The Many Adventures of Shireen

My confusion knows no bounds...

2008-08-26T06:35:00.000-07:00

I don't understand boys. I may have lots of guy friends, but apparently this has done nothing to help me fathom the complex (or perhaps not so complex) brain of the human male.

Query: When you hang out and spend all your free time with a certain individual, doesn't that mean you thoroughly enjoy their company? And if you're enjoying their company exclusively, and you're sharing private things with each other about yourselves, doesn't that mean you enjoy being with them exclusively? And what if you like all the same things? If that's the case, and you've got all that in common, aren't you pretty much dating?

These are the questions that have been plaguing me, keeping me awake at night. In my mind - whether you're physically intimate or not, if you're spending all your time with someone and sharing your thoughts with them, and having a good time together pretty much exclusively - that is what dating is.

So why don't guys think the same way?!?! My guess is that for guys there has to be a physical attraction instantly or else they're completely uninterested. Apparently I've got the perfect personality to get along with most types of guys, so what is it that I'm doing that's not attracting them physically? I'm so thoroughly confused...

{Follow-up query: Is there any way to kindle an interest later on in a 'friend' relationship? How often do guys change their initial assessment of a friendship into a more romantic one? I need to know how to shift from the eternal paradigm of "Oh, you're so awesome to hang out with but I don't think of you that way" to getting a more appropriate response to my advances, like, "I can't get you off of my mind, I want to be around you all the time; please consider dating me so we can get married".}

I love WALL-E

2008-08-23T22:01:00.000-07:00

*Caution! Complete plot spoiler ahead!*

Ok, so I went with a few people to the movies the other night to see WALL-E. I had heard really good things about it, so I was pretty excited. Plus, I haven't gone out with a bunch of people in quite a while, so it was nice to go out and hang with a different group of friends for a little bit.

The movie was absolutely fabulous!!! I don't think I've enjoyed a movie in a good long while as much as I enjoyed WALL-E! You'd think it would be difficult to make a cockroach an adorable sidekick to a robot that thinks he's people, but Disney and Pixar managed to pull it off well. :) The following is the main plot, to the best of my recollection:

What's happened is that 700 years or so in the future, humanity has abandoned Earth as one huge trash heap and the WALL-Es (Waste Allocation Load Lifters-Earth class), who were left behind to clean up the mess before the humans returned, have all fallen into disrepair except for one. He's still plugging away at his job, compacting tiny little cubes of garbage into towering skscrapers of trash as he rolls around the city on his little treaded, rusting wheels.

[My favourite part of the whole movie is the personality that's been ascribed to WALL-E. He doesn't really ever speak except for a small series of beeps and squeaks, but he's a sensitive little soul who loves to collect trash 'treasures' the humans left behind - Rubik's cubes, light bulbs, broken toys, gadgets and gizmos a-plenty. He is also quite the romantic; his favourite movie is "Hello Dolly", which he watches scenes from over and over again on his tiny projector. You can tell he's desperately lonely for another creature to be with, and he's endlessly fascinated by the musical number "It Only Takes a Moment" when two characters fall in love and hold hands, a puzzlingly intimate moment for WALL-E, who wants to experience what it would be like to hold someone's hand. It's painfully bittersweet to watch these scenes when he's pining for someone to share his life with and hold their hand. It's hard to believe he's supposed to be a robot when he's so anthropomorphically complete. And he's even got the big puppy-dog eye thing going on...]

His world is turned upside down when he hears something rumbling outside his trailer one day and goes to investigate. A spaceship touches down near him and what looks like another robot is deposited on-site. He is fascinated, but scared of what's happening, and keeps hiding behind boulders and burrowing underground to avoid being seen. It seems like this robot is the opposite of WALL-E - white, sleek, modern, beautiful (to him). She is apparently female, and has been sent to Earth on some sort of recovery mission. He follows her around until she starts shooting at him, then he speeds away and tries to regroup and figure out how to approach this beautiful but deadly creature.

WALL-E is eventually able to get close to her and figure out her name is EVE (how fitting). He keeps trying to hold her hand, but she rebuffs him repeatedly since she can't figure out what he's attempting to do. Although she is completely focused on her mission, he is able to convince her to visit his trailer, where he attempts to share his treasures with her. She is entirely unimpressed, until he pulls out a tiny green plant sprout in a boot that he found in a rusted out fridge the day before. She starts going nuts beeping and squawking, puts the sprout in her chest and then shuts off, sending out what seems to be a homing signal. Try as he might, WALL-E cannot revive EVE. He thinks maybe she's solar-powered like him, so he takes her out on the roof and stays by her side day and night, through rain and dust and wind, sheltering her from the elements and trying to turn her on again.

Finally, after days of trying to turn her back on, he rolls out to get back to work, but is surprised to hear another spaceship coming back to Earth. He rushes back to his trailer to see EVE being retrieved by the ship, and manages to clamber onto the edge as it starts blasting off back to wherever it came from. He is completely terrified, but wants to make sure that EVE is ok. (This whole time, the only word he's been able to say is a variation of her name, an electronic little "Ev-a!" So ridiculously cute.)

The spaceship heads to the outer edge of our galaxy, where humanity has been living aboard a sort of luxury liner in space, waiting to get the green light to head home. Unfortunately for humans, they got so complacent in their luxury, with robots to cater to their every whim, that they have all become hopelessly obese and don't even walk anywhere anymore - they all fly around on hover chairs and are constantly affixed to a computer monitor that tells them what to eat and what to wear and what to think. Anyway, WALL-E follows EVE through a hangar bay where she is going to be transported away to goodness-knows where. He tricks the automated controllers into setting him down beside her, and is able to follow her out, despite the fact that the other robots keep reading him as a foreign contaminant on the ship. :)

EVE and WALL-E get shuttled all the way to the Captain's deck where the human captain, a roundly obese but curious and sweet man is currently in charge of the ship. He doesn't really know much of anything except what the ship's navigational robot computer tells him. Since EVE is in possession of biological plant life from Earth, it basically means that humanity can now return home. There is a manual that tells the captain he needs to put the plant into some sort of holograph chamber or something, but when they try to retrieve the plant from EVE it has disappeared. She freaks out, especially since it's at that point that they realise WALL-E has followed her, and they think he took it. He didn't, and they can't quite figure out what has happened.

EVE and WALL-E are determined to retrace their way through the ship to see where the plant could have gone, but they are deemed 'broken' by the ship's computer, and are sent to the reprocessing area for repairs. While there, WALL-E thinks they are hurting EVE, so he breaks in to rescue her and inadvertently shoots up the place, releasing themselves and all the broken robots into the ship. The klaxon rings out that dangerous robots are wreaking havoc in the ship, but in all the commotion they are able to slip away and find the plant again. They bring it back to the captain of the ship, who's been really excited about going home and has been reading all about Earth on the computer. He's especially thrilled by the idea of dancing. But while they are all together, the ship's navigational computer tries to get rid of the plant, EVE and WALL-E.

It seems that years and years ago, the computer received a secret message from the remaining inhabitants of Earth who basically said that the world was completely unsalvageable, and that they must never return to Earth. The navigational computer has taken that to heart, and will stop at nothing to keep them all from returning, including trying to get rid of the plant and the robots that found it. The computer turns on the captain, relieves him of duty, and confines him to his quarters so he can't announce anything to the crew about his discovery of the plant; the computer then incapacitates EVE and WALL-E and throws them down the garbage chute.

EVE and WALL-E realise they must rally all the robots if they are to be able to regain control of the ship and get back to Earth. They retrieve the plant again, and try to head to the holograph chamber without being stopped by the ship's computer. The rest of the broken robots from the reprocessing area run defense for them as they make their way through the maze of the ship. In the meantime, the captain has been trying to regain control of his ship and secretly helps them figure out where to go. He's begun to realise that the humans have been far too reliant on technology, and have lost focus of what it means to be human. He sends a ship-wide message to everyone to meet at the Lido deck where the holograph chamber is. The ship's computer is not happy about this at all, and while everyone is there and the robots are about to put the plant into the chamber, the computer flings the ship onto its side and everyone falls out of their chairs and start rolling willy-nilly all over each other.

WALL-E understands that no matter what, he must get that plant to the chamber, and although the chamber is rapidly crushing him, he stands his ground until someone can retrieve the fallen plant and throw it back to him. The captain overpowers the ship's computer and turns it to manual power, and EVE is finally able to put the plant where it belongs. But poor WALL-E has been crushed seemingly beyond repair, and EVE is heartbroken.

Once they get back to Earth the spaceship lands and everyone gingerly makes their way onto the surface, except for EVE who is urgently rushing WALL-E back to his trailer to search for spare parts in order to repair him. She replaces all his damaged parts, and replaces his motherboard so he can turn back on, but when she reboots him, he no longer recognises her. The plaintive "WALL-E? WALL-E?!?" she keeps repeating is absolutely heartbreaking. Finally, as a last ditch effort she tries to hold his hand, thinking that it might bring him back. (At this point, "It Only Takes a Moment" is playing again, and I'm practically in tears, cursing myself for crying over an animated movie...) Suddenly, you hear a plaintive little "Ev-a?" and you basically want to start cheering in your seat because WALL-E is rebooted and well and finally gets to hold EVE's hand.

If you decide to watch this in the theatre, I would recommend bringing some hankies and watch it with people who don't mind if you cry over an animated movie about robots. And stay to watch the end credits - they're really cleverly done, with the history of the humans rebuilding their life on Earth depicted in a series of painting styles throughout the ages.

You'd think that a movie about the excesses of humanity and a somewhat bleak future would be depressing or condescending, but this movie was neither one of those things. Sure, it makes you think about what we're doing to our planet and ourselves these days, but by taking a lighthearted approach and making the story focus on the characters rather than the situation, it's an easy pill to swallow. I am planning on watching this movie over and over and over again.

Ants

2008-08-17T05:27:00.000-07:00

I was fascinated the other day by a colony of ants trying to move a large, dead bug across a stone path. I noticed them because the dead bug was fluorescent green and there was a huge swarm of ants trying to figure out the best way to carry the bug back to their colony.

It was actually pretty amazing to watch - most of the ants were carrying the bug (which was about ten times their size) while a few others spread out around the group and tried to work together to find the path of least resistance back home. They kept running aground on bunches of pine needles, which to them must have been the size of fallen Sequoia trees. But they kept at it, and kept at it, and eventually they were able to walk the bug off the side of the stones and wedge it down into a crack where, I can only assume, they were about to devour it.

Gross, but an excellent example of unity nonetheless. If only we as humans were able to put aside our differences and work together for the common good. We'd be able to get all our dead bugs home to the colony to share...ok, that's gross again, but the metaphor still stands.

July Wrap-up

2008-07-31T00:00:00.000-07:00

Wow, it's been waaaaay too long since my last post.

A lot of stuff happened in the last month:

- I got the stomach flu for a solid week
- I got lost on the way to the hospital for a blood test
- I learned how to play Magic the Gathering
- I watched more laptop movies than should be humanly possible
- I studied the Tablet of Ahmad (reeeeeeeeally cool, by the way)
- I finished my Spanish class and have now started my Persian class
- I almost finished my huge tropical aquarium cross stitch pattern
- I sorted more dirty laundry than any person should have to sort EVER

That's about it. Oh, and I'm trying to figure out what the hell is going on between Andre and me. Are we dating? Are we just friends that hang out ALL the time? What? I have no clue, so I'm just going to leave things as they are. The ball is in his court now.

Coffee Spoons and Afternoons

2008-06-28T21:45:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-06-24T12:17:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-07T04:53:00.000-07:00

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?"

2008-06-07T04:03:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-04T07:21:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-04T07:00:00.000-07:00

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.

"Wishlist"

2008-05-27T05:33:00.000-07:00

"Wishlist" by Pearl Jam

I am listening to this song on repeat and loving the lyrics, so I thought I'd share...

I wish I was a neutron bomb, for once I could go off

I wish I was a sacrifice but somehow I still lived on

I wish I was a sentimental ornament you hung on

The Christmas tree, I wish I was the star that went on top

I wish I was the evidence, I wish I was the grounds

For 50 million hands upraised and open toward the sky

I wish I was a sailor with someone who waited for me

I wish I was as fortunate, as fortunate as me

I wish I was a messenger and all the news was good

I wish I was the full moon shining off a Camaro's hood

I wish I was an alien at home behind the sun

I wish I was the souvenir you kept your house key on

I wish I was the pedal brake that you depended on

I wish I was the verb 'to trust' and never let you down

I wish I was a radio song, the one that you turned up

I wish...I wish...

Healthy Living

2008-05-27T04:16:00.000-07:00

Oh man, I am feeling so good right now!

I've started this new diet, maybe you've heard of it? It's called eating-good-food-and-avoiding-fatty-gross-food-as-much-as-possible. Familiar with it? Yeah, what I've discovered is that I actually feel pretty darn good when I'm not stuffing my face with refined sugars and carbs. Whodathunkit? :)

This great new health kick really started when I bought my friend's old blender a couple weeks ago(which still works fantastically well). I decided to try making myself some nice fruit smoothies in the hopes of replacing my normal evening regimen of cookies and ice cream. Well...it's been working like a charm.

Cutting the sweets and high-fibre pastas out of my lunchplate has also really been making a difference. I'm finding it almost easy to avoid them now. It certainly hasn't helped that the dessert section is at the beginning of the lunch line, but I'm becoming quite adept at walking past and heading straight for the salad bar where I proceed to fill up at least half my plate with salad. Then it's just a matter of getting rice instead of pasta, and a lot of the vegetarian options - while being inordinately good for you - also tend to look more appetizing than the meat options anyway.

Granted, I haven't completely cut ALL sweets and carbs out. Come on, we're only human - everyone wants a cookie now and then. But with a surprisingly little amount of effort, you can indulge in the naughty sweets without feeling guilty because you know the rest of the time you're eating right. It's actually kind of liberating...so there you go.

Eat right=feel good. It's not rocket science.

Partnerless

2008-05-26T06:02:00.000-07:00

Adam's last day of work was yesterday, and now I find myself partnerless in a sea of flats that need fixin'.

I certainly hope I am up to the task of doing this job independently for awhile. I mean, sure, the guys in the office can help me out from time to time if I need some assistance with back-breaking labour or something, but it's not really their tasking, heretofor they cannot help me all the time.

There are pros and cons to every situation; this one is no exception. Sure, I may have to carry everything myself all day, but there won't be anyone in the car to smell my lovely stench at the end of the day. I won't have anyone to talk to in the car, but I will be able to turn on the ol' ipod and crank some tunes and sing at the top of my lungs. Terribly.

