'Happy Birthday Uncle Scott' in very big letters. And...' At this point his mom interrupts him and calls him over and whispers in his ear that the party is a surprise and so we don't want to talk about it in front of Scott or we might ruin the surprise, to which J replies out loud, 'No mom, I'm not going to ruin the surprise. I'm just gonna tell him what I made for him'. There was no stopping him. He goes back to Scott and says 'so I made this sign that says 'Happy Birthday Uncle Scott' and then this afternoon while you are gone, we are going to hang it up outside of the door and when you come back we will be waiting and we will jump out and yell 'Happy Birthday!!'' I think we were all pretty much laughing hysterically at this point, but to make it worse, J goes back to his mother and with the most innocent little blue eyes says 'see, I didn't ruin the surprise' and then he walked off. Guess 3 years old isn't quite old enough to understand the idea behind the surprise party!
One of the kids here is absolutely one of the cutest kids I've ever seen in my life. He's3 and is so hilarious. Anyways, he (J) and his brothers had already made signs that said 'happy birthday' etc to hang outside of the door.
So while we were sitting there eating lunch, J comes in from school and he has this bear necklace that he's made that morning with his name on it. So he flips the necklace around behind him (so that we couldn't see) and comes up to the table and says 'do you want to see my bare nakedness?' He got a pretty good laugh and an explanation that what he had to show was a 'necklace'.
Next, he says 'Uncle Scott, is it your birthday today? No, no, it is. Happy Birthday. Mom, is it his birthday today? yeah, happy birthday uncle Scott. I want to tell you what I made. Yesterday, I drew this big sign that says 'Happy Birthday Uncle Scott' in very big letters. And...' At this point his mom interrupts him and calls him over and whispers in his ear that the party is a surprise and so we don't want to talk about it in front of Scott or we might ruin the surprise, to which J replies out loud, 'No mom, I'm not going to ruin the surprise. I'm just gonna tell him what I made for him'. There was no stopping him. He goes back to Scott and says 'so I made this sign that says 'Happy Birthday Uncle Scott' and then this afternoon while you are gone, we are going to hang it up outside of the door and when you come back we will be waiting and we will jump out and yell 'Happy Birthday!!'' I think we were all pretty much laughing hysterically at this point, but to make it worse, J goes back to his mother and with the most innocent little blue eyes says 'see, I didn't ruin the surprise' and then he walked off. Guess 3 years old isn't quite old enough to understand the idea behind the surprise party!
Usually, pitcures take forever to load, so I haven't been able to post many. But lately, my Internet connection has been improving. These are all old but fun to look at.
This is the pre-school that was right outside the door of one of our many apartments. 
A Friday afternoon pre-service in front of the Mahdi's tomb. (He's the guy who brought the majority religion to the Sandbox)
A couple of camels. Some of their legs were tied up like this to keep them from running away. Some of them had their 2 front legs tied together, and then there were some that didn't have anything and could roam as they pleased. We just figured that maybe those were the bad ones that no one wanted and maybe they were hoping that they'd run away.
These are the dervishes, also known as the 'whirling dervishes'. Basically they are a sect of Islam. Every Friday night, hundreds gather in this huge cemetery to have their worship ceremony. They make this huge circle, the guys in the middle lead the service and the ones in the circle participate. They use drums to get a beat and then just chant for hours. Eventually the ones in the middle will get so worked up that they start to spin and they can spin for long periods of time without falling over. It's really one of the wierdest things. Their white outfits are called jalabiyas and are the typical outfit for men here. They're not required to wear them, but they're pretty much like pajamas, so who wouldn't? Even if they don't wear a jalabiya all week long, they will definitely wear one on Friday. Also, notice the little kid in the middle of the circle...
This guy is one of their main leaders. The color of green that he's wearing is an identifying symbol. Most of the men in the Sandbox wear all white, but when you see one with any type of green on with his jalabiya you know that he's a part of the dervishes.
So they aren't all that exciting, but these are the kinds of things that I see on regular basis and, at some point, they just became normal. I've been here over 5 months now. I can't say that I don't miss the comforts of the states (like central a/c, walmart, English), but I wouldn't trade this experience for anything.
