Monday, January 15, 2007
It's a cruel, cruel world
I don't even know where to begin....
I woke up this morning to 70 degree weather, and opened my windows, crawled on the couch, and started reading a book, happy as a clam. About 30 minutes later a friend calls, to ask me if I've seen the news....
Evidently sometime around 10:30-11:00 pm last night at least 2 churches were set on fire, and about a half dozen were vandalized by robbery, all of them Baptist churches. The only news stories I can find now are here and here. I have never been so shocked and upset about my community as I have been today. Why would anyone do that? What has all these churches done to people to deserve this? Never in my wildest dreams did I think something like that would happen around here. Needless to say, my heart just wasn't into enjoying to beautiful day ahead of me.
Please everyone take a minute and send a prayer or a warm thought to those church families that lost a huge part of them, and to those of us rocked by the loss of security in our neighborhoods.
Friday, November 03, 2006
Some things starting to look up....
Well, one little bright spot in all this....
I got the job I have been working on since the middle of Sept.!! I found out just about a half hour ago, and I will officially start on Monday!!
Yay me!
Thursday, October 19, 2006
Why me?
Life sucks!
Just when I think things are going pretty damn good....
Something has to knock me down and make me cry....
Not ready to share, not sure if I ever will....
Not too sure if I'll be able to get through this....
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Throwing in the towel.....
Well, I hate to see it come to this, but I think I'm going to semi-retire this blog. I have enjoyed writing on it, and I've enjoyed getting to know some of the bloggers that stopped by, but it's time to say good-bye.
Through all it's changes it was intended to be like my journal, a place to release and reveal my private thoughts, but it became a place that a few people found that I had hoped wouldn't. I have begun a new blog with a new identity, with the hopes that it will become the journal I had intended for this one to be.
If at any time you wish to find me, just ask, and I may reveal to you my secret. Until then....
Happy blogging everyone!
XOXOXO
I may occasionally post here, when I feel the need to reveal alittle more about myself, so check back if you like!
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....
LMAO!! Well.... in a way, it is!
You see, the 1st of Sept. is a major holiday for Libyans. It was the day, back in 1969, that the current leader overthrew the government and liberated the country. "Viva le revoluccion!" (Did I spell that right? LOL) All over the city Christmas lights are displayed, hanging from all kinds of buildings.... riding through town last night made me feel like I was home checking out the Christmas lights.... I'm going to borrow one of the guys' camera and try to take some pictures this weekend.... if they turn out I'll post some here. :)
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I have to also mention that I've been extremely fortunate to have found some amazing restaurants here in Libya! I send many thanks to the wonderful girl that recommended them to a coworker. Last week she had recommended a real Chinese restaurant, and this week she mentioned a place that was out of this world! It had a Mediterranean/Spanish atmosphere, and even had live music! There were these two guys that played guitar, and I swear it's like a friend of mine from home was here in spirit! And the meal.... geez, I could go on and on! We started with a sampler appetizer, consisting of Tabouleh, Baba Ghanoush, Kibbeh, two different salsas (at least that's what we called them), a creamy hummus dip, and harisa. This was all served with warm bread for us to enjoy with it. Then we each had a salad, mine was a traditional green salad, and G had a Greek salad..... again, delicious!! Our main course consisted of a curry chicken dish for me, with rice, steamed veggies, and fries; and beef with mushroom gravy with the same sides for G. I've never had curry before, but figured it was time to experience it, and I was not disappointed!! That was by far one of the best meals I've had in this country, and I really haven't had many of them. LOL Even though I was stuffed, G ordered a banana split and made me try it. I'm really glad I did! All of the ice cream was home-made! My mouth is watering now just thinking about it!! All in all, this has become my new favorite restaurant, I think we're going to go again this weekend.
