Team Nicaragua is officially home, so welcome back! Right now the Brandies are sharing heart-warming stories from their 10-day visit to the Arms of Love children's home in the NIC.
The most important story that I've heard so far (because it relates to me) is that Doug reads my blog! Hey, Doug!
It kind of makes me regret the harping on and on about BB7. But, let's face it, not enough to stop. I mean did you see the last on? Kaysar instead of James! Crazy.
Speaking of overseas readers, I hope that the Chandlers are still checking in! Hey, Neil and Clare!
And speaking of the Chandlers (the world's greatest hosts), Joan is on her way to London. Stanley, Lucy and Joan all left IQ today. On Sunday they'll reach London where Joan will spend a week. Stanley and Lucy will continue on to the states.
Welcome home Stanley and Lucy!!
8/12/2006
8/10/2006
Quoteof the Day
"No. We are not going. Because it's three dollars. AND there are no real freaks in it.
Escept for a 27 inch lady. And that's like 2 feet."
- Kate
Escept for a 27 inch lady. And that's like 2 feet."
- Kate
8/09/2006
The Power of Janelle
There's a lot going on in my life, yes. And there's a lot of sitting around as well, but I have two bits of info.
1) Janelle totally won POV tonight. I am so glad I'm home for this.
2) I washed my ipod shuffle over the weekend. That's right. I put it in the washer with my dirty laundry. When I took it out it wouldn't turn on or anything. No surprise, right? Well, the surprise is that today it totally flickered to life!!! I charged it, loaded songs and it totally works now. Just as if it had never been run through the washer.
Ok, so I am reading what I wrote and thinking, how sad that this is what my life has come to...
But then again I have a resurrected ipod and Janelle is in the house for another week, so I can't be too sad.
1) Janelle totally won POV tonight. I am so glad I'm home for this.
2) I washed my ipod shuffle over the weekend. That's right. I put it in the washer with my dirty laundry. When I took it out it wouldn't turn on or anything. No surprise, right? Well, the surprise is that today it totally flickered to life!!! I charged it, loaded songs and it totally works now. Just as if it had never been run through the washer.
Ok, so I am reading what I wrote and thinking, how sad that this is what my life has come to...
But then again I have a resurrected ipod and Janelle is in the house for another week, so I can't be too sad.
8/02/2006
Surprise! It's a Computer...
Yeah, I guess that would be nice, but this is neither a surprise nor a computer. Mostly it's rambling. Which is better by far.
I added Angie's blog back to the list on the right. Since she stopped posting satellite photos of my house in K'Stan (Dear Mr. Terrorist, My boyfriend lives here. Oh, and he's an American. I know how you like Americans.), I decided to restore her linking privileges.
I tried a new restaurant today when I visited Katja and Julie today. We went to Oodles. It's an Asian noodle bar. I have been waiting for a quality noodle bar for years. This one's pretty close to quality and closer than most others around town - and by others I mean the millions of Chinese buffets. Check 'em out at www.gooodles.com.
I'd also like to give a shout out to Nikki and Miranda who I saw on Monday. The gave me a hard time for not being active on MySpace.com. I'll try, ok? Miranda is using it to look up the retarded kids we went to High School with and then she dates them. And yeah, Miranda I know. They're not really retarded. The proper phrase is now "Mentally Disabled."
Angie and I registered for wedding gifts, too. No, we don't have a church officially, yet, but we have officially put in our request for the Jack Lalane Power Juicer...
You can check us out at Crate & Barrel, Target and Sears. (That's right. I said it. Sears.)
Angie said that old ladies like to buy towels and I said that old ladies like to shop at Sears.
I added Angie's blog back to the list on the right. Since she stopped posting satellite photos of my house in K'Stan (Dear Mr. Terrorist, My boyfriend lives here. Oh, and he's an American. I know how you like Americans.), I decided to restore her linking privileges.
I tried a new restaurant today when I visited Katja and Julie today. We went to Oodles. It's an Asian noodle bar. I have been waiting for a quality noodle bar for years. This one's pretty close to quality and closer than most others around town - and by others I mean the millions of Chinese buffets. Check 'em out at www.gooodles.com.
