Surviving Eid

The first day of Eid is over and I survived it!

Bringing along a deck of Uno cards was a very good idea. It kept the older kids busy. I also brought my laptop along and filled all the boys mp3 players with music, so they were happy. And the smaller kids played with some pre-school/toddler games I put on the laptop just for the occasion. Even though the kids were busy, they were still noisy! A few of them had noisy toy guns and imitation mobile phones.

I spent most of the day sitting with my sister in laws and other female family members. Aside from interrogating each other about where they bought their Eid clothes and how much they paid for them, they talked about all kinds of really stupid and boring interesting things.

One topic kept them going nearly all day: They all compared who had stayed up the latest the night before. 'I didn't fall asleep until 7am!' one of them said. '7am! Oh I didn't sleep until 8am and then I got up one hour later.' said another. 'That's nothing. I didn't sleep at all!' the next one said. They all knew exactly what time they had gone to bed and the very instant they woke up and they repeated the details every time someone new came. 'Khadija what time did you stay up until last night?' they asked me. 'Umm... I'm sorry... I didn't know there was going to be a musabaka (competition) about it so I didn't look at the clock.' I replied every time I was asked.

Can you believe that it is possible to have an hour-long, in-depth discussion of various hair removal methods? I'm always so thrilled to spend hours discussing such interesting topics. I can't wait until tomorrow! I'll have to make a mental note to look at the clock the very second I fall asleep tonight!

Eid Wishes

Tomorrow is Eid. We're ready for it. The clothes and shoes have been bought and are waiting to be worn. All that's left is a stop at the pharmacy to pick up Tylenol Extra Strength to help me cope with the headache I am sure to get from all the noise the kids will make. Maybe I should see about getting something stronger...

I've got my iPod loaded with books to read. This will give me something to do besides staring at my sister in laws all day long. I bought some Uno cards to keep the girls busy. The little kids will have balloons, and guns to play with and toys that make noise... lots of noise! If I survive the holiday I will tell you all about it.

Eid Mubarak!

Finally getting around to this

I haven't added any links to my sidebar in a while. They've been accumulating in my 'to add' file in my Bloglines account.

So here are some more links to add to my collection. And here is the disclaimer that goes along with them:

"Please remember that even though I am adding these links their writers may not hold the same views I do. Also there are some blogs that are written in Arabic or other languages besides English. Although I can speak Libyan Arabic (my grammar is awful, but comical) I can neither read nor write Arabic, or any other language."

A New Life - a Libyan doctor in Ireland

Afnan and Aya - two Libyan students in the UK

Alone in Tripoli - a Libyan from Benghazi who is living in Tripoli

Being Me - a Benghazi citizen

butterfly - a Libyan/Arabic blog

CNN Libya - Khaled Jorni's news stories about Libya, and sometimes beyond.

Dusk till Dawn - a Libyan in Yorkshire

Epiphanies - An English Lit. student in Libya

Growl of the Sea - an Arabic/English blog by a Libyan software developer

Haya says...bla bla bla - an Arabic blog by a Libyan phlebotomist

James of Jamahiriya - one of Mani's friends

Libyan Bloggregator - an aggregator of Libyan blogs

Libyan Mind UK Life - A Libyan born and raised in the UK

The Lockerbie Case - Commentary and news about the case by Professor Emeritus Robert Black, a Professor of Scots Law in the University of Edinburgh.

Mr.Madi - a Libyan with a camera

Maya's spot - the life of a Libyan girl

My Personal Space - - PH.. who also has an Arabic blog: anarabtest

My random rantings... - A Pakistani girl who spent much of her life in Libya

naohama - a writer/poet/translator from Benghazi

Romana's words - Libyan female blogger

Tripoli Sweet Home - - another blog from Hibo

An update about Libyan lighthouses

Russ Rowlett's directory of lighthouses has had an update of the 'Lighthouses of Libya' page. He's added information about the ancient Roman ruins of a lighthouse in Leptis Magna.

Not much is known about Libyan lighthouses. Can anyone fill in the missing information?

Keeping busy

One of my main headaches during Ramadan has been keeping Ibrahim busy. Ramadan is difficult enough without having to chase a certified hyperactive kid around all day. Even on his meds he can be a handful sometimes. I've got too much to do to be wasting time so many times I bring him into the kitchen with me. I give him jobs to do, trying best not to give him ones that end in disaster.

He likes the whisk... Stir boy, stir! But not soooo fast... it will go over the sides of the pan!

He's a master at cheese grating. He was doing so good at this - He finished grating the cheese until he finished it all. Then I had to run and grab the dish because he was attempting to smash it all back together again!

Under a dark cloud

A friend sent me the link to this article written by an American woman about her Libyan husband and Ramadan:

http://www.thesunmagazine.org/issues/382/my_accidental_jihad

Unfortunately, I read it first thing in the morning and it kind of hung over me like a dark cloud for the entire day...

Read it... what impressions do you get from it?

Making decisions

I found an interesting questionnaire on Learndirect. What sort of decision maker are you?

After answering the questions this is what it said about me:

You seem like an organised self-starter and confident decision-maker. Not only can you plan meticulously, you are also an ideas person and a problem solver. You have the adaptability to work on many tasks at once. You’re resourceful and like to gather lots of information and seek advice before making informed decisions. You’re self-aware and are sure of your strengths and weaknesses. You’re not afraid to try new things or take risks, and you learn from your mistakes.

You seem to have a strong sense of identity and a good appreciation of your feelings and those of others. You understand how different feelings and moods can affect you and others, and you can describe these effects. Your self-awareness enables you to reflect on your feelings and moods and you can learn from previous experiences, which enables you to deal with future challenging situations.

You’re sociable and seek out new friends and contacts using your networking skills. You’re a good judge of character, and value other people’s knowledge, experience and advice when making decisions. You’re aware of different social groups and know which one reflects your values most closely. Your wide range of personal interests and good social skills open up a broad range of opportunities for you. You’ve got the courage of your convictions and you’re not afraid to follow a completely different path from those around you.

This was really interesting! At the end you can download an entire report. I'm thinking about having my students do this. I would print out the questions first and we'd go over them in class. Then for homework they could write up what they thought their profile would be. Finally they could do the test online and see whether their predictions about themselves were the same or not. Lot's of good vocabulary!

Find out about yourself here: What sort of decision maker are you?