After our short stay in Tel Aviv, we drove to Jerusalem. This is a beautiful drive up into the hills through forests that have only existed since the State of Israel was founded. I had visited Jerusalem 13 years earlier, and much had changed since then; there was a lot that I did not recognize. The city is a mix of the old and new, the ancient is being rediscovered while the modern is being imposed around it, and we made the mistake of not obtaining a detailed map of the entire city prior to this part of our journey. [View Full Entry]

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On June 20 we departed for Israel on our long anticipated pilgrimage to the Holy Land. One of the precepts of the Bahá’í Faith is that each believer should try to make a pilgrimage to Bahá’í holy places at least once in their lifetime. Unlike the pilgrimages of other faiths, Bahá’ís must make a request for pilgrimage to the Universal House of Justice in Haifa. The UHJ is the nine-member body that governs the Faith internationally. Once you have made that request, you are placed on a waiting list, which usually takes about five to six years. This insures that the [View Full Entry]

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Having found costumes, a recording of the call to prayer and the white taj, I set about to identify the narrators and actors for the celebration program. I wanted to utilize young and older people as well as a variety of races, which would be in keeping with Bahá’í­ principles. After asking several people to play various parts, I realized that it would be difficult to find Africans who would be willing to act out what I had written. Fortunately, the Persian Bahá’í­ community in South Africa exists in considerable numbers and they were more than willing to accept a [View Full Entry]

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Upon my return to Ameera’s Fashions, Fatima recognized me immediately and greeted me warmly and introduced me to her brother, who worked there as well. She kindly exchanged the dress and the male shop attendants loaded me down with more Turkish candy after the exchange. When I asked if I could take photos of them and their shop, the men all agreed but Fatima declined to let me take her picture. I asked a young boy who was with his mother in the store if I could take his picture but he also refused. His mother, a completely veiled woman, [View Full Entry]

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About the third week of March, the Johannesburg Spiritual Assembly sent Sherri and I an invitation asking if we would be willing to organize a program for the First Day of Ridvan celebration. The First day of Ridvan is held annually on April 21. Ridvan is a Persian term that means “paradise” and was the name given to the garden in Baghdad where Bahá’u’lláh spent 12 days in 1863 preparing for his departure to Constantinople. It was during those 12 days that Bahá’u’lláh revealed to his followers that he was a Manifestation of God and that He was the Promised One [View Full Entry]

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Last night I learned that you CAN immobilize a large spider in the bathroom with"firm hold" hairspray. [View Full Entry]

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Sherri and I have ventured into Alexandra on many occasions, and we have become more comfortable with the surroundings of the township. What we have found to be delightful is the fact that the people of Alexandra have come to trust us because of our consistency, and our relationship with them is very different than that of our first visit. Leadership, mostly by women, has begun to emerge, and they are slowly beginning to form a distinct Bahá’í­ community. We now hold a weekly devotional every Sunday morning followed by children’s classes and study circles in Ruhi books 1, 2 [View Full Entry]

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One of the reasons we had selected South Africa as a place to pioneer was because English was spoken here. Despite its being our first lanbuage, however, we learn more English every day: South African English. The English spoken here has a heavy Afrikaans accent to it, and most local people speak a several local languages. Local people often have trouble with English, which can make education difficult because English is the official language used in schools, most of the time. We can’t help but admire them for the fact that English is often their third, fourth or fifth language. It [View Full Entry]

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Today we have been in Africa for six months. We left the U.S. on September 11 and arrived here September 15, 2006. Much of our life feels quite settled here while other parts feel as though we have just arrived. What we are sure of, however, is that our capacities have expanded greatly; we have learned to accept many things that we would not have tolerated, or even dared, only a short six months ago. We are only sure that we have much more to learn. One of the most positive aspects of our being here is our fitness level. With [View Full Entry]

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Last night we went to a photo exhibition of historic buildings in New York City, hosted by the US Consulate General. While the exhibit was interesting, the setting was much more so for Bob and I: it was held at the former Women's Gaol (Jail) or prison on Constitution Hill, which is now a museum. This was the place where women who were arrested for things like not having the proper pass in the white part of town, holding hands with a white person, or operating a home business were held in appalling conditions during apartheid. The interpretive material was very [View Full Entry]

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