Getting back to a regular routine

On the third day of Eid we went for a picnic in the mountains. After we ate lunch the kids all clamoured up the mountain and I followed them until the base but didn't go up with them. Instead Ibrahim and I poked around the small wadis that are in the area and looked at the plants and wildlife.

Ibrahim turned over a large rock and found a huge brown spider underneath. It looked almost like a tarantula but a little smaller and not as hairy. We let him be and continued on. I found a few prehistoric hand tools to add to my collection. A small grinding stone and a rather sharp looking blade. It's amazing what you find if you only open your eyes and look.

The kids started back to school yesterday but I still have the rest of the week off. Next week the kids have exams and I will turn back into my role of mean mommy, enforcer of rules and the guard of the TV. Uuggh! I hate that part of my job!

Setting myself up for a guilt trip

It's a new year, so does that mean it's time to make a fresh start? New Year resolutions? Should I make one, some, a few? Will they only be broken and then lead to feelings of guilt?



I've thought about it, seriously, I have. If I was going to make any resolutions it would have to be a list - one is certainly never enough. The list would look something like this:

• 1. Stick to a diet.
• 2. Exercise more.
• 3. Be patient with my children.
• 4. Be more assertive with my husband (threaten to leave if the house is not finished soon).
• 5. Spend more time with my friends.
• 6. Spend more time in worship (sigh... this one should probably be up at the top).
• 7. Spend less time messing about on the computer.
• 8. Drink less coffee.
• 9. Stop spending money on frivolous, unnecessary junk.
• 10. Spend more time in the kitchen preparing wonderful meals instead of the usual crappy Libyan food that I make because I am lazy. ...sigh... sorry to say it but Libyan food is for lazy people with no imaginations...sigh..
• 11. Take less stabs at my poor in-laws, and Libyans in general (aw, but it's so useful to get it off my chest sometimes).
  
  
• 12. Read more. It seems since I read online I seldom take the time to read off line, just for pleasure.
  
  

These are just a few, off the top of my head. But I'm not going to subject myself to New Year's resolutions... it would just lead to a huge guilt trip and I know that I could do without that. So I'll just try my best to be my best this year and leave it at that.



Happy New Year to you all.

Answered!

There's been an answer to Where is this? - #15

Have a look - I've added more pictures.

Last Day of 2006

Best wishes to all for a peaceful New Year!

Happy Eid

Eid Day started as usual with Eid prayers at the mosque, afterwards we set off for my mother-in-law's house to slaughter our sheep with the family. It probably seems appalling to those living in non-Muslim countries to think that kids would all gather round to watch an animal being slaughtered, but kids in Muslim countries are used to the idea of the annual sacrifice and look forward to the excitement.


Our sheep was ready.... or was he? No apparently he wasn't going to give up with out a fight. He managed to get loose and try to make a run for it. Big excitement as all the boys ran around chasing after it, while the girls all squealed and ran out of the way!

They managed to catch the poor thing, and in no time at all he'd breathed his last (Allahu Akbar!).
Everyone had a job to do - most important was my mother-in-law who made sure everyone had enough hot milk, coffee and tea to help them get a start on the day. She also made sure that everyone was doing their job. She'd been up since the crack of dawn making sure all the knives, dishes and other equipment were ready and had even covered the entire garage floor with cardboard so the mess would be easier to clean up when we were finished.

Even Ibrahim lent a helping hand - he was the official leg holder.


The men continued to slaughter the sheep one by one....

....while the woman prepared the stuffing for tradition Libyan sausages, called usban. Chopped up liver, meat, bits of fat, parsley, onions, rice, tomato paste and spices are all mixed together and stuffed in the sheep's intestines, then it's all steamed until it's cooked. - I hate it, but everyone else loves it.
By the afternoon we were back home and I hung my salted meat out on the line to dry.


It was a long day, but a nice one. I wish you all - Happy Eid!

Your own personal tour-guide!

This evening I was reading The New York Times on my newly installed New York Times Reader and came across an article about tourists using narrated walking tours that were pre-recorded and downloaded onto their MP3 players and iPods. [Away From the Tour Group, an MP3 Player as Your Guide]

Wow! I thought, wouldn't that be perfect for taking tours around the old city, museum and places like Sabratha and Leptis? It could certainly be an improvement of the kind of tours that Jax and Scoutie took while visiting Libya recently: Santa doesn't go to Libya. Does anyone want to try their hand at creating a tour of the interesting places around Libya?

Some hints for you...

I've added some hints to the Where is this? - #15 challenge. See if you know the answer now.