You are currently browsing the archives for December, 2006.
I listen to music almost constantly…and I have been wanting to give people a glimpse of the soundtrack to my life. You know, the music that would accompany you if you were in a movie, walking briskly down the street.
There is a song by Calla called “It Dawned On Me” that I can listen to over and over. Watch the video, or listen to a clip at Amazon.com. Kind of moody and uplifting at the same time.
Another artist is Junetile, specifically the song “Dream Away”. You can stream the whole album here, but I definitely recommend “Dream Away”.
Band of Horses’ song “Funeral” is haunting and atmospheric. Watch the video here.
Snails in tidal pools, Akka, by the sea.
tipping over in streams flying down a million stairs
I want to create the illusion of vastness
in the little sideways pieces of buildings.
I want to see the little ways that your words
will take hold and stay in the places between
the rose-colored gradients in a night sky.
In the ways that the close proximity of absolutely nothing
can make me understand things never said. cracks in sidewalks can do wonderful things for perspective.Maybe the coffee had too much sugar,
or maybe I am just in a place I’ve been many times before
it takes so much more than it used to.
I realized when I looked up that the eyes watched me,
and I had my answer all along.The moment I stepped on the rocky shore
all of those prayers for detachment came true
veering across this delicate dance
there are secrets hidden under the roads
I knew before this place.Maybe someday I will tell you
what I thought last night.
There was this cough
that infected the BWC,
echoing down the mountain.
You may scoff,
but trust me on this,
the rockets were never this loud.
The lady afflicted by the curse
hid in corners and behind stairs
but the noise from her lungs
shook in the air.
Her friends Abi & John,
hit especially hard
cringed from the sound
of her plague-ridden bark.
In the end she became known
as the girl with the cough
if she doesn’t heal soon
they’ll have to make a Sholeh-clone.
——————————————The story behind this horrible poem is that I’ve been sick for over 2 weeks now, and unfortunately it appears to be going around because a number of people are sick. This cough I have seems to get really bad at the worst possible times: presentations, talks, prayers, etc. It laid me out pretty badly and I’ve felt pretty useless. I’m slowly getting better, but I’ve never had a cold linger this long!So we were joking around the other night, and I told some of my friends that I would write a poem for them about my cough. Have you ever tried to rhyme with “cough”? Ugh. This poem took a lot of hard sleuthing.
- I injured my hand a little bit doing a cartwheel last night. I haven’t done one since this summer (on the soccer field) and since I did it in a living room…well, I was nervous about hitting the TV or chairs, so I messed up my left hand. Which also happens to be my dominant hand. Ah well. I really wanted to do a cartwheel, and now it is out of my system. 
- It rained for the first time today since I’ve been here. The view outside my office is dark green with a tiny bit of gray sky. I feel like I’m in a jungle.
- On Christmas Eve I heard a loud boom, followed by more loud booms. I looked out the window, and down by Ben Gurion Avenue were fireworks going off. My first stray thought upon hearing the sounds was “Gunshots?”.
- I’m looking forward to running into pilgrims here and there…their shiny happy faces upon their arrival in the Holy Land makes me smile.
I’ve been here for over two weeks now, so I decided to make a list (in no real order). This stems partly out of a lunchtime conversation today.
1. The warm weather. Need I say more? I read about my friends back home struggling through 30 degree F weather…and I left the office at lunch and did not even need a sweater.
2. Olive trees. I think they’re gorgeous.
3. More avocados and oranges than I could ever possibly eat.
4. Inspiration to read Baha’i books. When you’re living in a place where so much Baha’i history occurred, you can’t help but read. So far I’ve read Door of Hope (David Ruhe) and am now working on God Passes By (Shoghi Effendi).
5. Cats. Ok so I’m not a huge fan of cats, and the cats here are feral and gross, BUT they are amusing. I don’t know why cats strike me as funny creatures, but they are.
6. The sunlight. I think that is one of the reasons I’m so happy, honestly.
7. Blackout shutters. These things kill light, and it makes me sleep through the night (which is pretty rare). YAY!
8. Food. I’ve only eaten out 4 times, but each time it was delicious.
9. Everyone knows what gluten intolerance is!!! This is a huge deal for me, because explaining it to waiters (not to mention friends!) is tiring and frustrating.
10. I live by the sea. I’ve been missing a real beach for years, and now I have one. yay!
Well, I’m not that short, nor do I have large, hairy feet. But I’ve developed a routine over the years regarding my eating habits that could be compared to Hobbits.
First breakfast- 6:30 amSecond breakfast- 10 am, at my deskLunch- noon, in the lunchroom
Snack- 3 pm, at my desk
Dinner- 6 pm
Second dinner- 9 pm
I know, I’m ridiculous. I really also have very little to say.
Check out this bee on a flower…I got chased by that bee soon afterward!
I had fun on Friday…we packed our lunches to eat at Bahji. Well, I made this potato and carrot dish, fried in olive oil and tumeric. Unfortunately, it spilled a bit in my purse, and my prayer book got some yellow spots on it. Yet another instance of food + Sholeh + purse = BAD NEWS. You’d think I would have learned my lesson by now.
Luckily, I don’t have a cell phone yet, so nothing electronic was damaged.
____________________________________Have you read the Constitution of the Universal House of Justice yet? It is very short, but gives a wonderful idea of how the Administrative Order of the Baha’i Faith functions and the responsibilities of the Institutions.
Read it.
____________________________________
A flower is a flower.
Paths at Bahji
I am learning my way around…very slowly. I’ve found that taking taxis does not help me learn the city streets, and taxis can get expensive anyways. I’m not in much of a rush most of the time.
I rode a couple of buses around the city today. Well, I wasn’t intending on taking a leisurely ride, but that is what ended up happening. So I learned some of the streets, a couple of bus lines, and although I am nowhere NEAR getting where I want to go most of the time, I am starting the process at least.
And off I go again…
I am in Haifa. It is wonderful. It has been so warm (compared to Chicago, I guess), nights are a little chillier.
Barely jetlagged (yay!), and I haven’t had time to really catch up on everything. My roommates are wonderful and have been really helpful.
Prayers, all the time. Surrounded by prayers. Everything is started with a prayer. It makes me so calm. I needed this.
These short, barely-sentences have been the way my mind has been working since I got here. I love this place, but I will need some time to get used to it all.
And now I leave you with this view, which I see every day. Do you see the Shrine of the Bab?
And now the heroine embarks on an epic journey. There were going to be dangers along the way…dragons, a couple of bad-tempered wizards, and maybe even a few evil spirits. One could never know with epic journeys. That is part of the fascination of the story.
See y’all on the other side.
I thought I was going to escape Chicago without getting hit by cold weather or snow, but I was wrong. We awoke Friday to a world buried under inches of snow.
Check out these before and after pictures from Flickr that I found of Naperville’s Riverwalk.
My plans for that day to drive into the city for The Dawning Place Open Mic and spend time with friends were completely trashed, since the highways were clearly unsafe. My mother and I ended up spending the day cooking together like we did when I was young.
Saturday night was wonderful. Thanks to everyone who made it out here to my going-away party, I really appreciate it. It was a blast and the perfect way to leave.
