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Sunday, October 15th, 2006
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10:13 am - Rain rain on my face...
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So! I finally have internet here and it's finally rained! Both are quite joyous occasions. I think that there have been a couple sprinkles here since April, but other than that it's only been hot and dry. Hooray for weather changes! It's already back to being sunny, but it's the happy sun after rain sunny.
Though I'm incredibly happy to have internet, it isn't working as well as I would like. For example, I can't see my friends page or my own journal, and I can't see a lot of pages on facebook. What else? Oh yeah, I know it can't just be some retarded filter they have because I can't even see news sites like haaretz.com or seattle p-i. I don't get it at all. They don't even have a page it goes to, it won't load or reload or anything.
At least I have my email and chat working, and hopefully I can update this! I'm going to test right.........
now.
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| Wednesday, October 11th, 2006
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7:59 pm - word.
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I have been terrible at updating lately. It probably has something to do with my inconsistant internet access as well as my having a blogger blog, myspace and facebook profile. I haven't been doing quite as much with my myspace as of late, but facebook has been quite a bit of fun as I spy on everyone's college experiences.
So now is Succot, the feast of booths, and we've all been celebrating by sitting in booths every night with good food and good wine and chattering in several different languages. There was a family from South America a few nights ago, and so my spanish came back and I'm pretty sure that the measly bit of Arabic I picked up before is lost. Except for Shukron. I will always remember shukron. That is "thank you" for those who are curious. I've managed to get a decent grasp on the alephbet, so now I can squint at signs and figure out random noises. The whole not having vowel thing is a little confusing, but apparently other people have managed.
So... how's life, the studies?
Oh yeah yeah... I have a bunch of pictures on my flickr account for people interested. Most are already on facebook, but for those who aren't into that, here's a bunch of succahs. For succot.
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| Monday, October 2nd, 2006
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9:16 pm
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So I was looking for news on the Amish school shooting, and I came across a story about a woman arrested for neglecting her hamsters. Between attacking Amish kids and neglecting hamsters, how much more sick can the world get. And I'm not making light of this, the hamster story sounds absurd, but the story clearly shows that the woman was sick and unstable. I don't know how her roommate could live there.
In more ego-centric news, I finished packing and am out of Nazareth! Now I'm in a sweet place outside Tiberias and I just broke my Yom Kippur fast a couple hours ago with french toast. Hooray for french toast!
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| Sunday, October 1st, 2006
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8:18 am - Stunned.
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I woke up and checked my email and found out that my great aunt died. This is so crazy. She's a complete health nut and had way too much energy and excitement, especially about being healthy. The worst part is that my grandma's in Spain right now. They were so close and my Grandma valued her opinion over anyone else's. I don't know what my Grandma's views are about death, I don't know if she even has any. I just know that she and Alice relied on each other more than anyone else and I have no idea how she's taking it. My poor grandma...
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| Friday, September 29th, 2006
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12:36 am - hmm
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If you have a travel bug, I highly recommend visiting Stock.XCHNG. They have some beautiful pictures there and it makes me all happy and dreamy. I wish I had a friendly magic carpet to travel across the world and rest among the stars. Think about it, with a magic carpet, you don't even need a place to stay, just float up out of the way and rest, then fly to a discrete location when you need to ah... take care of some urgent matters.
It's not a good idea for me to update when I'm tired, but I wanted to share that website and ignore the fact that I just wasted a ton of time when I should have been cleaning and packing and sleeping. Good day to you!
current mood:  oh ani...
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| Tuesday, September 26th, 2006
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10:37 am
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WOOHOO! I have internet back at my apartment, and through some fluke I can still access livejournal. This is good news! I am excited to waste my nights away in front of my laptop for the rest of the week!
current mood:  jubilant
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| Monday, September 18th, 2006
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9:53 am
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Message from "ERIC" on myspace:
i saw ur profile, u look very attractive,
my dear becos u possess all the good qualities i have been looking forward to see in a person. ur pic in ur profile make me to kn that God answer prayers becos i found all the qualitiesi prayed for in u.?my name is Eric.do u use any kind of instant messenger?Here is my yahoo id ******@hotmail.com so tha will can chat online.
Hope to hear from u.
Eric
This was about 12 hours after I changed my default picture to me as a pirate. And, lest I forget to post here:
TALK LIKE A PIRATE DAY IS SEPTEMBER 19.
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| Sunday, September 17th, 2006
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2:40 pm - Okay...
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I was going to post this to my blog, but I realized that most people wouldn't find it as entertaining as I do. When you look at it, don't look too closely or too deeply:
( hospital signCollapse )
EDIT: AAAAAAAAAAAA
current mood:  chipper
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| Sunday, September 10th, 2006
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6:40 pm
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Today someone told me that my English was very good.
