what i'll be trying to memorize...

"To live the life is: to be no cause of grief to anyone.
To be kind to all people and to love them with a pure spirit.
Should opposition or injury happen to us, to bear it, to be as kind as ever we can be, and through all, to love the people. Should calamity exist in the greatest degree, to rejoice, for these things are the gifts and favors of God.
To be silent concerning the faults of others, to pray for them; and to help them, through kindness, to correct their faults.
To look always at the good and not at the bad. If a man has ten good qualities and one bad, look at the ten and forget the one. If a man has ten bad qualities and one good, to look at the one and forget the ten.
Never to allow ourselves to speak one unkind word about another, even though that other be our enemy.
To do all our deeds in kindness.
To sever our hearts from the ourselves and from the world.
To be humble.
To be servants of each other, and to know that we are less than anyone else.
To be as one soul in many bodies; for the more we love each other, the nearer we shall be to God; but to know that our love, our unity, our obedience must not be by confession, but of reality.
To act with cautiousness and wisdom.
To be truthful.
To be hospitable.
To be reverent.
To be a cause of healing for every sick one, a comforter of every sorrowing one, a pleasant water for every thirsty one, a heavenly table for every hungry one, a star to every horizon, a light for every lamp, a herald to everyone who yearns for the Kingdom of God.

--Abdu'l-Baha

last night we had a lovely dinner with the family for roya, and then we went up to the mercaaz to roya's favorite cafe, greg's. we were joined by a bunch of her close friends. it was great, i know she had a wonderful time. i gave her a monkey for her birthday. :) hopefully pictures will come soon. ciao!

you're so dreamy....

ROYA ROYA
IT'S YOUR DAY
ROYA ROYA
MAKE SURE YOU PLAY

DREAMY DREAMY
IT'S IN YOUR NAME
DREAMY DREAMY
MAKE SURE YOU SPEND THIS DAY WELL, AND THINK ABOUT WHAT IT MEANS TO BE ALIVE. YOU ARE SUCH A LOVELY PERSON, A BEAUTIFUL PERSON, INSIGHTFUL, LOVING, PERCEPTIVE, CREATIVE....GAME?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY EH!

LOOOOOOOOVE YOU!!!!!!!

revisions, revisions

We must look upon our enemies with a sin-covering eye and act with justice when confronted with any injustice whatsoever, forgive all, consider the whole of humanity as our own family, the whole earth as our own country, be sympathetic with all suffering, nurse the sick, offer a shelter to the exiled, help the poor and those in need, dress all wounds and share the happiness of each one. Be compassionate, so that your actions will shine like unto the light streaming forth from the lamp

(Abdu'l-Baha, Divine Philosophy, p. 41)

i figured what i posted yesterday in this spot may have not been the wisest post...wasn't very coherent. so, instead, i'll leave you with a beauitful quote from Abdu'l-Baha and a photo of me and brian. cheers.

tacos tonight

it is taco night
lucia makes em' right
there'll probably be some meat
and maybe something sweet

advancement of women

it's not solely emancipation, nor is it solely empowerment. at the heart of everything is the need to instill the fear of God (and i'm not talking about hell-fire), i'm talking about the need to understand justice, Divine Justice...consequences. it says in the Writings that when the equality of women and men is fully realized, the entire foundations of war and conflict will be eliminated.

daily i am completely humbled by most women here. whether it is my sisters or cousin (or memories of my mother and sisters abroad), my good friends, or co-workers. most times, when this realization hits me, it is quite overwhelming...and this softness sort of envelopes my body - but instead of covering me, i feel sort of stripped of what i thought i knew. i don't know what it is. i thought i had learned so much living in such a family that was dominated by women; it is also perhaps that i was just too self-conscious to really see the realities of things, or i took my surroundings for granted and never gave this issue serious thought. perhaps i thought i was just intuitively engraved with this knowledge and certain abilities, given my upbringing.

i...was...mistaken.

most people, men and women, haven't given this concept enough thought I think. we say "oh, of course, we believe in equality! it's listed right up here with all our other goals - right up there with establishing a universal auxiliary language". men must humble themselves. power must be redefined. conventional ideals of place and station must be reevaluated. i think i've written about this before in an earlier blog. but as i said, i just keep shaking my head asking myself why i've thought these things, or why haven't i realized this before.

and so in the interest of continuing the discovery of self, as we peel away the layers we have so selfishly covered ourselves with over the years, here is a poem to reflect on.

