We are leaving in 2 days and I can't say that I'm not pumped to go home. Don't get me wrong: I've had an awesome time and couldn't have asked for a more stress-free summer. But I'm so ready to take a real shower, have electricity all the time, understand more than 80% of what is said to me in all conversations, and not kill spiders everywhere I go. I'm ready to get back to a normal routine. I'm ready to eat right (I've had enough mnakeesh to last a lifetime this month...and it shows) and start working out again. It's funny- I anticipated running a lot here, at least a few times a week. But the #1 detterant from running hasn't been my laziness or unwillingness to run. It has, in fact, been the thought of showering that really turned me off to running here. The shower situation at my dad's house is attrocious. There is only hot water if there is electricity, which is rarely the case. Also, the old design of the bathroom lacks many modern conveniences, like a shower curtain. The tub is TINY and for some reason it has a sort of step in it. So the lower part that you have to stand on to be under the water is about a foot, maybe less, and there is a step above that is also maybe a foot so it's nearly impossible to stand with both feet on the same level. I've found myself mostly standing like the captain to take an effective shower. Also, the tub is very close to the wall (too close...) so arm movement is limited. And if you bend the wrong way, you run the risk of burning your ass on the little pipe that runs hot water from the water heater to the shower. Plus, seeing that there is no shower curtain, every movement results in puddles on the floor. As you can imagine, showering is something I've been doing only when absolutely necessary.

All that to say that I haven't been running much. So I'm excited to work on that at home.

I also really miss my regular life in the States. I miss the dark basement when sunlight doesn't wake me up at 6:30, I miss people not constantly reminding me/feeling bad for me for not being married, I miss tap water, lounging with my roommates, BBM and regular cell phone use, and I miss knowing what is going on with other people and other places. Has anything major happened?! Because if it has, I've totally missed it.

I did finish my book here and I'm going to highly recommend The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (thanks Kaitlyn, Amanda, and Jimmy). It was great. Of course I didn't bring the next book in the series with me since I didn't think I would finish The Lightening Theif and read 600+ pages here. I was wrong. Now it's just another thing to look forward to.

I am very much going to miss the carefree attitude I have had here.Time is no t a concern or a priority for these people. I haven't been stressed in a VERY long time. I'm not excited to get back to thinking about apartment hunting and the rapidly approaching school year. (did you see the 4th graders last year? this is not going to be pretty....) I'm also going to miss people here- people I knew and people I've gotten to know. Karen, Sophie, and Brooke left for Dubai today and I'm glad we are leaving soon after them- I can't imagine staying too long without them. Inshallah we meet again soon.

All in all, great trip. I wish I could have blogged more, but really, I'm not upset that I didn't spend more time in front of a computer. I'm ready to come home and teach Ange all the new phrases I learned :)

Horse Lady?

Petra is beautiful and just a short 3 hour car ride away from the Dead Sea.

Randa and I decided to book a trip yesterday and woke up this morning ready to go. We hired a driver, a very cool man named Fouad, to drive us there, wait for us, and drive us back. We got more than we paid for with Fouad. He told us about everything we drove by, pointed out some great spots to take pics, and even led us in a stimulating religious conversation. I can honestly say that it was the best 6 hours I've spent in a car with someone I don't know at all. Well done, Fouad. You sir are a gentleman and a scholar.

The ancient city of Petra is lovely. It was hot and crowded, as can be expected of Middle Eastern tourist attractions in the summer. And it smelled like shit. Literally. There were horses everywhere that were used to carry fat tourists down and back to see the city. And they shit everywhere. And in the unbearable heat, Petra smelled real bad. We were only offered a horse a few times. And by a few times, I clearly mean every 8 seconds. Yes, every 8 seconds a smelly man would look at us and say "Horse lady?" Now I'm just assuming that he was asking us if we wanted to ride a horse down and back. He may or may not have been insulting us.

People looked at us a lot in Petra. Randa wore shorts and a tank top and I wore a strapless dress. While some people were dressed like us, most other women there were completely covered in hijab from head to toe. And they all looked at us like they wanted to send us back to our homes on whore island. I looked at them and started sweating more. Now I wasn't wearing a lot, but I couldn't imagine wearing more. Haram.