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| Saturday, September 9th, 2006
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9:22 am
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I am updating from a Days Inn in Jordan! Yesterday we went to a mall and they had Starbucks, Mrs. Fields, a Dunkin' Donuts rip-off, and all those other places associated with civilization. And (drum roll, please) I have carpet in my room. Also, I watched Big Fat Greek Wedding, Frasier and 3rd Rock from the Sun with arabic subtitles. I especially enjoyed Frasier. Unfortunately, we return today. Actually, that is fortunate because everything is expensive here. And I feel more than a little out of place. On the bus ride from the border to Amman, I only saw two girls with their heads uncovered. It's definitely a different world here. I'll update more later!
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| Tuesday, September 5th, 2006
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2:13 pm
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I feel like I should update, even though there is work immediately available. It's probably because I'm hungry. Nothing like updating on an empty stomach. I've been very tempted to do one of those "20 things you may not know about me" but I'm sure that at least half of them would be talking about food.
So, my internet's down again, this time because I thought I'd be nice and actually seed a torrent for a while. Instead of asking me to stop, they just cut me off. Yeah, it's pretty awesome. Hopefully this time it won't take three weeks for them to fix it.
Ah! I just went out and picked a pomegranate, and I feel a little better. I love pomegranates, why aren't they popular in the states? Why isn't Nutella popular? That question has been plaguing me for a long time. It seems like such an American thing to smear chocolate on everything, but nobody seems to use it. I guess it's because they don't advertise, but does Jiffy advertise? I think I'm just going to confuse myself if I keep this up, so I will say goodbye for now...
PS: RIP Steve Irwin, whether I liked you or not, you were a cultural icon and I feel for your kids :(
current mood:  Woah, Mace Windu!
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| Sunday, August 20th, 2006
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4:16 pm
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Alright, so a quick and dirty update on my life:
Internet is back and working at my apartment *YAY* and I also figured out a way to sortakinda get past their Filter of Doom but I can't actually log into livejournal there. This means: no posting updates or comments or seeing the juicy things people write behind locks. Gah.
"But, Anna, you're updating right now wahwahwah" I'm visiting friends for a few days and am enjoying the liberties of their internet. I might be moving up here sometime, but I'm not sure. It's overlooking the Galilee and is BEAUtiful, but I would really really miss the people I work with in Nazareth, so it's a hard decision. The work I would do here could be more impacting and whatnot, but I feel like I can't leave Nazareth quite yet. AAAUGH, I hate internal conflict.
In other news, a woman who I think is borderline Christian Scientist talked to me for a freakishly long time today. I tried to keep an open mind, but I'm not sure if she really did die and God brought her back to life. Not to say it isn't possible, but a lot of things in her story seemed contradictory. The whole exchange was a little odd.
Well, I'm going to watch a movie, and I will probably update later. I hope you all are having bountiful and beautiful lives! I would say "God bless you" in Arabic, but I forgot how. TTFN
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| Wednesday, August 2nd, 2006
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4:59 pm - Wherein my hopes are again thrown against the wall
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The internet situation has yet to improve, but at least I know that the company is aware of it. Lisa called me at the Village saying that the internet guys came but didn't see a computer, so I ran back over and set up my laptop for when they came back. About ten minutes later, a man knocks on my door and speaks in Hebrew. I caught the word for computer, so I pointed it out to him, he saw it then left. For another fifteen minutes, I paced around the apartment trying to figure out what he was doing, maybe he thought I said it was fixed? If so, then it would mean another five days before I would be able to get someone to help. I tried calling Lisa a couple times, then just as I got through, another man walked through my door. Scandalous!
So he sat down and tried to figure out how to restart my computer. I was unaware that this was what he wanted, so I was busy showing him how the computer didn't recognize that the ethernet cable was plugged in, and how if we could access the router blah blah blah. Finally he said “restart? How can I?” And so I pushed the power button for him. While it was restarting, he said “this is a problem, this is a Macintosh? I only know PC, Windows XP.” Then I tried to tell him that that shouldn't be a problem because I was pretty sure that the computer worked just fine blah blah blah. I should him again that it wasn't connected, and pointed out that the cable was plugged in. He tried to open DOS, and I was pretty sure that that was a windows feature, but he thought I didn't know what DOS was, so tried to explain “black screen.” Then he said, “this is problem.”
I pointed out the ethernet cable again, and he went outside to see that it led into the room beneath me, and asked if I had the key. I grabbed a bunch of keys that I happened to find during my pacings, but none of them worked.
We went down to the Administration office to ask for a key (at least that was my intention) and I tried to explain the situation, and I thought he was saying the same thing in Arabic, but then the women turned to me and said “he says he cannot work on a Macintosh.” So I tried to explain again that I didn't think it was the computer's problem blah blah blah. Finally, after much confusion, a Sister walks in with a handful of keys. English was translated into Arabic then translated into French. The poor Sister looked so confused and handed me the keys, and the woman next to me said, “she says try them all and please bring them back.” So, we go back to my apartment and get stuck behind slow walkers on the way, then try the keys to the downstairs door. After figuring it out, we walk into an eerie abandoned room and find the cord that runs into a socket. We tried the “pull out and plug back in” technique, I run back upstairs to check, and no success. One of the guys stays behind when I go back down, which I thought was sort of creepy, but I tried to find the socket's source with no luck.