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Well.... for as much as I'm enjoying life here in Tripoli, I can't say the same for work. I'm hoping that another opportunity will arrise and will have me back home soon. I'm not too sure, and it's still really early, so I'm not saying more for now. I'd hate to jinx it right off the bat. LOL
I do know that I will miss this city terribly. I will never regret taking this opportunity to explore and experience a brand new world. Although I still do not speak the language, and probably never will, this still feels just as comfortable as home to me. I'll be really happy to get back home, since it seems like I'm missing out on a lot, but I'll be sad to leave here. I'm hoping to start a separate blog with just the pictures and stories of our trip here, something that I can share with anyone, not just my close family and friends. That way I also don't have to worry about someone finding our other site and finding something that's a little more personal than I wanted them to see.
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Well, I need to cut this off, it's our Friday here (evidently Saturday is there Monday, and since we didn't know that we looked like a bunch of lazy Americans by not showing up for work, so we've switched to taking Thurs/Fri off instead), and I think we're going to leave a little early. Everyone enjoy their weekend, Happy HNT to everyone out there, and I'll be back Sat. maybe with some cool pictures!
XOXOXO
Sunday, August 27, 2006
**Sniffe....sniffle....sob**
My camera is gone!!! :(
I was all set to go meet a blogger that currently lives here in Tripoli, and I start looking for my camera to get pics of the zoo and hopefully the blogger.... and it's no where to be found!! We tore the house apart, called the guys at the office and had them look there, and we can't find it!! Now I'm out almost $400 of MY MONEY for MY CAMERA that was brought here to be used for work and personal pics!! Now we can't do either!! We're gonna ask one of the guys here to let us check with all the people that work in the building, but the last time T or I specifically saw the camera was last Tues at work.... so there's no telling where it could be by now.... :( I cried most of last night because I was so upset. I hope it's not stolen, but it most likely was. Hell, someone tried taking one of T's laptops the last time he was here, but at least it was big enough to be noticed immediately.... That camera is the ONLY cool gadget I have EVER purchased with MY MONEY and did it BY MYSELF!! I did it with no help from anyone, it's not a hand-me-down, and it's not borrowed.... I bought it fair and square!! T's just as upset as I am, cause now he can't take the pictures for work he was accustomed to taking, but we also can't take anymore of the "touristy" pics of anything else around here.... The other guys have cameras with them, and even though they're pretty good cameras, they still can't zoom like mine could.... IT WAS THE SHIT!!
So, if you can't tell, I didn't meet the blogger yesterday, and I didn't make it to the zoo.... so I don't have any pics to share, and from the looks of it, I won't be having anymore to share either.... :(
I guess I'll just spend the rest of my day hiding in the office crying.... :(
Thursday, August 24, 2006
Yippee Skippee!!
I just met another American in Tripoli!!!! Ok, I haven't officially met her yet, but I'm going to. :D She happened to see the other blog, and noticed the pictures and all from the city. She left a comment on the page, so I traced her back to hers, we've sent a couple of emails, and hopefully I'll meet her and some more women at the zoo! She says that she knows at least 25+ American women that have married Libyan men and returned to the country. AND she is an English teacher, so I'm sure she can help me learn some Arabic as well!! LOL
Oh, I'm so excited!! Last night we found an authentic Chinese restaurant, something I've been missing like crazy since I left home, and today I meet a local American woman! Man this trip is getting better!! :)
Ok, just thought I'd share that little tidbit..... Have a great weekend y'all, I'll have stories and maybe pics to follow!
XOXOXO
Sunday, August 13, 2006
Not much better....
Had a long weekend this weekend, although I can't say that I enjoyed most of it, sick as I was... :( At least now I can breathe, but still haven't figured out how to fix my other problem.
I guess everyone saw the news about the lockdown on flying. It has not affected us here, since none of us were planning to travel at the moment.... well, except one guy going to London to see The Rolling Stones (I bet that's gonna be an awesome show, huh Os?!). I'm not exactly sure if he'll have any trouble or not, we'll just have to wait and see.
In case anyone was wondering, we're totally fine here, it's no dangerous to us here than it would be if we were in NYC. Most people treat us great, and generally love Americans.... it's the American gov't they're not crazy about. LOL
FINALLY saw Wedding Crashers..... that movie is feckin' hilarious! If I wasn't so sleepy when I watched it I'd probably remember a few good lines from it, but now they're kinda muddled....