I'd also like to give a shout out to Nikki and Miranda who I saw on Monday. The gave me a hard time for not being active on MySpace.com. I'll try, ok? Miranda is using it to look up the retarded kids we went to High School with and then she dates them. And yeah, Miranda I know. They're not really retarded. The proper phrase is now "Mentally Disabled."
Angie and I registered for wedding gifts, too. No, we don't have a church officially, yet, but we have officially put in our request for the Jack Lalane Power Juicer...
You can check us out at Crate & Barrel, Target and Sears. (That's right. I said it. Sears.)
Angie said that old ladies like to buy towels and I said that old ladies like to shop at Sears.
7/25/2006
So What Now?
Now I'm home in the great state of Ohio...
Everyone asks me if it's great to be home and it is. Sort of. There are things I like, things I love and things that I really hate about living here. And by here I don't mean America. I'm not going to post an anti-America anti-materialism rant here. That's not what I mean.
I mean I like seeing everyone and hanging out and going to church and (obviously) seeing Big Brother and As the World Turns.
But...it's kind of boring here. And I need to find a job and earn a living, and blah, blah, blah...
I don't know. There's a lot of good stuff coming up (wedding, sweetcorn blackberry ice cream, that kind of stuff), but I miss Iraq.
That's right, I said it. I miss it. I miss Joan and Lucy (both of them) and Doris and Wally and Stanley and Ernie and Todd. I miss doing work that I really liked.
On the flip side, I do not miss 4 hours of electricity per day or the black wind. Or the honking!
I don't really have any profound insights on my transition. I'm just keeping the blog up-to-date.
Everyone asks me if it's great to be home and it is. Sort of. There are things I like, things I love and things that I really hate about living here. And by here I don't mean America. I'm not going to post an anti-America anti-materialism rant here. That's not what I mean.
I mean I like seeing everyone and hanging out and going to church and (obviously) seeing Big Brother and As the World Turns.
But...it's kind of boring here. And I need to find a job and earn a living, and blah, blah, blah...
I don't know. There's a lot of good stuff coming up (wedding, sweetcorn blackberry ice cream, that kind of stuff), but I miss Iraq.
That's right, I said it. I miss it. I miss Joan and Lucy (both of them) and Doris and Wally and Stanley and Ernie and Todd. I miss doing work that I really liked.
On the flip side, I do not miss 4 hours of electricity per day or the black wind. Or the honking!
I don't really have any profound insights on my transition. I'm just keeping the blog up-to-date.
7/17/2006
F-A-N-Tastic
Whoever is responsible for the decision that I Angie and I would stay with a family in London instead of a hotel was a genius. I will pretend that it was me, so I can take the credit.
I will write more later, but I am having a great time. We had a BBQ yesterday and I ate more food than I've eaten at one time. Perhaps ever.
OK, OK. That last bit isn't true and Sis knows the truth....Vegas buffets...
But it's great to be in London and it's great to be staying with great people.
I will write more later, but I am having a great time. We had a BBQ yesterday and I ate more food than I've eaten at one time. Perhaps ever.
OK, OK. That last bit isn't true and Sis knows the truth....Vegas buffets...
But it's great to be in London and it's great to be staying with great people.
7/11/2006
Almost Over
I was chided twice today about not keeping up with the blog this week.
"It seems that if you're going to have a blog, you should make an effort to post somewhat regularly..."
Well, I haven't written anything because I'm tired of reading. I want to spend the rest of the post writing about how we all spend too much time talking and not enough time doing, and that, if we were busier doing the work of God, we wouldn't have so much free time to analyze our part in it or to judge the others doing it, or to come up with theories to justify our inactivity.
But I won't. I don't really feel like it, and, honestly, you'll all do what you want anyway.
I've been really busy this week planning and executing the work here. We finally have a project that I am really excited about and another in the proposal stages.
But, I'm leaving.
And the projects will go on without and the work will be fine. No problem. And I'm going home to good things, I know. But a little (Ok big) part of me will miss this place. And these people. My life will never be like this again. On Thursday morning I'll say good-bye to a life that I'll never have again. It's not like the good-bye in January; I know I'd have that again.
And I know that there are parts of this that I am happy to leave behind. But it's weird to think that when I step out the door Thursday morning, it's over.
Even if I come back here, it won't be the same. Pieces will be missing. Maybe it will be better, but it won't be the same.
I'm not complaining, I'm just a little sad to see it go.