And, now I have the good desk. The one that faces outside so I don't feel clausterphobic and frightened that spiders are going to attack me at my desk (yes, it's true, don't judge me.) The nice desk where I can see people when they walk into the office. Yay!

It's going to be all right...

Mostmand/Morrissey Fest

2008-05-14T06:10:00.000-07:00

We had a lovely dinner at Matt's flat the other night, to celebrate...well, to celebrate each other, really. He wanted to term the evening Mostmand Fest in honour of Mr. Reza Mostmand, but being the incredibly humble human being that he is, Reza refused to allow a dinner dedicated to himself.

So Matt decided to honour all of us instead and we ate wanna-be Mexican food. It was delicious and oh-so (kind-of) Mexican. :)

Later in the evening Reza wrote a love song for Iman, Laura and I made up a Spanish love song for each other, and much hilarity was enjoyed by all.

The night was capped off by one of the water pipes overflowing in the kitchen and the entire floor being soaked with soapy, foul smelling water. Apparently it was one of those pipes that don't really go anywhere but are still open to flooding occasionally. Good times.

CHINA!!!

2008-05-10T05:47:00.000-07:00

There was a lovely talk given the other day by some counsellors visiting from the Asian continent. They talked specifically about China, and it was wonderful - brought back so many memories of living there so long ago.

I want to go back to China sometime in the near future. It sounds like it's becoming so cosmopolitan. And I know the government has been in the news a lot recently for things like human rights violations in Tibet and the boycotting of the Olympics and all that sort of high-profile media circusry, but really, the local Chinese people are so warm-hearted and friendly and open and curious about all sorts of things; it's really quite refreshing.

A generalisation that has always stuck with me:
When offered information of value or information that's highly useful, they don't usually say "this will be good for me", they say, "this will be good for China". If only more people in the world were that selfless. We would all be much better off for it.

Double birthday bash!

2008-05-05T09:23:00.001-07:00

My birthday was recently on the 29 of April, and my friend Laura's was on the 2 of May, so I decided to throw us a birthday bash to celebrate (both of our birthdays has been skipped due to the International Convention this year.) We had a bunch of people over to my flat, and we had a grand old time, playing games and getting scolded by the neighbours for making too much noise.

Here we were playing Fruit Salad, a game not unlike Musical Chairs. PJ got so fed up, he decided to take his chair with him as he played.

Here I am laughing HYSTERICALLY as they bring out our respective birthday cakes and sing us the Canadian national anthem instead of "Happy Birthday". They butchered it, but it was wonderful nonetheless.

Here Laura and I decided to cut our cakes like an old married couple. Good times. The frosting was excellent. Yum!

Here we are just kicking back and having some laughs. We got waaaaaay too rowdy, but I blame all the sugar we were hopped up on.

Highlights from Ridvan, the Holiest of Festivals

2008-05-03T09:37:00.000-07:00

Best Birthday EVER!!

2008-04-29T13:28:00.000-07:00

Ok, today was my best birthday ever, hands down!

Sure, I had to get up at 4 AM to get to the Convention Centre on time for training before the election; sure I was on my feet for seven straight hours pointing delegates where they had to go; sure I didn't get much food. But you know what? I would do it all again in a heartbeat. It was AMAZING!

I have so much respect for everyone who put effort into organising this convention - it has been so well planned, everything is running like clockwork. And the spirit of prayerful meditation and brotherhood was unbelievable. NOwhere else in the world would you see such a dignified election process with no electioneering and campaigning. The delegates simply pray and meditate about those souls they feel would be the most fitting to be House of Justice members, and then they vote. Simple as that.

I was a delegate usher, which meant that I was primarily responsible for keeping the queue orderly and everyone in the right place at the right time. Plus, juggling delegates leaving for bathroom breaks and delegates returning to their seats after the voting, plus staff going back and forth - it was exhilarating! I didn't realise how much I missed ushering until today.

THEN, after lunch, we all headed out to Bahji for the Ninth Day of Ridvan celebration. Basically, the Ridvan festival is a commemoration of the twelve days Baha'u'llah stayed in the garden of Ridvan with his family and friends, before declaring His mission as a Manifestation of God. I believe the Ninth Day is celebrated specifically because that was the day He officially declared His station as a Manifestation. Ridvan is considered the most auspicious of times in the Baha'i calendar, and to be born on the Ninth Day has always been such a source of joy for me. I have been blessed, and at no time was it more obvious than today when I got to be a phyiscal part of the election process for the Universal House of Justice, and then participate in such a beautiful holy day at the holiest spot on earth, Bahji.

Plus, after all THAT, Swati invited me back to her flat for some "leftovers", then proceeded to surprise me with my 2nd November buddies, and we had a lovely, although random and slap-happy dinner. Just the way I like it. :)

Oh glorious, glorious day!!

Preparation and Anticipation!

2008-04-23T12:16:00.000-07:00

We at the World Centre have all been supremely busy lately preparing for the Tenth International Convention for the Election of the Universal House of Justice. I had no idea the logistics involved in planning something this elaborate, but from what I've seen so far, it's going to take a LOT of volunteers to make this fantastic event go smoothly.

I am sooooo excited to have the priviledge of getting to volunteer at an International Convention. Basically, all the delegates from every National Spiritual Assembly across the globe will start arriving in Haifa in approximately three days or so in order to vote for the next members of the Universal House of Justice. It only occurs once every five years, and the last one had to be cancelled due to the outbreak of war this time five years ago, so this is actually the first convention being held in ten years. Wow. And I get to be here when it happens. Double wow.

I will be an usher, which I'm pretty excited about, since that used to be my job back home before I came to Israel. I am so psyched for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see the administrative process of the Baha'i Faith at work in its (I feel) highest, purest form. It's so humbling to be a part of, I can tell you that much.

More details shall follow after Convention, once the election results have been officially released...

Insomniac

2008-04-12T22:10:00.000-07:00

I haven't had a good night's sleep in well over a month.

It's gotten to the point where I've started to keep a sleep journal to try and track how often I wake up and why. For the past few days, I have noticed that, without fail, I will wake up at 5:00 AM almost on the nose. I am also frequently waking throughout the night and having a hard time getting back to sleep.

One problem I know is that my walls feel thinner than rice paper, and I can hear everything that goes on in the street. So it might be that I'm waking at 5 every morning because that's when the delivery truck comes and makes a god-awful racket outside the convenience store across the street. Grrrrrrr. I've tried to wear earplugs, but they are so uncomfortable in my ears that they keep me awake, as does the thought that if I wear earplugs I will miss my alarm and forget to go to work. Not a good plan...

Insomnia is not fun. It is making me dangerously irritable. I have to try very hard to make it to work in the morning and not rip someone's head off or fall asleep at my desk and drool all over my keyboard. I hate the idea of taking prescription meds, but at this point I am willing to try almost anything!

I've had insomnia before, but not this bad or this frequent, and not for the same reasons. I had a terrible bout of it during university one semester, which caused me to almost fail my one morning class that term. The same thing is happening here; I'm not able to fall back to sleep until about an hour before my alarm clock goes off and then I have to wake up again.

SAVE ME!!! I REQUIRE SLEEP!!!!

Love is Pain

2008-03-31T13:50:00.000-07:00

Actually, right now I'm thinking love is a crock. Why does it suck so much?

Why am I consistently attracted to guys who are completely disinterested?

Why do I feel the need to have my heart ripped out and dragged across the floor?

This shouldn't be so hard.

I'm trying really hard not to get depressed, but it's hard since I've been fighting it for a while. I didn't want to admit it, but maybe I really do need some help.

Fearlessness?

2008-03-30T06:59:00.000-07:00

I am afraid.

I am afraid to defend my beliefs, afraid that they will come under attack and scrutiny from an unyielding populace. Are my fears unfounded? No. Can they be overcome? I think so, but it will require an inordinate amount of work and self-education in order to make it so.

This self-criticism comes from the fact that I have recently posted a couple of follow-up comments on a fellow blogger's site regarding an earlier post of my own, and I am realising how woefully inadequate my own knowledge happens to be on many of the subjects he is sincerely (and quite politely) questioning. How can I claim to be a Baha'i and uphold the teachings of Baha'u'llah when I'm not actively striving every second of every day to fully grasp the messages that the Manifestations of God have brought forth to us in order to help us grow in our understanding of and love for God?

I am afraid I need to work much, much harder...

Final choir performance of the season

2008-03-27T06:44:00.000-07:00

Some photos from our warm-ups before our final choir performance of the season at the Naw Ruz celebration.

We got to perform in the Concourse of the Seat of the Universal House of Justice. Again.

Amazing!

Part of our beautiful soprano section

The entire group of us

Fluish

2008-03-26T23:22:00.000-07:00

I've been down with the flu again the past few days, and it's not been fun. I hate getting sick, especially here in Israel while I'm trying to serve at the World Centre.
Today was the first day I tried to come in to work in the morning, and I thought I might as well try and get my laundry done at the same time. Well, I must not really be feeling better because as I bent down to throw my laundry in the machine, I smashed my cheekbone into the top of the loader.
So, now I'm still fluish and have a large welt on my face that won't be going away any time soon. So much for hand-eye coordination. Adam suggested today should be the day I go and get my visa pictures done. Yeah, RIGHT. I'm still trying to figure out if he was kidding or not...

Dreaming of John Mayer

2008-03-24T23:27:00.000-07:00

Yep, it's true. I had a really weird dream about John Mayer last night. I shall recount...

I was at the house of one of my mother's high school friends, and we were visiting her daughters there. It was apparently also my birthday, so people were giving me presents. One of the girls asked me if I knew John Mayer, because he was a friend of theirs and was invited to the party. I said sure, I knew who he was, so it was cool if he came over.

He showed up and introduced himself, then headed out to the backyard, where I followed. The backyard sloped back under the deck and bottom of the house. Under the slope, he had set up a lounge area, complete with oversized couches and hanging paper lamps. Apparently Mr. Mayer came over to their house quite frequently to jam, so this was his personal lounge area. He was sitting there jamming with a couple of his buddies, and I wandered over to sit on one of the couches. He came and gave me a HMV gift card for my birthday (?), and offered me a cup of coffee. When he brought me my coffee, he gave me a kiss on the nose and then ran back to his seat to play some more. :)

As I got up to leave, he said he had another present for me - pappy wappy kisses. (Huh?) Basically it was just smooching my face on both cheeks. I said I had to leave, but that I had a friend who was a really big fan, and he would love to hear from John Mayer, especially since he's also going to Berklee in the summer. John said he would totally give me his number to pass on, I just needed to find a pen.

My dream ended with me going back up to the house, meeting up with some of the girls who were working on an art project, and grabbing a pen.

Weird, no?

Happy Birthday!

2008-03-20T13:29:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Kat's birthday on Monday, the 17th. It was pretty fun, especially considering her birthday falls on St. Patrick's Day.

Good times, good food, good friends, and good balloons. :)

Purim

2008-03-19T01:01:00.001-07:00

Ok, I went ahead and found out what the story of Purim is; I was curious after talking to the bakery shop owner yesterday. Here's what I found:

Once upon a time, between the destruction of the First Temple and the building of the Second Temple, the Jews were almost destroyed. In the city of Shushan, Vashti, the Queen of Persia, refuses to obey the order of the King of Persia, Ahasuerus, to appear before his guests. The King then searches the country for a new queen. From among hundreds of applicants, Esther, cousin of Mordechai the Jew, is chosen. The King's Prime Minister was an evil man named Haman. Haman, a descendant of the tribe of Amalek, hates the Jews and decides to kill them. He convinces King Ahasuerus to issue an edict which orders the destruction of all Jews in the land. Mordechai pleads with Esther to save the Jewish people by talking to the King. At the risk of her own life, Esther appears before the King without being summoned by him. She reveals her own Jewish identity to the King and reveals Haman's evil plans. The King is outraged at Haman, and he issues a decree to make Haman the victim of his own infamous plot. Haman and his sons are killed, and the Jews are saved.

For Purim, the children dress up like they do on Hallowe'en back home. It's basically like carnival time for a couple days so everyone reallys seems to get into it, kids and adults!

Merry Purim everyone! :)

Chichewa

2008-03-19T00:48:00.000-07:00

My friend Christopher is from Malawi, and today Adam and I have been trying to learn a few phrases in Chichewa, the native language spoken in Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Apparently it's very close to Swahili in terms of phonetics and language structure, and Christopher says they even share a lot of the same words. All vowels are pronounced separately, and I believe every word ends with a vowel as well. And when a noun starts with an m, you simply have to add an i afterwards to make it plural.

mtengo=tree
mitengo=trees

mkango=lion
mikango=lions

I'm having a lot of fun trying to pick up some words that I can use here at the World Centre. How cool would it be to learn Chichewa?

My Favourite Bakery

2008-03-18T23:05:00.000-07:00

Mmmmm, my favourite bakery has been decided. It is a tiny little place on Mapu street out in the Ahuza. I have no idea what the name is, but I got a bunch of magnets with the phone number to put on the fridge, so I will remain in the dark as to its name.

Adam and I stopped by today to pick up lunch while delivering linens for new staff orientation. (I know it's still Fast time, but since neither of us are allowed to fast, we leave the office and pick up food so we don't disturb others.) The owner informed us that the apple pies we smelled were freshly out of the oven, and sugar-free, so we each had to purchase one. :)

There were some weird, triangularly-shaped, chocolate-filled cookies all over the store, which we were informed are called oznay haman. It means "ears of Haman", which is apparently a reference to a king in ancient Iraq who had Jews living in the area and heard of a plot to be killed or something, and there was some sort of warning from his Jewish concubine or something like that. I didn't really catch the entire story the bakery owner was telling us - all I know is that they are special cookies for Purim, yet another Jewish holiday to be celebrated with cookies!

I think I like it here. There's always cookies.

I'm Back

2008-03-16T01:33:00.000-07:00

I took a little trip home for a couple of weeks at the end of February. It was really nice to have some time off, but I'm still pretty exhausted. Doesn't seem like it was much of a vacation at times...
I got to go to some pretty neat places and see some wonderful old friends. I'm so glad I was able to see everyone again after almost a year abroad here in Israel.
Some highlights of my trip home include:
Going to see Dirty Dancing: the Musical with my sister and cousin in Toronto
Going to see Bon Jovi live in concert with my sister in Toronto
Eating delicious ice cream from the new Marble Slab Creamery in Stratford
Driving to London and seeing my friends' new houses (now that they're settled and domestic)
Getting ALL my pants altered because I've lost so much weight (yay!)