Unveiling the Mask

I made a mask of wild forms,
With hair of green and lips of orange.
And holding it high up to the light,
I smiled inside with joyous delight.
For it was mine to show the world,
Its banner was now completely unfurled.
Being light of heart and lighter of step,
I had such a joy, so passionate
To show my mask to all I knew.
My pride inside, ever it grew,
As one by one dropped to the ground,
In shock they fell from what they found.
For in truth the mask I said I built,
Had been hiding inside, under my guilt.

one more thought...i love the music of Sade.

last thought...i love windmills. the old kind.

(Farida Santosa - "Windmills - Sunset")

offerings

i've been here 6 months now....6 months! can you believe it? i know i can't. i don't know where the time has gone, but i have this gut feeling that i have been doing well...that i haven't been squandering my time or not learning. in fact, i've never gone through such a rapid evaluation in terms of what i want to do when i'm done here. this is partly due to the fact that this Place just forces you to learn so much about yourself. unfortunately i can't tell you what it is :D. it'll remain with me for the time being, but we'll see if it'll be shared soon.

it's been a long day, and i'm somewhat tired...and therefore don't have the energy to make a lengthy post. instead, i'll share a poem:

paired offerings

i was cut in twain,
and my pensive mood disturbed.
was it by lightening, or by the hand
of a child? i will not lie,
having ceased to lie
and i accept the laws of the earth -
moon, sun, and lilac fields,
all things of consequence and might,
and i return to my mood again.

phone duty

every wednesday i have to monitor the phones. although this is a slightly undersireable task, for a number of reasons (e.g. it keeps me from eating up on the Arc and seeing everyone, and i have to stay by the phones), it does give me time to catch up on work or work ahead, or just take time out to sit and think/meditate. in fact, hold for 30 seconds please....

still with me? ok. on the news from last night, we had a party for lucia. if you want an excellent account with images, i'm happy to refer you to my friend khat's blog where she has documented the evening. a link to her site is just there to the right. yup, right there....up a couple...too far....yes! we've landed. so i won't spend too much time on it, but thank goodness we have roya here to cook us such excellent food! and thank goodness lucia just attracts all these wonderful people to spend a lovely evening together!

let's see, what else is going on... i feel like writing a short story...hmm
************************************************************************************

it's not often that he would come out to play like this. in fact, as far as he could remember, sean couldn't recall a single memory where dennis would simply show up and actually be happy to be around him. a sort of disgruntled condecension usually distilled any semblance of authenticity. why was he so happy to see me?, sean wondered. he knew he would not be able to let it go, but decided to do his best and carry on with the chess game. speed chess. the only way to play dennis had said once. sean was fine either way, he could take his time or simply throw caution to the wind as he knew he didn't have the skill to think that quick. he usually got lucky though. two summers ago they had taken the time to build a bench and playing board by simply nailing old pieces of lumber across tree stumps in the far right corner of the backyard. it was ideal place to play a game that required concentration and a sense of tranquility. there were also clothes hanging from the line that suspended between two pines which provided them with more seclusion. sean knew his heart was not in today's game, but felt compelled to keep playing as he saw the look on dennis's face. "why was he so happy? focus. pawn two paces up. ok, he's taken my bishop. oh good, he's left his knight out in the open, it's mine now. dang it, there goes my castle. ok, need to sacrifice a another pawn. hmm...he didn't take it. slide my knight....move my queen...bring in my castle. CHECKMATE....says....dennis. "what! how...how did you do that." "you weren't concentrating", said dennis with that grin he get's when he knows he's soundly won. "i guess i got lucky, that's all".

