Easter!!

What a neat experience to be able to spend such a special day at “The River”. There were several youth that went “swimming”. I feel so privileged to be apart of this. We were also about to watch the sun rise and sing to Him!!! What a wonderful day!!!

Spice Market

I was in the local market (aka the souq) and had always wanted to get a picture of the spices. I think they are beautiful and the smell is so strong…I wish you guys could smell all the spices, like a scratch and stiff sticker. At least you can see the picture. Enjoy!

Water sports on "The River"

Our leader’s daughter was having a water sports competition. We decided to join. The only thing was that it was 51 C which is about 124 F. What a better thing to do than be on the water on a day that is that HOT!! First, we started out sitting with the parents on top of a hill. Then, we decided that we want to be in on the action. We were able to go on the boat that all the judges were on. They then offered us to participate in all the fun. One of my roommates actually was involved in one of the kayaking competitions. Some of the boys thought that it would be fun to capsize her kayak. She handled it really well…even swam in a skirt. I tried rowing for the first time in my life and it is hard than one thinks. Eventually, I had three kids in my boat trying to help me to stop just going in circles. What a fun day and a great way to beat the heat!!!

80's Night!!!

The waiting started to get to us, so we decided to keep ourselves entertained. (We do have work that we do…it isn’t all fun and games over here.) One of my roommates has decided to have a themed party for every person on our team to keep us entertained for a long time. (We have also had a baking party and a soccer party…there are pictures of the soccer party.) This was another fun night!! We dressed up 80’s style with our clothes that we did have here. Then, we walked over to our leader’s house. We usually get comment as we walk on the streets, but these comments were a bit different. We had a dessert and THEN pumped up the 80’s music on our boom box (or computer). When Ghostbusters came on my mind went back to elementary school and skating around the roller rink shouting “GHOSTBUSTERS, WE AIN’T AFRAID OF NO GHOST!!!” Then, there was Tiffany’s I think we are alone now…I remember making up a dance to this song. Fond memories!!!

April Fool's Day

So, this year I actually pulled off some pranks!!! One prank that my roommate did was tell all our other roommates that our leadership decided that since we had to wait so long on our paperwork that we were moving to another country. They believed her until she covered all her bases. It also hit a little too close to the truth. The pranks that I did was put green food coloring in the electric kettle that is used daily to make coffee. I was able to get two people. One thought it was soap and the other just could not figure it out. Another roommate put Vaseline on the handles of out refrigerators. This got several of the girls. One thought it was butter. It was a fun day!!!

St. Patrick's Day

This year we went all out for St. Patrick’s Day! Last year one of my roommies and I found these T-shirts at a store that is equivalent to the Dollar General Store. (It is called the 5 pound store. Everything in it cost ~ $2.50 USD.) The shirts were something that you don’t see every day, so we had to buy them. We decided at that time that we would wear them this year for St. Patrick’s Day. We also made a sign and green mint tea shakes. We watch the Leprechaun video on You Tube and explain the meaning to our non-American friends. They just didn’t understand what the big deal was about, but we had fun!!!

Toba: the tradional dress

I have been embracing the traditional dress or can I say the traditional dress. It is basically a huge piece of fabric that is wrapped around you several times. You feel so restricted. I really do not see how they wear these things day in and day out. I have had people sit on my toba while riding the bus as well as getting it caught in different things. A friend and I decided that we were going to take pictures doing activities doing something freeing while wearing our tobas. So, we jumped on the trampoline, played basketball and kicked around a soccer ball.

Our Neighbors

Before we had to leave our neighbors came over and want to have their pictures taken with us. It was a fun night! They were all dressed up in their best clothes and had lots of make up on. We had prepared a small snack of fruit salad and tea (“shi” which is really hot and really sweet). Then, there was the chaos of having everyone wanting to have their picture taken with a white people. Also, if you happened to leave you camera lying around the boys picked it up and started taking pictures.

The next morning we had to leave for the airport, but before we left we were told to stop by our neighbors. They wanted us to wait, but we had no time. We had to leave and check in at the airport. We were sitting at the airport and here showed up two of our neighbors. They were hysterically crying (I have learned that this is a wailing society) and had gifts for us. They had headbands, necklaces, and soap for us three ladies. What a precious family!!! We were able to share the story of Ruth will the ladies in Arabic. This family consists of two wives and at least 9 children. The husband died this last December. They also live with their husband’s mother and there are usually several relatives in and out of their house.

The Wall!!

Due to the growing number of people that will be in the city out west with me, we are renting the other side of the compound that we currently renting. We have been working on having it cleaned up and ready for a new couple that will be living on that compound. We then decided that we needed to have a door in between the two compounds. The guy on our team measured out the dimensions of the door and drew an outline of it. Then the work began! We started chiseling out the door. You may be asking why we are doing the work ourselves. Well, 1. money is tight and 2. it is a great stress reliever. Here are a few pictures of the process. We did get a little dirty hence the picture of my face. We were not able to finish the work at this time, due to having to leave the city. We did have an injury. One of the other girls smashed her finger. We were able to bandaged it up and save the nail.