I'm glad we went to Petra. It was beautiful to see, and we learned a lot about Jordan. Driving around for 6 hours lets you see a lot of a country, especially when your driver insists on taking 2 different routes so that you don't see the same thing twice. If you get the chance, you should come to Jordan. It's a country that has really taken care of itself and is clearly making the best use of their abundant natural resources. The people we've met have been education and are friendly. We've been greeted by many welcoming people who have lovely things to say about the Lebanese and have seen some very pretty views. I highly recommend it.

Since we're at a legit resort, I'm hoping that I can post some pictures on here. I'll try tomorrow if I can find the time between tanning and bronzing.

Just a hop, skip, and an hour flight to Jordan

I spent the night at Auntie Samia's gorgeous Beirut home and could clearly see why some people choose never to leave Lebanon. A huge apartment in an awesome city with a maid and a view of the beach? Yes please. Sign me up.
I realized in Beirut that I had forgotten my book (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo- so good so far) so Randa lent me a Chelsea Handler book. I read and laughed out loud for almost an hour before we went to bed. Randa and I, as per usual, slept in the same bed. I didn't remember my arm hurting through the night until Randa mentioned that she fell asleep on it haha. Yeah, it's like that.
When we woke up, I started to make the bed. Randa stopped me and said "Hi that's what the maid is for." Duh, Leyla. So I stopped. If I ever even bothered to make my bed at home I would totally get a maid.

We took a very fast taxi to the airport and hopped in line to check bags and go through security. Randa obviously took note of every attractive person around. We watched one guy that we hoped would be on our flight unpack and repack his bag in adoration. When he lifted up his bag, however, a red liquid remained on the floor underneath it. Hawaiian punch? Blood? Either way, I decided that he wasn't worth pursuing as my future husband.
We finally got through security, where I was pulled aside and frisked for the first time ever! I wouldn't have been surprised anywhere else- usually I'm the only arab around. But in Beirut? Like the girl travelling on an American passport is going to blow up the airport- COME ON!
At the gate, an instrumental version of Bryan Adams' "Everything I Do" played. Randa was thrilled. To pass time, I gave Randa a french manicure with my new kit (thanks for the idea Baker). Randa went to the bathroom and came out hysterical, exlaiming "I had my pants on backwards!" I peed. Honestly, who lets us travel together?

After a quick flight, we got to Jordan where a man in a suit named Khalid waited holding a sign with our names on it! He was super nice and guided us through the customs process. He then led us to our driver, another very nice Jordanian man that drove us to the Movenpick resort at the Dead Sea. Our room is gorgeous. 2 beds, unfortunately, but chances are good that we'll sleep in the same one anyway. And all the goodies in the minibar are free! We immediately put swim suits on and head the the pool- also gorgeous. There are few things cooler than a beautiful pool with a view of the beach. It's so hot that we have to get up every 10 minutes or so and get in the water to cool off. After lounging at the pool for a few hours we decided to get in the Dead Sea. It's true, you float. You have to float. There's no way to not float. And you look like a retard trying. Trust me. Floating was cool but other than that, I found the Dead Sea a bit painful. The insane amount of salt BURNS. We stayed in for about 10 minutes then got our. My skin does feel soft though!
We headed back to another beautiful pool, ate half a fresh pineapple, then left when we got way too hot to tan anymore. I'm not quite black yet, but the tan is coming along. We showered and decided to eat a fancy dinner. There is an Australian steakhouse at the resort so we dressed up a bit and went. I wore my blue strapless Urban dress and gold sandals. The steak was BANGIN'. And the wine (red!) wasn't bad either. We were so drained from travelling and the sun, though, that we headed upstairs afterwards and watched Pretty Woman (Ange, who loves that movie?) We fell asleep sometime in the middle and awoke in the middle of the night to what sounded like an explosion. Randa: "was that a bomb?" Me: "I don't know" and continued snoring. We still have no clue what it was.

40 degrees is way too hot

It has been mad hot here lately. Everything is calculated in degrees Celsius and, begin the brilliant math teacher that I am, I of course have no idea how hot that is. Welp, apparently it's really hot. I've never felt so sweaty and greasy all the time. I got out of the shower the other day sweaty. That's nasty. It is comforting, however, that everyone else is constantly sweating too. Did I say comforting? I meant smelly and gross.