There was much, much more that I did, but I will have to blog about later it when I am not quite so incredibly jetlagged. I am SOOOOOOO tired right now; I may have to leave work early today...

Thoughts on Parenting (or how to be ready for it...)

2008-02-26T07:41:00.000-08:00

I need to head off to choir in the next few minutes, yet I'm still sitting at my desk in the office musing about things, big life-altering things.

I've been thinking a lot about parenting and preparedness. Having Brooke and Emad here in the Holy Land with little Navvab has really resonated something within me, but I'm still hesitant. What makes me think I could be ready to be a mother? I wonder - is there an innate capacity all women have to be wonderful mothers, or is a matter of nature versus nuture and not everyone is capable doing it well?

I mean, I know this won't even be an issue for me for some time, as I am still single. But being interested in somebody (albeit somebody currently in another country) is also making me think about where I could be in two years, five years, ten years. Hopefully off serving the Faith somewhere, making a difference in the lives of those around me. Will there be a family present, though? I really want to travel the world, but I don't want to go by myself. I want to be able to share those types of experiences with another human being, someone whose soul is intimately linked to mine, someone I can create a new soul with and bring that new soul up in the world together.

Some Definitions

2008-02-19T06:46:00.000-08:00

Here are some definitions I felt it prudent to clarify. Please refer back to my earlier post Epiphany for further understanding.
(All definitions have been taken from www.dictionary.reference.com)

SECULAR (adjective)
- of or pertaining to worldly things or to things that are not regarded as religious, spiritual, or sacred; temporal.

HUMANIST (adjective)
- of or pertaining to a philosophy asserting human dignity and man's capacity for fulfillment through reason and scientific method and often rejecting religion.
(Being considered a Humanist can also refer to someone who is concerned with the interests and welfare of humans, but in general it seems to refer to a rejection of religious belief for scientific reason instead.)

RELIGION (noun)
- a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, esp. when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs.

SPIRITUALITY (adjective)
This one's hard to define without using "spirit" in the definition:
- of or pertaining to sacred things or matters; religious; devotional; sacred.
- of or pertaining to the spirit or soul, as distinguished from the physical nature.
- of or relating to the mind or intellect (hmmm, interesting...)

ATTACK (noun)
- an expression of strong criticism; hostile comments.

Visiting Pilgrims and News From Home

2008-02-18T23:53:00.001-08:00

More friends have come to visit the Holy Land on pilgrimage this week, and I am so excited to see them here! Brooke and Emad are here, as are Emad's family, along with their brand new baby girl, Navvab. I have to admit, that kid is absolutely adorable! Almost five months old, and she is such a little moosh moosh...cutie pie, basically. (It means mouse in Persian)

{We had a lovely dinner out at Greg's cafe last night; the food there just keeps getting better and better! I highly recommend either the cheese symphony salad or the chicken tortillas. Emad also said the goat cheese tortillas were to die for, but I didn't actually get to try one, so you'll have to take his word on that one.}

But it's really great to see them here and find out what's been going on back in our home community. Emad is lucky enough to be on the Local Spiritual Assembly there, and he's been filling me in on the past year that I've missed. A lot of drama, apparently; the Assembly's been busy, busy busy! It seems that we live in a community that tends to have two population groups: there are the permanent residents, the older adults who have moved there to settle or retire or whatnot, and there is transient youth population that comes in for a short time, revitalises the community with energy and fervour, and then moves on to their next stage in life. Usually elsewhere. Our community at home is one of many where the active Baha'is are mainly youth who, once their eyes have been opened to the possibilities in the world, cannot simply stay at home anymore. They must go out into the global sphere and teach and serve and make this world amazing. But...that means we lose them, in a sense, by not having their glorious spiritual energy in our community anymore. I suppose we must look at it instead as setting them loose upon the world and allowing their dynamic power to dramatically change another community for the better.

That's all well and good, but it means that our community has been going through a lot of ups and downs in terms of Baha'i activities and participation in teaching campaigns. Sometimes the town is red-hot with energy and activities, and sometimes it's very quiet and sedate with not a lot going on. Which is ok too, they just shouldn't let it stay down for too long.

I'm going home for a visit in less than two weeks, and I'm very excited to see what's been happening in my absence. Who knows, maybe me coming back for a while can provide a little boost of energy and encouragement to those youth that are still there...

The Great Blog-o-sphere

2008-02-18T04:22:00.000-08:00

Kerii and I were chatting last night about the Internet. He happens to know a lot about surfing the Net and finding information, since that's mostly what he deals with at work. We were discussing what some of the House of Justice members have been telling the youth lately, that we should really get out into the virtual world and make great Baha'i content readily accessible.

Baha'i youth (well, adults too) need to educate themselves throughly in the Writings of the Faith, we need to immerse ourselves in the Word of God to gain deeper understanding of our fundamental beliefs. How are we to defend our faith against others who would try and tear it down if we do not fully understand it ourselves? Hmmmm? Ours is the generation that will have to deal with the mess we find ourselves in today, a mess I like to call contemporary society.

There is so much corruption and disintegration in the world today, power struggles and financial wars that we cannot help but witness. But as a Baha'i, I find solace in knowing that this is an inevitable step on the road to something better. I understand that a global world order is something tangible, but that we must witness the decay and complete dismantling of the old world order so that we may create somthing better. You have to tear an old, condemned building down to its very foundations before you can construct another building in its place. Baha'is are already working on the new building, we already have the new blueprints given to us by Baha'u'llah, by Abdu'l-Baha, by Shoghi Effendi.

So now I'm just waiting for the old building to shake itself to its foundations so I can continue to help create a new and better one. And in the process, I'm trying to bring a little more information and hope to the people out there despairing at the state of the world...it's going to get better, and we're going to make it happen. Count on it.

Epiphany

2008-02-17T12:05:00.000-08:00

I have not posted to my blog in quite some time now, and I am kicking myself about it. This is a unique place for me to express my thoughts and ideas without fear of criticism or stigma - it's my happy space. And I am happy that I am free to do so. So here goes...

We had yet another great discussion at our flat tonight about defending the Baha'i Faith from attacks. Basically, we are a bunch of Baha'i youth trying to bolster ourselves against an onslaught of criticisms and religious attacks from a secular, humanistic, decidedly unspiritual populace at large, bent on its own material and physical gratification. We are attempting to prepare ourselves against these attacks by deepening our understanding of the Baha'i Writings and gaining clearer insights into how the Writings address many current trends and topics. Tonight we decided to deepen ourselves on the topic of Baha'i laws.

The Baha'i book of laws is the Kitab-i-Aqdas (which literally means "book of laws"). We spent several hours discussing the ramifications of certain legalities, laws, and ordinances stated in the book. We also speculated as to why Baha'u'llah legislated on certain topics and not others, albeit never questioning His ability and right to do so. As a Manifestation of God, we know that Baha'u'llah provided us with a complete spiritual framework for a new global civilisation, one in which God's laws and ordinances are in place for our protection and freedom, a notion I know is quite contrary to most people's current thoughts on what freedom means.

It's basically like this - at the core of it all, fundamentally, to be a Baha'i you have to do two things: you must recognise Baha'u'llah as the Manifestation of God for this Day, and in doing so, you must follow His laws, ordinances and teachings. You cannot have one without the other, or you else are not a Baha'i. Simple as that. This is very specific in the Kitab-i-Aqdas, in the opening paragraph:

"The first duty prescribed by God for His servants is the recognition of Him Who is the Dayspring of His Revelation and the Fountain of His laws, Who representeth the Godhead in both the Kingdom of His Cause and the world of creation. Whoso achieveth this duty has attained unto all good; and whoso is deprived thereof hath gone astray, though he be the author of every righteous deed. It behooveth everyone who reacheth this most sublime station, this summit of transcendent glory, to observe every ordinance of Him who is the desire of the world. These twin duties are inseparable. Neither is acceptable without the other. Thus hath it been decreed by Him Who is the Source of Divine inspiration."

What's interesting to me is how this paragraph, this understanding of the station of the Manifestation of God on earth, can also be applied to every previous religious Dispensation throughout human history. Abraham, Moses, Buddha, Krishna, Zoroaster, Christ, Muhammed, The Bab, Baha'u'llah; each of them claimed Divine inspiration and each of them I understand to be Manifestations of God, sent with a specifc message for a specific period of time and to address specific spiritual needs for society in a constant state of evolution and progress.

I feel we are now at a pivotal time in human history. Society is crying out for spiritual fulfillment and direction; the religious regimes of the past are no longer functional in that sense. We are in dire need of a drastic paradigm shift in order to align our understanding of existence in this world with that of what God has been telling us through His Manifestations - we were created through His bounty and unfailing mercy to know Him and to worship Him. And once we recognise that self-same purpose, we can no longer turn a blind eye to the needs of society. We are enjoined upon to go out into the world and serve mankind in whatever capacity we can offer.

Religion is not just about paying lipservice to an unknowable Essence that we think will punish us if we act 'wrong'; religion has to be a way of life that means worshipping God through manifold acts of kindness and service to our fellow human beings; it means being an example of love and hope and virtue in a crumbling world; it means being the best Baha'i I can possibly be by learning as much as I can about what it TRULY means to be a Baha'i and then putting it into practice.

Garbage Trucks and iPods

2008-02-04T04:51:00.000-08:00

Traffic ground to a halt and I got stuck for almost thirty minutes on Puah street today when a garbage truck got wedged between two badly parked cars.

There was absolutely no way to back up; even if it had been physically possible to back up, it would have been the wrong way on another one-way street. However, the minivan practically sitting on my rear bumper made that escape route non-existent.

A couple of guys jumped out of their cars to see if they could help; I was pretty hopeful. I've seen Israelis band together before and basically lift an entire car off the street to let traffic through. No such luck today though; those two cars weren't going anywhere. One guy was actually jumping up and down on the front grill of one of them - I assume he thought that if he could set the car alarm off, the owner would come rushing out to see who was stealing their car. Again, no luck there.

So the garbage truck decided to SLOWLY and painstakingly inch its way between the cars. I have never seen such precision when it comes to driving a two-ton piece of metal; at one point the truck looked like it was dancing because of the way the driver was making it wiggle back and forth. It was pretty amusing, and kept me occupied for a while.

Towards the end, another guy got out of his car and stood on the sidewalk, presumably to help the truck driver edge his way through. However, his help consisted of him flicking his arm wildly to the side, and gesticulating madly that the driver should just plow on through. Personally, I probably would have done that twenty minutes before...having been here for almost a year, I would have no qualms about taking off someone's side mirror on my way down the road.

That's just the way life is here in Haifa - narrow streets, crappy parking in non-parking spaces, and lots of garbage trucks and buses trying to navigate their way through. You couldn't pay me enough to drive either one. :)

Note: this whole situation probably would have been a lot less amusing if I hadn't had my iPod with me or had somewhere particular to be. Half an hour in the car with other drivers honking in the back, thinking that maybe if THEY honk their horn, the impediment will magically disappear, is generally not my idea of fun. But instead I got listen to the dulcet tones of Jack Johnson, Robert Gillies, Joshua Radin, and Fallout Boy for awhile. Good times...

Doppelganger

2008-01-30T07:24:00.000-08:00

So weird - at the mall today, I stopped by McD's (had a craving for fries, don't ask). I was waiting in line, and realised the cash register guy looked JUST like my friend Cole from university.

He was obviously younger, and Jewish, but other than that he was the spitting image of Cole.
I just kept thinking, "God, how sad would it be if Cole actually had to work at McDonald's?" That would assuredly be a most unfortunate circumstance...

:)

Horoscopes

2008-01-29T07:53:00.001-08:00

Haha, I generally don't believe in this sort of thing, but lately I've been really into reading my horoscope. I found this site, astrologyzone.com, and it's been kind of a lark going and checking it out. But the monthly horoscopes are becoming startlingly accurate, and I'm not really sure why that is. Hmmmm...

The good news is that nothing is predetermined - this woman even claims so on her website. She merely uses astrology as a means to understanding patterns and alignments of planets and how they might affect our lives (or not). It's sort of cool; it's not a replacement for religion or anything like that, it's supposed to be a fun way to look at how the universe can align to help us see things we might not have otherwise been aware.

Pretty cool...I'm still in control of my own fate, and only God knows what's going to happen in the future. But that doesn't mean that astrology can't be a fun little diversion one in a while. :)

Musings on a Bus

2008-01-28T04:11:00.000-08:00

I rode the bus home early from work yesterday because I sprained my ankle. It's funny how as soon as you need a spot to sit down, there is nothing available. Usually I prefer to stand and there are a dozen seats; as soon as I actually need to sit, poof!, nothing.

There was a girl sitting across from where I was standing, a soldier on her way home for the weekend. She was fast asleep, lying across her giant backpack, AK-47 laid gently on her lap pointed at the floor. How am I supposed to feel about this? It's funny and surreal all at the same time. I suppose it's what most people are used to around here, but I just don't think I'll ever get to used to seeing teenagers toting AK-47's on buses like it ain't no thang.

The Next Step...?

2008-01-26T12:52:00.000-08:00

OK, so Robert and I have talked a few times on the phone so far since I told him about my feelings for him. We haven't actually verbally discussed the subject, but the message I received on Facebook was basically a "I'm really flattered I don't know how I feel about you but I would love to get to know you better but I don't know if it would ever be more than that."

I can live with that.

I just want to get to know him better, and the best way to do that is to keep the lines of communication open. Be good friends first, with the knowledge that it could possibly develop into more. Because, as much as I am willing to give him space and not broach the subject again for a while, the topic will have to be raised again at some point in the future. All too often we girls put our power in the hands of the guy and then get frustrated when nothing evolves.

Now I just have to try REALLY hard not to devolve into Stalker Girl. I can sort of get that way when I like someone, but I guess we all feel that way sometimes. When you like a person, you want to interact with them as much as possible, right? But guys generally do not respond well when you call them four times a day just to 'chat'. Uh huh. I can't help it, I tend to get a little obsessive about things; it's my addictive personality. Such a personality can be extremely useful in certain situations, but when it comes to guys, I don't think they appreciate an addictive personality when they themselves can't figure out how they feel about things.

So now I sit and try to practice the valuable art of patience...

Freeing Myself Through Music

2008-01-25T12:37:00.000-08:00

I have decided that I really want to learn to play the guitar.