Back upstairs, the other guy was putting different numbers in the configuration and what-not, and I showed him how to check. Finally, they both say, “maybe the problem is in the cord. Someone proficient in cords will come.” So.. maybe I'll have internet in a week or so, who knows.
After they left, I walked back to the office and returned the keys to the Sister, who is probably one of the most darling nuns I've seen. She seemed very sad for me and said things in French, so I told her thank you and have a nice day.
Thus the saga of the internet connection continues.
current mood:  humored
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| Tuesday, August 1st, 2006
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10:16 am
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Herrow everyone! So the internet at my apartment is down, which is laaaaame, but that means that I'm using the internet at Nazareth Village, which doesn't block lj or myspace. Mixed blessing, I guess. I still want my internet back.
So, the other Americans who were here have left, and I'm on my own. It's really weird. I really like having alone time, but there is entirely too much. It's not like I can just wander around town, either, because... I'm in the Near East and I feel awkward as a white girl walking alone. If I wore long pants and a long sleeve shirt with a headwrap, I would fit in much better, but seeing as I don't want to faint from heat exhaustion, I'll pass.
Anyway, it really isn't too bad, I've been forced to confront myself on things and it's been sort of a test in endurance. As I get more comfortable in the culture, and hopefully the language, I'll have more opportunities, but for now I'm just waiting for direction.
I hope everyone is doing well.
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| Thursday, July 20th, 2006
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10:07 pm - Hello LJ world!
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Hooray! So, I'm renting my apartment from a French Roman Catholic Hospital and I have the idea that they block every site with high traffic other than news and email. That is why I have been uncharacteristically absent on both here and myspace. Howeveeer, for the next couple nights I'm staying at a friend's house and they do not have blocks! I am excited since I have been completely cut off from everyone. Even my attempts at emailing people has failed miserably.
So, if you want to know allll the places I've been visiting, check my blog that I've been struggling to keep up-to-date. Basically, a day in my life may begin with working with Arab preschoolers (brattier than even American ones) or working at Nazareth Village- a first century reenactment thingymajober. I have found a new love in falafel and baklava, and I am trying to understand bits of Hebrew and Arabic at the same time. I'm actually remembering a ton of Spanish since I've been searching my brain for foreign terms.
So... yeah, pretty much I've been living on the edge as much as I can. I was in the Golan two days before the war began, been shearing sheep (1st century style), riding a camel, and took this picture:
That was the second Katyusha to hit Nazareth (the one that didn't kill anyone), taken from the giftshop of Nazareth Village. And I guess I'm not living completely on the edge- we were planning to go on a hike tomorrow but decided against it because the trail was getting bombed.
current mood:  happy
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| Sunday, July 9th, 2006
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9:02 am
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Ahhh! I finally get internet and I can't see my friends page! There's some block that I can't read because it's in HEBREW, dangit.
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| Friday, June 30th, 2006
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11:45 pm - I can be vague, too
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For once... everything feels right.
current mood:  peaceful
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| Tuesday, June 27th, 2006
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11:30 pm - ooo, fun!
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Got this from  aquidus
Choose twelve characters from your fandoms, then answer the questions under the link. Do not look at the questions beforehand.
01. Uzamaki Naruto
02. Peregrin Took
03. Mrs. Bennet
04. Kurosaki Ichigo
05. Wally (of Dilbert)
06. Mr. Tumnus the Faun
07. Hyuuga Hinata
08. Jack Bristow
09. Smeagol
10. Reepicheep
11. Mr. Collins
12. Darth Vader
( Read more...Collapse )
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| Sunday, June 25th, 2006
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12:20 am - Sleichgah
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Aaaaah, I have to talk about the Israel trip in front of the church in nine hours. How did this happen? Dangit, I hate talking in front of people. I hate doing ANYTHING in front of people, actually, but I don't even know how to say whatever it is I'm supposed to say. The last time this happened, everyone ended up thinking that I was making some sort of joke, so at least they enjoyed it? I know I'll embarress myself somehow.
Oh yeah, and to all my bum friends out there: I'm leaving a week from Monday!! So since I have so many bum friends, I'm hosting a s'more gathering on Thursday (7:15pm - my house). Be there even if your best friend has a wedding shower at the exact same time.
My room is a disaster area at the moment and I can't stand sleeping in such a mess. Oh yeah, and the Moores want me to bring my flute with me. This sort of makes me nervous, but at the same time it could be a great opportunity. My flute skills went downhill during my senior year of high school (was that only last year? crazy) and with whatever I'll be doing, I'm definitely going to be the only flute. So I could actually end up playing well! My lack of musical ability is probably one of my biggest regrets from my high school years because I know that I could have done so much better if I had only challenged myself. For some reason, that doesn't bother me in other areas...
current mood:  nervous
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| Thursday, June 22nd, 2006
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1:35 pm - Real post
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