Last Sunday I finally went to the beach for the first time. My fam and I drove down to Beirut to hit the beach with Randa. That is, Sami and I hit the beach. My parents walked around. My dad bought my mom a straw hat and yes, she wore it around all day. Actually quite cute.
Anywho, Randa's uncle belongs to a private beach and we pretended to be her sister and brother to tag along. The sun was hot and I tanned a little, but I'm still the same basic shade of white. That's soon to change because....
...RANDA AND I ARE GOING TO THE DEAD SEA TOMORROW! Yes, it's true. We will be spending the entire weekend at the Movenpick resort in Jordan. And the heat there is crazy. I'm fully expecting to return and be unrecognizable under my sick tan. Details about our excellent adventure to Jordan will be fleshed out upon our return :)

On a less pleasant note, I was sick for the past 2 days. I ate something that didn't agree with me and boy did it disagree! I'll spare you the details, but it was not pretty and I ended up eating very little and spending lots of time sleeping. After 2 days of nasty, I awoke today feeling almost normal, thank god. I'm not even surprised though. Lebanon'll do that to you.

That's all for now. Tomorrow: JORDAN!

The internet cafe is not all it seems to be...

AHHHHH INTERNET IS SO SLOW HERE! I've literally been sitting for more that 15 minutes trying to load some pics to help describe what I've been doing with no luck. Rather unfortunate. If all else fails, I'll edit some posts when I get back to the states and sweet, sweet wifi and add in some pictures. For now, I guess I'll just look at my pics to help me remember what I did, who I saw, and what is worth mentioning.
So we've been here for about a week and to be honest, we haven't done very many exciting things. Life in the mountain villages of Lebanon is slow and there really isn't a whole lot to do. It seems that people fill their time sitting with different groups of people, drinking coffee and gossiping.
My mom and I stayed at my aunt's house in Chbenieh. Her house is gorgeous. It's 3 stories of apartments and she lives in the top apartment. [insert image here]. The porch is where most time is spent. We sit on couches outside (sorry ange) and watch people drive down the road. Then someone says "oh there goes (random village person)." And someone else says "oh didn't she marry (other random village person)?" Then a third person says "Yes, they live at ____ right by the ____." "Oh isn't that where (other random village person) lives?"...and the conversation continues like that until another car drives by. I've gotten really good at zoning out.

A few days ago, something wonderful happened. My cousin Naim's wife, Karen, and their 2 very adorable children, Sophie, 5, and Brooke, 3, came to stay at my aunt's house from Dubai. I had only met Karen once at her wedding in Australia 15 years ago but it didn't seem like that much had changed: she is just as sweet as I remember and so fun to be around. My mom and her sister have a lot of inside jokes that I don't get/aren't funny, and it was so nice to have another person to turn and talk to when they were off in another world. Another perk is that her kids are AMAZING. Probably the cutest children I've ever met and I work with kids all day! They are really sweet and play well together but they also have a way of making you feel like you're the greatest, most interesting person they've ever met. I was the apple of their eye for a few days...until Sami arrived. I'm pretty sure I've been replaced. They woke me up every morning at the ass-crack of dawn- they would very quietly tip toe into my room whispering to each other, tap me ever so softly on the arm and say, with sweet Australian accents "Leyla, can we get in your bed?" Then they lay quietly for .25 seconds and then wrestle me until I get up. The remind me of 2 different sets of movie kids: the kids in Love Actually that open the door when Hugh Grant is looking for his girl (wooooould we call her chubby??) and ask him to carol, begging "please sir" (as a result of this likening, I have Good King Wenceslas stuck in my head constantly), and the 2 little girls in the Holiday who want to push their beds together. Regardless of the weird connections I've made, these girls are really sweet and made my week in Chbenieh really awesome.

My birthday was last Thursday! and I thank you all kindly for your warm birthday wishes! We didn't really do a lot. Sophie and Brooke woke me up with cards and gifts and we sang in the morning. But we didn't really do anything special for my birthday. In light of recent events with the death of my cousin, it didn't really feel right to celebrate. But we did get my mom's whole family to go out to Shouf for a nice lunch. We sat outside all together in this secluded patio with a view. We ate delicious fries and hummus and olives and got to pick some fruit from the trees. It was really nice for us all to be together and laugh and have fun. There were swings and slides for the kids too, so I'm pretty sure everyone had a good time.