I already have the guitar, I recently restrung it with Robert's help, I have figured out how to tune it, now all I need to do is learn how to play it! :)

I have picked the songs I would like to learn, but I think I'm getting ahead of myself. I should probably learn a couple of chords first before I try to master any sort of songs. Hmmm...

Here's a list of songs I am currently in love with and play non-stop on the ipod:
The Fear You Won't Fall by Joshua Radin
Slow Dancing in a Burning Room by John Mayer
Flake by Jack Johnson
Lose Control by Maria Mena
When Susannah Cries by Espen Lind

It's pretty cool - the last two artists are Norwegian; I've been introduced to them by Synnove, who's been living at my flat while on pilgrimage right now. This stuff is gold!

So at this point I'm just having a blast listening to new music, trying my voice out on some old songs, and really just enjoying being in the moment. Music is so freeing and allows for such an emotional release that I can't seem to get enough right now!

Bridal Shower!

2008-01-19T12:31:00.000-08:00

Corinne and I hosted a bridal shower for Carla today! It was sooo much fun!!
We had everyone over to my flat since I have a rather large living room, and a bunch of ladies showed up for the party. Excellent times...
We played some cute bridal shower games, nothing too demeaning or anything - Carla's very sweet and doesn't ever want anyone to be embarrassed. My favourite was the recipe for a happy marriage game. Basically I just gave everyone index cards and we all wrote down our 'recipes' for a good marriage. Everyone got really creative!
I wrote a poem for the occasion:
Roses are red
Grass is so green
When you are married
You get to be Queen
(So make the most of it!) HAHA!

Now all I have to do is put together the scrapbook for the occasion and give it to Carla once she and Adam return from the States. (They're heading back home to get married, rather than get married in the Holy Land. Better that the family can all be there.)

Ramblings After A Talk...

2008-01-18T12:26:00.000-08:00

I had a good time after the Serving the Divine Plan talk. Got invited back to Sholeh's flat for hot chocolate with Kat and Geoffrey. I decided I need to be more social these days - I'm pretty tired a lot, but hot chocolate is hot chocolate. :)
A lot of people ended up showing up. Had a nice chat with some of the new orientation staff members. It's funny, as soon as I mention where I work, they either have a complaint or they want to congratulate us about the chocolates on the pillows. Always love those chocolates on the pillows...
Had a nice conversation with Semira, girl from the last orientation. She complimented me on my nails, which I remember distinctly since I have NEVER been complimented on my nails before. Never been able to grow them out long enough to look good. But apparently they're nice enough now to be noticed. Sweet! It's the little things I guess that people notice, so it's always good to take care of yourself.

Unexpected

2008-01-17T13:21:00.000-08:00

It was really great having Robert, Marjan and Justin all here at the same time on pilgrimage. I knew that Marjan and Justin were coming, but Robert being here was a complete surprise.

Robert surprised me by showing up at the Dawnbreaker Collective's performance, and we spent most of his remaining nights hanging out together during and after the pilgrim talks. It was really fun, but kind of surreal, since I had never really expected to see him again after his Wildfire tour in 2005. I guess I should probably admit here that I had had a crush on him at that point, but with him being on tour and me being in university, I had decided not to say anything. Seeing him here in the Holy Land brought all those feelings rushing back, something I was completely unprepared for.

We had some great conversations, most of them pretty random, which is coincidentally just the way I like them. Robert's musical career is really going to take off soon, so it was cool to hear about how things are going in terms of songwriting and putting together CD's and whatnot. We also walked all over the Merkaz back and forth to his hotel, and we had lots to talk about. The funniest incident was probably when we walked past the zoo to discover two guys in their car trying to break OUT. It looked like they had gotten locked inside when the zoo was bolted down for the night. When we walked past the guys were smashing at the padlocked post in the driveway with what looked like a sledgehammer. (Where did they get a sledgehammer?! Maybe it's better not to know...)

Anyhoo, suffice it to say Robert and I had much fun while he was here, but now that he's gone I'm left with these stirred-up emotions all over again, and I don't know what to do about them. I wrote him a message to tell him so, but he hasn't responded yet. Either a) he hasn't seen it yet or b) he has seen it and has no idea how to respond. It's funny - most guys say that they wish girls were more direct about their feelings for guys, and would just tell a guy how they feel, but when we actually do, most guys don't know how to react and so they don't. Well, I've put myself out on a limb, so the ball's in his court now.

Dawnbreaker Collective

2008-01-13T13:42:00.000-08:00

I was lucky enough to be invited to a small concert put on the Dawnbreaker Collective while they were on a three-day visit to the Holy Land. Too freaking cool for skool, man! It was five of them out of the whole collective, but that didn't matter, they still knew how to rock out.

Benny Cassette and Earl Iodine rocking the house!

L to R: Andy Grammer, Devon Gundry, Earl Iodine, Benny Cassette, and Tara Ellis.

I think this was when Andy was sharing his theories about women. Tres amusant.

Another group shot of everyone having a good time doing what they do best!

Naylors in Israel

2008-01-09T00:10:00.000-08:00

It was really nice having Bronwyn and Tahirih visiting Israel at the same time. I know Bronwyn was only here for a short visit, so we had to pack as much fun as possible into three days!
We went to the Shrines of the Bab and Baha'u'llah, the Mansion of Bahji, the famous falafel place in the Wadi, and we even went to Greg's Gallery Cafe with Theresa and Liam. The cafe was lovely, very crisp and white and pretty. Plus, Liam and Theresa have a car, so we didn't have to walk there. Finally!
It was so convenient having the ladies at Peter and Pat's flat, since it's so easy to get to. Accessibility is key. Bronwyn is gone now, but Tahirih is still here working hard, so I'll get to see her at the Holy Day celebrations (hopefully!).

External Affairs

2008-01-08T00:02:00.000-08:00

Here at the BWC we are currently hosting different external affairs representatives from the world over. They are all in charge of dealing with the public in terms of questions asked about the Baha'i Faith. These days it's mostly dealing with the situation of the Baha'is in Iran and Egypt, but they also generally deal with issues that affect Baha'is in their respective countries.

It's pretty cool having these representatives here. They did a presentation a few days ago where they shared some inspiring stories from their home communities, and it was wonderful to hear such (mostly) uplifting stories. I now really want to make sure that when I return home, I am fully active in my community both propagating and protecting the Faith.

There are also members of the Baha'i International Community (BIC) here from the UN, from both the New York and Swiss offices. My friend Tahirih happens to be one of the BIC representatives here from New York; it's so much fun to see her here in the Holy Land at the same time as me. Yay!

Musical Bliss

2008-01-01T11:30:00.000-08:00

We had another choir rehearsal today to prepare for our performance on 1o January. The twin holy days of the Birth of the Bab and the Birth of Baha'u'llah will be celebrated on the 10 and 11 of January, and the choir has the singular privilege of being able to perform live in the Concourse of the Seat of the Universal House of Justice.

I feel so honoured to be allowed to perform in such a remarkable venue. I feel deeply honoured to be able to sing praises to God in the Seat of His power and authority on earth. It's an amazing privilege and thrill to be in this choir!

Plus - bonus! - we always get to rehearse in the Seat as well. The multipurpose room truly serves its purpose in that regard. After rehearsal, I stuck around a little while to listen to Synnove, Jordan and Paul practice a few operatic pieces on the piano. It was ethereal; I couldn't help but lose myself in their melody, and when Synnove started playing some pieces from Songs from a Secret Garden, that was sheer bliss. It doesn't matter that I was ready to drop dead from exhaustion - I stayed and listened to that glorious music wafting through the hallways of the Seat building and thought to myself, "How lucky am I?"

Trip Processing

2007-12-31T11:25:00.000-08:00

OK, Jaleh's been gone for a couple of days now, and I haven't had time to breathe, let alone sit down and blog!

But now that things have simmered down a little, I can take the time to go through and process this trip. Mostly I took pictures of everything, so now I just have to edit them into a cohesive timeline of events.

I think I'll split it into week one and week two, at which point I can add photos to the blog and discuss what we did and where. Exciting, n'est pas? We did SOOOO much in such a short amount of time...this will be a nice chance to go back and really savour the time Jaleh and I had together here in the Holy Land.

Family visiting in the Holy Land

2007-12-18T12:14:00.000-08:00

My sister's visiting me in Israel for two weeks!!! It's so wonderful to have her here; I can't wait to go out and show her the city sights and the Shrines and the people. There's so much to do, I hope we can get it all done in only two weeks.

Joaquin and I took the train out to the airport at 2:40 am to meet Jaleh and bring her to Haifa. We got there at 3:40, and Jaleh was already waiting outside by the visitors' area, so we hugged quickly and hauled her back down to the train terminal to catch the 3:53 train back to Haifa. I am completely surprised that we made it, but we did it! Good thing too, or else we would have had to wait around the airport for another hour for the next train...

So we made it back to Haifa at about 5:00 am, and Pat was waiting to pick us up from the station. We got the lovely scenic drive back home, viewing the Shrine of the Bab from Ben Gurion Ave., before we made it home to sleep. We then slept until about 2:00 pm.

After we woke up, I was able to bring Jaleh down to register at the Reception Centre. Then we made our visit to the Shrine of the Bab, which was wonderful; so restful and relaxing. I have visited the Shrine many times since I've been serving here, but there's something different about being able to share it with a visitor, especially someone as close to me as my sister. It was really special.

We were both a little too tired to go to the pilgrim talk that night, but we did make our way over to 2nd November for some food and a movie with the boys, Jayce and John Michael. Always a barrel of laughs with those two. :)

Now we are preparing to go to work - I've gotten permission for Jaleh to volunteer with me in my office while she's here, so that will be a lot of fun! She can see what my day-to-day job REALLY is like. It's going to be great. And we have a small get-together planned for Wednesday, a sort of meet-and-mingle, so that should be nice.

Medical Expenses

2007-12-13T07:22:00.000-08:00

I had quite a terrible scare the other day.

I've been waiting for the invoice from my surgery to come in so that I could pay it. However, when I got the bill from Health Services, the amount was almost 10x what I had been told it would cost. I nearly had a heart attack when I saw the bill, and I was rather afraid that Dad might have a conniption when he found out what had happened.

I sent a timid email to Dad and then called him, hoping that he was in a good mood. He was pleased to hear from me, although not exactly pleased about the circumstances surrounding my call. We came to the conclusion that whatever the price was, we would pay it, but it was extremely important for me to try and contact the hospital to see if I could arrange for some sort of discount.

Coming from Canada, I'm not really used to haggling with health care providers over price, but this was a special situation and I was rather desperate for any sort of monetary relief. I called the billing section of the hospital and was able to talk to a very nice woman who suggested I contact the BWC Health Services in order for them to grease some wheels with the administration section. So that is exactly what I did; I explained that I don't have insurance coverage for these types of operations, I had been told a different price, I don't have money, etc.

They were really great about the whole thing - between myriad emails and phone calls and meetings, they were able to get the price changed back to close to the original quote. Turns out there had been a lot of miscommunication that had happened prior to the surgery, and then the invoice had had the wrong code for the billing situation.

So, at the end of the day, I don't have to pay much more than I originally thought, and my parents don't have to declare bankruptcy to help me out financially. Excellent; all those prayers at the Shrines really paid off...

Happiness

2007-12-11T07:24:00.000-08:00

I sometimes feel that my life has no relevant meaning or purpose, that my existence is predicated on the sole fact that my parents whimsically decided to procreate and my immortal soul happened to be floating around in the ether when it occured.

However...

Some days it only takes a smile to know that I've touched a life that will be irrevocably changed because of my presence. And knowing that takes the sting out of some of the meaninglessness.

I'm not trying to be vain or proud of what I do. What I do is simply try to touch someone's heart and make their day a little bit brighter. If I can do that, I've accomplished my unspoken, heartfelt task for the day.

And when that happens, I feel a small sense of purpose, a small sense that this is part of what I am here for, what I am here to accomplish in this fleeting material existence. I like to make people happy - and that makes me happy.

Pilgrims in a Holy Land...

2007-12-09T11:35:00.000-08:00

My friends, the Cyr family, recently came on pilgrimage to the Holy Land. It is one of those experiences that stays with you for a lifetime, so I'm really glad that I got to share some of those same moments with them.

It was really wonderful to see Genevieve as well, because I hadn't seen her since March when I came to serve here in Israel, and she has since then gotten married. :) Yay! I'm sad I missed the wedding, but there are so many more experiences to be had...

I spent a lovely afternoon with the Cyrs in Akka, the prison city on the other edge of the bay opposite Haifa. I am loathe to admit that this was my first excursion into the Old City since I have been here, but in all honesty I've been so busy working and serving and trying to get enough sleep that I hadn't really given myself the opportunity before now to go and explore the Old City portion of Akka with some friends.

It was a whole lot of fun; we all met up in a sherut down to Akka, with our good friend Abboud driving. He is a well known fixture amongst the Baha'is that serve here. On the sherut also was an old friend of my parents, Patsy Irving, which was a pleasant and unexpected surprise. We took the sherut all the way to the Land Gate, at which point we got out and decided to do a little walking/shopping through the bazaar areas nearby. Well, we happened upon a music store, and that was it. The Cyrs are a very musically inclined family, so many minutes later we emerged many shekels lighter than when we had stepped in. I even got myself a little ceramic drum to practice on. (Mom would be so proud!)

After the bazaar experience we were able to go into the Al-Jezeer mosque located nearby. For a couple of shekels we went inside the compound to see one of the oldest and most beautiful mosques in the city. This mosque was present during the time of Baha'u'llah, so it was quite easy to picture many of the early believers crowded around outside to see if He was going to visit and talk to the multitude of worshippers.

We didn't have much more time to stay in the Old City (we are asked to be out of that area of town around 4:00 pm or so, mostly for our own safety because it gets pretty rowdy after dark), so Patsy, Marie-Jo and I wandered around a while longer looking for the famous Templar Tunnels before we realised we were hopelessly lost and headed towards the sea port not the tunnels. So we quickly made our way back through the maze of narrow streets and overshadowing buildings to the Land Gate to meet our sherut again to get out to Bahji and the Shrine of Baha'u'llah.

What a glorious feeling, to be able to visit the prison city area where Baha'u'llah was imprisoned for so much of His life, and then be permitted to go and visit the holiest spot on Earth, His holy resting place in Bahji. The juxtaposition of the two is a humbling and reverential experience.