"It seems that if you're going to have a blog, you should make an effort to post somewhat regularly..."
Well, I haven't written anything because I'm tired of reading. I want to spend the rest of the post writing about how we all spend too much time talking and not enough time doing, and that, if we were busier doing the work of God, we wouldn't have so much free time to analyze our part in it or to judge the others doing it, or to come up with theories to justify our inactivity.
But I won't. I don't really feel like it, and, honestly, you'll all do what you want anyway.
I've been really busy this week planning and executing the work here. We finally have a project that I am really excited about and another in the proposal stages.
But, I'm leaving.
And the projects will go on without and the work will be fine. No problem. And I'm going home to good things, I know. But a little (Ok big) part of me will miss this place. And these people. My life will never be like this again. On Thursday morning I'll say good-bye to a life that I'll never have again. It's not like the good-bye in January; I know I'd have that again.
And I know that there are parts of this that I am happy to leave behind. But it's weird to think that when I step out the door Thursday morning, it's over.
Even if I come back here, it won't be the same. Pieces will be missing. Maybe it will be better, but it won't be the same.
I'm not complaining, I'm just a little sad to see it go.
7/04/2006
Happy 4th of July
Not much to report, but we did have barbecued chicken, baked beans, macaroni and cheese and applesauce for lunch. Plus a dessert called peach kuchen. We renamed it Peach Freedom Cake to keep things American. No German desserts for us, no sir.
The only detraction from the meal was the presence of the Kurdish salad (aka tomato and cucumber chunks), but I suffered through it. Oh, and, of course, the meal ended with little glasses of tea.
But, then again, maybe you will all have little glasses of tea following your holiday lunch. I don't know.
Also, just FYI, I was going to add pics here, but I don't really have any that are internet ready, so you'll have to wait.
The only detraction from the meal was the presence of the Kurdish salad (aka tomato and cucumber chunks), but I suffered through it. Oh, and, of course, the meal ended with little glasses of tea.
But, then again, maybe you will all have little glasses of tea following your holiday lunch. I don't know.
Also, just FYI, I was going to add pics here, but I don't really have any that are internet ready, so you'll have to wait.
7/03/2006
Introducing Lucy
Yes, I know this blog already has one Lucy, but now there are two.
One day I hope to write about the cultural significance of this picture, but for now enjoy this picture of a dog driving a car.
7/01/2006
More From Joan w/pics
Joan's Class - 07/01/06 - Massage Me, Baby (One More Time)
- 8:26 - Joan requests the "baby doll" for massage practice. She is given the two creepiest dolls in Kurdistan (and, perhaps, all of Iraq)
- 8:27 - I take a picture of Joan and the creepy twins
- 8:30 - Joan puts one of the creeps on the floor with all of the "dirt, dog and spit"
- 8:31 - Class begins like a lion. Will probably end like a lamb
- 8:32 - No, that's March... class begins, nonetheless
- 8:34 - Joan decides to practice first, which means I have to leave the room. But then come back for Joan's lecture. Joan sucks
- 8:40 - Look at my calendar
- 8:45 - Make a to-do list
- 8:46 - Read a book
- 9:02 - Class begins again
- 9:03 - Joan draws a row of teepees. Oops, I mean a spine. A spine.
- 9:05 - I don't think anyone's paying attention today. It is very hot.
- 9:06 - Joan's baby has Torticollis
- 9:07 - I think about writing a book: "Effleurage and the Spastic Child." Maybe Mamosta Karim will help me publish it.
- 9:14 - Still hot
- 9:15 - I think on day 6 we should all know that, if we work the front of the legs, we also work the back of the legs. I know this information. Why am I the only one?
- 9:18 - Joan makes the baby dance
- 9:20 - Something is happening that I don't understand
- 9:24 - Not all therapies will have the same results with every patient
- 9:28 - If your face is paralyzed, you must tap it. Vigorously
- 9:30 - Student asks for a free massage
That's the end of Joan's class for the day. I spent this afternoon at a Kurdish friend's house trying to watch the rest of the film Troy. We started it yesterday and had to stop when the power went out. We didn't finish today either! I am looking at a third day of the movie. And it's crap! Why can't Brad Pitt act? I saw Fight Club. Good. I saw Twelve Monkies. Good. His Achilles is painful.
Perhaps he should massage it.
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