Stupid Americans and Backgammon

There are tons of things I could comment on: Relgion, the weather, how I am doing in school, the latest crazes, but I thought one of my "stupid American" stories would be good today.

The thing to do in the evening here is to go out on this one street that is lined with open air coffee shops and just sit, drink, and talk. You can get a backgammon board and just sit, drink something and play backgammon. Their backgammon boards are huge and ornate and made of olive wood with mother of pearl inlayden and they are just a beautiful work of art. More on this later.

The Story:
A couple of nights ago me and a buddy head out to sit and drink coffee and see if we could maybe meet some new friends and enjoy a "guys night out." We stake out our table and have a seat. We order two cocktails (banana, mango, strawberry) drinks. We sit for a while and then try to ask for a backgammon board. Did you know that backgammon isn't a cross cultural word? They has no clue what we said, so we had to resort to a game of gestures, which didn't really work. The tables nearby began to get involved and try to help or guess what was going on. Finally we get the point across and they bring us back......

a little kiddy board, that is broken and missing the pieces and made of plastic. The whole place was roaring with laughter. It was like asking for a bike and getting one with training wheels on it. It was so........funny? Needless to say, I 've learned my lesson. I will always remember the Arabic word for backgammon......ta'wiila.

So laugh you head off! Because that won't be the last time I do something stupid or use the wrong word. More to come from this stupid American.

The Exploding Whale

In Oregon several years ago a huge dead whale washed up on show. The Oregon Transportation Department descided the best way to deal with problem was to blow it up! Its all on video! Its not goury or gross. It shows the whole thing from afar, but it was a huge mistake on their part. You have to watch to find out more. Click on the title above or Click Here

Hashmi Shmali Video

Here it is! Thank you all for waiting so patiently. Here is our apartment. It is a rather large file, so you have two options for your downloading pleasure. For you hi-speed DSL “let’s get this quick” type of people, we have a DSL size/quality video. For you Dial-up “I will get this eventually” type of people, that don’t mind going with a smaller/lower quality we have a video for you. If you happen to be a “let’s get this quick” type of person on a “get this eventually” connection…I feel your pain and better luck next time in the Internet game of Life.

For the “Let’s Get This Quick” Types

For the “It Will Download Eventually” Types

Please feel free to leave you comments, questions, and insults by clicking on the "Comments" link in the lower righthand corner of this post.

Today was my first day at school. Arabic School. It was like being in kindergarten again. We talked about letters and how to pronounce things and had a little school assembly. Its really odd, because the school just recently moved into an old kindergarten building, so it fits.
I have three differents periods in the morning. Bethany and I aren't in the same class, so its fun to listen to her first day and her class compared to my class. We are covering the same material. We just have different teachers. Here is a picture of all my books for this semester. These are just my books. B has her own set just like this one. So for all of you thinking we have it easy, I will coin a very good Arabic phrase.."go sweep the desert!" :)

Headaches of a Foriegn Land

We have had for several days and ready to post a video of our apartment, so you can marvel at the wonders of our living conditions. Sadly enough, we are experiencing what we might call, "technical difficulties" with certain fickle "technical things"
We apologize and urge our faithful and loyal viewers to keep checking in for the ever-so-promised, yet ever-so-illusive, "apt. video"

Video Blog Try

This is our first attempt at a the "blog cam" so if it works then great.
We don't have any cool videos at this point, so here is a video of the zoo.

CLICK HERE!

Change of Address Notice

Be Advised! We are no longer living in the United States. We and all our luggage made it to our new home almost a week ago. You would not believe how hard it is to set up internet and get it all running smoothly in another language. We are still without internet, but limping along with a substitute. Hopefully this will allow us to keep the blog up and kickin' though. Inshallah (if God wills)

The Giant Panda

Hello to all you animal lovers! To the right we have YeYe and to the left we have NaNa. These guys are two of the remaining 1000 giant pandas alive today in the world. These guys eat 40 lbs. of bamboo a day. No wonder they are a dying breed. Have you ever seen 40lbs. of bamboo in the same spot? They are really cute though. Just wanted to make all the PETA people happy and say, "Save the Giant Panda!"