A trip to Tarhouna

This morning I went with two of my friends to Tarhouna. It's about an hours drive from Tripoli. The views along the roadsides are beautiful. The outskirts of Tripoli are mostly flat farmland, but as you approach Tarhouna the landscape becomes hilly and mountainous. There were lots of wildflowers - most of them yellow and purple in color. In one area between the towns of Qasr-Ben-Gashir and Speeah, there were fields full of bright red poppys.

It was a lovely morning spent with two very special people!

Wildflowers - Tarhouna, Libya 

A farm in Tarhouna, Libya.

Approaching the city of Tarhouna, Libya.

A field full of poppys. Between the towns of Qasr-Ben-Gashir and Speeah, Libya. 

My Canadian friend Maureen, with a bunch of poppys that were picked from the side of the road on our way back from Tarhouna. 

A truck full of balls. They sell these in almost every little super market in Libya. They usually hang them up outside next to the door. We saw this truck heading to Tripoli. They must have a factory someplace outside of the city.

Supermarket in Tripoli, Libya. - notice the balls hanging outside next to the door.

Rain

Remember that old eighties song? - I'm not sure what it was called but it goes something like this:

"I miss the rains out in Aaaaaaafricaaaa!"

I'm in Africa! I miss the rains out in Florida! - Actually I'm in North Africa. Tripoli is smooshed between the Mediterranean Sea and the Sahara Desert. We don't get much rainfall here - mostly it rains in the winter months. This winter everyone complained about the cold weather, but I don't really think there was a whole lot of rain. Everything seems dry and this spring there doesn't seem to be as many wildflowers as there were in previous years.

I like rain. I like the sound, the smell, and the feel of it. I love walking in the rain. In fact, I take every opportunity to walk in the rain.

I used to have a cassette tape of rain and I liked to play it in the afternoons. I would put the tape on and climb into bed and snuggle up with one of my kids and listen to the rain tape. I played it so many times that it finally stopped working. I really miss that tape.

Once while browsing the internet I found a website with sounds that could be downloaded and one of them was the sound of a rainstorm. The file was over 15 megabytes but I decided to go for it with my slow dial-up anyway. It took forever to download! But I finally got it.

With anticipation, I jumped into the shower, then put on my pajamas, and climbed into bed to listen. Here I was, all snuggled up and happy. The sound of rain! - Pitter-patter and distant thunder! Then it started to rain a little harder! And out of nowhere came a voice!

"It's really coming down now."

It was the voice of an old man! Kind of gravely and low. Every minute or so he would make some stupid comment about the rain! He ruined the whole storm! It was like going to a movie and having the guy in front of you making comments the whole time. Ruined! The whole storm was ruined!

Oh . . . I miss the rains out in Flooooridaaaaa!

an evening out

Last night was an evening out with the girls. My friend had a big party - to celebrate life, friendships, our daughters, ourselves. It was wonderful!

I think everyone enjoyed themselves. Everyone was asked to bring their favourite music - so the music was fantastic! The food was amazing! Big time buffet - with EVERYTHING you could possibly imagine. The party was held in a wedding hall. So we had room to move around and feel free to dance and get crazy. The whole place was full of flowers too.

A special treat for every sense!

All kinds of flowers where on every available surface - a real treat! 

Sara watching the activity. 

Flowers were everywhere! 

Dancing! 

flowers and food 

My friend Cathy has become a grandmother! He's named Adam and he's so cute. Blond and blue eyed too!  

some of the flowers 

Mustafa bought 50 date palms - 6 different kinds. He is busy planting them.  

Sun setting in Ain Zarah, Libya 

taking a walk 

Mid Term Exams - Over at last!

The kids finished their mid-terms. The weather has been warm - too nice to stay inside and study. If the weather is nice tomorrow we'll go for a picnic somewhere. The kids deserve it - and so do I.

Children's and Maternity shop in Ben Ashur, Libya 

Children's/Mother's Day

Today is a combination of Children's Day and Mother's Day here in Libya. Mother's Day in the US comes later in the year and since I'm here in Libya we celebrate according to the system here.

My kids have been really excited this year about Children's Day. They all wanted something new to wear to school and we've been basically planning and shopping for about a week. I asked my friend Nadia to take the girls out shopping and they had fun having a girls evening out. I hate taking the girls out shopping, so Nadia was a big help. Thanks Nadia!!!

The next day I took Yusef out, and last night we took Ibrahim out to get something new. Ibrahim got a green sweatsuit with Buzz Lightyear on it. He looks so cute in it.

The kids suprised me with two gifts - one was a coffee mug and the other was a silk plant to put in the entry way.

As much as I complain about my kids - I really do love them.

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers reading this post!

Mid Term Exams

The kids have mid-term exams this week. As usual they are looking for any excuse to do anything but study. I am going to strangle them if they nag me about turning the TV on.

Ibrahim has a field trip tomorrow. The school is taking the kids to a movie theatre to watch cartoons. Now tell me - is that really necessary? The note he brought home said it would cost 5 dinars. He can watch cartoons 24 hours a day at home for free. But I'm sending him anyway - the peace and quiet I get when he is at school is definitely worth 5 dinars.

This is scarry! 

If it weren't so expensive I would . . .

go on a world cruise.

hire a contruction company to build my dream home and have it finished within six months.

take a weekly shopping trip to a different European city every week and buy what that city is most famous for.

hire a nanny and just have to deal with my kids when I choose to - let the nanny put up with the noise, sibling rivalry and nonsence!

have a heated, indoor swimming pool built for my dream home (see above) with a jacuzzi big enough to fit at least ten people.

get a satelite internet connection instead of this awful dial-up I'm stuck with now.

buy a different pair of glasses for every day of the week. (I only have 2 pair now)

hire a cook since I hate cooking so much.

Rock link

Lisa at anotherlisa had a really neat link on her site - The Rock Identification Key . It's a site to help novice rock collectors figure out what kinds of rocks they have found. It's really interesting to me because I am always looking at rocks, picking them up, and dragging them home. My friend's husband is a geologist and I often bring him my 'little treasures' to examine. I once found a prehistoric tool near our farm. I keep looking for more but I've never come across anymore.

Sometimes I take it out and sit and try to imagine who made that tool - What was their life like? How did it get near my farm? Questions that will never be answered but are interesting to think about. Sometimes my kids and I sit around and make up stories about that rock and the people who used it.

Thanks Lisa for posting that link!

Philipines - folk dancing 

Pakastani fashions. 

Yesterday I attended the OEA Tripoli Ladies Club Asian Food Festival. It was a lovely event with fashion shows from the different Asian countries and displays of dances and customs. This was a dance done by some Indonisian women. Very graceful! 

Wow! 1000 hits on the site meter!

I looked today at my blog and the site meter said 1000.

Wow! My blog has been looked at 1000 times since October.

That's really nice.

Almond Blossoms - Ain Zarah, Libya 

Tajoura, Libya 

Ibrahim has chicken pox! I suppose Jenna will get them next - the rest of us have already had them.