11 September 2006
Two Things
Two very random things happened to me today.
First: I haven't been in the office for about 2 weeks because my friends were here. Today was my first day back and I was warmly welcomed...apparently they missed me. I guess I should have figured that since one of the guys called me last week to make sure that I was ok and to ask where I was, but I didn't think anything of it. This afternoon they were so excited to see me. One guy (a national) actually said 'by this office, you are like the sun. When you are here things are very nice and we are all very happy. But the sun has not been here by this office and we have been very sad. But today, praise the lord, the sun has returned.' Woah. I really never thought that I would ever be compared to the sun and I really didn't know what to say to that...so I said thanks.
Second:My roommate and I went to the souq this afternoon to do a little stress-relief shopping. Out of nowhere, this woman comes up and says something to me. I thought that she just wanted to look at something behind me, so I tried to move out of her way. Instead, she just followed me and we did a little dance until she introduced herself to me. It's not uncommon to meet women in the souq, but normally random people don't just stop you, so I though it was a little wierd. Then, she points to the henna on my foot and starts going on about how beautiful it is and how I'm a local since I have it. (all of this is in Arabic, by the way) She asked me where I had it done and I told her the place, then she pulls out her phone and asks me for my phone number, at least that's what I understand. While I don't mind meeting people in the souq I would never ever give my phone number to them, so I politely asked her for her number. She looked at me like I was pretty strange and goes off in Arabic and, again, asked me for, what I thought, was a phone number. So I'm thinking that maybe she wants the phone number for the place where I had it done, so I politely explained that I didn't have the phone number for the place and, instead, gave her detailed directions. Again, she looked at me like I was just the wierdest thing she'd ever seen and goes into the same Arabic she'd done before, only this time her friend makes the universal sign for taking a picture (you know, where you put your hands in front of your face and make a click noise). That's when I finally understood that she had a camera on her phone and she wanted to take a picture of my foot. I felt really stupid, but in my defense, she was waving her cell phone around the whole time! So then the store owner had to leave and we all went into the back so that I could hike up my skirt to mid-calf and she could take a picture that, she assured me, would only be shown to women.
Hope ya'll enjoy the stupidity and embarrassment that comes along with language learning!
First: I haven't been in the office for about 2 weeks because my friends were here. Today was my first day back and I was warmly welcomed...apparently they missed me. I guess I should have figured that since one of the guys called me last week to make sure that I was ok and to ask where I was, but I didn't think anything of it. This afternoon they were so excited to see me. One guy (a national) actually said 'by this office, you are like the sun. When you are here things are very nice and we are all very happy. But the sun has not been here by this office and we have been very sad. But today, praise the lord, the sun has returned.' Woah. I really never thought that I would ever be compared to the sun and I really didn't know what to say to that...so I said thanks.
Second:My roommate and I went to the souq this afternoon to do a little stress-relief shopping. Out of nowhere, this woman comes up and says something to me. I thought that she just wanted to look at something behind me, so I tried to move out of her way. Instead, she just followed me and we did a little dance until she introduced herself to me. It's not uncommon to meet women in the souq, but normally random people don't just stop you, so I though it was a little wierd. Then, she points to the henna on my foot and starts going on about how beautiful it is and how I'm a local since I have it. (all of this is in Arabic, by the way) She asked me where I had it done and I told her the place, then she pulls out her phone and asks me for my phone number, at least that's what I understand. While I don't mind meeting people in the souq I would never ever give my phone number to them, so I politely asked her for her number. She looked at me like I was pretty strange and goes off in Arabic and, again, asked me for, what I thought, was a phone number. So I'm thinking that maybe she wants the phone number for the place where I had it done, so I politely explained that I didn't have the phone number for the place and, instead, gave her detailed directions. Again, she looked at me like I was just the wierdest thing she'd ever seen and goes into the same Arabic she'd done before, only this time her friend makes the universal sign for taking a picture (you know, where you put your hands in front of your face and make a click noise). That's when I finally understood that she had a camera on her phone and she wanted to take a picture of my foot. I felt really stupid, but in my defense, she was waving her cell phone around the whole time! So then the store owner had to leave and we all went into the back so that I could hike up my skirt to mid-calf and she could take a picture that, she assured me, would only be shown to women.
