The other day I saw a minibus driving down our street. Guess what was sitting on top, strapped to the luggage rack? A goat! Oh, to have had my camera…
The weather is getting cooler. It’s really pleasant at night. Still gets pretty hot during the day.
It’s been Ramadan for two weeks here. Business as normal until 2 PM, and then everything closes and people go home. Jason gets out of school an hour earlier. The Muslims fast all day long, from sunrise to sunset, and when the call to prayer is over at around 5:45 PM, they feast. That’s called Iftar. The streets are deserted at 6 PM. It’s quiet outside. I love it. It’s my favorite time to go out and walk around. Things begin to reopen around 7 PM, and once again the streets fill up. The locals stay up really late, sleep for a few hours, and then get up again at 3 AM to feast once more. The streets are decorated with lanterns and Christmas lights (Ramadan lights?). There is one tree about a mile from our house that I love. Fifty lanterns hang from its branches. It looks like something out of Neverland to me.
We finally have DSL, and it’s great! It is nearly as fast as what we had at home, except on Fridays, when it seems to be slower (like right now). I wonder if more traffic on the internet (because people are at home and not at work) affects it? Anyway, did I say DSL is great? I can now talk for free to anyone who has Skype on their computer. All you need is the software (free from skype.com) and a microphone for your computer. My little headset cost $7 at Office Max. There’s not usually a delay or anything—I had a good long conversation yesterday and couldn’t tell the difference in talking on the phone at home and talking on the internet. Unreal. Technology has come so far, even since we were in Hong Kong. So if you want to talk, get Skype!
I had a rough week this week. Over the weekend we had $50 stolen from our house. I had it sitting on the kitchen counter so I could pay the electricity bill when the man comes by. Then on Tuesday my wallet was either lost or stolen, so I had to cancel credit cards and stuff. Then the next day my phone was stolen from my house. My bottom of the line, no camera, no frills cell phone. Someone had a key to our apartment, we think. They did not touch my computer, our webcam, my camera, or our DVD player, but the cell phone is gone. Unreal. I am thankful that in total we are only out about $90—or $140 after we replace the phone—but still it stinks. It’s ironic that in my last blog I wrote that I don’t worry about our house being broken into. We have had the locks changed, by the way. The most frustrating part of the whole experience this week was the difficulty I had communicating. The police did not speak English—I had to talk to 7 people before finding someone who could send an English speaker to talk to me. It’s the first time I’ve felt really truly frustrated as a foreigner. (It is tough being illiterate, too! I cannot read Arabic, which is frustrating. At least when I see French or Spanish written, I have a decent chance of inferring the meaning. I can understand the alphabet and try to figure out the words. I’ve got no chance with Arabic! Maybe after I learn to speak it well I can take a class to learn to read and write.)
We’ve finished the first four weeks of our Arabic lessons. Four more weeks to go until we’ve completed Level 1. I can talk to the vegetable man, count to 199, give directions, and introduce myself. Luke can count to 20, just as quickly as I can, and can give the Arabic equivalents of numbers, too. (Like, What’s 15? Khamastasher.) The lessons are about 2 hours long, and they’re packed full of new info and vocabulary. I dread going each time, but once I am there I enjoy it. The teacher I have is excellent. Jason has a different teacher, and they learn different things in their lessons than we do. Hopefully between the two of us, we will be able to communicate.
Luke is awake from his nap now, so my writing time is over. I keep saying I’ll write about taxis and traffic, and I will…just not this time.
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