Time for popcorn.... movie night!

I've been relaxing and watching movies. Today I downloaded a film called Precious. I watched it straight through without stopping. Wow! It's a very powerful film, very realistic. Thanks Tara for suggesting it.

Then, I started Marley and Me but Jenna begged me not to finish it because she watched it first and said it was too sad - the dog died and she thought it was just too much to bear. So I'll watch it later when I think I can handle the sadness... lolol..

I'm waiting for Sunshine Cleaning to download next. It's going slow so it probably wont be until tomorrow.

What films have you watched lately? Got any favourites? Anything thought provoking?

Click on comments..... Suggest something.

Getting back into the routine

I'm still recovering from the flu. I got back behind the wheel of the car today and drove Ibrahim to school. Eid is over, the kids are back to school and things are beginning to return to normal. The only thing left is to finish the drying and processing of the gadeed (dried meat), hopefully tomorrow.

Eid this year was strange. The government officially proclaimed Eid Adha to be on Thursday when everywhere else in the world celebrated it on Friday. Thursday morning the mosques made a feeble attempt to call people to Eid prayers but because most Libyans decided to celebrate Eid with the rest of the world on Friday, no one seemed interested in answering the call to prayer on Thursday. We celebrated on Friday, as did most Libyans.

There was also a debate this year in Libya over when Ramadan would end and Eid Fitr would begin. So both Eids; the two biggest holidays in the Muslim calendar, have been disrupted. It seems really weird not to have had Eid prayer this year.

Playing with something...

Autumn came & then winter on Storybird

Two in one

Happy Thanksgiving

and

Happy Eid!

Getting well

I'm on the mend, moving slowly about the house and trying to get things back in order. I'm coughing and still weak but the fever is gone. I'll need to get up enough energy to make a trip to the supermarket to try to refill the fridge and cabinets. The kids ate everything in sight and the stuff that was hidden too.

Thanks to all who sent get well wishes, emails and texts. Sorry if I didn't talk to you - for a good part of the time I was comatose. Now I need to sort out my house.... Nora is starting to feel ill now. I think it will make it's way around the house.

Slowly Recovering

I have the flu. It all started last Thursday morning I woke up with a headache and by the end of the day I had developed a cough and a slight fever. On Friday I had invited some of my students and another teacher over for a picnic, but by the time they started to arrive I was too sick to join the fun and had gone to bed. I was out like a light... comatose!

Someone had taken some pictures with my camera and it looks like they had a great time. The picnic lasted all afternoon and into the night. Sorry I missed the fun.

Over the next few days my husband kept trying to wake me up. Everything was hazy and all I knew was that my entire body ached.. my eyeballs even hurt. By day three he insisted I go to the hospital. So after a huge effort to make myself somewhat presentable to the general public, we headed out the door (one day I will look back at the sight of Nora trying to put my clothes on for me and laugh).

We decided that since there was a chance I had Swine Flu the best thing would be to go the main hospital where we thought we would find a whole system set up to deal with cases of influenza. After an ordeal of finding a parking space I told my husband to let me sit down someplace (away from other people) while he went in to find out where I needed to go. He came back after a while and brought me inside where I was taken into a room.

After being asked my name and what was wrong I was led into a curtained off corner just big enough for two grubby looking hospital beds. There were already five women perched on those two beds, add me and now there were six. Imagine having a doctors examination on a bed with two other women!

The doctor asked me what my symptoms were and I told him. Then someone took my blood pressure and then I was asked to get up. Back out to the desk in the main area; I was handed a prescription for Panadol Cold and Flu, Amoxicilin and vitamin C. No one took my temperature, or listened to my chest (oh darn), or cared what kind of flu I had.

I'm starting to get up a bit. I can manage about 15 minutes and then I need a four hour nap. I'm a survivor! My advice... if you think you have the flu in Libya - just stay home. The trip to the hospital could kill you. I am taking the antibiotics... God alone knows what those other ladies on those beds had.

