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!