Mom's poetry

2007-12-04T11:31:00.000-08:00

Mom sent me this poem she wrote about me, the one I blogged about earlier when I claimed that we are psychic. Here's what Mom has to say about me:

Seven Hours Different
By Karen Sasani
November 22, 2007

We used to snuggle in her small room
In bed before 8
Read together
like we couldn’t get enough to drink
Both dressed in plaid and blue jeans
without knowing what the other
had on that day

Now she’s seven hours different
and half a world away

Watching her sister nurse
she wanted to taste it too
She stirred the dough
while I lined the cookie tin
I got out the paints
While she filled the water glass

Now she’s seven hours different
and half a world away

I put on nail polish for a wedding
And she said I had cherries on my nails
She splashed her sister in the bubble pool
While I snapped their pictures
We saved our crusts for the birds
and walked to Girl Guides together
and were so sure that everything
would always be this nice

Now she’s seven hours different
and half a world away

Musings

2007-12-01T14:05:00.001-08:00

Sometimes I wonder how much of our lives can be measured by the steps we take to ensure our posterity.

It seems a shame that so many of us are judged early on in our lives solely by arbitrary labels and ideas.

I think about what it means to be trying to get by in a world that looks at abstracts like success and freedom with an alarmingly black-or-white mentality - there don't seem to be any tangible grey areas.

the numbers flow

incessantly, unswervingly

making sense fall to the wayside

emotion and intellect

failing to interconnect

living on the point

of a double-edged sword

seems ludicrous

sanity fleeting, ungraspable

the numbers flow

and the numbness sets in

Baha'i Celebrity Alert!

2007-12-01T01:48:00.000-08:00

I met a really cool guy last night, you might have heard of him - Rainn Wilson. He is most well known for his work on the television show The Office, as the character Dwight, but he's also been in numerous other t.v. shows and movies, i.e. Six Feet Under, Entourage, Sahara, C.S.I., etc. Neat! It's really fun to meet Baha'i celebrities, because there aren't very many of them.

He and his wife Holiday are on a three day visit to the Holy Land, and I bumped into them at the pilgrim talk. Very nice, very down-to-earth guy, especially for someone who has to work in Hollywood. Rainn and my friend MJ hit it off well because she's a singer/songwriter, so they had alot to talk about his most recent film, The Rocker. Apparently it was filmed in Toronto, so it's disappointing we didn't know about it sooner because she totally could have been an extra! :)

Anyway, like I said, it was very cool to meet a Baha'i celebrity who hadn't let fame and money get in the way of faith. Spirituality and material success don't have to be mutually exclusive; it's simply a matter of figuring out which one is the priority in your life.

There's a Praying Mantis on my fern...

2007-11-28T09:46:00.000-08:00

Actually, the title of the post sums the situation up pretty well. I found a praying mantis living on my fern. I guess it makes sense since it's in the living room. (BWHWHAHAA!)

Ok, seriously though, he was pretty cool to look at. I was watering the fern when I saw some movement towards the bottom, and when I looked closer, it turned out to be a small, off-white praying mantis climbing up one of the fronds. Neat, but I already have two flatmates and would prefer not to have one of the insect variety.

I grabbed a piece of paper and nudged him onto it, whereby I gently let him out the living room window onto our air conditioner box. He's in God's hands now; I just hope the cats don't get him...

Commemmoration of the Ascension of Abdu'l-Baha

2007-11-28T09:22:00.000-08:00

Last night we commemmorated the passing of Abdu'l-Baha on November 28 1921. The holy day observance is always at midnight because that is when his soul ascended to the Abha kingdom. Although for most Baha'i holy days work is suspended the following day, Abdu'l-Baha requested that his birthday and his ascension not be considered holy days as such. So work is not suspended on his ascension night, and instead of celebrating his birthday, we celebrate the Day of the Covenant instead (also in November).

It was a beautiful service, held in the Concourse of the Seat of the Universal House of Justice. The readings were eloquent, the atmosphere solemn, and afterwards all 1100 attendees stood on the steps of the Seat and reverently faced the Shrine of the Bab and Abdu'l-Baha for the recitation of the Tablets of Visitation.

We silently made our way down from the Seat to the Shrine itself in order to circumabulate the premises before ending up in front of the Haifa Pilgrim House for the inevitable Kodak moments. Here are a few gratutitous shots:

The air outside the Shrine as I was walking to the Pilgrim House smelled faintly of watermelon and jasmine blossoms. It was heavenly, and I remember thinking how incredibly fortunate I am to have the opportunity to serve here and be this close to the holiest spots on earth. Last night was magical and, although exhausted, I was thoroughly pleased to have been there.

Lost on the 32

2007-11-26T07:16:00.000-08:00

I got lost on the bus today.

I was feeling sick and decided to head home early. So I went to the bus stop near the office, and the first bus to swing by was the 32. Now, I am aware that the 32 stops almost directly in front of my house, I'm just not sure what the actual route is. But I was fairly confident that it would head up Hatzionut, turn on Tchernikovski and loop back around to Beth El after a few minutes. So I hopped on the bus to see exactly where it would take me before it took me home.

It didn't take me home, I can tell you that much.

The 32 swung down Bethlehem and into an area that I have never been to before. It's a nice area on the mountain overlooking the bay, but it wasn't exactly where I wanted to be. But I figured the bus had to loop around at SOME point because where else was it supposed to go out that way? Well, the bus was looping all right, but not where I wanted to go.

I ended up riding the bus alone in a Russian/Jewish (?) section called Ramat Shual. The roads all looped back and forth onto each other, and I felt like I was going in circles. Until the bus pulled up to a stop in the middle of nowhere and motioned to me that this was the end of the line. Slicha? Pardon? THIS is the end of the line? Where am I?!!? I had no choice but to disembark and await another bus to take me home. (Or close to it. At this point I was sort of desperate.)

At least I recognised the bus lines at this particular bus stop. I realised I could take the 26 or the 115 and those should theoretically get me back to where I wanted to be. Of course, theory I realised, was what had gotten me into this mess in the first place. *Sigh* So I was feeling sick and tired and discombobulated from the bus ride, but finally the 26 showed up. I boarded the buse and said a little prayer that this one was going to be a through ride. After about ten minutes I started to recognise street names again. Emile Zola, Stephen Wise, Victor Hugo - I knew I was getting somewhat close. (Yeah, I know they're weird street names but what can you do? At least they're famous.)

Finally, FINALLY, I was able to get off on Tchernikovski directly out front of our beloved 24-flower shop (which has its own unique and unusual story to tell), and I made it home safe and sound. And now I am sitting on my bed, poring over a street map of Haifa, trying to figure out where the heck I travelled to.

One thing I learned on my unplanned expedition - Adam is wrong. Avigdor Hame'iri is not where our trusty gas station is. It's where I got lost, where Tchernikovski turns into Stella Maris.
Hmmmmm...

ESP (no, not the sports channel...)

2007-11-23T07:02:00.000-08:00

My mom and I are psychically connected.

I know, I know, scary but true!

I've been rather fluish and sick the past days, and on Wenesday I called home to Mom because I like to whine to my parents when I'm ill. Makes me feel better somehow. Mom wasn't home, so I left a message on her machine saying I'm sick and want some affection.

So about an hour later I get a call on our home line (which no one ever calls because who uses their home line when they have a cell phone?). It's Mom, and she's wondering how I am because she was "just thinking of me." I tell her of course she's been thinking about me; she got my message and was calling me back. Wrong. Apparently her answering machine is all wonky and doesn't let her receive most of her messages anyway. So she didn't even know I had called an hour before; she just knew she was thinking of me and had the urge to call.

I know what you're thinking - "So what? That doesn't mean jack squat; it's all coincidence." Ok, then smartypants, how about what happened the next day?...

I wanted to talk to Mom again, even though I had just talked to her the day before. Call it what you will, I just wanted to hear her voice. So I dialled her, thinking she was probably already out for the day, and wouldn't you know it, she was there. And astounded, because it turned out I had called her right as she was trying to think of an ending to a poem she was writing about me.

?!?!?!

Mom read me what she had written so far in the poem, and it was all about me as a child and the adorable things I had done and how I am now "seven hours different and half a world away." Now, I don't know about you, but I got chills at that one. I couldn't believe I had the urge to call home right at the exact moment my mom was wracking her brain trying to finish a poem dedicated to me.

So, we're psychic, and that's that. Mom and I have a bond that transcends physical limitations and I think that's pretty darn cool.

Stopping to Smell the Roses...or Hibiscus...

2007-11-15T05:21:00.000-08:00

I was behind the Seat today, walking back from Bracha Habas. There are a bunch of hibiscus trees that line the walkway, and the flowers are a glorious shade of red. While stopping to savour them, I noticed something rustling in the leaves. Out popped a gorgeous little hummingbird!

The hummingbird was definitely female, since she wasn't brightly coloured, but she was still beautiful. She was flitting around from flower to flower, zipping back and forth across the pathway. She nipped behind each hibiscus and drank some nectar, then she flew off.

It was nice to take some time and just enjoy being out and about in Israel. Sometimes it's easy to forget where I am and why I'm doing this job, but it's times like these when I really feel like I'm in the Holy Land.

Weird Conversations

2007-11-13T13:02:00.000-08:00

I have them. Weird conversations, that is. I know most people probably wouldn't believe half the things I randomly have conversations about, but believe me when I say that most of them should have been recorded for posterity.

My most random conversations tend to occur when I hang out with John Michael and Jayce. We're El Tries Amigos Locos (I think that means the crazy three amigos). We've talked about everything from Nazi chickens to protruding escarpments to hair juice. You know what's a weird topic? Whether hair juice might be as good as carrot juice.

Today at lunch I had a great conversation with some friends about creating our own amphibious vehicles and whether they should come equipped with projectile launchers. The best projectile we came up with? Jelly beans. Yeah, that's right. I told Carla she would be the most popular mom in the world if she showed up to pick her kids up at school and shot jelly beans at the other children. The conversation then turned to optometry and occupational therapy as prospective job fields. I'm not even kidding; you can't make stuff like this up.

Kat thinks I'm absolutely bonkers when I get on a rant about something completely and utterly ridiculous, but I figure if you can't be ridiculous with your friends, when can you? And besides, everyone who's ever met me knows I'm definitely eccentric (or nuts), so why fight it?

Fesenjoon

2007-11-12T10:37:00.000-08:00

So I'm on the bus home after work chatting with Kamran on my cell, when I see Iman standing in the intersection across from my house waiting for the light to turn. I wave hysterically at him through the bus window, and I know he sees me but is not quite sure WHO exactly he's seeing. I motion him over to the bus stop, where I dismount and he comes over to say hi.

Now at this point, it is important to note that we had previously had a conversation in the Food Centre not twenty-four hours ago about how he was extremely disappointed that I had not invited him to my flat for a visit since we have been here. Therefore God, according to His wonderfully mysterious ways, arranged for us to meet on the street just beyond my building. Fate.

I tell him to come over and hang out, and he shows me the food processor he just acquired from one of the ladies here at the World Centre. Sweet. So with the food processor in tow, we head back to my place to "stir up" a little trouble. Kat was home when we arrived, and was just about to cook something for dinner, so Iman offered to whip up a little fesenjoon.

Ok, there is some sort of weird phenomenon here at the World Centre where everyone seems to be a little fesenjoon-obsessed. Granted, it is quite a delicious dish of chopped walnuts, pomegranate paste and chicken, but everyone really goes crazy for it. And it's funny to me how many different versions of it there actually are. Kat and Iman had an amusing (to me) discussion about how their fesenjoon recipes were so vastly different...
"I add my paste to the chicken and let it simmer to thicken."
"Well, I cook them separately and add them together on the plate."
"You leave the onions in with the chicken?"
"You don't?"
"Do you want me to leave the onions in?"
"Not if you don't want to. But I eat them separately."
..that sort of thing.

Well, now Iman cannot claim that I have not invited him over to my flat for a real visit. It was quite lovely having a nice gentleman come by and cook some fesenjoon goodness for the ladies. Next time I'll have to do ghormeh sabzi if I really want to impress.

Beth El Dinner Party!

2007-11-08T09:24:00.000-08:00

Kat invited a small group of our friends over for a nice homecooked meal at our place to celebrate Roya and her brother Navid being here on pilgrimage. We had a great time hanging out together, eating fantastic Persian food, and watching some Flight of the Conchords comedy on the laptop.

It was nice to be able to have everyone over to relax, laugh, be with each other. It was also the first real party I'd had the energy for since my surgery, so that made it pretty special.

We all love to laugh, and everyone thinks they're a comedian. Sometimes it's just good to sit back and have a good bellylaugh and not worry about being ridiculous. Hence the Flight of the Conchords bit, I suppose...

I just had to add this picture since it was one of the funniest of the night. The camera wasn't set to the timer, so when Kat pressed the button, none of us were quite ready. Navid, Lucia, and I all gave it a rousing two thumbs up! :)

Working At The Carwash...la la la...

2007-11-04T07:30:00.000-08:00

Got to wash the Accommodations car today!

We had too much fun; I had to drive the large Subaru into a narrow carwash slot designed for a lesser car, and try not to smash up the new bumper. I got to spray that sucker down with a sawed-off garden hose, but I had to avoid getting Adam sopping wet since he was trying to wash the tires on the other side. I think we both got a little moistened.

One of my buddies (who shall remain nameless) came by while we were finishing up. I didn't even realise he was there watching until I almost backed up onto him. He said he was "just enjoying the view", because apparently a woman washing a car is one of the hottest things on the planet. Ha ha! Me in my rolled-up dress pants and dirty sneakers trying to hose down a boat of a car with a garden hose. Too sexy.

Looks like we'll have to do the whole thing again relatively soon, because the desert sand and general bird/bat poop tends to accumulate pretty quickly on the cars here. Good times...

After-party at Mandarin

2007-10-30T13:56:00.000-07:00

No comments required. We know we're awesome.

Choir Practice

2007-10-30T12:52:00.000-07:00

I recently joined the Baha'i World Centre Choir. There are about fifty or sixty of us overall, and it is so much fun to rehearse.

I happen to be a "low" soprano, which basically means I can sing high, but not high enough to shatter glass with my voice. There are about a dozen sopranos altogether, which makes us the smallest section in the choir. I've never been in a choir where the bass section is larger than the soprano section, but I have to admit it does give us a beautiful, well-rounded sound.

We get to rehearse in the Seat every Tuesday evening after work. I must admit that I'm usually pretty exhausted by the time I arrive for practice, but the voice warmups and actual singing get me really pumped! By the end of rehearsal I feel like a million bucks! Which is useful, because I then have to walk home...

