a funeral and some chicken

This afternoon I found out I had a funeral to go to. I found out right after I'd polished my nails. The girls thought I should remove the polish but I thought it was suitable because it's black... with sparkles... and it's only on my toes. I put on thick stockings instead.



The funeral was for my brother in law's wife's father who's been sick and on the verge of dying for ages... but still the women got hysterical; screaming, crying and fainting. I can never understand this. To me it is so ridiculous, especially because they can be crying and moaning one minute and talking about what's for dinner the next. Like they can turn on and off the emotion with a switch or something. Totally bizarre!



After going to the funeral (which I will probably have to show my face to every day for the next few days), I stopped and got chicken for Yusef and his friends. Yusef's been begging me since morning for three chickens to grill up on the roof with his friends. They're up there now, grilling away... it smells wonderful.... I hope they remember to send me down a taste at least.

Published!

One of the photographs that I took from my first trip to Nalut has been published in the 2007/2008 edition of Muslim Directory. They contacted me a while back and asked permission to use my image. Now it's finally available and they've mailed me a copy of the directory.

With luck the Libyan post office will be nice enough to put it in my box. Most of the time they don't do their job very well... sigh.. in the last year I've only received one National Geographic Magazine... I will check my post office box this week. Keep your fingers crossed!

Wedding, gold? and a fellow blogger!

I survived the wedding.. it was actually kind of nice because my friend asked that the music not be so loud and for the most part you could actually have a conversation. One of my most favourite ex-students was there and I enjoyed catching up on her life. Also saw lots of friends that I haven't seen in ages. The food was wonderful and way too much to ever finish no matter how hard anyone tried - and of course the aroosa (bride) was beautiful, masha'allah!



For those of you that are waiting for the gold update... alas.. I didn't get the gold set that I wanted... but it's still there in the shop window and I have hopes that I may still get it. Actually my mother in law said she thought I deserved two gold sets not one! - Yes! I love that woman!



Last week I met Libyan blogger Mani. It turned out that it was his birthday so he brought the pizza and I provided the cake. We had a nice time - it was like we'd known each other for years. He's funny and talks a blue streak...



Sorry I didn't get any pictures.. of Mani or the wedding. For some reason I am not in the mood for pictures.. You may have noticed my last few posts have been imageless. But have no fear.. I feel a new 'Where is this?' challenge may be happening soon.

Libyan Blogger Needs Your Help!

I hadn't seen Trabilsia, who has the blog Tripoli Ghibli online for a while and was wondering what was up. Finally got hold of her and found out that her son Tarek was in a serious car accident last Friday. He was in ICU for 2 days but is stable now. He's suffered injuries to his arms and they are hoping to take him to Tunis soon.



The power of prayer is an amazing thing. Please remember Trabilsia's son in your prayers!

Gold update

I'm working on convincing the man I married that having a 2,800 dinar gold set is an absolute necessity. This morning I tried on the new dress and shoes and paraded around the living room in them for him to see.



'That gold set I saw would be just perfect with this, wouldn't it?' I asked. (Using question tags is a popular trick that salespeople use because the other person will usually respond with a yes.)



'Hmmm...' he replied, eyes still focussed on Aljazeera.



I pretend I'm a model on the runway... stopping to do a spin every time I get in front of the TV, making sure to point out the slit that goes way up the back of the skirt and the fluid movement of the chiffon.



'You know that gold set I saw has emeralds in it. Emeralds would look perfect with this dress, wouldn't they?' I ask, making sure to use another question tag.



'It's 9am on a Friday morning. The shop isn't open yet.' was his reply. I smile and go change back into a house dress. He hasn't said 'No.'



The game has just begun... I hope I win. I will keep you updated.

Got shoes, got a dress... next GOLD!

Today is hot as a furnace outside. Someone told me it was going to be 44C today but I'm afraid to look at the temperature myself. Somehow it always seems hotter when you actually see the thermometer.



I've been running around all day - in and out of the house since morning. I went shopping and bought myself something new to wear to my friend's daughter's wedding next week. My quest to find something suitable i.e. something comfortable, respectable and not too overpriced, had me out shopping for the past few weeks. Let me tell you this - there are some really ugly dresses in the shops in Tripoli! And they are almost all very expensive too.



I had decided that I would give up today if I didn't find something I liked - so today I went into a shop and actually found something and was surprised. I had gone out today with only about 100 dinars in my bag and had to go home to get more money. Of course I got to my car and found it was blocked in by two other cars. After waiting nearly half an hour I was finally able to get my car out. I went home, got the money and went back, stopped in a shoeshop that was on the way and found perfect shoes.. so I am set and ready to go. Well almost.... I have to convince my husband to buy me the gold set I found. It's perfect... and it's only 2,800 dinars! I'll have to put on my best Libyan woman temper tantrum impersonation in the hopes I can get it... I'll let you know if I'm successful.

Exam results!

Yesterday the results were out for exams.....



Drum roll please!..........

Nora - passed! Mumtaz!!! (that's excellent in English) We're not sure what her class rank is yet. We'll check on it next week, but I hope she was first!



Sara - passed! Definitely not near the top in her class but then she's not the academic one in the family. I am certainly happy she passed because she is the biggest pouter and cryer of all my kids and we'd have had to put up will all kinds of noise if she'd failed - so thank God she made it!



Yusef - passed! Jaid Jidan!!! (that's very good in English) He was so happy he came running in and grabbed me in a great big bear hug.



Jenna - passed! Jaid Jidan!!! - jumping up and down and spitting mad because she didn't get Mumtaz! Even I am wondering about that one... the exam results were posted and we'll have to wait for the report cards to see what subject(s) pulled her grade down.



To celebrate I told the kids I would take them out to dinner. Yusef said 'I'm not hanging out with a bunch of females! Can I have money to take my friends out to Pizza House?' So I forked over some cash. I took the girls, along with my secretary out to dinner, then some shopping and then a stop at the ice cream place in Zawia Damani. We had lots of fun!



Now there is only Adam left. He starts his exams on Sunday... It will be July by the time we find out his results. But for now we are all happy and ready to face the summer.