Winter Vacation 1

I don't even know where to begin with this blog, we have done so much in 2 weeks.

We got out of school on Dec. 17th and that night had a wine tasting party.  It was really fun and a nice way to unwind from everyone elses busy schedule..=) Michael made me a Christmas Clumsy and I wrote him a short story about how Clumsy ended up on our way. I am quite proud of it..=) So, overall we had quite the Clumsy celebration!

Then on Monday bright and early we headed off to Barcelona.  Our flight was fine and we had a lay over in Paris, which is the most insane aiport of all time.  Thankfully our building friends had warned us that the lines and security at Charles DeGull were long and ridiculous so we booked a flight we a 4 hour layover.  This was a huge blessing.  They had one person checking passports for everyone going through the one terminal.  The line was soo long.  Everyone around us was already late for their flights. People were cutting line and some people got in an argument about who should go first. One lady just kept walking past people as if they weren't there.  We were happy we listened to our friends. With the line and transfering terminals our 4 hour layover quickly became 2 hours.

Finally we got to Shelby and had the time of our lives in Barcelona. I felt like I was 21 again for a day or two. Then my body quickly let me know that I am about to be 30..=)

Pictures are in the next post. I don't know what happened.

Winter Vacation

 Cool Art work in Barcelona

 Las Ramblas- a popular street in Barcelona

 A Gaudi building. His architecture is all over Barcelona and its all amazing.

 The Cathedral.

Barcelona's Arc de Triomf!

 The Sagrada de Familia Church ---as by Gaudi. It is still not finished they have been working on it for almost 150 years.

 The Sagrada is based on nature, even I could tell that and I know nothing about architecture.

 This was one of my favorite things in Barcelona. Some people don't have a Santa Claus. So they have Caga Tio, it is a log you beat with a stick until it poops out presents! AMAZING!

 At an awesome wine bar. Super Happy!  We waited 3 hours for this place to open..=)

 Parc de Guell...this is an entire park with sculptures by Gaudi, right next to his old house. It is also a lesson in not sitting like a trucker!

 Sitges. A cool coastal town outside of Barcelona. It was 65 and sunny. People were sunbathing. The perfect day!

 Christmas ball light dancing!

I will post pictures from Paris later. It seems I have done quite a bit today.  I have so many more pictures I could post. It was really hard to limit myself. Barcelona was an amazing city and we had the best tour guides in town. I loved every minute of it. 

I don't usually make New Years resolutions, but this year after looking back on the last two weeks. I am going to work on being more appreciative. I have such amazing things going on in my life now and down the road. I want to make sure to take the time to stop and enjoy them. I think Michael will be a valuable part in this because he seems to be really good at enjoying the small things and the big things. I am so lucky to have such a great travel partner through life.

I thought I would dread coming back to Beirut because of the mixed emotions the last 4 months have brought and although I was horribly sad to leave my friends and family again ( I am not sure how many more times I can do that). I am happy and content to be back in Beirut. Which is a huge relief. This is my home for now and I am going to do what I can to make it a success.  I know I will still have some ups and downs but each day I get a little more comfortable and find more of a routine. I am not intimidated by the strange differences between here and the States anymore. Although I will not be riding in any open door white vans anytime soon. (this is beirut's answer to public transportation) They are just a part of this world.  We will see if I am still singing this happy tune in two weeks when I have to work on a Saturday!

Istanbul

On Wednesday, Michael and I decided last minute to meet our friend Molly in Istanbul, this decision quickly determined that we would also be meeting Shelby there as well.  The girls and I had started a countdown til we saw each other in Barcelona and it went from 12 days to 1 day very quickly.

Since, it was so last minute we left for Istanbul not knowing much of anything about it. I think I figured it would look like a twin of Beirut.  Wow, could I have been more wrong. Which is not something I like to say often!

We got off the plane, it was a quick 1 and a half hour flight for us and boarded a bus for downtown.  The bus ride took us through a part of Turkey, that could have been Centreville or Sterling set on the water.  I was shocked. There were apartments and chain stores everywhere. I had no idea that it would feel so suburban in Turkey.

