Its easy to forget that i live in a war zone.  Then again, after 60 years or non-stop war i wonder when it just becomes normal.  The other day was Memorial Day.  At home, we would have some fireworks, maybe a BBQ with friends, honor people who had served their country by living it up.  Here, starting at sunset, everything shuts down. Arab, Jew, whoever, all take the time off to be with their families.  The TV starts a scrolling list of names that takes 24 hours to get through.  It's the list of the dead.

 

10 am the next morning, there is a 2 minute siren wail.  Everyone freezes. I am not kidding. Interstates stop. Garbage trucks stop, everything stops. For two minutes no one in this country moves a muscle.  That is how they honor the people they have lost in the struggle--One that has no end in sight.  Life is fleeting here. Bombs explode without warning and children are sent into combat daily.  To me, 2 minutes doesn't seem like enough time for reflection.

For those not yet acquainted, a good friend of mine--Ryan--is something of a genius photographer. This is the link to his photos from the first day of Ridvan (April 21) which we celebrated in Bahji.  The Festival of Ridvan is the time when Baha'u'llah was in the Najibiyih Garden in Baghdad (Ridvan, paradise, Garden in Baha'i speak).  It was there that He declared His prophetic mission.  So, we are happy campers this time of year....and Ryan's stunning pictures speak for themselves.

 

So i am developing a really really bad habit....no nothing drinkable, smokable, or physically tangible...

Google searching my friends.

 

Sometimes this yields great results...(like ryan lash's marriage) and others i am left completely perplexed about why i am wasting the time.  Lately, my googling seems to have taken on the inane hope that i will track down people i lost track of from elementary and middle school--i inevitably lose the trail with their high school athletic exploits or pictures of people who are not quite the way i remembered my friends at 12.

So, going with the 12 step theory....i am admitting i have a google problem and seeking sympathy.

I hope i am not the only one with this little bad habit soon to be addiction.

 

 

So my mama, Mimi as i have affectionately called her for longer than we can remember how it started, sometimes says some real choice things....

 

The first is my favorite, the second is Pedram's (since he overheard it while inadvertantly eavesdropping over the cubicle wall)

 

"Raising you and your sisters was like trying to herd cats." (generally reiterated when i do something uncouth)

 

Me: "Melissa, seriously!"

Mimi: "(glaring at me and then said with disgust) You are so OLD!" 

 

I'm sorry, what does that last one mean??? that i am a stick in the mud? that she is grumpy b/c if i am old that makes her much oldER?? Hrrrrumph.

I remember reading these books when i was little and there being something about trolls that lived under the bridge....well...in honor of that completely vague memory, i am now a bridge troll...as in my office is under the bridge.  My formal transfer to the Office of Public Information went through about two weeks ago, where i am the Administrative Officer...not sure what that means yet completely.  Needless to say, I am LOVING it! And while i am singing the praises of all things Haifa-esque, since the Fast I have been blessed with a few really really spiritually good weeks.

 

Now, with that said, everyone deserves a vacation, and the itinerary for the May/June trip to the US is solidified. So i am posting it in case you are in any of these places or can arrange to get to one of these places for coffee or something:

In other news, Tana and Dhab put up pictures:  http://photos.sijun.com/engwedding/

which are really stunning. AND! so that i didn't feel left out, my adoptive older brother (Dhab) made me a Southpark character of my own :)

 

Meaning i am never again subjecting myself to getting up on the stage here and performing.

However, i do love the people i was up there with...so this is to show you pictures of the people who's dancing warms my heart.

 

In other news...a tornado touched down just north of here yesterday--a first by israeli standards.

 

There is one from gardening and one from Naw-Ruz too!

Amelia joon---sorry i made you wait for so long...

 

I have been putting some of my recent photos (Thailand and Massada) up on my flickr site. Mostly because i am lazy. 

Once i get them all up i will move my favorites into the photo album here. But, until such time as i con someone into pretending to be the administrator on my computer long enough to download the program MSN requires to upload pictures, you are all going to have to click the link.

 

<www.flickr.com/photos/marthateresa>