sean leaned back against the tree, swatted away a couple of flies, but nothing was coming to him as to how dennis had won. "i thought i was so close". "naw, it was a good try though". "why was he not gloating" thought sean"usually by now he was doing some sort of dance". "sean!". his mom was calling from the back door. sean peered between the red-stripped dress and his brothers undershirts to look towards the back door and saw that his mom didn't know where he was....he decided not to answer. "sean!", she called again. "you'd better go see what she wants", said dennis. "what's with you?" sean asked. "what do you mean?" "well, for starters....errr...you're smiling." "oh, umm...i...sort of found something yesterday." sean paused waiting for the rest to come out but soon realized that dennis was not just going to offer any information. "and! well, what was it!" "i'd have to show you, don't want to say it too loud. but go see your mom first, don't make her wait". highly skeptical, sean stepped out between the boxers and socks, under the line, past the pines, through the tall grass and on to the back porch. "yeah ma, what do you need". "two things. first there is a message from your brother". sean's brother had been out of the country for a while now. it hadn't been the same since he's left, and sean found himself revisiting things that reminded him of when they were together. it had already been 2 years since he'd been gone. "the time has gone by so fast, hasn't it" asked his mom.

"what was the message?", sean asked. and with that his mother quickly snatched him up and hugged him like only mothers can. "mom, put me down...sheesh" but he couldn't hide the smile. "what was the other thing?" "oh, i was just wondering what you were doing out there? it's getting late" "oh, uh, nothing really...just resting i guess". "anyway" his mom said "you know dennis is coming back for a quick visit in early october. he'll be here for your birthday." "oh, ok, sounds good". sean turned to go back to his room. he couldn't stop smiling. why was he so happy? he knew he'd be thinking about it all night. "i'm going to bed i guess" he yelled back as he closed his door. he knew the sooner he slept, the quicker the next few days would come.
************************************************************************************

ok, good, glad i got that out of my system. here's a photo of one of the nights brian was with us at Bahji. ciao!

this picture was taken by our dear friend sholeh (http://sholeh.calmstorm.net/blog/)

(me, khat, nadim, roya, brian)

lucia bobia banana fanna fo fia, me my mo mia, LUCIA

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand, today is lucia's birthday! what a wonderful day eh? i went to tuesday morning prayers this morning, and just as i was stepping out of my taxi at gollomb gate, which auburn haired beauty do you think was walking up at the exact same time? yes, you are correct sir - it was the fair lucita rosita. special things are happening tonight. you'll hear about them soon. :D

let's take a moment to look at how beautiful she is:

The Blessed Beauty often remarked: 'There are four qualities which I love to see manifested in people: first, enthusiasm and courage; second, a face wreathed in smiles and a radiant countenance; third, that they see all things with their own eyes and not through the eyes of others; fourth, the ability to carry a task, once begun, through to its end.'

("Stories of Baha'u'llah", compliled by Ali-Akbar Furutan, p. 51)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LUCIA!

impressions, impressionism, impressionisto

brian left last night....

let's take a few moments to let that sink in. i now have my room back, but now that it's clean, i miss the tornado effect that brian has whenever he moves into a room. the receipt of a quick email has told us he is in amsterdamn. hopefully he is doing well there.

but, yes, i woke up this morning with a strong stomach ache, and waves upon waves of pain sort of shot through my abdomen as i drifted in and out of sleep. i went in to work late, needless to say, around 11ish. i think i'll leave early. i've never been this sick in such a concentrated period of time. quite strange.

lucia's game night is tonight. she told me she is making gumbo. yummy. hopefully i'll be both awake and well to eat. i really hope so.

all in all, this is not the best morning. but it'll get better. i think i'll just finish up what i'm doing here, then head home. before i left this morning, i rearranged and cleaned my room. it feels more spacinous now. i need my bed. over and out. i feel right now like i'm caught in some impressionist painting - things are blurred.

