Coffee Spoons and Afternoons

A beautiful wind blew in through the open living room window, wafting in and filling the flat with a clean, fresh and above all, cool, scent. As I sat reading my book for the day, one of the neighbours across the way began his usual weekend electric guitar practice. I smiled to myself as I read and listened to the unmistakable chords of Green Day and Blink-182 being carefully plucked out, reverberating all over the stairways and garden downstairs.

I was reading the book, To See and See Again, by Tara Bahrampour, an autobiographical tale of a half-Persian, half-American woman trying to rediscover her roots in Iran so unceremoniously ripped away from her after the Revolution in 1979. It's really been striking a chord with me - also being half-blooded, or "double-veined" as the Iranian term implies, I've felt a resonance within me reading about a life I never actually had but have always wanted to experience. What might it have been like to grow up in Iran, learning about the language and culture that is so intrinsically a part of me? But I know it wouldn't have been easy; I'm a Baha'i, who to a fundamentalist Islamic regime would be considered a lower-class citizen, if even considered a citizen at all. Even in her book Tara, a recognised Muslim, had her share of hardships visited upon her due to her dual heritage and her inherent flaw of being born a woman. Hmmmmm...

An excellent afternoon nonetheless. Tonight Andre and I are going to an FMD BBQ at Isidro's flat, should be a lot of fun. I'm making veggie skewers, yum...

I'm a blood donor!

Today was the day I gave blood for the first time. It was pretty daunting at first, but by the time I got there and it was all over and done with, it was no big deal.

The Health Centre has the local Israeli blood drive clinic come and visit once a year to drain all us Baha'is of our blood. I suppose one might ask, "Why on earth would you want to get your blood taken in another country?" My response would probably be, "Why on earth wouldn't I want my blood taken in the country with some of the best medical staff training?" Hmmmm?

Anyhoo, I got cookies and juice and a cute sticker that said I gave blood, so it was all pretty much worth it. I'm just glad I didn't get to see the needle beforehand; I'm terrible with needles. But the nurse was so gentle I barely felt it go in, and hardly felt it during. It wasn't until I was finished that I found out the needle was practically the length of my upper arm. Yeesh.

Mom will be so proud of me for finally donating blood. She's been working with the Red Cross back home for so long, so I knew all about it, but I was never able to donate before now.

Yay! I can't wait until next year when I can do it all again!

blik

I am in love. I am in love with a recently discovered company that makes VERY cool graphic decals for all sorts of surface designs: blik surface graphics.

You can check out their seriously awesome designs here.

I am now dying to get the Space Invaders in Re-Stik and plaster my bedroom walls...

"What do you mean the breadsticks are 'divinely inspired?' Are we being sacreligious?"

Had some serious fun today helping out with the Baha'i School Committee's end of year celebration for the children's classes participants and their parents. I was on Food Patrol, so I got to arrange a whole buttload of crackers on plates. But good times were had nonetheless. It can get pretty silly in the kitchen...

Interesting items of note:
- Donesh was able to recreate the Lotus Temple in India out of pita slices (mmmm, sacrilicious!)
- Nima was 'divinely inspired' to arrange breadsticks artistically in a milk pitcher
- Matt got to clean up afterwards with the Nilfisk Backuum, which is basically a vacuum you get to wear on your back like a backpack. This is quite possibly one of the coolest cleaning inventions known to man, the other contender being the Mr. Clean Magic Erasers (in my humble opinion; I mean, come on - they're MAGIC...)
- I got to wear a babushka made entirely of a tablecloth spattered with Tofutti sour cream

One thing to always keep in mind - KIDS ARE CRAZY. And pretty messy. But still cute.

Spiritual Confirmations

The less I've been looking for them, the more confirmations of spiritual blessings I see.

And I take comfort and strength in the following prayer of Abdu'l-Baha, the beloved Master:

O my God! O my God! verily these servants are turning to Thee, supplicating Thy kingdom of mercy. Verily they are attracted by Thy holiness and set aglow with the fire of Thy love, seeking confirmation from Thy wondrous kingdom and hoping for attainment in Thy heavenly realm. Verily they long for the descent of Thy bestowal, desiring illumination from the Sun of Reality. O Lord! make them radiant lamps, merciful signs, fruitful trees and shining stars. May they come forth in Thy service and be connected with Thee by the bonds and ties of thy love, longing for the lights of Thy favor. O Lord! make them signs of guidance, standards of Thy immortal kingdom, waves of the sea of Thy mercy, mirrors of the light of Thy majesty. Verily Thou art the generous! Verily Thou art the merciful! Verily Thou art the precious, the beloved!

(Abdu'l-Baha, Baha'i World Faith - Abdu'l-Baha Section, p. 231)

Nonchalant Watermelons

I was walking home yesterday evening with Matt, and we were passing by the Hatishbi convenience store, when one of the clerks lost all his watermelons out the back of his cart. He was pushing them into the store display when the back end of the cart opened, and out rolled all the little watermelons down the street.

The funny part was, they were rolling quite slowly, amiably, as if they were in no particular rush to get to the bottom of the road, which inclines slightly. And the clerk didn't seem to be in any rush either. He sort of watched the watermelons roll for a second or two, then ambled after them in a half-hearted attempt to stop The Scattering Of The Melons. (I liken it to a very funny YouTube clip. Not quite Ahmed the Dead Terrorist funny, but you know, pretty darn funny.)

I like the idea of nonchalant, unhurried watermelons. Makes me smile.