Hope ya'll enjoy the stupidity and embarrassment that comes along with language learning!
08 September 2006
Yesterday we went to the wood souq... at least that's what we like to call it. Really it's just a bunch of guys with tables set up on the side of the road and they're selling the animals and stuff that are carved out of wood. Really it's more the kind of stuff that you would think of from places like Kenya or Tanzania, but I can vouch that this stuff is made here. They actually sit underneath their tables for shade whil they carve and stain stuff right in front of you.It's really cool because right behind this picture you can see the Nile. Actually, it's not supposed to be the Nile but right now the river is the highest that it's been since before 1900. If you look way back in the left side of the picture you can barely see a line of trees..that's where the river is supposed to be.
Here you can see that their 'tables' consist of broken car windshields held up by broken pieces of wood. Very practical. Also, this can give you a pretty good idea of what they sell. Mainly the animals, but also some tribal stuff, like these really tall guys with the spears. They also have a lot of other traditional tribal things likes masks.Here's a situation that I never thought I would be in...in the Sandbox, standing between one of the busiest roads in town and the Nile, speaking in Arabic but jamming to Barry White and Amy Grant (of all people). That's right! Even though these guys don't speak any English, they still have some 'special tapes' just for when the khawajas come shopping! I must say that this did the trick because we hung out at this guys table just so that we could hear some clean English music and we ended up buying stuff from him.
the phone bill
It's hard to describe the amazement and excitement that I initially felt when the phone bill arrived at my door this month. You see, usually how it works is when they cut off your phone service, you go to pay the bill, but you never actually see a bill, you just give them however much they ask for (within reason). Now, apparently, the phone company has decided that they are going to be a little bit more modern and cater to their customers by delivering the bills to your doorstep.
We've had some trouble with the phone company in the past few months. The line is actually not in my name, nor is it in my current roommate's name, but in the name of another girl 'R' who lived with us when it was set up, which means that she is the only person who can go and pay the bill. When R goes to pay they really give her a hard time, asking to see her passport and then saying 'this can't be you, this is a boy's name' and when she says 'no, this is my picture' they say 'this doesn't look anything like you...this isn't you'. Right now, she doesn't live with us, so when we get close to where we think the company might cut off our phone, we have to call her and ask her to go and pay the bill, which I hate doing b/c it's such a hassle to pay bills around here, but we have no choice.
It started on a Saturday night, we got a random phone call from the phone company wanting to know our exact address. We didn't understand why he needed it and we don't even know our exact address. Around here they don't even have an address system...since there's no mail or any other reason to need it. Usually you just give the name of the area of town you're in, maybe the name of the nearest street that has a name, but this guy wanted the exact house number and everything, so we dug through some stuff and found it. The next day some random guy showed up at our front door looking for my friend. R doesn't live with us so she wasn't here and the guy almost didn't even give us our bill since 'he' (R) wasn't here, but I talked him into it. The next day I gave her the bill and she went to pay it. Turns out, they were delivering the bills for June, which we already paid last month when it was due...however, conveniently enough, we had one more day to pay our July bill before they turned off our phone, so she paid us up through July. I'm looking forward to next month when we can get our July bill just in time for the August one to be due!
I understand that the phone company wants to do the customer service thing and actually get your bill to you, but an entire month late....really?!? And who cares who is paying the bill? Seems like they would just be glad to be getting their money no matter who it's coming from.
So that was our phone bill experience this month. Not too exciting but another example of how backwards and illogical just about everything is in my life in the Sandbox!
We've had some trouble with the phone company in the past few months. The line is actually not in my name, nor is it in my current roommate's name, but in the name of another girl 'R' who lived with us when it was set up, which means that she is the only person who can go and pay the bill. When R goes to pay they really give her a hard time, asking to see her passport and then saying 'this can't be you, this is a boy's name' and when she says 'no, this is my picture' they say 'this doesn't look anything like you...this isn't you'. Right now, she doesn't live with us, so when we get close to where we think the company might cut off our phone, we have to call her and ask her to go and pay the bill, which I hate doing b/c it's such a hassle to pay bills around here, but we have no choice.
