Sorry about the long break between blog posts, things have been busy for me lately. The new term is more work and I had several friends that I tried to spend some time with before they left. The end result is that I haven’t been to my Arabic class this week and I have spent very little time online. I’m hoping that I can now settle into a regular schedule, and that will hopefully translate into more blog posts. I’ll write more later…
I really don’t know much of anything about cell phones. i got my first one when I got here. It’s a cheapie, it lets me stay in touch with people here and not much else. Tami went out and got herself a cell phone last night. It’s a nice one from Motorola with all sorts of fancy features. The most important thing for her was that it was “quad band” so that she could use it wherever she goes. The other nice thing about buying a phone here is that there are no contracts with them. You buy the phone, and then you go buy a sim card and away you go. She got the phone for $140, but there is no contract and it is hers. I hadn’t really thought about it before, but after seeing hers, it makes me want to get a new one, especially if it’ll work in the states with no problem. If anyone wants an unlocked phone, just let me know and I’ll pick one up for you when I come back in June.
I could really use two things that I can’t get here. First, I would really like some more vitamins. I’ve been using some from a company called Source Naturals and they are called “Life Force Multiples” and then below that it reads “Energy Activator.” I really like them and they were picked out by someone I really trust when it comes to things like these. The other thing I really need are some of those ant killers. You know, the ones where the ants come and get the poison and then bring it back to the nest, killing them all. I have a bit of an ant problem and all I can find is the spray poison, and I don’t really want to use it. I don’t really think it’s all that effective anyway…
I would really appreciate it if someone could send this stuff to me, I can pay for it and everything!
Here I am somewhere on the road to Mahweet. It was a good trip…
I haven’t been blogging quite as much as I had been, but I’ve been really busy at work. That, combined with some really frustrating computer problems have prevented me from adding much to my blog. I’m hoping that I can be more active this week, my week off from work. I’m still going to my Arabic lessons, but now I have my evenings back. Tami will be leaving soon, that will free up some time, but I doubt that I’ll find that an advantage in her absence. Anyway, I’ll post things as I think of them…
I now have skype activated. Download it here. My user name is working_for_travel (note the underscores) and all of you guys with broadband should download it so that I can call you! Calls are free computer to computer. All you’ll need is a speaker and a microphone. Email me your user name and I’ll get my contact list up and running. Keep in mind that I’m 8 hours ahead of you guys on the east coast, so we’ll have to arrange a time to chat… Hope to hear from you soon!
OK, I think I’ve got the apartment stuff taken care of. I’ve unpacked, thrown out the old junk, and mostly rearranged what need to be. I’m settling in nicely, it’s great to have my own place. When I left the other place, there was a family downstairs, and Karl and an American that Karl and I referred to as “the ghost.” He got that moniker because he made himself scarce all the time. He wasn’t interested in being social with anyone, and went out of his way to avoid us. The only way we knew he was there was by his incessant swearing in the kitchen. He really made a ruckus in the mornings. As far as I could tell, it was always about something silly, like dropping something. He really swore up a blue streak though. I asked Karl about him and Karl said that he had had enough, he moved out. He said the last straw was when he heard the ghost swearing one morning and he worked the phrase, “They’ll kill us all…” into it. When Karl asked him if everything was alright, the ghost responded that he didn’t want to talk about it and then slammed the door to his room. Why are all the weird ones American?
For some reason, the jet lag really hit me hard this time. It took several days before I didn’t feel totally out of it and/or want to go to sleep at 5pm. I’m also really feeling all of the laying around I did back home. I walked to the store and back and I literally was having trouble standing up, my knees were buckling. My legs are getting better, but I’m still not 100%. Well, there’s only one way to fix that problem…
The other business that had to be taken care of was the schedules for class and for work. My teacher is busy until the 30th, so I won’t have any classes until then. I want to stay with Mahmoud because he’s really making me work on my spoken Arabic. I’m forced to come up with some way of expressing myself and that keeps me on my toes. There’s a new manager where I work, so I had to go over all of the stuff that I thought that i had taken care of before I left. The good news is that they are really excited to have me there and are scrambling to get me into some classes. They’re going to form a conversational class for me, and I’ll take over a mid-high level class as well. It looks like things will be pretty much normal come Feb. 1. Whew! It’s been some work, but I’m feeling good about everything now…
I’m having a great time, it’s good to be back. I hope everyone is having a great Christmas/Chanukah/Eid. I’m eating well and seeing lots of people. With any luck, I’ll be able to fit in my pants after the holidays…. I’ll write more soon…
I’m not doing a whole lot, just furiously using the internet and actual bandwidth while I can, watching hockey, and even some football. It’s actually cold! I haven’t felt actual cold for a couple of years. it’s kinda nice.. I’m getting into the whole Christmas thing, the music, the decorations, the food! Good stuff, I missed it last year and it’s really good to be home for it this year. I’m in the process of trying to get a hold of friends, I gotta get up to DC at some point, but that’ll be after Christmas. So lots of laying around and lots of eating, life is good!
… on my face that is. I was getting a little wild looking and it was time for a haircut. I could sorta, kinda get away with a wild looking beard with a lot of hair, but when I got that cut, the beard looked really crazy. I asked him to trim it, just to get the wildness under control. Well, he hit me with the beard trimmer instead. I think he was going for that whole George Michael circa 1992 look, the really close, stubbly look that is still very popular here. Of course with my lightish, thinish facial hair, it barely showed up when he was done. It just looked like I needed a shave. The mustache was looking a little too Hitlerific, especially with the way my hair tends to fall down across my forehead, so it went too.
So I gave it a shot, but I never really warmed up to it. Tami was shocked to see me without hair on my face, it’s the only way she’s ever seen me. Karl told me, in his great Bavarian accent, “Ya, your beard vas coool.” I dunno, I like having a clean face, and really like not having to worry about getting stuff in it. I never liked the feeling of my whiskers hitting the glass ahead of my lips, my first drink after I shaved was really nice:-) So expect a clean shaven look from me if you see me this Christmas…