Eid and another storm...

So here’s the latest from Eid and the rains in desert-land. First… Tessa is on the phone right now with her Dad who asked for a little shout out. So Hello Mr. Campbell! I hope that you’re doing swell. Tessa’s hands and feet though kinda look funny now cause she got henna-ed (see the photos below!).

And we’ll start with Eid. See the thing is, you don’t know when the party’s going to start… at least we didn’t cause it’s all based off of the moon-sighters somewhere in the country. It’s then apparently broadcasted over the loudspeakers the night before if there’s going to be a party tomorrow or if you’ve got to wait a day (because Ramadan is 29 or 30 days depending on the moon). Well… it’s not that my Arabic is bad or anything… I must have just missed the announcement the night before because it’s sooooo quiet… needless to say, I wasn’t sure on Oct. 1 if the party was that day or the next. I found out when I went to go buy some ice that it was in fact Oct. 1. So… party hardy! I was expecting something along the lines of Thanksgivingness or something… but I was a little bit wrong. So I went to a family’s house (the family that the little kids have been visiting me to teach me hassaniya) with Tessa. We came in and sat down and drank a ton! Soda, Zurig, and tea (of course tea!!)… I think we may have taken a pause in the normal 3 glasses of tea only to re-start cause we definitely had more than 3 glasses! Then food… well just about everyone slaughters a goat in the morning to eat during the day. So in the morning you get woken up with the sounds of goats moaning because they know they’re going to be on the plate that day. And then later on… well, that’s when you see the little goat hooves scattered throughout the street (I think the smell was not as pungent due to sensory adaptations). So lunch was a two course meal… starting with mystery meat #1… I think it was stomach and intestines and such. But the host was very kind and understanding and only cut off the “normal meat” for us once she realized that we weren’t real fans of the extras. Then after that… rice of course! Always rice. Then it’s nap time (and a good one at that). And then I headed out to the store with some of the kids to get some fruit. We were at the store and it was crowded with TONS of children… so much so that they had a sort of bouncer at the door to only let some people in. They saw me because I was towering over everyone else, and let me in… but weren’t going to let in the kids I was with… anywhoo… we got in anyway and on with life. Then I went back to their house for dinner and that was goat meat with couscous. All in all, a good day, but I was expecting more/different food maybe??? I think what makes is so special is the type of meat or the quantity of meat as opposed to an extra-ordinary meal (because these are dishes they eat all the time). So that’s my ramblings of Eid… and here are some photos too!

Then… another storm… this time just a thunderstorm. I was at Tessa’s house though when this one came though… and here are the photos for what all happened. Basically, her nice wooden roof (don’t laugh… wood roofs are prized possessions here due to the fact that they keep you 1000% cooler than the standard tin roof) leaked, got puddles in the room, the kitchen flooded and the mouse we were trying to catch outside the night before disappeared to God knows where. Mr. and Mrs. Campbell… Tessa would like me to let you know that she is okay… and her house is just fine. Oh yeah… and the courtyard is a puddle/lake/pond too. But on the up side… we took this great opportunity to do some electric work on the place. Now you may be thinking that electricity and water shouldn’t mix… but not to worry the electric wires are actually enclosed in a small plastic tube… which is far better than a plastic bag right? Cause the plastic bag is what is holding together the electricity in my bathroom. Haha. So anyway… we decided that it was high time to burry the electric wire that was run across the courtyard because the sand was so soft. So… enjoy the photos.

And P.S… the ex-pats came over to mi casa a few nights ago and we watched THE DARK NIGHT!!!!!! So awesome! I loved it… they brought some big old speakers that we hooked up to my laptop and we all watched it under my lumbar! It was awesome… beyond awesome… simply great!

And the last few nights it's been quite cold... and now that I've received the package from Mom I can tell you that the definition of "quite cold" has changed significantly. Last night I was cold sleeping and had to get a cover (because the sweats and long sleeve t-shirt wasn't enough)... it was 85 degrees. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA Oh man I think I'd die in Wisconsin winters!!!!







Pictures: they posted funny... so there should be one of me with my site mate in our new mulafas... I'm helping tessa put her's on... but I did it wrong anyway. Then there's me with Alya (girl who's helping me with Hassaniya), her cousin, and little baby Kate (that's right they named a baby after me). Then there's Tessa's hennaed hand (it's considered very beautiful here for women to have that on their hands and feet). Then the last two are Tessa and I cleaning up her house after the storm. I'm burying the electrical wire.