I almost feel like I'm falling into a routine. After the last two weeks of no routine, this is a welcome relief. I have scheduled classes, and am doing homework. Well almost.
So I got this internship with the free zone people from USAID. I really wanted this internship, and I'm so glad it happened. It has to do with what I want to do for a living, which, very generally put, is to bring investors to Middle Eastern countries. In my vision, this brings mutual stability and increased good will to both parties. I get to work with the people I love, and use this language I also love. I may want to actually hold a real big girl, paying job with USAID one day, so getting an internship with this organization was really awesome.
But it's going to be intense.
For my graduate program, I have a pre-requisite which did not get mentioned to me until about two months ago. This means that I have to take it online while I am here. I got permission to drop one class from my program, making my course load 12, instead of 15 credits. This would leave me room to take this 3 credit class online through the community college, and all is well. Except with the internship, I'm up an additional 3 credits, making my course load 18 credits, in addition to the other stress of trying to live in a country I don't know much about and only speak a passable rendition of the language. Wimper.
I'm challenged, but I can do it. Probably.
Today, my mom pointed out that I should be taking pictures of more daily stuff, rather than just the pretty stuff. So, keeping with how I always do what my mother says (ha) I took a bunch of pictures.
It's hard to visualize a completely foreign people's manner of cooking and eating unless you're actually there. I've mentioned that there's lots of veggies, and there may or may not be any meat at all. Tonight, I ate at R.'s house, and I had three items. Well, unless you count the pita bread, that comes with every meal. First, the red thing is something that sounds like ra'ia...but it's probably not actually called that. Let's just say it starts with an R. It has eggplant, tomatoes, and other stuff, and it is best with the pita bread. Then there's the lentil dish in the middle...this is something that starts with a g. I think. It has more than lentils, and by itself, it's good, but not great. But mix it with the salad, and oh my word it is so good. I have really come to appreciate the value of a good fresh lemon or lime.
I was there for the making of the salad...it has vinegar, olive oil, parsley, mint, lime juice, some kind of lettuce, and garlic. All of this is minced, and like I said...mixed with the lentils, it is heaven.
During this time, I visited R.'s dog. He kind of looks like a panda. His name is Bonny, but I bet that in Arabic it isn't really Bonny but something else that sounds like Bonny. His main goal is to escape outside, and eat one of the hundreds of cats that run feral through the streets.
I really miss having a dog. Bonny is a little intense, and I miss my lazy dogs. This guy walks around on his hind feet like a person. I'm not sure why she has a shirt on him, but he gets treated like a baby. She always says, "oh spoiled he is!" Not having a dog makes my apartment really too quiet.
This cat, which has a name and gets fed, always is near the door. I've only heard it's name once, but it mostly goes by naughty kitty.
He's quick to sneak in the door if it's left open at all. True to cat nature, he doesn't really want to come in. He just hangs out there because he's not allowed to be there. He recently decided I was ok to stand by, and I got to touch him today.
Sadly, there is probably the real possibility that he speaks more Arabic than I do.
The back of R's house has a view similar to mine. She, however, gets to have a garden. Much of her food comes from this garden. Those vines on the trellis are grapes, and we've had those leaves wrapped around a really yummy rice and meat concoction. There are some citrus trees and flowers. Here, gardens are not really frequent, but if they are there, they are almost always beautiful.
This time, I remembered to include some pictures of around town. I think I remember mentioning the other day about the donkeys. Well, here is the picture of that mother and foal. What she's eating is beyond me. It looks like something my horse would rather go hungry than eat.
All this walking has given me an interesting tan line. I always have long pants, and most of my arms are always covered. I had some brown there before, but I have a distinct tan line on my toes. It looks like I wanted to just test the spray on tan and got a little orange happy.
So I got this internship with the free zone people from USAID. I really wanted this internship, and I'm so glad it happened. It has to do with what I want to do for a living, which, very generally put, is to bring investors to Middle Eastern countries. In my vision, this brings mutual stability and increased good will to both parties. I get to work with the people I love, and use this language I also love. I may want to actually hold a real big girl, paying job with USAID one day, so getting an internship with this organization was really awesome.
But it's going to be intense.
For my graduate program, I have a pre-requisite which did not get mentioned to me until about two months ago. This means that I have to take it online while I am here. I got permission to drop one class from my program, making my course load 12, instead of 15 credits. This would leave me room to take this 3 credit class online through the community college, and all is well. Except with the internship, I'm up an additional 3 credits, making my course load 18 credits, in addition to the other stress of trying to live in a country I don't know much about and only speak a passable rendition of the language. Wimper.
I'm challenged, but I can do it. Probably.
Today, my mom pointed out that I should be taking pictures of more daily stuff, rather than just the pretty stuff. So, keeping with how I always do what my mother says (ha) I took a bunch of pictures.
It's hard to visualize a completely foreign people's manner of cooking and eating unless you're actually there. I've mentioned that there's lots of veggies, and there may or may not be any meat at all. Tonight, I ate at R.'s house, and I had three items. Well, unless you count the pita bread, that comes with every meal. First, the red thing is something that sounds like ra'ia...but it's probably not actually called that. Let's just say it starts with an R. It has eggplant, tomatoes, and other stuff, and it is best with the pita bread. Then there's the lentil dish in the middle...this is something that starts with a g. I think. It has more than lentils, and by itself, it's good, but not great. But mix it with the salad, and oh my word it is so good. I have really come to appreciate the value of a good fresh lemon or lime.
I was there for the making of the salad...it has vinegar, olive oil, parsley, mint, lime juice, some kind of lettuce, and garlic. All of this is minced, and like I said...mixed with the lentils, it is heaven.
I really miss having a dog. Bonny is a little intense, and I miss my lazy dogs. This guy walks around on his hind feet like a person. I'm not sure why she has a shirt on him, but he gets treated like a baby. She always says, "oh spoiled he is!" Not having a dog makes my apartment really too quiet.
Sadly, there is probably the real possibility that he speaks more Arabic than I do.
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