i think next year i'm going to be working at bethlehem bible college. i'm excited about it and glad i have something that i know i'm coming back to. besides cooking and cleaning for jason, of course.
i'm home in 18 days and jason follows a week later.
Monday, May 28
Friday, May 11
bring on the meat
last night, jason and i went to a bbq at the house of some new friends. the dad runs a falafel shop down the street that we've eaten at a few times. last week, we went by to say hi and really talk to him for the first time and he was like, "so, when are you coming over to my house for a bbq?". this culture is great like that. you meet someone one time and you have them over to eat. and you really mean the invitations. because we said, "sure, we'd love to come sometime", and his response was, "yes, i know. when? today? tomorrow?". so we settled on thursday night.
this put jason and i in a bit of a pickle. thursday night we were taking the kids to mundo's, a pizza restaurant, for dinner. the pizza is really good there. i love it. but we knew that we would have more food shoved in front of us at the bbq than anyone would ever think of eating, so we shouldn't eat any pizza. but we did. jason was smart and at least only ate one piece. but when i finished my first piece, they brought a brand new, hot, cheesy pizza out and sat it right in front of me. so i ate another piece. i figured i had about two hours before i'd have to eat again, so i'd be ok. i was wrong.
we got to the house and abu mahmud was out grilling. they have a beautiful yard area with real grass and an arab style table...mattresses in a square with pillows all around and big sheet in the middle. it was so great. the weather was perfect. it's been hotter than heck the last few days, but yesterday it was cloudy and warm and it even rained a little bit. mostly just sprinkles off and on, but it was still rain. so we sat down and made ourselves at home.
abu mahmud handed us each a steak sandwich. they were probably only 6 oz. steaks, maybe a little bigger. and they were soooooo good. juicy, lots of flavor, fresh off the grill. i told him how good they were and he said that i shouldn't get too excited, this was just the appetizer. i laughed. but he was serious.
then they started bringing out the second appetizer. hummus, babaganoush, french fries, bread. there were two dishes of each, one for me and jason and one for everyone else. i was already getting full and i had no idea what was coming next, so i didn't eat. but then aida, the wife, shoved the fries in front of me and told me to eat them because they were hot and fresh. i offered her some and she declined because she'd just eaten an hour ago. well, so had i, but that excuse apparently doesn't work for guests. so jason and i picked slowly at the fries and hummus, hoping to not have to eat too much before the main course.
and then the main course arrived. his sons had left the meat that his shop, so they had to go back and get it. they came in carrying two buckets of food. yes, buckets. not big bowls or huge serving platters. buckets. abu mahmud started to put the chicken on the grill. it looked and smelled delicious. i think he cooked two chickens. and there were eight adults and four little kids eating. then came the kebabs. they cooked them as little meatball things. there were probably forty of those. and this is in addition to the steak appetizer that everyone has already had. and as if that wasn't enough food, he threw on a couple more steaks and then so kindly plopped them onto our plates before we could say anything.
so two steaks, one chicken breast, two chicken legs, one kebab, a handful of fries, and a spoonful of hummus later, i couldn't move or think about eating anything else. at this point, they were actually very un-arab and stopped putting food on our plate when we said we'd had enough. most places we've been, we've gotten at least one more serving at this point, especially jason. it was some of the best meat i've eaten since i've been here. and probably more meat i've eaten since i've been here.
we stayed for about another hour, talking about what we do, what we're doing next year, where their families are from, stories from america (abu mahmud has been there twice). it was a really fun evening and i hope we get to spend more time with them. aida, the wife, has offered to teach me how to cook arab food. i think i'm going over next weekend. they told us when we move to our new apartment, they can be our first guests and i can cook them an arab meal. they were such a fun family, very relaxed and welcoming, doing their best to make us feel at home and make our time here as good as it can be. also, they gave us ice cream, which was actually a normal texture and no toothpaste aftertaste, so we'll definitely stay friends with them.
this put jason and i in a bit of a pickle. thursday night we were taking the kids to mundo's, a pizza restaurant, for dinner. the pizza is really good there. i love it. but we knew that we would have more food shoved in front of us at the bbq than anyone would ever think of eating, so we shouldn't eat any pizza. but we did. jason was smart and at least only ate one piece. but when i finished my first piece, they brought a brand new, hot, cheesy pizza out and sat it right in front of me. so i ate another piece. i figured i had about two hours before i'd have to eat again, so i'd be ok. i was wrong.
we got to the house and abu mahmud was out grilling. they have a beautiful yard area with real grass and an arab style table...mattresses in a square with pillows all around and big sheet in the middle. it was so great. the weather was perfect. it's been hotter than heck the last few days, but yesterday it was cloudy and warm and it even rained a little bit. mostly just sprinkles off and on, but it was still rain. so we sat down and made ourselves at home.
abu mahmud handed us each a steak sandwich. they were probably only 6 oz. steaks, maybe a little bigger. and they were soooooo good. juicy, lots of flavor, fresh off the grill. i told him how good they were and he said that i shouldn't get too excited, this was just the appetizer. i laughed. but he was serious.
then they started bringing out the second appetizer. hummus, babaganoush, french fries, bread. there were two dishes of each, one for me and jason and one for everyone else. i was already getting full and i had no idea what was coming next, so i didn't eat. but then aida, the wife, shoved the fries in front of me and told me to eat them because they were hot and fresh. i offered her some and she declined because she'd just eaten an hour ago. well, so had i, but that excuse apparently doesn't work for guests. so jason and i picked slowly at the fries and hummus, hoping to not have to eat too much before the main course.