It started on a Saturday night, we got a random phone call from the phone company wanting to know our exact address. We didn't understand why he needed it and we don't even know our exact address. Around here they don't even have an address system...since there's no mail or any other reason to need it. Usually you just give the name of the area of town you're in, maybe the name of the nearest street that has a name, but this guy wanted the exact house number and everything, so we dug through some stuff and found it. The next day some random guy showed up at our front door looking for my friend. R doesn't live with us so she wasn't here and the guy almost didn't even give us our bill since 'he' (R) wasn't here, but I talked him into it. The next day I gave her the bill and she went to pay it. Turns out, they were delivering the bills for June, which we already paid last month when it was due...however, conveniently enough, we had one more day to pay our July bill before they turned off our phone, so she paid us up through July. I'm looking forward to next month when we can get our July bill just in time for the August one to be due!
I understand that the phone company wants to do the customer service thing and actually get your bill to you, but an entire month late....really?!? And who cares who is paying the bill? Seems like they would just be glad to be getting their money no matter who it's coming from.
So that was our phone bill experience this month. Not too exciting but another example of how backwards and illogical just about everything is in my life in the Sandbox!
06 September 2006
Henna
I've had some friends here visiting me the past 2 weeks, but they are returning home soon and so we decided to go and do the traditional Sandbox thing and get henna done. It is customary to get it done just before you travel or when you are getting married...really just any time that you want to. For those of you who don't know what henna is, it's actually a hair dye that is extremely poisonous, but they use to stain their skin, sort of like a tattoo, and it wears away after about a month. I only had one foot done, but there are certain things that signify certain occasions. For instance, getting it done from the hands to the shoulders and from the bottom's of the feet to above the knees, plus dipping fingernails and toenails in it signifies that you are a brand new bride. Then after they are married, they keep their nails and the bottoms of their feet covered in it. It's normally just for women, however, men have it done for their own weddings as well, so you automatically know when you see someone who is a newlywed.Check out the intricate details. You
would think that the lady would need a stencil but she didn'tuse one. She just used a bag, sort of like you would use a ziploc bag and then cut the corner of it to ice a cake. It took her less than 5 minutes to do mine. What's fun is that after she's finished you have to let it dry for 30 minutes without touching anything. So just imagine the 3 of us sprawled out in chairs and on couches in this 'beauty parlor' (if that's what you want to call it) for 30 minutes. One of my friends had it done all the way up both of her arms, so she had to hold them in the air for that long. And this stuff permanently stains anything that it touches, so it's pretty important that you keep it away from everything while it's drying. I'm sure that the ladies had quite a good laugh watching the white girls so uncomfortably and precariously perched! Overall it was a good experience and my friends got to do something totally cultural before they go home. Plus it's a great conversation starter since we're foreigners walking around with a Sandbox tradition painted on us.
04 September 2006
Rain Day!!!
Yesterday morning was very interesting, but my story needs a little explanation first.
Usually when it rains here, it happens at night. The earliest that I've actually seen it start raining has been around 10 pm and it's always finished in a fairly short amount of time. (with the exception of the huge storm 3 weeks ago that went all night and left our soccer field underwater) So the weather is pretty predictable...hot all the time except when it rains, which is hardly ever.
So Saturday night it started raining about midnight, which wasn't anything out of the ordinary. But, it was still raining on Sunday morning, (well, not really raining but more like sprinkling) and people were freaking out! My supervisor's kids asked her if she thought they would cancel school (these are American kids!)...one of the girls on my team actually called around to get some opinions on whether she should cancel her language lesson with her tutor...my neighbor's daycare called to tell them that were going to be closed because it was raining and their national language tutor cancelled their lesson. Today, he told them that it was just too hard to be worrying about getting wet and walking around all the puddles, so he just stayed inside and went back to bed. People were driving like it was an ice storm in TX, 5 miles an hour but then almost running each other off the road to avoid even the smallest puddles. So rain in the day time is actually about as rare as snow in TX, I'm guessing. It was a lot of fun to just watch people...they all looked so confused!