The bus ride took us only twenty minutes which was great because I was jumping out of my seat to see Shelby and Molly and we had just limited time.  When we got off the bus in Takism square which is a huge location in Istanbul, everyone knows it. There are buses and cabs and the metro all right there.

So, then we spent the next two days doing as much as possible.  And I fell in love with Istanbul. It was super cold but it was so beautiful.  There were rows and rows of townhouses and apartments where we stayed and they each had such beautiful character and personality.  The city felt welcoming and open at the same time.  However, I have never seen so many people in my life, except for people in Times Square, but this is a much smaller space.  Shelby actually got stuck on a small man-made bridge that went over construction because there were so many people trying to cross the bridge no one moved.  I couldn't believe it!

The mosques were amazing, the views were amazing. I truly loved it. I was also surprised, although I am not sure why by the number of people that did not speak but a few words on English. I have gotten so spoiled that most people in Beirut speak English that I take it for granted. There was a lot of hand gesturing and motioning.  It was actually nice to see that as Americans we have not taken over all languages and cities of the world...=)

The Turkish Evil Eye Pendant or the Nazar Boncugu, which literally means the "evil eye bead", is actually a stone bead, which is worn to protect oneself from evil looks. The stone is an amalgamation of molten glass, iron, copper, water and salt. This particular combination of minerals and metals is believed to provide a shield from the forces of evil.

The Evil Eye pendant has the symbol of an eye worked upon it. The symbol of the eye is regarded as a potent amulet for protection against evil forces in almost every culture of the world like Jewish, Islamic, Hindu, Buddhist and Christian. Thus, in Turkey, you have an eye for an eye.

It is believed that the Nazar Boncugu deflects the negative energy that is being directed towards a person onto itself, thus dispersing its powers.

The Nazar Boncugu is blue in color and the age-old Anatolian belief is that it is actually the blue color of the stone, which holds the real shielding power and absorbs the negative energy.

Quick One!

I got my first Lebanese haircut this week. I was nervous to go on my own, some people's hair here leaves something to be desired.  A lot of Platinum blondes and big waves. So, I had my friend Carla from school who is Lebanese call ahead and tell them in Arabic what I wanted.
So, I went to her hair place and first I got taken downstairs and then Carla told me that a Lebanese lady with the platinum blond was not happy that I was taken down first and Carla got an arguement for me, about how I made a reservation. So, she is a good friend to have..=)

Then who I thought was the hairstylist came and we again went over what I wanted. He putted to a blonde streak in my hair and said you want it this color? Yes! Perfect.

Then the real hairstylist came down and got to work.  Everything seemed to be what I was used to from the States so I was feeling at ease.  Then the Platinum blonde lady from before came down to get her hair done. She needed her roots to not be pitch black..=).. She was obviously curious about what I was having done because I kept hearing her and the hairstylist say highlights/lowlights. However, that is all I could understand and it was unsettling when they all laughed together. So, I decided I should call Michael and speak in Spanish, even if I am not using the right words because it is unfair that they can understand me in English and I can't understand anything.  Pretty mature, I think!

So, long story short. As the hairstylist was cutting my hair, he said I am going to cut away the blonde, its too much and it doesn't look good with your face.  First of all, excuse me! Second of all, weren't you supposed to be making my hair blonde, and if you are cutting it away, then I am either going to be bald or we failed to communicate appropriately.

I said "if not blonde what color did you make my hair, his response was the lightest shade of honey." What?? No one knows what shade that is.  So, I gritted my teeth and got very lucky. It does look great. I just think that this is really funny story. I might be the only one though, I also wanted it in my blog because this is also like a memory log for me.

IF you made this far, here are some pictures of our night out on Saturday

 Arabic Karaoke in case you were curious and one day thought to yourself..hmm I wonder what Karaoke sounds like in Arabic

 The sexy video pictures that go with French Karaoke songs!