We have our first show on 9 November; I believe it's a celebration for Baha'u'llah's birthday. At home we celebrate His birthday by the Gregorian calendar (12 November); here in the Holy Land we celebrate The Bab and Baha'u'llah's birthdays as twin celebrations that follow the lunar calendar. So that means that Their birthdays won't be celebrated until January of next year. So, in deference to the importance of the date, we are putting together a celebration for Baha'u'llah in November.

I'm looking forward to all the fun I'll be having over the course of this next year with the choir!

The Promised Pictures of Our Play

2007-10-28T17:17:00.000-07:00

I take a break in the Smith's house

Being silly while putting the sets together

I take a little peek through the window to see what's going on...

May casually relaxes in Mrs. Snowton's house

Geoffrey tests out the "Floroscopic Soul Assessor" I created

Shot of dress rehearsal in progress for The Divine Spark

Backstage on show night - capturing the spectacle!

Getting ready for some makeup magic; you can never have too many sparkles

The rest of my backstage crew: Jonathan, Dave, Kat, and Luis

The impish little souls from Heard on High.

Still Homebound

2007-10-28T16:58:00.000-07:00

Wow, so I'm reading Kat's blog and feeling like a complete slug for not blogging more frequently. However, I'm not really feeling like there's a whole lot going on in my life right now.
Let's see...what can I possibly say about what I've been up to for the past few weeks?

1. I've been growing my hair out. I know that seems like a cop-out answer, but I actually am trying to grow my hair longer. It seems the shorter Kat chops her hair (which looks good on her), the more I want my long hair back again (which looks good on me). We have a funny dynamic that way.

2. I had many a friend visit the past week or so. I haven't felt this popular in ages! I guess it takes a painful medical procedure to bring people out of their homes and into mine. Who knew? I haven't had to cook dinner for myself for almost two weeks now; leftovers are especially yummy if you didn't have to cook the original meal. I just have to remember how quickly food turns bad here and try to avoid the dishes with furry mould in them. Time to clean out the fridge and see what's lurking behind my pitas and cream cheese...

3. I tried to go back to work today. I made it into the office with relative ease, albeit the trek to the bus stop was the most I have walked in two weeks. I thought I could make it through the day; turns out I made it about two hours before I had to call it quits and go home. It should be ok; my coordinator has made it clear he is fine with me taking as much time as I need to recuperate before coming back in to work. There's no point in pushing myself too hard and screwing up all the healing progess I've made so far.

I still want to upload (download? what's the correct terminology?) pictures of recent events here; perhaps I can do that over the next few days now that my nausea has subsided and I can look at a computer screen for prolonged periods of time.

So Sick of Being Sick

2007-10-26T10:23:00.000-07:00

I am SO BORED!!! (and still really sore...)

I've been stuck at home for over a week, while everyone else is at work. It's absolutely no fun getting over surgery, and even less so when everyone is so busy. :(

But it hasn't all been bad; people have been stopping by in the evenings to hang out and bring me food. I haven't really had the energy or drive to cook for myself, so the friends have been cooking up a storm and giving me food. Love it! Who could complain about free food and company?

Guess what? Having your nerves severed means that you're in for a whole world of pain in terms of recuperating. I had no idea what to expect until the night before last, when the intense muscle/spinal pain was so bad that I threw up. Not cool. I ended up going to the hospital again yesterday to get checked out and see if they could prescribe some other pain killer that would actually WORK and wouldn't make me continually nauseated. They gave me some liquid oxycodone while in the ER, and damn, that was awesome! I was floating the rest of the afternoon. I totally wish they could have perscribed that stuff for me. Damn.

Anyhoo, now I'm taking stuff for the general pain, for muscular-skeletal pain, and for nausea.

Let's hope this means I can go back to work the day after tomorrow. I don't know how I'll be feeling by Sunday, but I'm going to try my hardest to get in to work and see what I can do. If worst comes to worst I'll have to leave early. But I really miss seeing everyone in the lunchroom and around the BWC.

...Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity-Jig

2007-10-22T04:14:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm home from the operation, which was a resounding success.

I feel like I've been run over by a sherut, since it's hard to breathe, but no matter. It shall get better as time progresses.

I've been trading off days where I feel fine between days where I'm really nauseated and woozy the whole time. My Accommodations partner-in-crime, Adam, was a nurse before coming here, so he's been giving me lots of advice about how to get better quicker and without the vomiting. :) Apparently going off your pain meds too early can actually make you feel worse before you feel better. That explains a LOT... I gotta remember to keep taking those pain killers until I feel 100% better.

I'm still feeling pretty out of it today, so this is just a short post. But I wanted everyone to know that I am alive and kicking, albeit with not too much energy or drive. C'est la vie, n'est pas?

Endoscopic Thoracsic Sympathectomy

2007-10-08T14:40:00.000-07:00

That's the name of the surgical procedure I'm undergoing in a little over a week.

I've elected to have surgery to correct my case of hyperhydrosis, a condition characterised by overactive sweat glands that activate without warning or reason. It affects approximately 1% of the population (I think this statistic is from the States, but suffice it to say, this condition is either fairly rare or completely undiagnosed a lot of the time). The surgery basically entails me going under anesthesia while the doctors create several tiny incisions under my arms to thread the endoscope (tiny camera) through to my spine. Apparently they will have to collapse my lungs in order to manuever the endoscope through the ribs and towards the spinal column where the nerve clusters are that they have to locate. Once located, they will then go ahead and sever the nerves leading to the affected areas.

Hyperhidrosis is something that's affected my life for quite some time now. For years, it has negatively affected me, where my hands and armpits sweat profusely without rhyme or reason. It's a most embarrassing condition to be faced with; people don't want to shake my hands, people ask why my clothes are stained, people ask if I'm feeling alright because I seem to be so sweaty. When buying clothes, I have to constantly wonder if this particular fabric/ colour/ design will show the sweat stains that will inevitably present themselves. Even thinking about the future had always given me trouble - I wondered about getting married, what that would entail: shaking peoples' hands at the reception, being excited and nervous and thereby exacerbating the condition - all sorts of worries that normally wouldn't affect someone's life, but worries that I have been all too acutely aware of for far too long.

I'm lucky to be able to have this procedure done while I'm serving here at the World Centre; it would have been extremely uncomfortable for me to have to wait until I moved back home to Canada. However, I have to admit that I'm getting really nervous about the whole situation - none of my family is here, and I feel pretty isolated right now. Sure, I have a lot of friends here, and they're being really supportive, but I almost hate having to tell people that I'm having surgery at all. I'm vacillating between excitment and sheer terror, but it's exceedingly hard to articulate that to anyone. So I'm left trying to explain myself to people who have no idea exactly how deeply this condition has affected my life, socially, physically, and mentally.

I'm sure I'm simply overanxious about the whole thing; things will work out the way they're supposed to, regardless of whether I stew about them or not.

The Rain in Spain Falls Mainly in the Plains...

2007-10-06T03:44:00.000-07:00

...on the other hand, the rain in Israel falls mainly on the mountain of God in Haifa.

It's that time of year, where the gently misting rain begins to fall at night and continues into the morning. It rained last night, but I thought I was just hearing people shuffling on the street all night.

But it was really sweet this morning; the sun was out, the sky was cloudy but not overcast, and it was sprinkling rain down on my shoulders as I walked to the office. I wish the weather could be like this all year! So gorgeous. Plus, it clears all the dust out of the air, so I can't complain there... :)

A little bit of rainy beauty can go a long way to lifting my spirits.

Blast from the Past

2007-10-02T16:47:00.000-07:00

Today I ran into Ryan Lash in the Food Centre. Talk about your blast from the past! I knew this guy from when I was a toddler back in Milton, Ontario in the eighties. Crazy!

It's really interesting to see where the Baha'i youth I grew up with have ended up. Most of them (the ones I've been able to keep track of, anyway) have not really remained active as Baha'is. So it's refreshing to see when someone has stayed really active and faithful to Baha'u'llah. Inspiring.

Ryan is now a consultant who is invited to the World Centre every few months. I'm not sure exactly what he consults about, as that would be confidential, but it's nice to know I'll see a familiar face here every so often over the next couple of years.

Won't Mom be surprised when I tell her I ran into Vicki's son here in Israel... :)

19 Day Fest

2007-09-27T02:57:00.000-07:00

Since we don't have an administrative body like a Local Spiritual Assembly here in Israel, we normally don't celebrate the nineteen day feasts. However, there is a small contingent of youth here who still want to celebrate together and practice some of the Baha'i activities we have been encouraged to participate in once we go home to our respective communities.

So, every nineteen days we have been getting together, eating some lovely food, and practicing our home visiting techniques. We get divided into teams of two and throughout those nineteen days we have to do a home visit with someone. Then, at the next nineteen day 'fest' as I like to call them, we report back and talk about how the home visits went.

Making dinner beforehand (mmmmm, tortillas!)

Just hanging out on the Moon Couch

It's a really fantastic learning experience - we are encouraged to go and visit people that we don't know particularly well so that we can mingle with more of the Baha'is here at the World Centre. I've already gotten to know lots of people that I didn't know very well before, and now I can walk up and say hi to them at work without feeling awkward. Plus, this is the absolute best place for practicing our techniques for storytelling, historical narrative, and fact finding. If you don't feel comfortable visiting fellow Baha'is at home, how will you ever feel comfortable visiting people that you don't know at all? The whole point of a home visit is to be able to visit both Baha'is and their friends who are interested in learning more about the Baha'i Faith. It's a lot of fun!

Last nineteen day 'fest' was Kent's birthday. Happy B-day buddy!!

Always make sure you have enough ice cream... :)

I'm So Tired

2007-09-25T13:32:00.001-07:00

I've been so exhausted lately I just haven't had the time or the energy to really post anything of value. Well, no energy to post anything at ALL, actually.

Things I should and will probably blog about in the near future:
-Switching jobs
-Finishing the Ihtifal play (complete with pictures!)
-Dr. Varqa's passing and funeral
-Stress points in my life and why they suck
-Upcoming surgery next month

Tune in soon for updates on these topics and more on Shireen's blog! (I feel like FOX or ABC) :)

Blistered, Battered, and Bruised

2007-09-20T13:08:00.000-07:00

Today was the tech rehearsal for the Ihtifal play, and am I ever exhausted! Turns out I'm stage managing the show, running around backstage making sure everything is set up properly. It's been a whirlwind of a time getting this thing ready to perform, but I think we're close to ready.

The sets are all painted and attached and in the space - I think they look particularly awesome. Isidro, May, Dave and I spent an inordinate amount of time and energy making these sets sparkle. And I think we've succeeded.

I may be blistered, I may be bruised, I may be absolutely beyond tired, I may have almost shot myself through the leg with a staple gun, but I think it may all have been worth it. We shall see what tomorrow brings - we have the final dress rehearsal tomorrow afternoon, and none of my stage crew have any idea what props they are assigned to bring on, but we're just going to wing it and have a marvellous time doing it.

I will be posting the photo diary I have been keeping of the process we've been going through. I can't post it until after the show though - no spoilers! We want everyone to be flabbergasted by the sets and props and costumes, so no peeking. :)

Soon, though, very soon...

Filing, Filing Everywhere!

2007-09-20T01:59:00.000-07:00

Finding it very hard to concentrate right now....

I need to be going through all the old files at work and make sure everything is up-to-date before I leave this job for another, but I keep getting left alone in the office for hours on end. It's very hard to motivate one's self to plow through stacks of paper when it seems never-ending and there isn't anyone peering over your shoulder to get it done.

Ok, I need to stop in my tracks and remind myself I'm not doing this for me, I'm doing this for the person coming in after me. I'm doing this so the department can have access to its files. I'm doing this because that's what I was brought in here to do. I'm doing this because...well, because it's the easiest way I have right now of serving the House of Justice.

Man, if that isn't enough motivation, I don't know what is. Back to the grindstone I go, but with a lighter feeling in my heart. Motivation is everything here, and I'm finding mine now. Writing these things out really seems to put a lot into perspective, doesn't it?

Technology Eludes Me No Longer!

2007-09-19T06:41:00.000-07:00

I have finally figured out to link my friends' blogs to my own.
And it's only taken me three months to do.

I know, I know, the term is technologically impaired, I'm seeking counselling...

But lucky you, now you can see into the souls of some of my closest friends. There are some pretty cool people that I happen to be friends with, and they lead lives as exciting and eventful as mine!

The irony of that statement hits me like a grand piano dropped from a fifth storey window. (I'm trying to add some hyperbole to an otherwise dull post. Is it working?)

Sometimes I feel like my life is completely uneventful, but then I only have to glance at previous posts and I am reminded that sometimes my life is like an out of control freight train with me at the helm. And I don't know anything about trains.

But life is good, this is the gist of my post here.

"Life is what happens to you on the way to somewhere else."

Higher Education Denied to Baha'is in Iran

2007-09-18T01:04:00.000-07:00

The Iranian government, although lately has been denying its expulsion of Baha'i university students based on their religious affiliations, has in fact been lying about its practices, and has been expelling students on no other grounds than the fact that they are Baha'i. These allegations were confirmed in a confidential government memorandum from Iran's Ministry of Science, Research and Technology:

"The letter refutes recent statements by Iranian officials, who say Baha'i students in Iran face no discrimination - despite the fact that more than half of the Baha'i university students enrolled last autumn were gradually expelled over the course of the 2006-2007 academic year."

Please follow this link for more information on the government memorandum: http://news.bahai.org/story/575

Following in the wake of this distressing news, it has now been categorically confirmed that Iranian Ministry officials are actively trying to keep Baha'i students from receiving higher education. Out of over 1,050 Baha'is to sit for their entrance examinations this year, over 800 did not received their test scores back, saying they were deemed "incomplete". This means that none of those students were able to apply for university entrance for the 2007-2008 school year.

In a letter dated 9 September 2007, the Universal House of Justice, the supreme administrative body for the Baha'i world, wrote to the Baha'i youth in Iran encouraging them to stand firm during this exceedingly difficult period of time. The three page document states:

"These official acts are disappointing and shameful," wrote the Universal House of Justice. "This action of the government in obstructing youth, Baha'i or otherwise, from access to higher education stands in contrast to the noble history of Iran's past attainments."

