Afghani food anyone??

We've had some friends visiting us and the area for a few weeks and last night we went out to Afghani food. After dinner we went to the main souq (shopping) area in town and took a very sweaty, very hot walk through the shops. If it was 115 degrees outside at 9pm, I can only imagine how hot it was in the souq which is all made of concrete with no air conditioners or real ventilation. yikes.

Enjoy the photos (=

Let's have a Tea Party

We are waiting waiting waiting to see what will happen with our visa situation. It was looking promising and then a terribly legalistic bureaucrat got in the way....

Layla has the right idea....just enjoy the moment and have a tea party!

We were really hoping for visa before Ramadaan which starts the middle of August so we'll see if that is still possible.



Several families left town this spring and we got some great loot out of it all! This little kitchen for Layla is a MUST HAVE for this girl who loves to cook. We also got a set of dishes, anda dolly with the most amazing handmade clothes that has been handed down from several families (=

Red Tape, Arab Style

Government bureaucracy is always a drag. I don't know anyone who LIKES to go to the DMV or the Social Security Administration.

Dear Tom is left holding the bag in this category both because I am home with kiddos, but also because culturally, men do this sort of running around.

So yesterday Tom was getting the special stamp in Ryan's passport which is needed before we can take a trip anywhere. (I may have blogged about the 9 hour adventure we had when we tried to take Lj across the border without this stamp!)

At the end of the ordeal, Tom counted TEN offices he drove to around town. People kept telling him he had to go elsewhere and the poor guy kept at it for an hour and a half. That is a lot of driving in a small town!

The photo is of one of the grander border posts which we use. The others are not quite so dramatic (= We're not really supposed to take pictures...I was off on the side of the road with Layla waiting for Tom to get a stamp. This was part of our 9 hour saga (=

Our social baby boy

From July 2010

We have been struck by how much Ryan focuses on us, talks to us and is paying attention all the time. Layla was never much of a talker and it took an enormous amount of interaction to get a smile. We have plenty of chatter and smiles now from her to make up for the first few months to be sure!

We are headed out to a new neighbor's house tonight. Tom had seen him a couple of times in the small shop near our house and he invited us all over tonight. I'm hoping Layla will do okay as the evening is beginning right at her bed time!

Jasmine

 
 
 

Jasmine of several varieties grows quite well around here. The neighbor kids have brought Jasmine flowers over for us on many occasions. Yesterday, Layla went to play with the neighbors across the street. Their maid, Lynn, came over to give us some guava from their guava tree and some fresh mint. Layla went back with her to their house by herself to play with the maid and their three kids. We've been encouraging Layla to do that for ages, but she just wouldn't until yesterday! They are our closest friends here and helped out with food quite a bit during our crazy time.

This necklace is made from Jasmine flowers and my friend, the mom, made it for Layla - I've seen this once before and it is just such a lovely gesture.

On a different note, I've also seen older ladies shove jasmine flowers up their noses.

I'd rather wear mine around my neck, personally.

Photos of Ryan!

 
 
 
 


A friend of mine loves to do newborn photography and here is what she did with Ryan!

"His face is like bread!"

Yes everyone, this is the latest compliment I got on dear baby Ryan. Similar to reading the Song of Solomon, some things that are said to us give us reason to pause (= We were visiting my neighbor next door and she took Ryan in to see her husband and came back beaming with the compliment from her husband.
The bread comparison is totally new to me. I am assuming they are thinking about the sort of smooth arabic bread and not crunchy whole wheat bread like we have in the US.... (=

Doing well here - we're all tired, but as I was reminded the other day...who isn't?!?

Little Video of Ryan!

Mama and her Goodness

 
 


Mom did MANY wonderful things with us while she was with us. I cannot explain the ways mom made life livable for us during the last 5 weeks.
One of the many things was creating this yummy little number: Arabic bread, nutella, peanut butter, bananas all fried up like a quesadilla. Oh my.
As you can see Layla and I loved it! I haven't named it yet, but we are going to keep this little number going for sure!
Thanks mom, for ALL you did.

Passport photo

 


Here is Ryan's Passport photo! We leave our side of town tomorrow to accomplish the following:

See the doctor for my one month appt after the birth
Drive to the American Embassy and back which is a 1.5 hour drive each way. We are submitting and application for Ryan's passport. We might even get mom to see the new mosque that was built while we were gone.
We are also getting extra pages in my passport, for the second time.
Then we bundle mom off in a taxi to Dubai and spend the night in Al Ain
The next day we have three doctor appointments for Ryan and I.
After the dr appointments we are going up to Dubai to pick up some friends who are coming for the Arabic summer school.
I'm glad that all I have to do sit in the car and have Tom take care of everything (=

Since we had to cross the border, we were trying to do as many things as possible in a few days (= I am still feeling pretty tired from the surgery on Thursday, but each day I feel better and a little stronger. We have a nice place to stay for the two nights we'll be up in Dubai.

Well, baby is crying....must run.