A little bit of everything

Well, its been a week of Arabic, basketball and hanging out with friends. We have been spending our time speaking Arabic, eating and working as well:)

Karl is continuing to coach twice a week. He does a great job coaching in Arabic!





These ladies were teaching me how to many some local desserts and pastries. I really need to try to make this on my own now, since everyone has shown me! Its delicious, but full of butter and oil. No exactly what I should be eating these days.


A page from my Arabic notebook... We're in class about 8 hours each week now. Its been fun learning how to speak another language. Especially one so different from English!

Quietness is nice

We went out of the city with some friends this weekend. It was so quiet! We hear horns honking, mopeds, buses and other city noises all the time, so quiet is something I appreciate more these days!


Karl didn't want me to take a picture of him because of his choice of attire, but I thought he looked cute with his fleece jacket and swim trunks.





The beach was empty! We were totally by ourselves except for two little boys that came and sat about 6 feet away from us. They kept inching closer and closer, and wanted to play with our football. It was fun watching Karl and our friend try to teach them how to throw a football.


On the way back we saw this kid jump on the truck in front of us, and hold on for dear life for free transportation. Apparently, the truck went to far, and when it finally stopped the kid had to walk back. Sometimes we see kids with roller blades attach themselves to vehicles. I'm thankful we haven't seen anyone die that way yet!

Football at it's finest (in Africa - I can't go against American football)

We went to a football (soccer) game last night, and it was crazy! It cost about $4.50 to get in, and a lot of young dudes didn't want to pay. There was a mob of thousands trying to decide the best time to run in together, past the security guards with sticks. A few of them would go, and then get caught...some of them getting beat with the sticks and kicked! It was actually somewhat funny. They wanted in so bad! We purchased our tickets, and proceeded to the door. After all the ruckus, they let me in for free! There were rumors spreading that women might get in for free - which really didn't cost them a lot of money. Out of 50,000 people, I think there were about 20 of us!


And we're in! Things are seeming pretty normal, like an American football game.


This was the semi-final game, and the other team had to beat us by 2 goals in order to move on.


Okay, so you know how in America people get really excited when we actually score touchdowns at football games?! Well, let me tell you... the people here get excited for an "almost goal." That's right, the score to this game was 0-0, but the crowd went wild when the players almost scored a goal.


And then, they ALMOST scored again! No, the stadium wasn't on fire. These hooligans managed to sneak flares into the stadium. I will say that it looked cool from afar, but I am glad I was not over there! The poor police officers were dodging flares as the fans through them on the field. A few of them actually landed on the grass.


And the game is over with a score of 0-0. The good news is our team is advancing to the next round!