a century of light

this morning i awoke with many, many thoughts on my mind. and after a restless night, i find myself needing to take several moments to simply catch my mind, settle it down, and focus. hopefully, writing this morning will provide that ease which i need. in tandem with a good friend of mine, i'm going to begin rereading Century of Light. i've read it twice before, but for some reason, it just didn't really stick. and so i'm really looking forward to what i'll find and realize. i find myself just learning and learning (which can be quite exhausting) as i reflect on what i need to do, what i've accomplished, and what i've handled incorrectly. but then again, as Baha'u'llah has stated, "this is not a Cause which may be made a plaything for your idle fancies...". it is a difficult, blessed process.

in terms of good news that's just come up, i've been officially invited to teach at the Baha'i school (which teaches the children of the Baha'i staff serving here). i've been asked to teach, along with another person, the age group of 4 to 5 year olds. very, VERY exciting. i'm really looking forward to it (if you have any advise, please pass it on). i haven't been able to really interact with children for a while now. unless you count my ruhi 3 class which i just finished - and even then, they were still just adults acting like children. i've still yet to do my practical bit for the class though...hopefully i'll get that done soon.

today is the 4th of july, independece day. last night, lucia and i celebrated it with a good ole american meal of macarooni and cheese and hotdogs. then we watched the movie "independence day"...and i lasted about 45 minutes, before i just got too comfortable and it got to the point where i just had to get home to my own bed. i just can't seem to stay up too late, and this leads me to another topic: nicknames. i've somehow aquired a couple which really stick out. my friend kat dubbed me "grandpa" for my said inability to simply stay awake; and at work, in dark corners, i'm referred to as "tweety". ruha, who i work with, named me this. i guess because of i sing and am blonde. although, when she is upset with me, she calls me "twitty", so this name works on a couple of levels i guess.

one more thing: BRIAN IS COMING SOON!

mi oficina

Ok, so i thought it would be neat to post some pictures of my office.

This one is me of course...and for some reason i look like a giant behind my desk.
This is Nabil. He's from DC. He knows Ghaneh, Melody, and Professor Bushrui really well.
And...this is just another snapshot of me desk.
So i'm back at work after being sick for a couple of days. this past saturday lucia and i went with some friends hiking at a place called yehudia. it was fantastic. we'd been before, but not for about a month. anyway, so since we went last, i had basically spent the majority of my days in solitude in my dark office (i haven't turned on my overhead lights for about two weeks - i have a window behind me) or at home, or taking night time strolls. i was very very excited to get outside and pit myself against nature. in short...nature won. touché, nature, touché! i suffered from momentary dehydration and heat stroke. i admit i wasn't prepared. so i spent the last two days sick at home. i'm back at work though, feeling a tad stuffy but good. and in the end, i'm glad to be busy once again.

mi familia bonita

during the last week in march, my eldest sister and brother in law came to visit. here are a couple of pictures taken from our day trip to Acre.

(Brian G, Roya, Lucia, me)

(Lucia, me, Roya, Amelia)