The Universal House of Justice asks the youth of Iran to remain resolute in their convictions, steadfast in their faith, and ever-patient in the face of overwhelming government opposition. They are to:

"With an illumined conscience, with a world-embracing vision, with no partisan political agenda, and with due regard for law and order, strive for the regeneration of your country. By your deeds and services, attract the hearts of those around you, even win the esteem of your avowed enemies,"

Please follow this link for more information about the letter sent to the Iranian Baha'i youth: http://www.bwns.org/story/577

I post this information here in the hopes that people will read it, and their eyes will be opened to the injustice happening in the world around them. We all need to actively strive for the betterment of the world and its populace, and to do so we all need to be aware and informed about current oppression and tyranny. It is my wish that any and all university students back home in Canada, as well as Canadian government officials, will rise to the challenge and step forward to denounce these shameful acts of the Iranian government towards the Baha'i youth of its country.

(Please note - I am not, in any way, trying to degrade the name of Islam or any its tenets. The above-mentioned acts are being perpetrated by a extremist regime within the Iranian goverment, which is in fact a Muslim theocracy, but these vicious acts towards the Baha'is should not sully the illustrious history of the Islamic faith worldwide.)

Accommodations Dinner

2007-09-17T04:18:00.001-07:00

We had a nice little get together at Arash and Bahareh's flat on Saturday evening, both to say goodbye to Frank and to welcome Meelod and I to the Accommodations family.

Subtract the other two ladies, and substitute Musa for Frank, and you're now looking at the Accommodations Office staff for the Baha'i World Centre. I think it's probably the smallest department in the BWC, but that doesn't mean that what we do isn't important. I feel like we are the servants who serve the servants. We will work tirelessly so that all other staff members here can go home to a flat that they are comfortable in and can rest easy knowing things are being taken care of by capable hands.

Adam and I want cool new uniforms. We figure if Move Crew can have awesome t-shirts, we should have awesome Operations Crew t-shirts. We've also decided we are going to be the Dynamic Duo - we both talk a lot and we're both eccentric. Adam and I will get along famously.

Things I am thankful for

2007-09-13T13:34:00.000-07:00

I'm going to keep adding to this list, but here's what I've got so far:

I AM THANKFUL FOR...

1. The occasional day where the temperature dips below 30 C.

2. So many of my close friends back home finding love and getting married

3. The ability to dance to my ipod unselfconsciously

4. When I find a memo that I've been searching for all day

5. Seeing my friends in the lunchroom

6. The Book Centre (such a godsend!)

7. Being able to afford to talk on the phone to my parents overseas as often as I want

8. My fantastic flatmates, Kat and Luisa

9. A ridiculously nice flat

10. Having the opportunity to serve in Haifa at this point in my life

11. Living so close to the Shrine of the Bab

12. Second November and the boys that live there

13. Being approved to move to Accommodations - now I can serve to my fullest capacity!

14. The price of art supplies in the Hadar (sweet!)

15. My sister, the fashion guru whom I love, who sends me beautiful clothes

16. The days when the dust has settled and you can see across the bay to Akka and even Jordan

Gone Hunting

2007-09-12T11:08:00.000-07:00

Today I went a'hunting. I'm helping with the sets and props for the Ihtifal Committee play we're putting on a week from Friday, so I had to go out at lunch today and try to find art supplies. No one else from the crew could come with me, but when Monica emailed me for a lunch date, I invited her along. No argument there! Who doesn't want to go shopping for art supplies?

Anyhoo, Amelia told me about a little art shop somewhere on the outskirts of the Merkaz, so Monica and I hopped in a sherut from Golomb gate and trundled off to see if we could find it.

We didn't.

We were fortunate enough to stop and have a bite to eat at the fantastic sandwich shop on the corner near Greg's Coffee, but when we headed off in the alleged direction of the art shop, it was nowhere to be found. Alas, our trip to the Merkaz was rather fruitless. I tried calling everyone I could think of to give us directions to the store, but NO ONE was answering their phones today. I guess when it's time for lunch, nothing else matters.

Monica mentioned that there was supposedly another art store down in the Hadar, but I was rather hesitant at this point until she was able to reach a friend of hers on the cell and get some actual directions. Sweet! So we finally caught a bus going down the mountain and decided to quickly try and find this other shop. (We're only supposed to take about an hour, maybe an hour and a half for lunch, and we'd already wasted most of it looking for the elusive shop in the Merkaz.) Plus, we HAD to find stuff today, because tomorrow is Rosh Hashana, and everything is going to be closed for three days straight. Shana Tova!

Once we got to the Hadar, we booted it up the main road trying to find the fork in the road where the art store allegedly was. Lo and behold, we managed to find it! Success! And was the stuff ever cheap; I was able to buy ten brushes, eleven bottles of gouache, and a small canvas for 150 shekels. That's about $40 altogether, which is pretty sweet, I must say. Monica and I were in heaven; if only we'd had more time to browse! I'll just have to go back again when I have more money and more time...

After making our purchases, we had to hoof it back down to where the buses gathered to see if we could quickly grab a bus, sherut, or taxi, whichever came first. We were able to pile ourselves into a sherut, probably one of the tiniest sheruts I've been in so far. I was practically sitting on the lap of the guy beside me, who happened to have a large suitcase with him, while Monica had her paints and canvas basically wedged up under her face. So squishy - best sherut ride ever!

As we drove by Golomb gate, I hollered at the driver to let me off, I practically rolled out the door, and flew down the stairs behind the ITC building back to my office at the bottom of the hill. And it turns out I was only ten minutes late!

Such a crazy lunchtime, no wonder I'm home now and absolutely knackered at 9:30 PM. I suppose it could also be the supreme stress of trying to stage a show in just over a week with absolutely no sets or props to speak of yet. How do I get myself into these situations? Oh wait, that's right, I am Shireen and my life is weird...

Commemoration of the Martyrdom of the Bab

2007-09-11T11:35:00.000-07:00

Today we commemorated the martyrdom of the Bab, the forerunner of Baha'u'llah and the Baha'i Faith. Normally back home it is commemorated 9 July, but here some of the holy days are celebrated according to the lunar calendar. So, on 11 September, we all gathered outside the Haifa Pilgrim House and had a marvellous holy day.

Me, Anjali, and Kara

Me and Bauback

Me, Lucia, and Roya

Borhan and me

Joaquin, Shiva, and me

All the Brazillians and me!

Afonso and me

Khatereh, Heranush, me and Ezra

Monica and me

I just realised every single one of these pictures has me in it, but it's my blog, so whatever!

Games Night at Bracha Habas

2007-09-10T14:04:00.000-07:00

Every Monday night there is a reoccuring event here at the World Centre. I'm not talking about a class or a devotional or anything - I'm talking about games night. That's right, it's a games night. I've heard tell of it for awhile now, but never got a chance to go. Until now.

Tonight was my first visit to Bracha Habas and the mythical games night, but wouldn't you know it, the boys had uploaded the recent Giants-Cowboys NFL match from yesterday and that took precedence over all else. Us girls relegated ourselves to the kitchen to make burgers and salad, while the boys hooted at the computer screen. Sometimes I wonder if we're really breaking gender stereotypes here at all... :)

All in all, it was pretty fun. The large group games were preempted for the football game, but we still had a good time playing Hearts in smaller groups. There was also a small Scrabble contingent that I might join next time. Plus, if we're a large group next time, I'm going to teach everyone the Maroussia Game - it's basically a cross between Charades and Taboo, but a whole lot more fun than you might think.

APPROVED!!!!

2007-09-10T05:05:00.000-07:00

MY TRANSFER HAS BEEN APPROVED!!!!!

I am so ridiculously giddy right now, I can barely type. My request for departmental transfer has been approved, so I'm now officially moving to Accommodations!!

This is so sweet. I mean, it really sucks that I have to leave the Department of Holy Places, but in the grand scheme of things, this is really for the best. I am not an office manager, and after this stint I don't think I ever will be. :) But I get to be on the Operations Crew in Accommodations which basically means that I will be assisting with flat preparations for new staff and visitors. I'm the one that gets to leave the chocolate on the pillow, so to speak. I also will be doing flat inspections, which is cool since I did that sort of thing when I worked for Nancy Campbell for the winter.

I'M SO EXCITED!!!

Sorry, I hate using all caps, but it's the only way to adequately describe the elation I am currently experiencing. This is too perfect...and now I cannot wait to tell my coordinator; she is going to be so excited for me too. She said that when everything is all settled and we've figured out what's going on, she and I are going to go out for a fancy dinner date and just have a wonderful evening together. Sweet, eh? I'm really going to miss working with everyone in the office, but I remind myself that they're only going to be a block away now. It's not like I'm physically leaving the World Centre; I'm just shifting my field of work.

And I love it.

This is going to be good...

The Flatties

2007-09-09T14:35:00.000-07:00

It's been six months; I feel like I should probably introduce y'all to my flatmates here in Israel.

Khatereh E.

Kiwi from New Zealand

Here for a year interning in the Research Dept.

Younger than me by a couple of years

Super serious and intense (awesome)

One of the wisest souls I've ever encountered - wise beyond her years

Luisa H.C.

Bolivian

Here for a year and a half in the Pilgrim Reception Centre

Older than Kat and I by a few years

Extremely soft spoken and adorable

Thinks her English is terrible, but I think it's wonderful (I wish my Spanish was that good!)

I can't even describe how incredibly lucky I am to have such amazing flatmates. There is not one bad thing I can say about living with these two girls. Man, I know I'm gushing, but really, sometimes you can get stuck with people that are lovely but you can't live with them. These two girls are such a pleasure to live with, I'm so elated.

Farewell dinner for Minoo and Roger

2007-09-07T11:58:00.000-07:00

I was asked to organize a farewell dinner for Minoo and Roger M. before they finished their terms of service here in Haifa. Minoo was the Custodian of the Shrine of the Bab for years, and Roger worked in the gardens department. Minoo was serving here for something like eleven years - I can't even imagine that I've been here for six months! It's almost unreal.

Anyway, here are some great shots from the party as it was happening:

Allergies

2007-09-04T04:11:00.000-07:00

I have developed allergies. Poop.

I do not know to what exactly I am allergic. All I know is that my eyes are watery and itchy, my throat is clogged and uncomfortable, and my nose is sore and runny. If these symptoms sounds familiar to you, my sincere condolences.

I woke up this morning all cloggy and gross, but not a "I'm so getting a cold" gross, a different kind of gross. Yesterday my eyes had been red and itchy, and this morning was the same. So I took some antihistamines and decided to go in to work.

I have been so lackadaisical at work today, just filing and trying not to fall asleep. Ian and I have been bonding over boring office work, you know, the usual filing and data inputting and staring at a screen for so long you're afraid you'll be cross-eyed forever. I've had to keep my D&G shades on inside because the computer screen is way too bright to look at. It's been an interesting fashion statement apparently - everybody walks by me in the office, and it's always a "Wow, are you trying to make some sort of statement?" Yes. Yes, I am. My statement is that I am itchy and uncomfortable, so make fun of me at your own peril.

But Shila and Parwaneh have both told me that I should wash my eyes out with tea to feel better. Um, what? Isn't tea an astringent? Do I really want that cleansing my eyeballs? Apparently it's an old Persian remedy, so I'm waiting for the tea to cool off enough that I can pour it into my eyesockets without searing them. I'll let you know the results...

.....................

Alrighty, it's half an hour later, and I have garnered some valuable insights:
1. Try to find an actual eye wash station. It's much easier than pouring tea into your eye with a spoon.
2. If you're going to try the spoon manuever, make sure to be careful not to actually jab yourself in the eye with the spoon. It sort of defeats the purpose of helping your eyes when you accidentally blind yourself.
3. Make sure the tea is tepid. NOT HOT. This is extremely important. Again, you don't want to accidentally blind yourself by scalding your eyeballs.
4. Take your shirt off. You think I'm kidding, but who wants to try and explain why you have tea stains on your shoulders and collar afterwards?

All joking aside, my eyes really do feel quite a bit better now. I must have washed out all the offending materials. But I'm still going to leave the shades on. Now they're a fashion statement.
Like I always say, "The future's so bright, I gotta wear shades!"

A Farewell Tea Party

2007-09-02T03:56:00.000-07:00

We had a small "office" farewell tea party for Matine on Wednesday morning of last week. It was very nice; we ate in the garden area behind the House of the Master where the Custodians live. We always try to arrange a little something for any staff who are leaving the department. Matine was REALLY surprised because he had only worked with us for two months.
Hey, everyone in the family is special....

Here's the gift we presented him with - a beautiful matted photo of the House of the Master from the 1920's (before all the renovations). Very cool!

Just a Day in the Life of Me

2007-08-30T13:19:00.000-07:00

Today was so ridiculous, I have to give you a rundown of what happened. This was one of those days where you just have to laugh at the absurdity of it all or else you'll start crying hysterically and never stop.