actually, i'll leave you with a poem i wrote once that sort of gives you an idea where my head is right now.

a sunrise of green shadows

when we first set out,
a bush jumped out into the sky,
flew onto an airplane and said,
"well hello there, if i were a kangaroo,
i would be a labrador"

and what if i put on this yellow
suit of a man that once thought that
his hat could be built of rain
puddles and little puppies that like
to dance in pools of fleece and spindle.

at this time the stuffed giraffe began
to speak to him with those sad eyes
of an undernourished little koala child
that drapes itself in curtains of flower
patterns and eats stalks of halibut.

but it's the labrador that gets us
every time, and we let it chew on
the slippers that had taken its place
as the comfort in our lives - but let’s
ask it one more time to transform

into something that we can see.
that we can point at to say "see
this is something that i can hold on
to, this is something that if i tell it to
jump into a plane, it will leap to

a train instead”, as our better eye
had seen from the first, but we
had tricked ourselves into thinking
that we knew better - defy us then,
and plant a shrub if you must.

("Sunrise (green)" by Monet)

2.2 days

Friday

slept in a bit...got in to work about 8:30.

had a small victory at work today. it's a bit difficult to explain, but let me just say this. i own my computer...like, i OWN my computer.

the other kids are going to a beach today to hang out and play. i'm not going to be able to, i have ruhi 5 from 2-8 today. intense, i know....but we do what we have to. i'll join them later tonight for games and stuff.

here are some photos for your enjoyment. unfortunately, i don't have time for any long explanations. :D

(this was taken at the dinner for khat's parents. mel was there, but had to leave early. the eghdamians are the trio in the middle starting with khanoom in the middle row, three people from the left, then comes mr. eghdamian, and khat)

(the wedding singers: me, zoha, kathi, and nathan)

(my best friend khat and i - this picture was taken at the wedding for Enas and Eli)



(the quintessential kiwi ezra and i - also taken at the wedding)

Saturday

the initial plan for this day was that we would head out early in the morning to go to Acre because brian hadn't been yet. unfortunately, i had completely forgotten about a meeting that i had that morning that i had asked be postponed a number of times since brian had been there - and so i felt like i couldn't ask them to delay it again. so brian slept in and rested, and i went off to my meeting. because we would be going later in the day, we couldn't be joined by the girls who had to go to a bridal shower that afternoon for gigi.

and so once i got back from my meeting, brian and i went down to ezra's place to use the internet and laugh, and we waited until khat was going to get done with a class that morning before asking her if she wanted to come along with us....aaaand, she did. so around 2ish i think, we set out for a hot day at akko. because i had only been there a couple of times i didn't exactly know where to get off, so i guessed. i missed our stop off, and so we had to walk a bit to get to the prison city. it was really nice though, walking along the shore. we stopped to eat at a restaurant for a bit, and then went into the city. we took a bunch of pictures, and hopefully i'll be able to get them from brian soon to post.

after that we went to Bahji around 5:30 where we were going to be met by amelia and roya (lucia had some how fallen ill and wasn't going to be able to come). Bahji was as beautiful as ever, and i will always have wonderful memories of that Place. all in all, we did a fair amount of walking that day. khat's legs were sore, my feet hurt from wearing brian's sandals all day, and brian was just pink. so we got back to haifa around 9ish i think and went to 14 sheks to get some food and then went home and crashed.

my feet still are sore, and brian blended in with the pink sheets quite nicely when i checked on him this morning. he'll join me later in the day here at the office. he leaves tonight (big frown). i do wish he could have stayed like a month. maybe next summer eh? let's think about it.

Today

got into work early...waiting for people to show up...and beginning to draw out my schedule of tasks for the day. it's a beautiful morning. ciao!

