Haboob aka dust storm

I few days before I left to go out west to the village my roommates were heading to a friends house. I get a phone call telling me that a haboob was heading our way and that I needed to cover computers. I was also told that I needed to get my camera and head up to the roof. Wow!! I got on the roof and was very glad I had my camera. Here is what I saw:

Just in case you didn't know, I live in the desert!!

Bridal Shower!

My language teacher is getting married in a few days and a couple of weeks we went to a showing of the gifts party. I call this a bridal shower. It was sooo fun. We got to see all her gifts and money that was beautifully decorated. We had lots of food, fun, fellowship and dancing.

One of my favorite resturants

There are several reasons this is one of my favorite resturants in the big city.

1. It has Western food and is VERY tasty!

2. It also has a bakery with some awesome bread!

3. There is ICE CREAM!!

4. It can be a cool place to eat due to there are little sprayer that mist cool water on you.

5. There is a HUGE coke bottle.

Here are the pictures:

Apple Barn

So, the other day I saw an Apple Barn magnet on a friend's refrigerator. For those who don't know, the Apple Barn is this awesome restaurant in the Gatlinburg area of Tennessee. I started thinking of their awesome food: apple fritters with apple butter and apple jubilee. I decided to look up the recipe online for the apple fritters and found that it would not be hard to make. Of course, I did not have a "Fry Daddy" (those from the south understand it is a fry daddy not a fryer)...so, I resorted to putting oil in a saucepan and it worked wonders. I took the apple fritters to a friend’s house and let's just say I think they were a hit because not many came home with me. The only thing I think was missing was the apple butter, so being the clever and humble girl that I am I decided to cover the fritters with powdered sugar. You will not be able to taste the result for yourself (they are long gone and I'm many miles away) but your can see the results!!! Enjoy!! Oh I forgot to tell you our kitchen is bright green kind of matches my bright yellow bedroom and the cabinets look like they are from the 60's. It's fun!!!

Dropping in the batter:

Them frying:

Me getting excited about scoping them out:

Finished product (don't they look yummy!):

Humbled!

Each day there has been several hours that we have had no water in our apartment. When this happens, we have to go downstairs to the water pump and try to get it to pump water to a tank that is on top of our roof. This process can take sometimes 15 minutes because we have to play with all the gauges and they have to be in the perfect spot in order for us to get everything to work. We have tried to explain to our guard this process needs to be done in the morning and at night, but inevitably we still have to pump the water. I don't understand...maybe our guard does get the concept if you don't pump the water, you don't have water. For the past few days we have done this and still nothing. We found out that it is because there is no water flowing from the city. We can usually get enough water for the day to do our daily routines. Well, I was explaining my frustrations to my language tutor...thinking that she would have sympathy for us. She replied that she has had no water at her house for 6 days...ouch!! I started thinking was I really just complaining about only have a few hours of water each day...WoW! I have since changed my attitude and am truly grateful for the hours that we do have water.

Snow

While most of you guys are either dealing with snow or just wishing for it, I have a pretty good idea that I will not be seeing any of that this year. When I first got here, the weather was not that bad. There were even times that I got cold...well, to the point of not just wear a long sleeve shirt to fit in culturally, but b/c I wanted to be warmer. The weather has definitely changed. This week the high has been in the 40 - 45 degrees Celsius or 110 - 120 degrees Fahrenheit. Let just say with the simplest task that I acquire a plethora of sweat. This has become a small issue due to the fact that there are time that I would LOVE to take a shower and freshen up, but there is NO water. So, you guys can think of me as you are enjoying the nice, white, cold, wet, powdery stuff.

Seriously, things are going well and I appreciated all the encouragement that you guys have sent me!! Thanks!! [ you can keep them coming ;) ] Love you guys!

One Month Anniversary

Wow! I can't believe it has already been one month since my plane touched down here in the sandbox. I am currently learning Arabic and can I say that I am being humbled each day. Each week I am required to put in 35 hours of language. For 5 day a week, I spend 2 hrs with a tutor, 2 hrs studying on my own and 3 hrs out in the community. This week I have been learning how to read it. There are a couple of the letters that have very simular sounds. If you change one sounds, it can mean a totally different word. Here is a picture of what the script looks like. Please remember as you read this you have to read from right to left. If you don't recognize this product, it is Coca Cola Light aka Diet Coke. That's for you sis. I have limited myself to one a day. The rest of the time I drink water or Crystal light.

Here are a few pictures from of my apartment (2nd Floor), front yard, and the street I live on. Our street does not actually have a name. It is funny: there are many a times that we walk out our gate and onto our street stepping over our trash from the day or two before which is not exactly where we put it.

Here is a picture the city during a small "haboob" aka sand storm. The sky is usually blue, but in this picture it is more of a haze of dust. Because of this, no matter if your windows are opened or not, there is always a film of dust on everything. Welcome to the desert!

This picture is for my dad. They do have beetles here. This one is to show where the car shop is. Also, today I was a volkswagen that had a car front and a delievery truck back. I'd never seen one like it before!

Thank you guys so much for lifting me up! It means alot to know that I have be blessed with so many awesome friends and family members! You guys are the best! Please keep me in your thoughts with language and to make awesome friendships here! Thanks again!