7:00 am - Wake up and get ready for work.
7:50 am - Wait at bus stop for 7:55 bus.
8:10 am - Still waiting at bus stop for 7:55 bus. I meet up with Nagmeh from Personnel, and we decide to catch a taxi down to work. AS SOON as we decide that, THREE buses show up one behind the other. Sheesh.
8:20 am - Arrive at work. Parwaneh tells me I need to drive a bunch of carpets to the Seat roof where they are going to be sunned and cleaned. Cool. I have to drive through the Hatzionut gate down to the Pilgrim House, and I need to call Dispatch to unlock the gate for me. Daniel and I head to the gate and drive in. We load up all the carpets, careful to be out of there by 9:00 for the public tours to start.
9:45 am - Drive back to the office after dropping off the carpets at the Seat roof. Try and get some work done. Don't succeed particularly well.
11:30 am - Have to head up to the lunchroom for a production staff meeting regarding the Ihtifal play this upcoming month. Amelia calls to say she'll be late, so by the time she arrives, we end up only having about a twenty minute meeting before she has to head back to her office.
1:00 pm - Return to the office and try to finish some filing. Doesn't work; I keep getting interrupted. Matine and Kiv stop by to show me their new tattoos, and then Ian stops by for awhile before heading off to laminate things. Laminating...fun times...
2:00 pm - Parwaneh tells me I need to pick Synnove up at the Shrine of Baha'u'llah tonight after she's finished closing it, since she's been out there for the past ten days and needs to bring all her stuff home tonight. Which means that I have to drive out after Mr. Dunbar's class finishes at 9:00. Ok, this is going to be a long day...
4:00 pm - Call David, who's up with the carpets, to see if they can be picked up yet. I have another production meeting to get to at 5:40, and then Tai Chi at 6:00, so my schedule's a little tight. Turns out they're running a little late as well, so I can't go up to get the carpets until about 4:45.
4:45 pm - I pick up the finished carpets and head back down to the Pilgrim House. Before I go, I notice the rear tire of the car is almost completely flat, so I have to get it filled with air NOW if I'm supposed to drive to Akka tonight; I have no idea how late the gas stations are open here.
5:25 pm - I'm at the gas station panicking, because it turns out not only was there no air in the tires but there was also no oil or coolant in the engine, and we're out of washer fluid. While I'm still there, Parwaneh calls my cell to let me know I need to go back to the Seat and pick up the last remaining carpets and bring them back down. Yikes! I fill up the air in the tire, but I can't replace the oil myself so the gas station attendant is fixing the engine while I call Amelia in a frenzy and tell her I won't make either the meeting or the Tai Chi class. Frustration is totally setting in right about now...
6:00 pm - I'm back at the Seat getting the last of the carpets. I'm a little nervous about the tire, but we can watch it over the next few days to make sure it's not a permanent problem. David can't fit in the car with me on the way down, so I have the move the last carpets into the Pilgrim House myself. No problem except, when I'm leaving, I catch my arm on the doorhandle and wrench it pretty badly. That's going to leave a mark...
6:20 pm - Take a ten minute power nap in the parking lot.
6:30 pm - Race home to hop in and out of the shower and inhale some dinner quickly before Mr. Dunbar's class at 7:30.
7:15 pm - Find a parking spot down by Hagefen St. and sprint over to class. I'm desperately hoping there's a seat left in the front row, because if I sit in the back I know I'm going to doze off, and I don't want to start snoring.
9:00 pm - Dash out of class and hop in the car to quickly make my way out to Akka. I bring my ipod with me to listen to in the car in case I can't find a good music station on the radio, but I find a fantastic jazz program that mellows me right out. Until I hit the construction midway to Akka. Good Lord, I'm not supposed to relax today apparently. I put my ipod in and listen to upbeat 80's hits to put me in a better mood, and the traffic slowly clears up. There's nothing quite like belting out Aha's Take On Me at the top of your lungs to make you feel a whole lot better about life in general.
9:45 pm - Get to the Shrine and call Dispatch to let me in at the gate. It's actually pretty eerie driving through the property at night - I can't seem to keep the highbeams on; I have to manually hold the button down so I don't veer off the back road and into the olive grove. Finally I get to the Shrine and there are NO lights on the path; thank goodness I have a flashlight on my keychain, otherwise I would have had to use my cellphone as a light. But I soon meet up with one of the security guards on duty and feel much better.
10:00 pm - We grab Synnove's stuff and hop back into the car. At this point I'm so deliriously tired I'm babbling all the way back to Haifa. But we make it back intact and I drive to Hameganim to drop her off at home.
10:45 pm - Ok, turns out there was a soccer game tonight, and it's just letting out now. The road is absolutely jammed with cars and soccer nuts who are hopping back and forth between traffic. Just what I need in the middle of the night, to run over some crazy pedestrian. So we inch through the congestion for 15 minutes and finally make it around the roundabout to get to the other side of Hameganim and Synnove's flat.
11:00 pm - I am about to pass out at this point, but I turn the jazz station back on and drive up Ben Gurion Ave to take a look at the Terraces at night. The moon is absolutely enormous tonight, and driving up towards God's Holy Mountain, I feel an incredible sense of peace and well-being. It almost makes the day totally worth it.

Summer Cleaning

2007-08-30T00:14:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year - the heat is oppressive, the sun is shining at full magnitude, and dust particulates in the air are at a minimum. It's time for summer cleaning!

During August and September, and into part of October, the Department of Holy Places takes advantage of the fact that there are no pilgrims in the Holy Land and does a thorough deep clean of all the Holy Places under our jurisdiction. It's pretty cool to think about what an amazing opportunity we have to take care of the places and relics that are such an integral part of the history of the Baha'i Faith. Even if that means cleaning a candelabra with a toothbrush for three days, everyone is so devoted to their service that it makes no difference what needs to be done.

I've been mostly in the office fielding phone calls and general office-ness, but occasionally I've been asked to chauffer people around while the carpets are being shuttled back and forth to be cleaned. It's a nice change of scenery to be out of the office once in a while, even if it is just for an hour or so.

Only problem - SO HOT AND STICKY!! Plus, where we happen to be sunning the carpets is on white marble rooftop. It's so ridiculously bright out there, I don't understand how the guys haven't gone blind yet. I almost wish I had snowboarding goggles to put on out there, it's that bright - it's like snowblindness. (Man, now I miss Canada and all that snow...)

This must be what it's like for all the gardeners out in the gardens every single day. I think I feel their pain now. I really feel for the CMD Floor Crew too; they're now doing the pressure washing of all the roofs and walls of the Arc buildings and they're out there every single day getting sunburnt and soaking wet. But, to tell you the truth, I'm sort of jealous because I want to use the pressure washers; they're so much fun to use! I think I'm going to volunteer to help the crew clean the roofs next year.

Anyhoo, I get to go up again this evening and pile all the carpets back into the car for the ride down to their homes. Sometimes this job really does have its perks.

Family ties

2007-08-29T01:31:00.000-07:00

It was my sister's birthday yesterday, and I was FINALLY able to catch her at home on the phone! She just turned 23; where did the time go? I can't even describe how nice it was to talk to her and hear her voice; it's been really difficult being here without my best friend. :(

I also got to talk with Dad, which was really cool because he's hardly ever home either; he's usually out in the garden all day or working on the myraid rental properties he owns. It was very adorable - he kept grilling me about my job and whether or not I have a boyfriend. When I mentioned I might have someone in mind, he started giving me boy advice (which he has NEVER done before, except to say that I can't get married until I'm thirty, so it was pretty unexpected). Here's what Dad had to say about boys:

1. I should just be myself and they'll come flocking (hasn't worked so far)
2. They are proud and generally stubborn
3. They are actually shy
4. They are usually pretty oblivious (hell yes they are!)
5. Most of them like girls to make the first move (uh, what?)

I like the last one; who knew? I would totally make the first move, but generally I'm afraid of stepping on male ego. No one wants to feel the possible sting of rejection either - I guess neither sex has it any easier than the other. Dads are such a great resource, eh?

I was so glad to talk to Dad and Jaleh, but now I'm sad that I can't be there to celebrate with them. It's definitely one of my most difficult tests here to be so far away from my family with whom I am extremely close.

Today I'm going to try and get a hold of Mom; it's been too long since we've talked, and I'm sure she's come up with about a gajillion new poems for me to hear!

It's all Greek to me...

2007-08-27T13:16:00.000-07:00

It's been several months since I arrived here in Israel, and I realised that I haven't posted any of the pictures I took during my stopover in Greece.

I met a very lovely older lady on the plane who took me under her wing when we arrived in Athens Airport. She was very sweet and we bonded on the bus that took us to the hotel that we were to stay at until our flights left later that night. We were given lunch and dinner there, as well as our own rooms and - thank GOD - showers!

Since I had several hours to kill until my flight late that night, I got directions from the concierge and made my way on the public transit line into downtown Athens.

The view from the airport

Driving along the road to Athens

My first glimpse of the Parthenon

An amazing view of the amphitheatre and surrounding area

The ruins of the Parthenon - spectacular!

Ooooooo, downtown Athens from above!

I met some students from Washington and they took my picture.

Looking back from whence I came...

Friday Night's Alright

2007-08-24T12:58:00.000-07:00

Had a great Friday night tonight. It was a Serving the Divine Plan talk evening, so one of the Institute members gave a talk - Dr. Javaheri spoke about the protection of the Baha'i Faith, both from internal and external forces.

It was a very inspiring talk about how we should be constantly vigilant in our faith, with our morality and rectitude of conduct unquestionable. We need to always be excellent examples of patience, virtue, and love. There was a lot of historical talk as well, but I can't recall it all here.

After the talk, I had one of my first "girls' night only" evenings here! So much fun! Kat and I went to Kara and Anjali's flat, where there was popcorn, homemade muffins, and a whole lot of sweet girls and sweet conversation. To wind the evening down, Chantelle pulled out her short films from drama school back in New Zealand. Very fun; my favourite was the one depicting Purgatory as a hospital emergency room, complete with slutty nurse, kooky guidance counsellor, and a whole lot of dead people not realising they're dead. It was really good!

I should definitely make an effort to hang out with the girls more often. It takes a lot of energy to be around that much estrogen; it's a good thing I'm up to the task. I guess I'm more used to hanging out with my 2nd November boys, which is a lot of testosterone to deal with as well, but I know how to hold my own with those guys - it's mostly a matter of letting John think he's won an argument and then zinging him later. Good times.

I need to go to bed now - tomorrow morning's the Divine Plan seminars, so I should be well rested. Plus, I'm going to finish the rest of the Dune saga with the boys tomorrow. Yay!

Gathering a little Zen...

2007-08-24T12:43:00.000-07:00

I had such a great Thursday yesterday - it was my pamper day.

I made a lunch appointment to get my nails done, and it would have been relaxing except for the excruciating pain that was my cuticles being destroyed. In the words of Orlit, my stylist, "Oh, my, you seem to be a bleeder." That might give you an idea of the pain I got to endure. Because of the cuticle fiasco, it took two hours to do my nails instead of the usual one hour. I have another appointment in a couple of weeks; I made sure to book it for after work this time in case of delays and complications. Let's hope there aren't any...

Anyhoo, I got back to the office late, feeling not too relaxed. Fortunately, my friend Kara has convinced me to got with her to Tai Chi classes on Thursdays, so I went with her at the end of the day to unwind and get a little zen.

It was glorious - I got to 'part the horse's mane', 'grab the swallow's tail', 'become the White Crane', and 'repulse the monkey'. Those are the names of the moves, I swear. You can't make this stuff up. The breathing exercises were great, though - so calming and meditative. It was a really nice way to end a week in the office.

Right after Tai Chi, Kara and I headed down to Mr. Dunbar's Thursday night study class. We learned all about the institution of the Continental Boards of Counsellors, and their roles in protection and propagation of the Baha'i Faith. Very cool.

After class, John, Jayce and I walked back up to 2nd November (their street), and chilled out watching Dune and Children of Dune. We are such sci-fi nerds...it's awesome....

All in all, a very fulfilling day.

Some Absolutely Random Stuff...

2007-08-20T14:52:00.000-07:00

Some random time-wasters you need to check out if you like to laugh:
(Disclaimer: Please remember my completely warped and twisted sense of humour prior to visiting these sites)

1. Flight of the Conchords - this New Zealand comedy duo is absolutely hilarious. They sing ridiculous songs on their guitars and it's mayhem. You can find their videos on http://www.youtube.com/. I highly recommend Albi the Racist Dragon or Jenny.

2. http://www.homestarrunner.com/. This stuff is pretty darn funny. Apparently it's been around for years, which might explain why some of the animation looked familiar to me. I highly suggest taking a look at Strong-Bad's email lists and checking out his Dangeresque movie updates.

3. http://www.thelonelyisland.com/. These three guys are the weirdest, most random guys I have ever seen. And that's saying a lot, considering how much I hang out with John Michael and Jayce. I think I mentioned The 'Bu in a previous post; a must-watch if you enjoy situational teen drama and cracked-out squirrels. Also, go to the episodes section and watch both White Power and Regarding Ardy. (Warning: Some viewers may find these episodes offensive. Please refrain from viewing if you are adverse to strong language, partial nudity, and Brooke Shields.)

There are many other sites I find absolutely hilarious but will not mention them here, as my mother reads this blog and I don't want her thinking I'm completely insane. All I'm going to say is: Maddox. If you can figure that one out, good on you.

Giant Freaking Spiders Are Not Cool

2007-08-18T22:42:00.000-07:00

I had a rather unpleasant experience this morning.

Nahid came into the hallway and exclaimed, "Shireen, come look at this thing!" So I hesitantly come around my desk to look, and there is a huge, freaky, chunky-legged, gross, furry spider. I mean, BIG. This thing looked like it was at least three inches across.

Dude, I don't know about any of you, but I happen to be terribly arachnophobic. I can't even stand the tiny jumping spiders that seem to inhabit my desk frequently; this spider was LARGE. So seeing this thing sitting on the floor by my desk just about gave me a heart attack. I couldn't move any closer, and when Nahid said we had to get rid of it, I ran into one of the side offices.

Synnove and I were hiding in the other office making poor Nahid try to get rid of the spiderous monstrosity, when she yelled that it had gone under my desk under my shoes. I don't mind telling you I just about cried. Synnove was confused, "The spider isn't always going to be in your shoes; she'll get it eventually." "Yeah," I replied, "but I'm still going to know that it was in there." *shudder*

Anyhoo, Synnove and I were cowering in the other office (well, I was cowering, and Synnove was sort of laughing at me) and Nahid asked if we had a broom, because she couldn't seem to catch it with a kleenex and put it outside. Well. She got herself a broom and was able to sweep the disgusting thing outside onto the mat.

This episode was even worse than the time that the spider in the bathroom decided to climb onto my toothbrush! (do you remember that one, Mom?) It was on the mirror and when I ran out of the bathroom to find someone to kill it, when we got back it had disappeared. Then I saw it nesting on my toothbrush. MY toothbrush; why me? I had to throw the toothbrush away after that...

I've decided that people who are arachnophobic shouldn't marry people who don't kill spiders but just re-release them. This is not a winning marital combination in my book. (Ok, fine, you don't have to kill ALL of them, but you better not ask me to help you catch them if you want to stay married.)

Heaven on Earth

2007-08-17T01:50:00.000-07:00

Here's a slideshow of sorts to show some of my recent shots near the Shrine of Baha'u'llah and surround gardens.

Being here makes me feel like I'm as close to heaven on earth as I can possibly get.

Dawnbreaker Collective - check them out!

2007-08-17T01:35:00.000-07:00

My new favourite band is the Dawnbreaker Collective - they rock my socks!

Check them out either at www.myspace.com/dawnbreakercollective or http://www.dawnbreakercollective.com/

So awesome; such fantastic vocals and a melange of musical styles that just leaves you spiritually uplifted. I can't stop listening to the album I just bought for my ipod! Buy it now!

Songs I recommend:
When the Morning Comes
Good Morning Israel
Army of Light
Prayers Like Shoes
Tiny Seed
Set it Off

Other musicians to check out while you're at it:
Talib Kweli (soft hip-hop awesomeness)
Don Johnson Big Band (weird hip-hop)
Dashboard Confessional (acoustic melancholy)
Joe Purdy (soulful guitar love)
Frou Frou (entrancing beats/vocals)
Toad the Wet Sprocket (one of my favourite 90's bands)