vacation

so nadim y and i (pictured below) will be taking our dream vacation fairly soon. for those of you who don't know, this is what we plan on doing.

destination: africa
more specifically: east coast
and finally: eritrea

here's how we are planning on going.

take 10 april off, and leave that thursday morning, early...probably around 4 or 5. catch a train and then sherut down to eilat. at this point, we'll have to travel a bit on foot, because not many ships leave from israel down through the red sea - ones at least that would be willing to rish taking on passengers. so we'll have to walk to arrow of Sinai to meet up with amir (christian arab)

there at the coast of the red sea, we'll find our cargo ship that we've contact (we arranged everything with a captain amir) and find our place. we'll have to hang around a bit that day. for them to get ready to leave. we had to get there that early so that no one would see us board.

around 11 probably we'll ship out, and sail down the red sea. now, normally amir's boat doesn't port on the west coast of africa, but we gave a few more shekelims (and nadim promised a reenactment of Les Mis).

we imagine that we'll get to port, first in eritirea, around 6 or 7 that night - remember this is a whirl wind vacation, just over the weekend, we have to make it all count.

we plan on spending most of our time in the aseb province. we've made contact with a local bike rental place, and so will be peddling our way around much of the coast.

so that's the beginning. the middle will be pure spontaneity!

we have to meet back again with amir to take us back up to eilat on the night of the 12th, which means that we'll probably get back in to haifa early on the 13th...with just enough time to shower and get ready for work.

it's going to be amazing. wish us luck!

assorted

as i mentioned in a previous post, it was Khat's birthday recently. here are some photos taken from the evening.

(the birfday girl)


(me and ezra...sharing a moment at khat's dinner party at rene's)

(nathan and i - i'm looking upset i think cause no one was listening to me about water policy)


(me, nathan, sina, khat and shireen - at arc cafe for some birthday coffee)

this past saturday was also full. first a brunch at roya's place, complete with eggs, bacon, bisquits (scones in the commonwealth), juice, coffee, shakes, quiche (which we never got around to eating), fruit salad and much much more! i don't think we have any photos yet, but hopefully we'll get some soon. Also recently was our Naw Ruz celebration. Here is a picture of roya and i (thanks sholeh). after the program, leila, nadim, khat, lucia and i went over to leila's place and had deeeeelicious cheeseburgers. probably some of the best burgers i think i've had here in israel, and that's saying alot - no, navid, i'm not fat, but here's a formula to help you understand.

burger + geoffrey = happy chappy

ah, you might be confused by this new turn-a-phrase! needless to say, let's thank all our lovely friends of the commonwealth for this one. they ALL say it, it's ridiculous really.


also, here's a throw-back to when i took that road trip with dear friends hera, ezra, anj and khat. we're awesome...we know.

Flight of a Flacon

check out Baha'i Perspectives

thanks to the prodding and pushing from Nadim, i've made my first entry.

little one

i also wanted to post this picture. it is of me and little Carmel, one of the students in my preschool class. we took a field trip to Mazra'ih this past Saturday, and she clung to me the entire day...it was so wonderful.

on the car ride back, she turned to her mom and said "mommy, when are we going to invite Geoffrey over?"

imagine me now with a HUMONGOUS smile



here's another one taken by Jonathan. i had spent the night at their place saturday night (he lives with ezra). it was sort of impromptu, and so i didn't have any clothes for work the next day. i ended up wearing jonathans tie and shoes and ezra's shirt, pants and socks :D. this one was taken Sunday morning as we were getting ready to leave their flat.



classic dorian

i think i'm not in kansas...at all actually

ok, so, first things first. check out the new design. there's no way you can't say that it isn't awesome! i love the color and the way it all plays together...it makes me happy to look at it (take a quick bow). so things have been pritty crazy around here since the last time we spoke. days full of girls nights, guys nights, sleep overs, birthdays (well, just Khat's actually) and family dinners and devotionals; playing guitar, writing little vignettes based on the life of Wolfgang Small (yes, he is fictional), exercising (not really), work, lots of work, and bicycle obtaining; i have also been the star of my own reality real life show, a divine comedy called, Spending Too Much Time At Home On Couch Can Lead To Brain Damage; there have been staff visits, wonderful wonderful staff visits, and most importantly.....FASTING. today is the last day, and i decided here, laying in my bed, that to put up a post, and to get back in the swing on things, would be a very nice and proper thing to do on the advent of the new year. Bahar was also here for a couple of days, and hopefully we'll be getting some photos soon.

terribly sorry for the inadequate description above of what i've been doing, but to be honest, it's all i remember at this point. and my negligence has dug me into a hole where time, but not space, quietly and methodically taps on the back of my shoulder with one hand and with the other shoves me forward. before i forget, here is a picture from our girls night...i can't even remember when. it was taken by good friend Jonathan (not pictured: Jonathan, cause he's taking it, and Roya, who at this point in the evenings merriment was slowly drifting to sleep holding a stuffed polar bear stage right of us.

(l to r: luis, khat, anjali, ezra, me)

it's a wonderful picture huh!

i've also been reading Muhammad and the Course of Islam. amazing book. it has changed my life...or at least certain perspectives. i can remember seeing it on our books shelves at home. i always thought about picking it up and delving into it, but it always seemed so daunting. needless to say, well, it is. BUT it is an incredible achievment of historical literature. balyuzi does a masterful job.