What's really paradoxical about this is that it was just 3 weeks ago when we last got a heavy rain. (heavy for here, normal for home) There were puddles and water all over for at least a good week, but no one really thought anything of it then...life just went on as normal. But for some reason, the idea that the rain was actually falling out of the sky while the sun was out was enough to make people crazy.
Oh...and happy Labor Day. We don't actually celebrate that here, but I do fondly remember getting a day off from work for no reason...it was nice!
Usually when it rains here, it happens at night. The earliest that I've actually seen it start raining has been around 10 pm and it's always finished in a fairly short amount of time. (with the exception of the huge storm 3 weeks ago that went all night and left our soccer field underwater) So the weather is pretty predictable...hot all the time except when it rains, which is hardly ever.
So Saturday night it started raining about midnight, which wasn't anything out of the ordinary. But, it was still raining on Sunday morning, (well, not really raining but more like sprinkling) and people were freaking out! My supervisor's kids asked her if she thought they would cancel school (these are American kids!)...one of the girls on my team actually called around to get some opinions on whether she should cancel her language lesson with her tutor...my neighbor's daycare called to tell them that were going to be closed because it was raining and their national language tutor cancelled their lesson. Today, he told them that it was just too hard to be worrying about getting wet and walking around all the puddles, so he just stayed inside and went back to bed. People were driving like it was an ice storm in TX, 5 miles an hour but then almost running each other off the road to avoid even the smallest puddles. So rain in the day time is actually about as rare as snow in TX, I'm guessing. It was a lot of fun to just watch people...they all looked so confused!
What's really paradoxical about this is that it was just 3 weeks ago when we last got a heavy rain. (heavy for here, normal for home) There were puddles and water all over for at least a good week, but no one really thought anything of it then...life just went on as normal. But for some reason, the idea that the rain was actually falling out of the sky while the sun was out was enough to make people crazy.
Oh...and happy Labor Day. We don't actually celebrate that here, but I do fondly remember getting a day off from work for no reason...it was nice!
02 September 2006
Special Treats
One of my recent assignments was to compile a list of every kind of grocery item that we have available in this part of the Sandbox and how much it cost. It was actually a really fun and interesting evening, but here are a few of the things that we can sometimes find here.
Ritz Crackers $7.50
Keebler Chocolate Chip Cookies $11.00
Marshmallows (walmart brand) $5.00
Philadelphia Cream Cheese $8.00
1/2 gallon Baskin Robbins ice cream $32.50
small whole frozen chicken $23.00
Cheetos 7oz bag $10.00
Brownie Mix $6.25
Kelloggs corn flakes $7.50
Old El Paso 8 flour tortillas $7.50
Old El Paso cheese dip $10.75
Campbells Cream of Chicken soup $8.00
I have friends who are living in places that have absolutely no western products available and I try not to take for granted that I actually (sometimes) have this stuff. When I came to the Sandbox I was told that we could get just about everything...what they didn't tell me was to bring my life savings!! So I've been learning to make a lot of things from scratch, which it's probably good that I know how to do that anyways, and, sometimes it actually tastes better, that is if I don't mess it up.
These are just a few examples of the things that I took for granted in the states and are now considered extra special treats in the Sandbox....and then some of them, like the ice cream, are just dreams.
Ritz Crackers $7.50
Keebler Chocolate Chip Cookies $11.00
Marshmallows (walmart brand) $5.00
Philadelphia Cream Cheese $8.00
1/2 gallon Baskin Robbins ice cream $32.50
small whole frozen chicken $23.00
Cheetos 7oz bag $10.00
Brownie Mix $6.25
Kelloggs corn flakes $7.50
Old El Paso 8 flour tortillas $7.50
Old El Paso cheese dip $10.75
Campbells Cream of Chicken soup $8.00
I have friends who are living in places that have absolutely no western products available and I try not to take for granted that I actually (sometimes) have this stuff. When I came to the Sandbox I was told that we could get just about everything...what they didn't tell me was to bring my life savings!! So I've been learning to make a lot of things from scratch, which it's probably good that I know how to do that anyways, and, sometimes it actually tastes better, that is if I don't mess it up.
These are just a few examples of the things that I took for granted in the states and are now considered extra special treats in the Sandbox....and then some of them, like the ice cream, are just dreams.