and then the main course arrived. his sons had left the meat that his shop, so they had to go back and get it. they came in carrying two buckets of food. yes, buckets. not big bowls or huge serving platters. buckets. abu mahmud started to put the chicken on the grill. it looked and smelled delicious. i think he cooked two chickens. and there were eight adults and four little kids eating. then came the kebabs. they cooked them as little meatball things. there were probably forty of those. and this is in addition to the steak appetizer that everyone has already had. and as if that wasn't enough food, he threw on a couple more steaks and then so kindly plopped them onto our plates before we could say anything.
so two steaks, one chicken breast, two chicken legs, one kebab, a handful of fries, and a spoonful of hummus later, i couldn't move or think about eating anything else. at this point, they were actually very un-arab and stopped putting food on our plate when we said we'd had enough. most places we've been, we've gotten at least one more serving at this point, especially jason. it was some of the best meat i've eaten since i've been here. and probably more meat i've eaten since i've been here.
we stayed for about another hour, talking about what we do, what we're doing next year, where their families are from, stories from america (abu mahmud has been there twice). it was a really fun evening and i hope we get to spend more time with them. aida, the wife, has offered to teach me how to cook arab food. i think i'm going over next weekend. they told us when we move to our new apartment, they can be our first guests and i can cook them an arab meal. they were such a fun family, very relaxed and welcoming, doing their best to make us feel at home and make our time here as good as it can be. also, they gave us ice cream, which was actually a normal texture and no toothpaste aftertaste, so we'll definitely stay friends with them.
Wednesday, May 2
pics from ramalla
The park from the top of the ferris wheel
Fida, Razan, and Bara'a. this is the spinny ride i made nabil go on that made him cry. i have no heart.
Me, Ahmud, and Nabil on the spinny ride
Fida, Sheda, and Aya
Bumper Cars!
Bara'a, Razan, and Hiba
Lunch time!
The Party Bus
Monday, April 30
field trip!
today we went to ramalla with all of the kids from the school and the boarding section. i wasn't too excited about the day because i was told we're going to a park. and i really like a lot of the teachers, but when the kids are on the playground, they just sit around and talk to each other. so that's what i was picturing all day and the houseparents having to take care of all 30 or so kids. not fun.
but i was wrong. it was an amazing day. we actually went to a (sort of) amusement park. it was more carnival type rides, but the kids LOVED it. the houseparents just hung out with the kids from the boarding section, and we all kind of stayed in a group, which was really fun. most of the kids loved the rides, i think all except for nabil and sheda. i made nabil go on a spinney ride with me and he was terrified. then i made him go on the ferris wheel, which i thought would be less scary, but he was still scared. poor kid. i made sheda go on a different spinney ride and she wouldn't hang out with me the rest of the day near rides because she was afraid i would drag her onto one. although i did trick her into going on a "roller coaster" (a very small roller coaster) at the end of the day, which she didn't mind too much. the highlight was definitely the bumper cars. all of the kids and houseparents went at the same time and we were the only ones in at that time. it was great. all the kids loved it and i think all the houseparents got to take out some aggression on the kids. i slammed into sheda's car a lot.
the bus ride was also an adventure. the kids were surprisingly well behaved and sat most of the time. it was quite the party bus though. fida brought a drum so we could sing and clap and dance in our seats the whole way. and if she wasn't playing, the driver had music blaring. it was fun on the way there...annoying on the way back. no concept of sleeping after a long day like that.
i took a few pictures, but then our batteries died, so when i recharge them, i'll put the pictures up.
but i was wrong. it was an amazing day. we actually went to a (sort of) amusement park. it was more carnival type rides, but the kids LOVED it. the houseparents just hung out with the kids from the boarding section, and we all kind of stayed in a group, which was really fun. most of the kids loved the rides, i think all except for nabil and sheda. i made nabil go on a spinney ride with me and he was terrified. then i made him go on the ferris wheel, which i thought would be less scary, but he was still scared. poor kid. i made sheda go on a different spinney ride and she wouldn't hang out with me the rest of the day near rides because she was afraid i would drag her onto one. although i did trick her into going on a "roller coaster" (a very small roller coaster) at the end of the day, which she didn't mind too much. the highlight was definitely the bumper cars. all of the kids and houseparents went at the same time and we were the only ones in at that time. it was great. all the kids loved it and i think all the houseparents got to take out some aggression on the kids. i slammed into sheda's car a lot.
the bus ride was also an adventure. the kids were surprisingly well behaved and sat most of the time. it was quite the party bus though. fida brought a drum so we could sing and clap and dance in our seats the whole way. and if she wasn't playing, the driver had music blaring. it was fun on the way there...annoying on the way back. no concept of sleeping after a long day like that.
i took a few pictures, but then our batteries died, so when i recharge them, i'll put the pictures up.
Friday, April 20
Turkey Pictures!!
The Blue Mosque. There were tulips everywhere.
Inside the Blue Mosque.
The Blue Mosque
Jason and Sarah
These guys were really funny. They played "Que Sera Sera", "Satisfaction (Can't Get No)", and a wired mix of other songs.
The Aya Sofia
Inside Aya Sofia
Whilring Dervishes at the Sufi Monestary
Bospherous Cruise. (Although my friend April pointed out that it's not really a cruise if they don't give you free food. So really, the Bospherous Boat Ride.)
The Harem in Topkapi Palace
Topkapi Palace
Sarah and Nana at Topkapi
Suleymaniye Mosque
Inside the Suleymaniye Mosque
From the Mosaic Museum. Notice the blood dripping off the antelope.
Istaklal. An estimated one million people walk this street every day. We were two of them every day were were in Istanbul. Because we're that cool.
The view we woke up to every day. Topkapi is on the left, then the Aya Sofia and the Blue Mosque. The waterway is the Golden Horn and behind the monuments you can kind of see the Sea of Marmara.
and there's more pictures from turkey, as well as a bunch from christmas break and new ones of the kids in our photo album. check them out.
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