Leaky

i had thought i might blog about those other two subjects that i lined out in yesterday's entry, but i decided it would be best to focus on brian for the time he is here. so where did i leave off? ok, so, brian has been helping me in my office with a project. he's been doing great, and it has helped us out tremendously.

well...since it has been a couple of days since i've been able to write, i'll just jump to the highlights. on monday night there was a small dinner party at my best friend khat's flat to meet, greet, mingle, and eat with her parents who were visiting for three days. they are truly beautiful people, and it made me a bit homesick. i had seen photos of them beforehand, but meeting them in person really made me feel....well, all warm inside. i had a good long talk with her mother for a bit - we talked about everything from our families, to movies we liked (she loves lawrence of arabia!), and then also to the need of identifying with the history of the Faith. it was a great talk. here is a picture of the evening. amelia was also there, but had to leave early.


last night, after work, amelia, brian, and l went to Bahji. we stopped to grab something to eat beforehand, and while engaged in conversation completely forgot the time. by the time we checked it was 7:30 and Bahji closed at 8:30. but we decided to rush out there anyway, and we made it for half an hour of praying at the Shrine. the nights at Bahji are simply beautiful. we caught a sherut back, and brian and i went back home. we stayed up for a bit eating a pizza, talking, and watching seinfeld. i think i fell asleep while we were laying there, cause i don't remember brian leaving or cleaning up (and no, navid, we weren't laying together...hijo le).


this morning i woke up a bit late. i guess i was really tired. quickly got dressed, took a moment to breathe and think about what i had to look forward today. i had a very important meeting up on the arc today. i love these opportunities where i either schedule a meeting or take time out to go up on the arc. i'm never up there much, and so i really cherish those moments when i am. they mean quite a bit to me. it's not just the beauty of the gardens up there, although it does my soul so much good to be up there with the grass and flowers....but i get to see all my friends and family that i don't get to see that often while i'm down in my office.


brian won't be coming into the office today. he basically finished what we needed him to, and so he's going to try spend the majority of his time in the Shrine or on the terraces. not sure exactly what is happening tonight. most likely something fabulous...and yes, navid, i'm using the word fabulous....(mariposa).


addendum - the internet is being lame today. it's not really letting me upload the picture from khat's party. SO, you'll just have to wait. :D ciao!

Winky

Brian is here! Ok, so he arrived on....er...not sure when exactly, maybe Thursday. I think Thursday. He got in all by himself, we were so proud of him. That night I think we just met up and hung out at Roya's place. Friday, Amelia, Brian, Roya and I went to the beach. This was my first time to the beach, and Brian and Roya had fun jumping around in the water - the "too cool for school" gang (me and mel) hung out and increased the capacity of our minds (i.e. read) while trying to get not so white. Lucia had to work that day, and so wasn't able to join us. That night is when I had the wedding for enas and eli, and so in the afternoon I left them to go home to get ready. I'm not really sure what they did for the rest of the night - maybe had dinner, watched a movie, who knows - I was having tons of fun at the wedding and reception. Around 11ish I think Brian joined me up at the hotel in the mercaaz where the reception was being held. We hung out and talked with friends waiting for our ride to come back to take us home. It's really great having him here :).


The next day, which would be Saturday, Brian slept in till about noon. He just wouldn't wake up, but I guess he needed the sleep. I, of course, just paced around the house waiting for him to wake so we could talk, play a game, or make a video. When he finally did wake up, we realized that we needed both to do lots and lots of laundry. So then we went over to the ITC and spent much of the time, except for about 30 minutes when we visited Lucia, doing laundry. After taking our laundry home, it was almost time for the evening's event: a Black Men's Gathering devotional. There was so much singing, I loved it. It reminded me so much of home - and I'm pretty sure Brian enjoyed it to. After that, Brian, Khatereh, and myself went up to my favorite bench by my apartment that overlooks the north of the city. We passed the time talking until about 11ish when Khat started to get really tired and needed to go home. The next day, because we hadn't yet signed Brian up to volunteer in an office, he was going to spend the day wandering around the city and visiting the Monument Gardens. He slept in again, and then went up to the mercaaz about lunch time to grab a swarma. Now comes the funny part. Around 2ish, I get a call from Brian (who had Lucia's cell phone). He is a transcript of the conversation:

Geoffrey: Hey, what's up?
Brian: Not much.
Geoffrey: So what've you been doing?
Brian: Well, I was up in the mercaaz walking around and getting a swarma. Their malls are so tiny here! Then I was going to come down, so I got on to a bus.
Geoffrey: Well, where are you now?
Brian: Yeeeeeeah, I don't know. I'm next to a soccer stadium and some really weird building.
Geoffrey: [laughs] How did you end up there? What bus did you take?
Brian: Well, Amelia said to take the 22.
Geoffrey: Did you take the 22?
Brian: Um...I took the 022.
Geoffrey: Yeeeah, that's not the same thing. [laughs] Do you know where to go?
Brian: Roughly, yeah, I'll just keep walking.


So, Brian had ended fairly far south of the terraces, close to the edge of the city. He said later that when he realized that he was about to leave the city he got off. Also, he didn't know you had to push that little button that asks the bus to stop, so he just kept riding on. :D Silly Brian. Later, we all met Brian at the Pilgrim House. He was exhausted from having walked all day. We went to pray at the Shrine, and then we headed up to the mercaaz to a Thai restaurant to have a dinner with our friends Lauren, Nadim, Rafaan, and Sina. Lovely evening. We then walked down the terraces, grabbed our food which was in the fridge in the ITC then went home.


This brings us to today. Brian was supposed to join me today at around 9....and it is 9 now. :) I think he's sleeping in again. But he'll join me before lunch so that we can all go to eat in the cafeteria. Unfortunately I don't have ANY pictures of these past few days. They are all with Brian. And so I will, however, leave you with some other cool pictures which make me happy.


The cliffs of Ireland:

upcomings

in the interest of becoming more systematic in my blogging, i will now provide preliminary outlines of my upcoming entries:


1) brian is here! this kid is awesome, and just keeps getting awesomer by the hour. i think he is still sleeping right now though, so that hasn't changed, BUT he has in so many other ways - in the good sense of course. i'll let you all know what we've been up to.


2) Bahji night - i have some photos of the evening which i will post soon. it was so much fun and exactly what i needed to reconnect with the Holy Land after being away for a week. it was a beautiful night with beautiful company.


3) weddings. the most recent one of my friends enas and eli took place a couple of days ago. i'll post pictures and stories soon. but also another one is coming up in early september - little gigi and my flate mate mariposa. i'll explain in due course :) .


quote of the week:

...it should be noted that in most areas of human behaviour there are acts which are clearly contrary to the law of God and others which are clearly approved or permissible; between these there is often a grey area where it is not immediately apparent what should be done. It has been a human tendency to wish to eliminate these grey areas so that every aspect of life is clearly prescribed. A result of this tendency has been the tremendous accretion of interpretation and subsidiary legislation which has smothered the spirit of certain of the older religions. In the Baha'i Faith moderation, which is so strongly upheld by Baha'u'llah, is applied here also. Provision is made for supplementary legislation by the Universal House of Justice -- legislation which it can itself abrogate and amend as conditions change. There is also a clear pattern already established in the Sacred Scriptures, in the interpretations made by `Abdu'l-Baha and Shoghi Effendi, and in the decisions so far made by the Universal House of Justice, whereby an area of the application of the laws is intentionally left to the conscience of each individual believer. This is the age in which mankind must attain maturity, and one aspect of this is the assumption by individuals of the responsibility for deciding, with the assistance of consultation, their own course of action in areas which are left open by the law of God.

(From a letter dated 5 June 1988 on behalf of the Universal House of Justice)

they say a cluttered desk means a cluttered mind. well, i say, an empty desk means....an...empty mind?

I’m sorry I’ve been away for so long. This is only my second day back from the Czech republic; a reality that is very hard to realize considering what has happened since I’ve come back. It has been very eventful, all of which isgood (extremely excellent at some points), so don’t worry – I’ve been busy, but in the wonderful way.