Last night, finally, Sami and my dad got here. My mom and I went down to Beirut to pick them up from the airport. As we waited, I thought I found Sami about 5 times and it was never him. It's weird when everyone here looks like us....
When we got back, we moved from my aunt's house to my dad's house in Btekhney, which is a 10 minute drive down the windy mountain road. The second we arrived and opened the door, people started coming over for visits, which my dad really liked. His house in in the center of his town, so people always know when someone is home. It can be annoying, but it's nice to know that people want to see us!
The house is BEAUTIFUL. It's mad old and falling apart a little bit, but it's totally livable. We owe much to my dad's sister in law and my cousin who live nearby for preparing it for us. Sami and I are sharing a room because, let's be honest, I'm way too scared to sleep alone. There is a sort of in-room attic, like a loft, in the room where we are sleeping. Even though the house was cleaned and our room repainted, I still made Sami take the flashlight and check for snakes, bugs, and the boogie man up top. He's so patient with me even though he's laughing at me on the inside and making fun of me on the outside.
Even though he just got here, I'm already having so much more fun. Today we had lunch at my dad's sister's house. While the adults had a conversation about a political conflict that we didn't understand/know how to feel about, Sami and I cracked up about all kinds of random shit. Today's funniest moment was when I looked at Sami's profile and found one hair on his head that was about an inch longer than the rest; it just didn't get cut. I took a hilarious picture of the top of his head that I wish I could insert here that shows this hair. I laughed until I cried, duh, and rinsed all my make up off with my tears. When I show you the picture you'll die too. We are still laughing about it. Literally, I just told Sami and he cracked up. Also, my parents are sitting here and said that Sami's barber is in Lebanon and we'll probably see him this week. Sami says he will greet him with "Listen, I've got a hair to pick with you." Ahh, I'm so glad he's here.

That's all for today. Sami and I are going to the beach with Randa tomorrow near Beirut and I'm pumped to bronze. The only color I've gotten so far is red from mosquito bites...
Miss you all. Can't wait to talk to you soon :)

Just a few tidbits

Whew. Using the internet here is way harder than I thought it would be. We clearly don't have it in our mountain village home, and it's hard to convince my mom to take me to an internet cafe.
Uploading pictures takes WAAAAYYY too long, so I'll have to try another time when I have a few minutes.
We're having a pretty good time. I'm definitely ready for my dad and Sami to get here though.
There's a lot to tell you guys, so here are the highlights:

* My uncle has lent my mother a car. Let me just explain something: driving here is nuts! Apeshit crazy. Batty even, some might say. There are paved roads but they don't have lines, or lights, or laws governing them...I saw one stop sign but I was riding with my uncle so clearly he didn't even pause. So anyways, my mom has a car. An unidentified, never heard of in America Mitsubishi SUV. It's old as all getup and turns off on its own regularly. The tires squeal NASCAR style everytime you take a turn. Mom is pretty good about knowing her way around, but she drives way too cautiously for these people. We're constantly being honked and and carelessly passed by people in cars just as heinous as the one we're in. If I wasn't so busy holding on for dear sweet life every time we went anywhere, I might be tempted to drive.

*The other night we went to a fancy-ish dinner in a neighboring village. My uncle, who was somehow involved in a local election, was invited to this party by or for the candidates and brought us along. I wore my short black Ann Taylor skirt with pockets, my new pink J.Crew tank with roses on it and my very favorite purple wedges. The outfit was brought together by a skinny silver belt. Tres chic if I do say so myself. Anyways, the party was mostly for older people, so I was very glad that my 16 year old cousin Brahiem was there. We sat together, threw back a few Dewar's Scotch and soda, and mostly made fun of people. He was very kind and kept introducing to people and pointing out who the candidates were. Now, the arabic word for "candidate" sounds very much like the arabic word for "someone with a runny nose." It took me a minute to understand that not all the finely dressed, seemingly healthy people he pointed out didn't have the grippe. It's just like how Siobhan says that "Erin and Aaron" sound different....it's the same sound to me! And I kept using the wrong one and accidentally calling the candidates snot nosed people. My bad.
Before dinner, a priest led us in a prayer that I obviously didn't know. I had to bite my tongue a little bit while he sang some of it- I don't know what it is; I just always need to laugh at totally inappropriate times. When he finished the prayer, I casually said "amen" without thinking. Everyone else in the room (like 50+ people) said something else....woops.
The food at the party was pretty good. I mean, my mom's tabouli is better, but that's a given. The food at this party was catered by some fancy catering company in Beirut. I'm always a little offended when parties are catered. Maybe it's because my mom slaves in the kitchen for literal days when she throws a party. On the other hand, this hostess actually had time to enjoy the party and her guests without worrying about food and serving. Maybe mom should take a lesson from her...
*I've been having my coffee cup grinds read by my aunt every morning and writing it down so that I can tell you guys the crazy that's being told to me. Here are some highlights:
-a duck: means that I'll meet someone with a great personailty
-there is a dream that is far away and behind a curtain. the curtain is slowly opening to reveal my dream
-i have an internal struggle and can't decide to what to do
-there is a tug of war happening
-i'm being supported by a big rock in my quest

These cup readings are all open to interpretation, so please, send your thoughts along!

While I'm having a great time, I can't help but think of the things that I'm missing: the Bachelorette, Siobhan's first pedicure, and the crazy mishaps of my nutty roommates. Please keep me updated on you guys!
xoxo,
Leyla

we made it!

We're here and the journey is ready to begin!
Not that getting here wasn't an adventure. We left DC on Wednesday morning (thanks for the lift Ange) and first flew to JFK. The delays started in the air. As is common in New York, there was too much traffic for us to land. So we circled around the airport in the air for what seemed like hours....("look kids, big ben...parliament...").
Amal met us at JFK for a hot minute to hang out between flights. We ate really delicious, well made sandwiches. Oh wait, no. They were terrible, poorly made sandwiches. Let's be honest though, I ate the whole thing. And it was nice to see Amal, even if only for a minute.
The flight to Istanbul (all 10 hours of it) was fine. I slept literally one wink, then watched Invictus and Valentine's Day. Both good, but Invictus was awesome, highly recommend it. Aaaand I finished my Lightening Theif book! 10 hours is a long time to accomplish stuff...
We landed in Istanbul and had only about an hour to transfer. At the Middle East Air counter, we got upgraded to first class (finally, accommodations I can get used to!) My cousin works for them and was working our flight so we got the hook up.
The flight was quick, just over an hour and soon my cousin told us to go in to the cockpit, as the captain had invited us to watch the landing from inside. Baller status: check.
We got in, sat in jump seats (reminded me of Leo in Catch Me if you Can haha). You can imagine how awkward I was. Do you talk to a pilot as he flies or just sit there are look at stuff? You have probably guessed that even though I had a million questions, I awkwardly sat and looked at stuff. I saw a lighter sitting among the buttons and wondered if it was there for emergencies. As if he read my mind, the captain picks up the lighter and lights a cigarette. In the cockpit. Of the plane that he's flying...Ummmm what? I died, revived myself, and started snapping pictures (which I'm trying to upload now but this Lebanese interweb is being rather fickle).
Then the captain puts both hands behind his head and relaxes, which explained to me why there are 2 pilots: so one can smoke cigarettes and do nothing while the other actually flies the plane. Hilarious. We flew right into a cloud too! My mom pinched my arm so hard that I thought she drew blood. I must say though that the experience was pretty awesome. Watching the landing from the cockpit was gorgeous. I didn't know what to say the whole time and my mom just kept making observations out loud, which I clearly ignored and refused to respond to. (Right now my mom is taking my picture as I blog and telling me that I can blog about blogging...). All in all, it was pretty great though.
It doesn't look like pictures are going to upload, so I'll have to work on that when I have some more time. Right now, I'm being rushed by my mom and aunt so that we can go home and continue to eat, drink coffee, and do nothing. I'm not bothered. So far, I'm pretty darn happy.
Coming up: Info about the family, coffee cup readings, and hopefully some pics! Hope you guys are doing well!
Love,
Leyla