I did not get NEARLY enough sleep last night! I am dragging ass all day, but luckily I shouldn't be here too much longer.
I guess I'll close out with a hazy view looking out from our front balcony on our apartment. I guess it's about 8ish or so... and I'm looking back over the city, around the other side of the bay.
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
I feel like shit!
I'm tired
I can't breathe
My head is killing me
Tell me again, why
I got out of bed?
It's frustrating
Being here "alone"
No other girls around
The guys just don't know...
They'll never understand
I still think I'm lucky
Never did I think
I would travel here,
Is it a dream?
If so, don't wake me
I love it here
Big city
Great neighborhood
Near the sea
Friendly people
But now, since I'm sick
No one can help me
All I want
Is to feel better
But I feel like shit.
Can I go back to bed?
Sleep it away,
Pretend today
Just didn't happen?
I feel like crying....
Sunday, July 30, 2006
So what did you do this weekend?
Well.....
I went swimming in the Med!! :D Let me tell ya about how we came about that idea....
Thurs. afternoon when we got home from work we decided to take the new guy (he had just arrived that day from Michigan), out and show him some of Tripoli. While we're walking around we found the team's favorite cabbie, and we discussed the beaches.... See part of the city is bordered by the bay, which happens to be a dumpsite for the sewars for the city.... and since the beaches of the city were on the bay, we wanted something a little farther away to check out.... clean water a must! The cabbie suggested a place to try and said he'd take us there on Friday, so we were pretty excited! After walking around some more (all this exercise is totally paying off, I'm starting to get my waistline back!!), we decided to have dinner and then partake in some Shisha smoking.
Now, it's completely legal, and not a drug like marijuana, although it certainly relaxed me some. You basically smoke it through a large Houka pipe, which is a really, really nice water bong. Shisha is actually flavored tobacco, and has a very low nicotine content. It's the only nicotine I've EVER smoked, cause I despise cigarrettes, but if cigarrettes tasted like this..... well.... I'd be hooked! All the guys and I sat around and smoked from the pipes (I'll have to get pics sometime to show you what I'm talking about), and enjoyed the night. The best flavors were the two apple (green and red apple) with a hint of mint, and cherry. YUM!! :D T and I shared one, cause I certainly couldn't smoke it by myself. It's only 5 dinar an hour where we were, which makes it pretty reasonable. We're definitely going to be doing that often....
Saturday we woke up and fixed a large breakfast, and then three of us decided to head to the beach! We drove about 30-45 min. outside the city to this "European Beach Club" which is basically a semi-private beach for tourists. It was nice, we got there early enough to find a cabana open, so we got some chairs and a table and set up camp. The water was beautiful, a brighter blue than I've ever seen off the coast of NC!! And it was pretty calm, until the jet-skis started stirring things up. Our cabbie decided to stay and enjoy the the relaxing day with us, and we spent 4-5 hours out there. If we hadn't had the cabana I doubt we would have stayed that long, it was very hot, the temp on our thermometer was reading over a hundred, and the sand was scalding! All in all it was a great trip and well worth it! A coworker of ours is of local heritage, and has found us a great package deal for a weekend trip to the beach, complete with transportation there and back, and a villa/apartment to crash in while there. It will only cost us 200 dinar T O T A L!!! Yes, that's right, and $1 = 1.32 dinar.... so it's really cheap! We hope one of the next couple of weekends to check it out, so I'll keep you posted on how it is.
Saturday was my lazy day, I slept in and then spent the day relaxing in front of the tv. LOL In between washing laundry and cooking dinner, that is.... :P Being the only girl makes me still have to be one of the domesticated ones, so I still have to take care of everyone here. Sometimes it feels like T and I are their parents, and I'm the next to youngest here!!
I promise to get some pics added soon. T has been clearing the card everyday on his computer, so when I try to view them or add them to mine they're gone.... so I'm gonna have to try and get them from him. Once I do I will add some here, but still check out Scooby Central for any updates he posts!
XOXOXO
