I think victory is sort of mine?

So, this is where I live. The view is from Jebel Ashrafieya, from a home we visited a few weeks ago (the photo is courtesy of Rachel. Thanks!) A few points of interest: the flagpole in the center near the horizon is actually the world's tallest free-standing flagpole, so they tell me. In front of it and slightly to the left is what they call the Citadel, which are ruins from an ancient Roman temple to Hercules. There is also an antiquities museum there.

The view on the left is from the Citadel and looks back at Ashrafieya, in a neat bit of Artistic Symmetry (tm). At the top of the hill is the famous Abu Darwish mosque, which we non-Arabic-speakers are prone to call the Black and White mosque. This is because some parts of it are black and all the other parts are white. We non-Arabic-speakers believe in expressive names, but not creative ones. In a side note, the buildings are mostly a similar color because, for the past several years, a law has been in effect which requires all new buildings to be fronted (the term in this case includes the sides, the back, and the top, but for some reason you don't say "outsided") with white stone. It's a nice shade, and also keeps the inside of the building cooler (these are advantages I have noticed, I don't know why they made the law though).

On the right are some of the people I've been working with an associating with over the past few weeks. From the left, we have Khalil, pastor of the church where the event was held. Next to him is Steven, my current (though not for much longer) neighbor across the street. In front of him is his oldest, Matthew. To Steven's right is 'Amr, who helps out at the church. Reti and me you know. In the pink shirt is 'Abeer, the principal and general troubleshooter for the school. Wearing sunglasses is Jess, co-teacher, whom you may remember from a previous photo. Behind her, lurking malevolently in the shadows (or something) is Jane, Steven's wife, who was responsible for most of the materials we used to teach. She was an invaluable resource since she is actually a trained teacher and was endlessly patient with us miserable amateurs. The 2 (wykkid cute) kids are Nathan and Ruth, her other 2 kids. Between them is Rachel, co-teacher and the genius behind the first photo in this post. Khalil's wife, Randa, is not in the picture, but she also deserves mention for all her help during the week, as well as for the fact that it is her passion and vision (and remarkable synergy with Reti) that made this event take place for the first time last year and continue this year.

Not only is this an excellent photo of my co-teachers and our hostess for lunch one day, it is also a good example of what I've been eating here. Mansaf consists of a gigantic pile of rice with some chicken or lamb on top, frequently cooked with nuts or spices or both. With it comes a peculiar kind of yogurt sauce, kinda gluey and milky. Traditionally, one transfers a plate-sized pile of rice to one's plate, throws some meat on top of same, drenches it liberally with the sauce, and then molds it into little balls which are then eaten with the fingers. Our hostess in this case graciously spared our western sensibilities by providing us with forks. It's actually very good, although I didn't go as nuts with the sauce as I was apparently expected to (I'm not sure I agree it's the "best part"). Anyway, a lot of food in this part of the world fits the general description of a bunch of rice with a bunch of meat on it. This is fine with me; the key words here are "a bunch." I defy anybody to leave a meal in an Arab home and still be hungry. Can't be done.



Finally, here is a photo of most of the kids in my class (the ones who showed up on the last day, that is). On the left in the purple shirt is Farah (joy) one of my helpers, he has a kid on his shoulder. My other two helpers are Nour (bottom right, tan shirt) and Um Bishara (next to her, horizontal stripes). Props to these people, they made the whole thing work. In front of Farah in the light-blue shirt is Muna, easily the most brilliant and well-behaved student in the class. In the middle of week 2 she brought her tape recorder to class with a Mariah Carey tape in it, and taking me aside during the break she did a sort of impromptu karaoke with the song "Hero." It was adorable, I misted. In the middle, looking happy in his favorite lime-green shirt, is Basiel, who is ALMOST smart enough to make up for all the trouble he causes =/. Next to him in red is Nader, who quoted all 12 memory verses back to me on the last day. 2 kids over, also in green, is Kristeen, who basically knows every answer but is terrified to raise her hand (I eventually learned to call on her at least once per day regardless). Wow. I live right by all these kids and I miss them already.

Well this got longer than I meant it to, but hopefully you have a better visual idea what's going on with me these days. I'll try and post some more as time and money permit. If there's anything specific you'd like to see, I probably have a picture of it, so shoot me an email or comment here and we'll see what we can do.