On the 2^nd of August I left my flat in the early morning to catch a train with Amelia at around 3am. I got to the airport with some time to spare, for my flight was a little delayed - it was now set to leave around 8ish, as opposed to 7. My flight over was uneventful. I was crammed into a seat and promptly went to sleep…waking up several times to find trails of saliva sneaking down my chin. I was much too tired to care if others saw me, and so I wiped it off and carried on with my sleeping. I got in to Prague to find it as beautiful as ever. Blue skies and a cool temperature greeted me as I walked out of the airport to go catch the bus. I stepped up to the platform with the bus just pulling up. I stood there momentarily weighing the balance of the world in my mind. I was exhausted, had a heavy suitcase (made heavier by how tired I was), and just wanted to get to Townshend. I had first thought that I would take the bus, metro, train, then taxi to the school. Now, that all seemed completely unnecessary. So with the bus filling up with people, I promptly turned around and grabbed the first taxi I saw. It was a nice smooth ride, and I quickly went to sleep again.

The weekend was fantastic. Everything was green and Hluboka was as quaint as ever. It even rained one of the days I was there. I hadn’t seen rain in months. My talks went well, and I got to spend so much time with Elham and Professor, Brian too of course. It was a very nice break, though not completely restful. They kept me quite busy. I did get a bit of food poisoning one day, and consequently my talk was pushed back a day - but I think I needed the rest too. I hadn’t spent the day in bed in such a long time. It was nice to walk around the school and relive memories because it was a totally different experience being back there and not being a “student” – though, of course, I continually learn from Professor. They also had another guest speaker there who was simply brilliant. To try to talk about him would take much too long. I’ll devote a post soon to what I learned from him. But being back there, I had a feeling that it was a bit like closing that chapter of my life. Not that I’m not continually going to be involved in someway of the development of the Programme – but this trip served as a sealant in my mind that it had to change. Unfortunately, I don’t have any pictures. I’ll try to get some from Brian soon.

The plane ride back was extremely uncomfortable. I did my best again squashed between people, most of whom unfortunately did not emit the most pleasant of odors. I had fun looking at the Pablo Neruda look-a-like sitting in front of me. At times I drifted into reciting some of his poetry; "sucede que me canso de ser hombre" which was very appropriate given how uncomfortable I was. I did try to sleep, but a noisome environment is not the most conducive to such an activity. I arrived back in Haifa from the train and went home. I planned to make it in to work – I didn’t actually make it in until around 2. I had to wear my glasses all day, and I’m still wearing them. My eyes are so tired. Later that evening I was offered a ride in a car to Bahji. I hadn’t been in a couple of weeks, and felt I needed it. Gosh, I think I slept on that ride too. Bahji was beautiful as ever, and the night was so pleasant. Later we all went to this Arab restaurant, and we were stared at for about an hour…well, I was at least – the only “white” boy in the place. Then we went back to Haifa and I just sort of laid around with some friends just talking or in silence, enjoying each others company.

Yesterday was difficult to function though. I somehow made it through to meet up with Lucia and Amelia later on to attend a brilliant talk by Steven Phelps on “the new atheists”. Extremely engaging talk given by a truly humble and knowledgeable man. I’ll post my thoughts on it soon as well. And then I slept quite soundly that night.

So I’m back at work now, slowly chipping away at the pile of work that accumulated in my absence, but again, I’m happy to be busy. Today is a good day, and I think it’ll only get better. I love my family here (Brian will be here soon), I have wonderful friends, and I feel productive and useful. I just have to get over the smell of this place, and I’ll be perfect.

Quote of the week:

“The All-Knowing Physician hath His finger on the pulse of mankind. He perceiveth the disease, and prescribeth, in His unerring wisdom, the remedy. Every age hath its own problem, and every soul its particular aspiration. The remedy the world needeth in its present-day afflictions can never be the same as that which a subsequent age may require. Be anxiously concerned with the needs of the age in which ye live in, and centre your deliberations on its exigencies and requirements.”

Some cool pictures: