Tonight, I head back to Kuwait and to my dear husband who has held down the proverbial fort for 2 weeks by himself. After a busy but relaxing time here, I'm ready to go back again. My flight from Pittsburgh is at 5:30pm, and I should arrive in Kuwait around 9:30pm (1:30pm EST). Thankfully, the weather is warmer today, so I hope I don't have any snow or ice delays.
I had a great time in Pennsylvania with everyone, so thanks! And, Happy New Year!
Photos: at the Roman Colosseum, Rome, Italy; at a Kenya/Tanzania border marker; in Tehran, Iran; at the Necropolis near Shiraz, Iran.
We have one week of school left before the "winter break," which everyone knows is for the western teachers to have Christmas and New Year's off of work. I put up a few little decorations in light of the season, and rearranged the sitting room while I was at it.
This is how I feel after 2 days of Parent/Teacher Conferences:
photo in Masai Mara National Park, Kenya
Chris and I are back, we're well, and we're stuffed full of turkey, which is more than I can say for everyone who went to Africa with us! This last week included another exhausting but rewarding round of being educators, finished by "Princess Day" for me on Thursday. That night, we had some of our friends over for their first Thanksgiving meal ever, and it was a hit! No, I didn't make the turkey, but I made lots of other delicious, fattening dishes. We ordered the bird form the nearby Sultan Center.
More pictures of our safari and the cutest 1st grade class ever are soon to follow.
I'm not sure when we got this exactly- maybe 3 weeks ago. It's 3 years old, has 67k km on it, and we bought it certified used from a dealership called Auto Lease. We had been shopping around for a little bit, and a guy who speaks Arabic and knows a lot about cars went with Chris to help get him a deal. That he did.
Chris drives a lot back and forth to school, about 40 minutes each way, so it's nice to have something newer and more reliable. Now, we just pray for his protection from all the crazy drivers in Kuwait!
"My grandfather says I have to wear the rings when I swim, or I will go to the bottom and stink."
"Miss, can I smell your hair? It smells good."
"I love the school too much. I just don't want to sleep."
"Miss, Miss, Miss, at what o'clock is school finished?"
"My tummy, it's paining me."
I'm enjoying a minute's peace to blog, although I should continue working on what I'm doing this week in 1st grade. Last week was my first week with students (which was only 3 days), so I can't even fathom what this next full week will be like! The kids are super cute, but so busy-bodied! With time, I know that we'll get into a solid routine and have much more productive class time. For now, I'm lacking some of the materials that I need in order to do all the reading activities that the 1st graders are supposed to be working on, so we continue to do lots of assessment and fun things to get to know each other. On Thursday, I had them playing a math game which is basically like "War," practicing which numbers 1-10 are bigger than the others. If anyone walked by my room, it kind of looked like I was running a gambling circuit, but the point is that the game helped them practice number recognition, greater than/less than, and cooperation. They definitely had a blast.
On a side note, my family used to have this giant gray, calculator-type toy that spoke when we pushed different buttons on it. It would quiz us on which numbers were grater than/less than other numbers, and it made crazy noises when we picked the wrong numbers. Does anyone remember that? What was that thing called?
There are some things you do just to make others happy.
With my nephew, Nick (2 1/2 ) and my niece, Rebekah (7mths)
We are currently in Eastern PA helping with a wedding and visiting some friends.Today and yesterday, I made nearly 100 table centerpieces among completing other smaller tasks. I love doing these kinds of things, but gosh, I'm tired.
I am going to try to post some pictures and things of our weekend as soon as I get to the beach, so stay tuned. The wedding is tomorrow, Chris leaves for Kuwait on Sunday, and I fly to Florida on Sunday, so I can hopefully put up some good pictures on Monday...
Today, I just have a few pictures from when we went to Bahrain...oh, I can't exactly remember when. That's what happens when I don't immediately post; things are forgotten and they only get a half-hearted second glance.
Chris and I went to Bahrain for the weekend just to enjoy ourselves. It really isn't that big of a country, and the heat was so oppressive that we mostly went out at night. The pictures are from one day when we were wandering around, checking out a newly built business complex and the "pearl" that the country reveres so much, that it made a gigantic roundabout ornament of one. I guess when you live in a desert place, you use the resources you've got!
Part of our summer travels were spent in Brussels, Belgium. I can't exactly say why we planned on going there, but I can say that we enjoyed it immensely! With the Flemish (Dutch), French, and German languages buzzing about our heads, we lazily walked through the streets eating good food and enjoying the extra daylight hours. During this time of year, the sun doesn't set until around 10pm, so we had plenty of time to wander, looking at building facades from the cartooned to the ornate. Here are some pictures and six facts you may not have known.
1. The Royal Palace of Brussels is bigger than Buckingham Palace.
2. The world's biggest chocolate selling point is Brussels National Airport.
3. More than 90% of the world's raw diamonds are negotiated and distributed in the city of Antwerp.
4. There are over 800 kinds of beer made in Belgium.
5. Around 6% of the country and 25% of Brussels is Muslim.
6. Brussels is the capital of the EU.
We kicked off Summer 2010 by meeting our friends Mike and Destiny Bell in Rome, Italy. Because their life position also requires them to be globetrotters for the time being, we were able to coordinate a vacation together as we traveled west to the U.S. and they traveled east to China and Japan. We started our non-stop vacation on the evening of June 16th with salami and cheese sandwiches; it was history in the making. You can see our pictures in our online albums under Rome.
After visiting Rome for one action packed day, all of us headed to Croatia and Montenegro until June 23rd. After that, we flew back for one last day in Rome before we worked our way to Brussels on the 25th and they found themselves headed to Beijing. The photos in our album don't show any of that time lapse, but are the collection of our time in Rome in general. You can see some of Destiny's pictures of our trip here.
picture taken in Piazza Navona, Rome
I mentioned before that I would be making some changes around here. One of the first is organizing all of our pictures, and you'll find a new link on the right. Beginning with our trip to Rome, Croatia, Montenegro, and Belgium, you can see our summer adventures and our future adventures at the June '10 - Present link. If you'd like to take a look at any of our pictures from the first two years overseas, you can still see them at The First Years link, which includes our recent trip to Iran.
More changes are to come, but for now you can see a glimpse of our travels with our friends Mike and Destiny in Croatia and Montenegro here. This wasn't our first destination, but I think all of us would say the best part.
picture of the switchback road taken from the overlook at Ostrog Monastery, Montenegro
We're finally back in Indiana, PA for a few weeks. After traveling around Europe, spending time with friends and family in the Boston area and in the state of Indiana, going to Chicago and driving everywhere in between, we can finally unpack our suitcases for a few weeks. Tonight, I brought a taste of Kuwait here with a dinner of fattoush, sambousik, cauliflower, rice, grilled lamb and chicken, hommos, and bread with zaatar. Here's a preview of our past 4 weeks.
Here we are, day #2 in the States. I am feeling much more "with it" today, and even woke up at 7am! With some extra time on my hands, I went back and added captions and information to our Iran picture album. You can check it out now on our picture website. I'm going to be making some changes to the blog and to our picture albums over the summer, so don't be alarmed if things start looking different.
Enjoy the day today.
"This is the day Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." Psalm 118:24
We are back in the U.S.! Last evening, I flew into Logan International in Boston at about 8:30pm, anxious to get off of my 8 hour flight, but had to sit on the runway for another 45 minutes. I guess they need to expand their airplane parking.
After a good 10 hours of sleep, I feel adjusted and ready for whatever the summer may bring...which could be any number of things. For now though, I am ready for some rest. This funny picture that Chris took of me unexpectedly kind of sums up how I feel after two weeks of traveling.
Chris and I are currently in Brussels, Belgium- a seemingly sleepy city with lots of natural things to enjoy. We have a Belgian food list that we're aiming to complete while we're here, and so far we've hit beer, waffles, frites (like French fries), and chocolate. Other than that, we'd like to find some good pretzels and ham, and I am feeling adventurous to try rabbit in plum sauce.
We are enjoying a quiet lull here after spending a fast week with some friends in Rome, Italy. On the 28th, we'll head back to finish off the last few sights, and then we fly to Boston on the 30th of June, probably to hit the ground running. One of our favorite activities is to see the Boston Pops on the 3rd of July, then head back in on the 4th to watch the fireworks (you can't see them from the Esplanade, where the concert is). If you've never been to Boston on or around Independence day, it's an incredible way to celebrate with the whole family!
On vacation...
4 days to the US
This spring, Chris and I also took a short vacation to Iran with two of our friends- surprise! You maybe wondering how that came about...I don't have time to tell the whole story as of this moment, but depending on my internet connection while on vacation I will give you the whole low-down. For now, here are some pictures. I will add the details of the trip, as well as the descriptions at a later date!
Persia at its Finest
There are also some other pictures and videos that we need to get from our friends who we traveled with, so I will post those at a later date.
Bon Voyage!
1 day to vacation
15 days to the States
I finally got around to editing Chris' pictures from his trip to Greece with his buddy Kyle. You may get a guest post from him soon- I can't remember what all he did or what all the pictures are of, so he'll have to explain that!
Check out Athens and Sontorini
Right now, we are preparing for vacation. This week I work three days from 8am-1pm, and Chris is the same. I finished cleaning my classroom, unhooking my PC, and covered everything so that it doesn't get dusty during the summer. I turned in my keys, too, so now I am just floating around and visiting, reading some books, and uploading old pictures for the next two days.
Kyle is actually visiting us from Kurdistan/Iraq right now, so that throws some busyness into the mix. We are all leaving after midnight on Tuesday- He's going back to his university to teach a summer course, and Chris and I fly out to Rome. We will have the opportunity to vacation with our friends Mike and Destiny for about a week, and then they will be heading to the Far East as we head north to Belgium and then to the West.
2 days to vacation
16 days to the States
This past week was long, but mostly good.
Because of obligations that I scheduled previously, Chris and I couldn't do much on my birthday, but he surprised me with a gorgeous pendant that has my name in Arabic. My friend Kristen made cupcakes for my birthday at school, and lots of people are bringing in goodies because it's the end of the year, so I've had some sort of headache all week because I'm not used to so much sugar. (Thanks for all of the well wishes!) We also had a High School luncheon, for which some of my friends and I did a skit as ninjas.
On Tuesday, we went to the mall for dinner at Totally Fish; it's a good seafood restaurant, but I wouldn't say that the food and service were worth the money. What was even weirder was that we had a mini goldfish swimming around in a little bowl on our table for decoration. I like my fish fresh, but gosh...not that fresh. Afterward, we waltzed around the fountains outside- in the evenings the temperature goes down to about 90degrees, which is actually rather comfortable- and then I went to buy a dress for the HS graduation. These kinds of things are a fancy ordeal here.
On both Wednesday and Thursday, I went over to our friends' apartment complex to swim. On Wednesday, it was just the girls, and Thursday, Chris and I barbequed with another couple and their son while enjoying the pool. The water was freezing (can you imagine it?), but it felt good in the 110+ weather. Once the sun was down and the wind picked up a bit, it actually felt chilly.
Friday morning, we went for a walk on the shore, did some cleaning, and battled a cockroach. Wehh.(Arabic for "whine") Apparently, this is the season for them, and I happened to find one laying upside down on my bathroom floor. It's one of the freakiest things ever, let me tell you, if you have never killed a cockroach. They crunch! And, Chris wouldn't even look at it. In the afternoon, we went to church and lunch with some of my girls, and then relaxed in the evening to a fine viewing of Back to the Future.
Yesterday, I left at 8am to go jet-skiing with some of my teacher friends, which was quite amazing if I may say so. Maybe some day in the future, that's something we can invest in, but it was one of the most fun things I've done in a long time. We spent an hour out on the gulf, just zooming around (trying to miss the occasional piece of garbage that lazy people throw in it) and enjoying the morning sun. Of course, I made mine go the fastest it could, which was about 80kmph. I have no idea how many mph that is, but it feels fast on the water! Afterward, we had brunch and ice cream and took ourselves home to scrub off some of the sea salt.
9 days to vacation
24 days to the US
Today, I calculated 9 flights and 30 days until I hit the eastern seaboard.
There are 15 days until we leave for vacation.
I will be finished preparing and doing inventory of my classroom in about 1 day.
And, tomorrow's my birthday.
Thinking about all of this stuff makes me tired...that's a lot of flying and waiting.
Here are some of our destinations:
June 16- Rome, Italy
June 17- Dubrovnik, Croatia and near Herceg-Novi, Montenegro
June 23- back to Rome
June 25- Brussels, Belgium
June 28- back to Rome
June 30- Boston, USA
This past Sunday was a crazy day.
1) We started exam week with the HS students, which means tomorrow is the last day.
2) I thought I lost the car keys, so I was 20 minutes late for work (1st time ever).
3) I drew a fun sketch of my friends as birds while I was proctoring an exam.
4) I went to an amazing church service.
Here are some explanations, but first, here's a picture that I had to have taken covered for a visa. In this part of the world, the head scarf is called a hijab, so I was "hejba," or "covered," for the picture. The resolution isn't great, but you get the idea!
Sunday:
1)+ 3) The students come in and take one or two exams everyday, depending on the subject. Because Sunday was a two-part religion exam, the second part being Qur'an recitation (obviously I don't speak fluent Arabic or read much of the Qur'an), one of the religion teachers was in the same room as me conducting the process. That allowed my friend Kristen and I to talk and doodle...ahem...supervise. Afterward, some of the other teachers came up to our room because we were in the canteen, where students go for their break between exams. Now, before you think I'm a real artist like Jan McK or JJ A., I learned how to draw this through a 3-D practice book:
2) The evening before, Chris and I were out. When we got home, he threw his keys on the coffee table and they fell off. (Not so exciting so far, right?) To be funny, I did a hockey-type movie sending them across the floor and under a chair, which I did not remember until I had been looking for them for a solid 15 minutes the next morning. Usually, I get a ride with others from work, but because I ALSO FORGOT TO SET MY ALARM, I didn't wake up on time and the downward spiral toward being late began...My parents will tell you that punctuality has never been my strong point, but there's something about marriage that can change all that!
4) Occasionally, our church will do a combined service on Sunday nights when there are significant holidays, like Easter or Christmas. You may think that's not uncommon, but when you gather people from more than 20 different services in one place, that makes for a lot of worshippers! Now, picture that the congregation has to make an "L" shape, with the worship team and pastors in the middle so that everyone can see, half of the people being outside in the 100degree heat and the other half inside...in the 90degree heat because the A/C is on but the doors are open. That's how we celebrated Pentecost Sunday, and it was awesome.
The service lasted about two hours, which is not unusual, but I was especially drawn to one part of it, where one of the Arab pastors was praying for the country. He decided to use a translator so that he could speak more quickly, even though he is fluent in English. The whole thing was so amazing- back and forth, Arabic and English, interceding for the country- that I just wept. God used it to renew and refresh my love for these people.
As we think long term about our lives, we would like to see our family with both biological and adopted children. Several of each, if I can help it. And right now, we are thinking more about what we're going to do with the next few years. We've come to the conclusion that it would be nice to throw some kids into the mix, just to shake things up a bit, you know? Whether we have biological children or not, we still want to adopt.
Last year, I read a book called Adopted for Life by Russell Moore, which one of our friends gave Chris. Though we have talked about adopting kids since before we were married (can you believe that's six years ago?), the desire to do so was fueled by that, right along with our discussions about having biological children. This book helped clear up some ideas about adoption that were confusing to me, as well as encouraged me to pray more about. If you haven't read that book or The Connected Child, I would recommend both.
In thinking about adopting children in the future, we are slowed by a major hurdle; non-Muslims are legally not allowed to adopt Muslim children. Really, neither are Muslims. As we comb through the research, statistics, and legal information to see if it can be done, we continually come up short. No Gulf, Arab, or majority Muslim country run by Shari'a Law permits adoption as we know it. In an article from an Egyptian news source, someone states it very clearly:
"In Islam, the concept of child adoption does not exist. Islamic Law does not permit an orphan to take the family name of a non-biological parent. 'They should be named after their fathers,' said Al-Azhar University scholar Abdel Mouti Bayoumi."
Orphanage Day puts Adoption into Spotlight
Besides taking a name, non-Muslims are not allowed to be entrusted with the foster care of Muslim orphans.
So, how do we accomplish something that God's put in our hearts, but the state doesn't want us to do? We're currently looking at countries that are Muslim majority, but have a statistically optimistic success rate of adoptions by parents who are US Citizens. In the mean time, we continue talking about having children in general.
Pray for us as we continue to talk about our plans for our family and our future.
This weekend, we had a nice little dust front come through. Because of this...
I did this...
I know I've turned into a lousy blogger recently, but I just haven't had the energy to write down all of the riveting news in our lives- said with sarcasm, of course. Actually, we've done quite a lot recently, but we are waiting with baited breath for the end of the school year to come. I have 4 more teaching days and then a week of exams; afterward, I will do a few days of inventory and then hopefully read a few books on the school's clock. It's not my fault that the HS kids are done before MS, Elementary, and ECE...I just get to enjoy it!
So, let's see. Since April 22, I went to a flamenco show and poetry night at the Kuwait Little Theater in Ahmadi. I'll say the show was good, though I wasn't overly impressed with the dancer. The guitarists were nothing short of amazing, and the girl reading pieces of poetry, like A las Cinco de la Tarde, did a pretty nice job.
Another event was the Operation Hope Mother's Day Breakfast done on May 1st. I went to this with my friends Becky, Donna, and Darlene just to enjoy the breakfast and support a good cause. Operation Hope does a lot of humanitarian work here in Kuwait, giving out literal tons of goods and care packages to underprivileged workers every winter. They work hard throughout the year to provide for the needs of people, and the breakfast is the major event to raise money for the following year's cause.
Last weekend, I went to the 11th grade "fairwell" gathering at one of my student's houses. The girls are always funny to see interact with each other outside of a school setting, and sometimes I don't recognize them right away, because they are always in uniforms at school. Fatemah (top, 4th from R) did a great job of hosting! The kids always ask me to make lemon squares because I made the mistake of making some for a school event once. Since it was a party with about 50 people, I made two pans.
Also last weekend, we had an appreciation dinner/workshop for all the volunteers involved in the worship ministry at church. We enjoyed the fellowship with about 150 others, good food, good teaching, and just having a night out in the city. Since there are a lot of Indians in Kuwait, it's easy to find great Indian food, which is what we had at this dinner. I am going to have to master many international types of cuisine before we move back to the States or my eating style is going to change abruptly.
For the last month or so, I've been working with another teacher to put together a field trip for the 10th and 11th graders. Because both grades study the Renaissance time period in English or World History II, we decided to try to make that our theme. After countless hours of emails, phone calls, switched dates, and changing plans, our trip came to fruition yesterday. The girls watched Ever After (a modern version of the Cinderella story set in that era), ate a Renaissance inspired meal at the local Casper and Gambini's, and went ice skating. No, they didn't have ice skating during the Renaissance really, but we decided it would be fun anyway.
I think that brings us up to speed! We are excited to go on vacation once we're done with school, hitting a few countries before we make it back to the States on June 30th. We should be in Boston for about two weeks, Indiana State for a week, and then in Indiana, PA for a few weeks. Beside that, who knows?
After about 50 days of trying to figure out how my body reacts to certain foods, I've narrowed it down to a few culprits. The types of products that cause my eczema include caffeine, tomatoes, or dairy. In fact, from eating different foods in a very isolated way, I realized I may have a more pronounced dairy allergy- which is probably also why I feel terrible after drinking milk. On a consistent basis, if I avoid the above mentioned items, my hands are free, clear, and soft (so I hear).
We are still trying to stick to the healthier life style, eating whole grains and brown rice, avoiding anything sweet, and upping the fruit and vegetable intake. I'm so glad that I don't have to eat as much meat anymore and can now enjoy toast! On the same note, I made vegetable quiche for dinner- with a crust- and it was delicious.
Photo: At a recent sleepover, no one though I would eat mayo straight.
Some people say that children should not be adopted internationally. Here's a good argument that I read in favor of international adoption at the Abba Fund website . I think about where we live and the children who are "orphans" because they are the product of illicit relationships. Their mothers are women who have been vicitimized, so the children are either disposed of or left at a hospital or orphanage. Unfortunately, (though they would tell you otherwise), a person cannot formally adopt in many Muslim countries. Now, that's a hurdle to overcome...
On Friday, Chris and I had a plane to catch at 2pm, so we went to the early service at 8am. Afterward, we stopped for a bite of breakfast at Jean's Grill on the sea with our friend Darlene. Here are the fun results.
I am sitting here in the school's teacher lounge thinking, "just a few more hours..." with regard to Spring Break! It's not that I'm not content with working or the students (or anything, I think), but I'm just excited to be on a holiday! We have something like 30 school days left and 2mths + 2 weeks before we leave for Summer vacation, but who's counting?
The last picture on the blog was of an Aquafina water bottle. "Mabrouk" if you know Arabic and could read it or if you guessed it from the colors.
This coming Sunday is Easter, and throughout this week and last week, I've been taking time to reflect on Easter celebrations past, as well as it's most important meaning. Chocolate bunnies, peanut butter eggs, and fake basket grass are all great, but none of them compare to the fact that Jesus died for you and me- and better yet, that he rose from the dead. Here's something I read:
"It's not enough to know that Jesus died on the cross and rose again on Easter morning. People need to know why. They need to know why Jesus was betrayed, why he willingly gave himself into his captor's hands, why he endured their whips and scorn, and why he ultimately died for them. They need to know why he came alive again, and why this true story has everything to do with our lives today."
Pastor John Piper writes a book, The Passion of Jesus Christ, and gives 50 reasons why he came to die. You can download the book for free from desiringgod[dot]org, but here is a sampling of reasons:
1. to absorb the wrath of God
5. to show the wealth of God's love and grace for sinners
11. to complete the obedience that becomes our righteousness
19. to give eternal life to all who believe on him
39. to free us from the fear of death
47. to rescue us from final judgement
50. to show that the worst evil is meant by God for good
Happy Easter! Christos Voskrese! Slava Isuzu Christu!
Generally speaking, I'm not much of a meat eater. I don't recall that I ever have been crazy about it, but I enjoy it every now and again. (Just ask my mom about eating plain spaghetti and jello when I was little.) Because I have been thrown into the world of proteins on my elimination diet, I have had to make a few big adjustments, fast, and they haven't been easy. This has sent me on the recipe hunt of a lifetime.
Let me rewind by explaining more about the diet. In order to have my body revert to its normal, healthy, food-processing self, I have had to cut out a lot of foods. Anything that will encourage the growth of yeast or bad bacteria in my digestive track is out, until I can figure out what foods especially trigger problems. To try to make it simple, once I can isolate/identify problem foods and the balance of healthy bacteria is greater than the bad, these will be avoided for a period of time and then slowly reintroduced to see if they will still bother me. There are some foods that I will probably never eat again, like white flour, white rice, or refined sugar, but only time will tell.
What CAN I have at this stage? Generally, these are supposed to all be organic or unprocessed, which are products easy for me to find here in Kuwait because of how they grow/butcher foods.
- meats (beef, lamb, chicken, fish)
- vegetables (cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, lettuce, cucumber, onions, zucchini, summer squash, radishes, eggplant, spinach)
- eggs
- some cheeses (mostly white)
- nuts (almonds, macadamia, pecans)
- plain yoghurt w/ live cultures
- garlic, ginger, apple cider vinegar, lemon
- water, decaf. tea (my favorite treat has been Apollinaris sparkling mineral water)
What CAN'T I have? (At least for now)
- basically, anything with carbohydrates
- anything with flour, yeast, sugar, or artificial sweetener except for stevia
- any grains (oats, barley, rye, millet, etc.)
- corn and other high carb vegetables (carrots, potatoes, beans, etc.)
- Caffeine or caffeinated beverages (coffee, tea, regular or diet soft drinks)
- tomatoes/sauce
- mushrooms (they're a fungus!)
- milk
- fruits or fresh fruit juice (I've made an exception to have lemon so I am not eating plain salads. Some people say you can eat low-sugar fruits, like strawberries and grapefruit, but I'm not taking any chances.)
- anything pickled, containing regular vinegar, or having dried spices (i.e. garlic powder)
That said, I am eating a lot more meat and vegetables these days! One of the best resources I have found so far is a site called Elana's Pantry. She aims to create gluten-free recipes, using mostly almond flour in place of regular flour. I haven't yet attempted many of these because: a) almond flour is expensive, b) it's nearly impossible to get here, and c)I haven't had time; however, she has a lot of good ideas that I can work from. I don't 100% endorse her site because of some of the comments she makes, but you don't have to read them to look at the recipes!
Photo: Can you name that water by looking at the label? It's not Apollinaris.
This is a different type of post, simply because I am usually posting pictures of what delicious foods we've had around the region. Things have changed a little around the Freeman house, and though it seems crazy to say it, we're eating more organic foods.
Yes, you read that correctly. The guy who loves ranch, hot sauce, and ketchup on many foods is going easy on the sauces. The gal who eats fatayer and zaatar breads with a cup of coffee everyday for breakfast has gone grain-free. So, what happened?
To make a long story not too short, I have been dealing with what I thought was hereditary and/or environment-induced eczema on my hands for the last 5-6 years, all the while praying that it would get better. Over the past 20 or so months that we've lived in Kuwait, I noticed the symptoms becoming increasingly worse. There are times when my hands are relatively clear and other times when they are extremely dry, cracked, and sore. I've been to the doctors, and they only prescribe a new, better steroid cream each time, none of which heal my hands. See the frustrating pattern?
I can't even remember how the conversation got started, but one night, we were hanging out with a few good friends. Somehow, the topic of conversation turned to my skin irritation (great dinner conversation, I know), and someone mentioned that her sister had the same problem, but that it was due to a food allergy/yeast overproduction. Being the scoffer at all things organic, "environmentally safe," or holistic that I was, I was initially very skeptical that a simple diet change could make my life so much easier. Initially.
I came home and did about 10+ hours of research over the next few days. Still skeptical, I found that something called Candidiasis, though existing, is widely rejected by general practitioners as being a true disease. I started putting a few puzzle pieces together, like from when I had mono- in University and several rounds of antibiotics in my lifetime, to the fact that I had a very high-carb, high-caffeine diet.The possibility snuck into my brain that I could be healthier than I was. I'll spare the gory details, but if you're interested, you can read the following article about what I think the problem is.
In light of this, I have been on a self-imposed, highly restrictive diet for the last 20 days. Since the week I began, I have noticed remarkable improvements in not only the texture of my skin, but its "moisture level." I will admit that the first week was awful, and I felt like I had been run over by a truck, but the last two weeks really haven't been so bad. An unintentional benefit is that I've lost 3kg! I am finding more resources for tasty foods, and Chris has gone on a low/no carb diet with me to be supportive. He's probably the best husband ever, but I'm biased.
In my next blog, I'll post some of my new favorite resources for gluten-free and sugar-free recipes, as well as the kinds of meals I've been making. Last night, I finished making my mom's halupki with a few modifications. Today, there are only a few pigs left in the blanket.
photo: catching up on some lost Ultimate Frisbee on Sports Day
It's been over a month since Chris went to Yemen, but here are his pictures. Stay tuned for some descriptions. http://picasaweb.google.com/thecsfreemans
I saw this on a blog today, and found it quite interesting. It's a compilation of individual projects done by artists as a campaign to help the homeless. Download your free copy of the book and take a look around the website. http://dearworld.squarespace.com/
I finally have finished sorting through my pictures from Doha and have them posted for all to see. This is kind of working backwards chronologically, but I will try to put up Chris' pictures from Greece and Yemen soon. Pictured are some men in traditional garb, getting ready for a concert.
If you check them album February '10 again, you'll be able to see the rest of our celebrating during National Day weekend. Weighing the costs, we decided to go out to the streets, or rather, the main street where most of the celebrating takes place on the 25th. With Chris as our official male escort and armed with silly string and foam, we headed out into a street of mayhem.
It's only a block or two to walk there from our apartment building, so we were surprised to see how much noise and litter could be found from one block to the next! Because traffic was stopped on one side of the road and all the U-turns were blocked, cars were traveling in one direction clear up the Gulf Road- a good 12km or so long. People had vehicles decorated with stickers, emblems, and flags, and some even had special paint jobs for the occasion.
The game is, if you spray someone first, they will spray you back with water, string, foam, etc. Generally, if you don't look threatening or if you say you aren't participating, people will leave you alone. In some cases, boys will run by a car, open the door if it's not locked, and spray the person inside. Guys will crack the tops of their windows so that they can spray out, but no one can spray in. It's quite the game.
To paraphrase Chris' take on the evening, "What better way to celebrate your national freedoms than by throwing junk in the streets and violating people's personal rights." He was not interested in getting sprayed...and neither of us really were. Most of the adults we saw didn't have their clothes messed up at all. It was quite a sight to experience once, but I think next year we'll travel like last year.
Pictured with me is my friend, Kristen.
As promised, here are some more pictures this week. February '10 I actually took these pictures this week, too, so I would say I'm doing really well with getting them up quickly. I'm still working on more, and I'll continue to work through our 5-day weekend. "Teachers get a lot of time off," you may say, but you have no idea how hard we work! I read somewhere that the #1 group of patients that are given prescription sleep medication consists of teachers. I suppose we just think too much...
I tried to take more pictures of what's around that's decorated, but it's awfully hard to do with the dust in the air! So, here's what you get. Also, we had a celebration at school today for the Kuwait National and Liberation holidays. The students did some nice presentations and there was a guess speaker (not really sure what she said, because it was in Arabic...), and there was a ton of food. At the very very end of the day, the kids busted out some silly foam, and my friend Andrea and I happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Since we were already foamed, one of my favorite students decided to increase the damage. It was pretty funny.