A special note for November

I've been enjoying the weather. It's warm during the day and cool at night. The leaves are starting to change colors and flocks of migratory birds can be seen flying over from time to time. Yesterday morning, as I was driving Ibrahim to school, we saw two flocks of larger sized birds flying over in V formation. I like this time of year.

A few years ago a friend of mine gave me a poem she had written. It was on a small piece of folded paper that I kept in the top drawer of my dresser. Every November I would happen to come across it and take it out and read it. And then I would pick up the phone and call my friend and we would have a long chat. For some reason the paper with the poem on it disappeared and I searched for it last November but couldn't find it. So I asked my dear friend to write the poem for me again. I'm posting it here so I don't misplace it again.

November Cricket

November Cricket singing by my kitchen door-

You fill my heart with gladness,

You fill my heart with joy.

Now as evening falls

Your merry little notes fill the peaceful air

Saying

"This is a happy home."

Yes, you know we face our share

Of trials and tribulations.

Yet we are richly blessed

With all the goodness that comes

From our Father up above.

Sing November Cricket!

November Cricket-

I love you.

Rhonda Ahmed

November 16, 2001

The morning sun

Ibrahim running around in his Spiderman costume in the morning. That boy loves Spiderman!

H1N1 Vaccine in Libya?

My husband told me the H1N1 vaccine was available in Libya but it cost 1,000 dinars a shot. This has increased the costs of anyone travelling to Saudi Arabia for Hajj this year. The vaccine isn't required to go to Hajj but you have to pay for it whether you take it or not.

Why are they charging so much for the vaccine? Does anyone know anything about this?

In the US the vaccine is given either for free or possibly with a fee for the administration. Kids and pregnant women are the ones really at greatest risk and there are plenty of those here in Libya. I can't imagine that families would be able to afford a thousand dinars for each member of their family, especially since Libyans usually have BIG families.

A quiet day for a change

I've been enjoying my day off. The weather has been wonderful and the only major thing I did the entire day was a few loads of laundry. I rested, I napped, I enjoyed the breeze. I noticed flocks of migratory birds flying over from time to time. I needed this break. Tomorrow is another day.

I've got guests!

It's amazing to see the number of foreigners that are here in Libya. Ex-pats, guest workers, call them what you like, they are an integral part of the workforce in this country and their numbers are growing.

How do they adapt to life in Libya? How do they deal with the people and culture? In the past Libyans would gawk at any foreigner they came across but nowadays, especially in Tripoli, Libyans are getting more and more used to seeing foreigners in shops and restaurants. It's starting to become normal.

And as the number of ex-pats in Libya increases, the number of ex-pat bloggers increases too. Chronicling their lives here for their family and friends back home. Life in Libya is an adventure!

There is a group of ex-pats here that have put together a website for other ex-pats. I asked them if they would like to have a guest post on my blog since I have so many ex-pat readers, and also because many people who are in the decision process of taking a position in Libya stumble across me in their research. I'm also interested in how cultures blend and mix. They agreed to be guests on my blogg. Here's what they sent me to post:

LookOutLibya.com – A peek under the veil

We are a group of enthusiastic expats with a positive outlook who want to provide relevant information on life in Libya. Before arriving here each of us had problems finding out how living in Libya might be. For this reason we got together to meet this need. As a group, we try to portray all aspects of this multi-faceted society – the good, the bad and the in between.

Look Out Libya aims not to provide exhaustive information, but rather an introduction for newcomers to the country, and an ongoing update for the online community here in Libya. We concentrate on the practicalities of life and hope to offer our readers first hand insights into life as a foreigner in Libya.

There is much development in Libya and the country is evolving at a rapid rate, hence we rely on the contributions of our readers to keep the site up to date and current.

Our largest readership is in Libya but readers from all over the globe have visited the site. We are thrilled each time we receive an email with feedback - from expats thirsty for information and Libyans delighted to see their country receiving a worldwide audience. The best feedback to date … “The Look Out Libya website has coloured in a country that for me had always been grey on the map”.

It’s so exciting to be a part of it. Come and be entranced!